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Sam Seagate <saseag44419@yahoo.com>: Jan 01 08:57AM -0500 On 12/31/2014 01:03 AM, mike wrote: > using random LEDs without > any test equipment or exotic devices, this is my recommendation.   > Are we having fun yet?   For me, this was getting too complicated for the short time I have off from work, and time available to complete this project. Tried the bulb in series first, but the one I found-- 12 V @ 1.4 W-- pulled down the current by 1/3 so it dimmed the bulbs too much. Other bulbs to try are too expensive to keep purchasing, so I just went with 100 mA fuses. Problem solved.   Thanks for the suggestions though, may come in handy for similar projects in the future.

amdx <nojunk@knology.net>: Dec 31 06:15PM -0600 Hi all, The Sig Gen for guitar amps started me thinking.   My son is floundering, after two years at a university he has decided that's not what he wants. I guess I could say I knew that from the start, mom didn't. I would have liked to see him finish and then flounder with job prospects, but he didn't. He keeps saying he has an interest in music, he plays guitar, talks about mixing but has no equipment except a computer. I've got about $25,000 into his education so far and don't mind spending some more to get him on a track. What are some job categories in music, music recording, studio recording. I don't know! What should he be learning? I know this is very open ended, because he doesn't know what he wants. Just venting and looking for ideas, he will do what he wants when he finds it, but I figure my job is to put things in his path until he trips on something. As I told him when he went to college, explore everything on campus until you find what tweaks you! I think he played video games instead.   Any Ideas?   Thanks, Dad

"Tom Miller" <tmiller11147@verizon.net>: Dec 31 07:37PM -0500 "amdx" <nojunk@knology.net> wrote in message news:m823ht$628$2@dont-email.me... > you find what tweaks you! I think he played video games instead.   > Any Ideas?   > Thanks, Dad   Armed forces including the CG.

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>: Dec 31 05:17PM -0800 >and then flounder with job prospects, but he didn't. > He keeps saying he has an interest in music, he plays guitar, talks >about mixing but has no equipment except a computer.   I had a similar problem with a former ladyfriend's son. He was studying to be an architect, but preferred to play guitar with his friends. At one point, he announced that he was dropping out of college to become a professional musician. His mother panicked and volunteered me to talk to him on the assumption that my sledge hammer style of diplomacy and tactless pragmatism might have some effect.   I expected a long dragged out battle, but instead found the right pitch line on the first try. It told him that I knew plenty of architects that play guitar on the side, but no guitarists that dabble in architectural design on the side. I didn't even have to threaten him with being grounded, disinherited and thrown out of the house. He eventually finished college, apprenticed with the strangest architectural firm in the area, got married (twice), and is now gainfully employed. He occasionally plays the guitar.   > I've got about $25,000 into his education so far and don't mind >spending some more to get him on a track.   Throwing good money after bad? Unfortunately, you may need to do that anyway. Which would you rather pay, tuition or bail money? The real problem is that if quits now, even temporarily, the odds are very much against him ever going back to college.   > What are some job categories in music, music recording, studio >recording. I don't know! What should he be learning?   This is all very familiar to me. I wanted to write music instead of becoming an engineer. However, in the late 1960's, the decision was easy. I could go to college, study something that qualifies for a student deferment, or I could play soldier in Viet Nam. The decision was a no-brainer. In retrospect, I was a fairly lousy composer and worse musician, but that wasn't obvious to me at the time.   He should be studying anything EXCEPT music. I've watched several kids grow up to be musicians of various sorts. It was study music 100% of their time. Only the very best make money doing music, which incidentally requires a well placed mentor. If he fails to make the grade for entrance into one of the top conservatories, he's going nowhere.   >I know this is very open ended, because he doesn't know what he wants.   He wants the opposite of whatever you want.   >Just venting and looking for ideas, he will do what he wants when he >finds it, but I figure my job is to put things in his path until he >trips on something.   I think you should introduce him to the merits of alternative employment, such as those found on the TV series "Dirty Jobs". I suspect that he'll find something less disgusting rather quickly. Otherwise, just throw him out of the house and let him discover the value of holding a job.   > As I told him when he went to college, explore everything on campus >until you find what tweaks you! I think he played video games instead.   Exploring what the college has to offer is like going to Disneyland for a reality check. College is not real. My illusions of what an engineer did on the job were very different from what I "learned" in college. (Details on request). Unless he's worked his way through college with relevent jobs in the "real world", he's not going to find anything in college.   >Any Ideas?   Just one. Don't let him quit college. Use a carrot, stick, bribe, or threats, whatever it takes to keep him in skool. However, if he quits, keep the money and teach him Spanish so he can get a job at McDonald's.   Sheesh... talk about off topic. -- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Jan 01 02:52AM -0800 amdx wrote:   > The Sig Gen for guitar amps started me thinking.   ** Wot an unintended consequence .....     > spending some more to get him on a track. > What are some job categories in music, music recording, studio > recording. I don't know! What should he be learning?   ** There are private colleges in most big cities the offer courses in audio engineering, audio production and related subjects. If your boy gets a certificate from one AND also has diploma in education - he could get a cushy job working for one of these institutions.     > As I told him when he went to college, explore everything on campus > until you find what tweaks you! I think he played video games instead.   > Any Ideas?     ** Well, you could buy him a wet suit, snorkel and spear gun.   Then he could make his living out of "floundering" ....       ... Phil

larrymoencurly@my-deja.com: Jan 01 03:34AM -0800 On Wednesday, December 31, 2014 6:17:23 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote: > pitch line on the first try. It told him that I knew plenty of > architects that play guitar on the side, but no guitarists that dabble > in architectural design on the side.   What would you have told him if his major had been art history?

micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com>: Dec 31 08:34PM -0500 Not a repair question but I hope trying to figure out why is not too far OT.   I recently bought a bathroom scale of recent design, the kind with a clear platform and four legs, with the near legs each connected by a 3/8" siltver tube to the front legs, which are connected to the display etc. AIUI, the sensors are in each of the 4 legs.   When I first get on the scale, 2, 3 lower numbers flash by as it eventually (but quickly) gets to what it says is my weight.   But if I get off, wait for the display to go blank, and get on again, it goes straight to my weight. How can it do it without those intermediate steps? It seems like it has memorized the previous weight, maybe so that it can give the same weight and make people happy (unlike how unhappy I was with a previous scale with which I could gain or lose 4 pounds in 30 seconds.)   OTOH, if I pick up something weighing a pound or two, it does give a higher weight.   So the only question is, When the weight is the same, how does it get to the original weight faster?     BTW, it shows weight to the 10th of the pound. I don't expect it to be accurate to the 10th of a pound, but if it's precise, I can still use that digit for comparisons.

Oren <Oren@127.0.0.1>: Dec 31 05:44PM -0800 On Wed, 31 Dec 2014 20:34:43 -0500, micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> wrote:   >So the only question is, When the weight is the same, how does it get to >the original weight faster?   Memory? Some digital scales, as I read, are for multiple family members. Keeps data for each person. Is there a selection process - person 1, 2, etc?   IDK

Tony Hwang <dragon40@shaw.ca>: Dec 31 07:20PM -0700 micky wrote:   > BTW, it shows weight to the 10th of the pound. I don't expect it to be > accurate to the 10th of a pound, but if it's precise, I can still use > that digit for comparisons.   Hi, IMO. digital stuffs when turned on needs power on initialization sequence. I have luggage scale with a hook which acts same way. Have to wait few seconds to be ready.

micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com>: Jan 01 12:10AM -0500 >> BTW, it shows weight to the 10th of the pound. I don't expect it to be >> accurate to the 10th of a pound, but if it's precise, I can still use >> that digit for comparisons.   No, Oren, no separate memories for more than one person >IMO. digital stuffs when turned on needs power on initialization >sequence. I have luggage scale with a hook which acts same way. >Have to wait few seconds to be ready.   I think you got it It starts right away, but can't come to a final decision for a couple seconds.   Thanks, both of you.

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Dec 31 10:32PM -0800 micky wrote:   > clear platform and four legs, with the near legs each connected by a > 3/8" siltver tube to the front legs, which are connected to the display > etc. AIUI, the sensors are in each of the 4 legs.     ** LOL - I found one exactly like that being chucked out a few weeks ago. A good clean up and a new lithium cell soon got it working OK.     > eventually (but quickly) gets to what it says is my weight.   > But if I get off, wait for the display to go blank, and get on again, it > goes straight to my weight.   ** My one does that kind of thing too.   I was puzzled why there was a piezo transducer mounted inside the unit next to the electronics - then I discovered the scales reacted to sharp sounds like tapping on the glass plate to active the display.   Funny how folk never place instruction books with throw away gadgets...       .... Phil

jurb6006@gmail.com: Dec 31 12:09PM -0800 >the first time I've ever heard great sounding E-A string harmonics. Maybe >been around too many cheap guitars, but usually I HATE when those two >strings are strummed. Always sounds a bit sour, but NOT with my pickup. "   I was going to tell him to just use a damn guitar. That's what I do. Want 0.1 distortion in a guitar amp ? Shit, the more distortion one of them things has the more people like it.   The E and A played together makes an A chord, but it is sorta inverted. You couild think of it as you want the fundamental of the chord to be the lowest note in the chord. If you play the E open and the A at the second fret you get an E chord. If you play the A open and the D at the second fret you also get an A chord but it is with the A as the lowest note in the chord, which some seem to find sounds better. At this point the chords are undefined, meaning there is no major or minor or any of that other stuff.   But everything is a chord. You can play all the strings on a guyitar open and it is some form of A or E chord. Like a seventh fifth with and augmented 13th and a diminishe 15th or some such shit. Seriously. Very rarely used but is definable. There is a site online that will tell what it is and I used it a few times but don't remember what it said. Also, I along with quite a few people can simply strum oll the strings open and immediately tell if it is in tune. Not that I have perfect pitch, the whole thing could be flat or sharp but it is at least in tune with itself. When you get that good you should be making some money somehow off of it.   Some chords just sound like shit on an electric. Take the regular G for example. The first string is played at G and the A is played at the second fret which makes it a B. That is not what makes it a chord, that is what makes it a major chord. If the B is an octave up, the fuzzy will sound good, but the way it is played conventionall that B is too close in frequency and the distortion inherent in regular magnetic guitar picks can make it sound like shit. Same with the C when you play it by the book.   I play a couple of little ditties on guitar which absolutely MUST be pl;ayed on an aacoustic because of the chords. I think I invented a bunch of the chords but of course that is not true. I DISCOVERED a bunch of unconventional chords. Everything is a chord no matter what as long as all the notes are on the standard scale. Twelve steps to an octave is what makes the math work.   I have an acoustic floating around here with a pickup added to it. Truthfully I would rather put a microphne in front of it than to use the pickup. However I have heard the new special pickups they put in acustic guitars now and have been properly inpressed. They sound real if they are going through an amp clean. Listen to Treetop Flyer by Steven Stills for an idea. They sound like that. I'm not sure if he used those type of pickup or a mic, but that fucking guitar is reproduced faithfully. High fidelity.   And that's the difference. In fact talk to guitar players and alot of them will agree that playing an acoustic is a different ballgame than an electric, and some say the electric is not really a guitar. Les Paul disagreed a few decades ago and may have won the argument in light of all the rock and roll in the world. (my Uncle took guitar lessons from Les Paul)   But Les Paul in a way effectively invented a new instrument. You could say it is like the difference between a piano and a harpsichord. Seriously different but sdo alike.   You could almost say though that the electric guitar is limiting. There are so many chords that simply sound like shit on it, but when played on a nice big bodied acoustic sound not only good, but could be described as rich. In the last few days at work, the guitar guy has been in and just when he tunes them up and tests them, the chord prgression he goes through is IMPRESSIVE. He is also a master of appregriation. (sp?) I guess if you are going to build guitars you should be able to play them eh ?   In fact I am a witness to what happens otherwise. Friend of mine has a surrrogate Grandfather. Lives with him on occasion, lkeeps in touch and when he was young they did everyrhing. The Man things like fishing, welding and scrapping. That old Man built his own guitar. Of course he bought the neck, but the body was made out of the wood from a box for a casket. ot the casket, but the box it came in.   He was off. He did not realize that the twelfth fret has to be in the middle of the strings. I adjusted it but it put the bridge in a place that seems awkward. Doesn't sound bad though as long as that is where it needs to be.   So this pickup, is that your claim to fame ? These pickups I have heard, I consider them fantastic. Inside the ghuitar they pickup less feedback and they really do sound good. Friand of mine (hmm, about time to call him) bought a new Ibanez with those pickups in it. Not the kind mounted to the hole which work like electric pickups, this is those good ones inside that sound like it is miced. Well that electronic preamp in there went bad.   He paid $300 for it and when the electronics went bad under warranty they said it could not be fixed and gave him a full refund. I found out why because I gave him $100 for it. So he made a hundred on the deal but it is a good damn playing acoustic. I thought I could fix it but the way they made it, they are right, it can't be fixed.   Well it could be but the body of it would have to be taken apart. They must ount one of those peize things or whatever in there before the wood is glued together. On a manufacturain level you can do that.   But the fact is that on that guitar the action is almost good as an electric and the intonation is perfect. (that is from my ears and comparing to a digital piano, not by any laboratory testing or freq counter, which would actually be LESS accurate IMO)   Wish I oculd play the fucken things. Yeah, I can pick out a few chords and shit but really, that is not really playing. I had a buddy who said Jimi Hendrix was nothing but a second rate blues guitarist. When he plays you know he is damn qualified to say that. He'll sit there and play and sing Stairway To Heaven no problem. Playing a song like that alone rather than just part of it in a band is a whole different thing. You have one instrument and you must play all the parts. I've tried it. It's a bitch. I can BARELY manage to play and sing at the same time.   OK this is probably already a TLDR so, later.

jurb6006@gmail.com: Dec 31 12:27PM -0800 >"** Which does NOT qualify in any way, shape or form as a BENCH AUDIO GENERATOR >suitable for day in day out, knock down drag out bench repair work on smelly, >dirty, rusty old guitar amps."   Rusty ? you're lucky they got metal in them to rust. In my country it is hard to get metal, everything is plastic.   Anyway, what is so knock down drag out about it ? Are you going to do some sort of product testing and rating ? If you are talking guitar amps maybe instead of a low distortion generator you want a high distortion generator. they crave distortion in thoise things. In fact the crave the distortion by their favorite amp, at times the will build a seald box and mic the amp for a concert, or at least they used to. Really, all those big ass speakers and in the back is a little 25 watt Fender or some shit with THE ORIGINAL SPEAK, in a wood box with foam all over the sides, playing its guts out, but the microphone in the box feeds the big ass 2,000 watt amps outside.   Two basic things I do not see you needing for this applicatiion. you do not need anything over 20 kHz and you do not need low THD. The thing you probably could use is a calibrated output level to make sure the amp distorts correctly at a certain level input.   When you are lookng for bad outputs and shit like that, almost any signal will do. In fact I tesat regular audio amps sometimes just on a regualr input,like for FM or something. I just null the output and input on the scope and see what is left. Divide it up mathematically and you get a total distortion figure, which includes any phase shift induced error as well as any variations in the frequency response. It always reads worse than the THD or IM specs but if it is under 1 % you are doing good. At least you can be relatively sure that there is no malfunction in the amp.   We are not the Institute of High Fidelity, nor are we Julian Hirsch. That's something maybe to get across at Audiokarma. If you can REALLY hear the difference, there was something wrong. It is hard to tell 1 dB in frequency response and most people cannot hear 1 % distortion, but that varies. Studies done a long time ago indicated that people were much more tolerant of even order harmonic distortion than odd order. And the fact is that most speakers have so much THD that the spec is never published. It is a secret. A few do, but they are not among the cheap.   Anyway, as far as a generator just use resistors to divide it down and use the function genny. Float the DUT with an isolation transformer like the book says. That's the way you do it. However it will not get your money for nothing and your chicks for free.

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Dec 31 03:06PM -0800 > >"** Which does NOT qualify in any way, shape or form as a BENCH AUDIO GENERATOR >suitable for day in day out, knock down drag out bench repair work on smelly, >dirty, rusty old guitar amps."   > Rusty ? you're lucky they got metal in them to rust. In my country it is hard to get metal, everything is plastic.   ** So you have neve seen a guitar amp - right ?     > Anyway, what is so knock down drag out about it ?   ** Means getting the job done in the most efficient way.     Are you going to do some sort of product testing and rating ? If you are talking guitar amps maybe instead of a low distortion generator you want a high distortion generator. they crave distortion in thoise things.   ** So you have neve seen a guitar amp - right ?   > Two basic things I do not see you needing for this applicatiion. you do not need anything over 20 kHz and you do not need low THD.   ** So you haver neve seen a guitar amp - right ?   > The thing you probably could use is a calibrated output level to make sure the amp distorts correctly at a certain level input.     ** Yeah - all you need for that is a linear pot and a 10:1 step attenuator. A DMM will do for calibration of the highest range at say 100Hz at a few spots on the dial - then it remains the same for all lower ranges and frequencies.     > Anyway, as far as a generator just use resistors to divide it down and use the function genny.   ** Function generators are shit awful for audio repair work, the sine wave is full of high order harmonics that get exaggerated by the treble boost in many guitar amp models. Sounds bad through the speaker and looks bad on a scope.   So you have never seen a guitar amp - right ?   .... Phil

whit3rd <whit3rd@gmail.com>: Dec 31 03:27PM -0800 On Tuesday, December 30, 2014 2:15:55 PM UTC-8, Phil Allison wrote:   > > > 3{a}. Square wave output for checking tone circuits and amplifier stability.   > > Or, maybe a white-noise output?   > ** Worse than your other mad ideas.   A/B switch, headphones, attenuator; it's not hard to check uncalibrated tone controls that way. Or, with a math-equipped DSO, it can be quick to measure.   A real square wave has lots of bandwidth, beyond the important, audible, spectrum.

Phil Allison <pallison49@gmail.com>: Dec 31 03:56PM -0800 whit3rd wrote:     > > ** Worse than your other mad ideas.   > A/B switch, headphones, attenuator; it's not hard to check uncalibrated tone > controls that way. Or, with a math-equipped DSO, it can be quick to measure.   ** So you never tested a tone control or stack using a square wave and a scope ?   It is a VERY quick, easy and unambiguous way of seeing if all the controls do what they are supposed to.   > A real square wave has lots of bandwidth, beyond the important, audible, spectrum.   ** But a guitar amp does not - plus the amplitude of all harmonics fall in proportion to their frequency.   Square waves contain only the odd numbered harmonics, predominately 3rd, 5th and 7th with amplitudes 1/3, 1/5 and 1/7 of the fundamental.   With guitar amps, I use a 250Hz square wave and firstly try to set the controls so the output looks square on a scope. Next, I turn each control through is full range and then back to the "flat" position.   Treble boost causes overshoots to appear at the leading edges of the square wave, treble cut rounds them. Mid and bass controls cause the horizontal parts of the square wave to tilt sharply uphill and down. At the same time, you can see if the controls are working smoothly, free of noise and intermittent operation.     .... Phil

Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com>: Dec 31 11:05PM > to put down a coffee cup. > If I threw away everything I haven't touched in a decade, > the place would be barren.   I like "stuff" so the last project was putting up tall shelving along some walls. It beats stacks of boxes and Akro-bins. Some stuff just doesn't fit and most projects live on fiberglass cafeteria type trays, which can't be stacked so they take up table tops. Like gas, I can fill any amount of space presented with no problem.

hindsitetrader@sbcglobal.net: Dec 31 11:12AM -0800 I have an Acurite with outdoor sensor that I got as a gift. The indoor is right on, but the outdoor temp is 6-7 degrees LOW based on comparisons with multiple sources including another wired thermometer to the outside, also in the shade. That one always reads exact to my various other sources. It's just annoying and realize I should just replace it but Ive been looking for a weather station that gives me wind speed and direction and something of higher quality but not over 300 to 400$.

mike <ham789@netzero.net>: Dec 31 12:59PM -0800 > I have an Acurite with outdoor sensor that I got as a gift. The indoor is right on, but the outdoor temp is 6-7 degrees LOW based on comparisons with multiple sources including another wired thermometer to the outside, also in the shade. That one always reads exact to my various other sources. It's just annoying and realize I should just replace it but Ive been looking for a weather station that gives me wind speed and direction and something of higher quality but not over 300 to 400$.   make sure your sensors are exactly in the same place and shielded from the wind/sun etc when you compare. It's noon. Front sensor reads 34F Side sensor reads 42F Back sensor reads 38F all are in the shade. If I put them all in the same place at night, they read within a degree of each other.   I have an Acurite remote thermometer. The clock loses about half a minute per day. Looks like we agree they're crap.   Make darn sure you have a place to mount your weather station. I got one on a whim at a garage sale cuz it was free. Got it home and started looking where I'd mount it. Turns that there's enough shadow from trees along the back to block a significant portion of the rain. And all the swirling from the trees made the wind speed and direction just random numbers. Glad I didn't pay $400 for it.

Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com>: Dec 31 10:36PM > I have an Acurite with outdoor sensor that I got as a gift. The indoor is right on, but the outdoor temp is 6-7 degrees LOW based on comparisons with multiple sources including another wired thermometer to the outside, also in the shade. That one always reads exact to my various other sources. It's just annoying and realize I should just replace it but Ive been looking for a weather station that gives me wind speed and direction and something of higher quality but not over 300 to 400$.   I use the cheapo radio shack indoor/outdoor thermometers and they drift as well. When new, the outside probe and inside probe matched, but not anymore. I think something happened with the insulation of the wire or the sensor which is potted in a little probe.

jurb6006@gmail.com: Dec 31 12:40PM -0800 What is the application ? Part numbers do not matter as much anymore except for ordering. If you can figure out what gate voltage/current triggers it and the voltage, current and speed ratings you can plug all that into a selector guide like on Digikey, or I've heard Mouser has that as ell, and probably a few other places.

sam@repairfaq.org (Samuel M. Goldwasser): Dec 31 05:34PM -0500 > triggers it and the voltage, current and speed ratings you can plug > all that into a selector guide like on Digikey, or I've heard Mouser > has that as ell, and probably a few other places.   It's for an existing applications and is running fine at 1,450 V, and few kA pulsed.   I'd be happier knowing its ratings actually support that though! ;-)   The C387 series doesn't come anywhere close.   -- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/ Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/ +Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm | Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html   Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

legojunkiemt@gmail.com: Dec 31 12:19PM -0800 hi everyone i recently revived my fathers old sony mz-r37 minidisc player/recorder i had to fix the terminals in the batt casing it totally worked fine for about a week then i dropped it..... twice mind you from a height of about two feet and onto carpet and accidentally, it happened when i was about to record it worked fine for about 20 min's, then i put in a new disc now the disc icon spins and spins, to top that all it doesn't read the disc but it can tell if there's no disc. i cleaned the laser and that stuff in the casing with a qtip it worked and played 5 min's of a song the stopped, iv'e tried new batts please just try and give any sort of advice to help my father would be furious if its broken and if i tried to take it apart i would be screwed.

legojunkiemt@gmail.com: Dec 31 01:01PM -0800 the batt casing had batterys in it for about 5 years

jurb6006@gmail.com: Dec 31 12:37PM -0800 I agree. If you are going to really counterfeit, why counterfeit pennies when you can do twenty dollar bills. I know soneone who did, but then they would up ion the pen. At least I got the priveledge of knowing someone who did federal time. (lol)

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