Gainclone building contest details (from BrianGT group order)

[widman]

Actually the amp is for my son, who is a lefty.

I'm definitely not satisfied with the feet, but in my defense they look better in person than they do in the photos. I don't really care for cone feet and probably couldn't produce four identical feet anyways. I may end up just switching to hard rubber feet until a better idea occurs to me.

widman

 

[BrianGT]

I am right handed, but I put my volume knob on the left without realizing it. It seems natural that way to me.

--
Brian

 

[Peter Daniel]

I would never put a volume knob on the left side myself.

 

[Alcaid]

Alcaid,

It's interesting that even though you are left handed, you still see the world in the eye of the right handed person.

Don't you have any urge to want everything to be built to suit you? I guess not ... in your case.

Well, maybe it would've been easier for me to operate the amp with the knob on the left side, but I still think it looks odd. It's just a matter of personal taste, and everyone who builds their own gear is free to choose. That's the privilige of Doin' It Yourself. 🙂

 

[Sherman]

Alcaid,

It's interesting that even though you are left handed, you still see the world in the eye of the right handed person.

Don't you have any urge to want everything to be built to suit you? I guess not ... in your case.

The world is a right-handed place. From birth on us lefties are indoctrinated into it and right-handed stuff "looks" right even if it isn't easy for us to use.

Simple things like scissors are a major pain if you are a lefty. Take a look around at how much stuff is designed for right-handed use; coffee makers (the handle usually sticks out the right side), electronics (volume control placement for instance 😀 ), the ignition switch on your car- almost everything.

That's why being able to build stuff the way I want it is nice. Even then I haven't gone all the way- for instance a volume control for a left should increase in volume as we turn the knob counter-clockwise, I haven't made one like that yet!

 

[Ed LaFontaine]

Board mod?

I stuffed my first GC boards last night. I've thought about this today and solicit your feedback on a question/suggestion.
Can the holes for the chip legs which recieve the negative feedback resistor be enlarged? This would allow the resistor leads to be "piggy-back" on the legs. Installation would benefit from using the enlarged holes as an extra hand, aiding positve positioning of the lead for soldering. The solder meniscus would climb up the chip leg to the extent that the leg and lead were close enough to encourage.

Whadaya think Gain Clone Buiders?

 

[Sherman]

Re: Board mod?

Can the holes for the chip legs which recieve the negative feedback resistor be enlarged?

Whadaya think Gain Clone Buiders?

I thought about that myself. I think the best way to do it would not be to enlarge the entire hole as this would probably destroy the thru plating. I think it would be possible to simply enlarge the hole on one side just enough to slide the resistor leads in. That way the plating in the hole remains intact except for one small spot.

Like this-

 

[Variac]

Maybe Brian could add bigger holes on only these 2 pins.
for Rev 2.

I am sure he appreciates all our suggestions, BUT I also suspect he has about 500 of the originals 😉

 

[Ed LaFontaine]

Yes

Rev. 2 That's what I was thinking about. This should be expanded to provide Brian with feedback for improvements to the boards. And I do know how to spell "builders".

Whadaya think Gainclones Peoples?




Can I be allowed to edit into the next day?

 

[cdoggy81]

🙂

 

[Greg Erskine]

Here's what I did.

I left the leads on pin 3 and 8 long and wrapped the resistor leads around them 360 degrees. This holds the resistor in place while soldering. Works well and looks good after you trim everything.

 

[Sherman]

Here's what I did.

I left the leads on pin 3 and 8 long and wrapped the resistor leads around them 360 degrees.

Basically wire wrap with solder. Good idea! Did you use a wire wrap tool to do it or did you pull it around by hand?

 

[jimbo149]

Rail E at outputs

Still showing rail voltage on the outputs after extensive solvent cleaning/de-fluxing. All connections look good thru 10X magnifier.

Any suggestions?

Jimbo

 

[Greg Erskine]

Sherman,

I start the bending process, by hand, bending around the leads, then finished the loops with a small pair of pliers. I like to get a good fit before soldering.

jimbo149,

I found a similar problem on one of my amps, twice:

First time I had two of the transitors in the wrong place, very difficult to do with a GC 😉

Next time, I forgot to reconnect the 0v from amp to star earth. Could be possible on a GC, but I haven't tested it.

 

[BrianGT]

To all who recently submitted orders, all remaining orders have been shipped out earlier today.

If you submitted an order more than 2 weeks ago, and haven't received it, drop me an e-mail, and I will check my records. All recent US orders will have USPS Delivery confirmation numbers, which I had e-mailed out when I purchased the postage.

I am still accepting orders for basic kits and pcb sets. I am hoping to be able to offer the premium kits again soon, but it seems like the lead times on the resistors are insanely long, at least another week.

If you want to order boards or basic kits, see my webpage:
http://www.BrianGT.com/order/
I will continue shipping orders out. The current turn-around time is a day or two.

Also, I have mailed out some pcb sets for those who submitted entries to my gallery. If you submitted an entry, and I haven't sent you a bonus pcb set, please drop me an e-mail to:
brian-orders@darg.net (account set aside for this for now)
make the subject "GALLERY ENTRY - your user name" and make sure to include your mailing address. I have had a difficult time associating user names with the address information from paypal.

If you haven't submitted pictures of your finished amplifier, please mail them to brian-orders@darg.net and I will put them up. Please include your mailing address with the pictures, and I will mail you a pcb set if you are within the first 20 entries (currently 15). If you sent them to me before, and I overlooked your message, let me know. I am sorry for taking so long to get this resolved, but I have been quite busy lately.

Gallery address:
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/nigc

Feel free to e-mail me through the below e-mail link for normal questions not relating to the gallery entries.

--
Brian

 

[kensetsu]

For those who participated in the group order for the gainclone kits/pcbs. The last of the orders were shipped out last tuesday (3/30). Everyone should receive their boards/kits soon, so here are the details to the contest that I am organizing:

Here is the link to the current gallery:
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/nigc

I urge everyone to start finishing the projects soon and begin mailing me pictures. I will be giving out a free pcb set for the first 20 people to e-mail me finished pictures of their amplfiers built with the kits. Pictures must show an amplifier in a finished state, showing the completed unit, and a view of the insides. [between 2 and 12 pictures accepted] Please size pictures down to 800x600 (so that my e-mail box doesn't get flooded with 20meg attachments) and e-mail them to me.

(offer limited to 1 free pcb set per person participating in the group order)

Rafal 's amplifier is a good example of the bare minimum:
http://www.briangt.com/gallery/nigc-rafal
but the more pictures, the better!

Once I have a large number of entries, and an updated webpage, I will award a more substantial prize for what I feel is the best unit in the gallery (sorry Peter, your amps don't count, since they look too good, and might discourage competition)

--
Brian

Hi,

Could you tell me if the kits are still available and how much they are?

Thanks, Nick

 

[BrianGT]

Re: Re: Gainclone building contest details (from BrianGT group order)

Hi,

Could you tell me if the kits are still available and how much they are?

Thanks, Nick

Please visit my order page here:
http://www.BrianGT.com/order/

I have everything except for the premium kits, which I will start taking orders for again, once I receive the resistors needed.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.

--
Brian

 

[Peter Daniel]

You guys always wanted to see an ugly amp from me, so here it is.

It was used for active speaker, and amp is mounted in a stand.

It sounded surprisingly good (this MDF enclosure must be doing something good). No shielding and no interferences (both outside and from transformers)

 

[jimbo149]

Rail E at output

C'mon guys I, need some suggestions! Still showing PS rail voltage at output, even though everything (PS voltage, polarities, grounding, connections) checks out OK. I figured I must have cooked the chips somehow during installation so I ordered a new set of chips and *very carefully*installed them on the boards tonight. Still, PS rail at the outputs.
This is such a simple board it's really hard to get it wrong! What could be happenng here?

Jimbo

 

[BrianGT]

Re: Rail E at output

C'mon guys I, need some suggestions! Still showing PS rail voltage at output, even though everything (PS voltage, polarities, grounding, connections) checks out OK. I figured I must have cooked the chips somehow during installation so I ordered a new set of chips and *very carefully*installed them on the boards tonight. Still, PS rail at the outputs.
This is such a simple board it's really hard to get it wrong! What could be happenng here?

Jimbo

Can you take a picture of the setup and post it. What are you getting for the power supply voltages off the power supply board. Are both channels providing the same result?

I will try to help you get it working.

--
Brian