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Messages - CodeMonk

#46
Build Reports / Re: Baltic Birch Fuzz
March 24, 2020, 08:15:47 AM
Quote from: cooder on March 24, 2020, 08:07:04 AM
Class! Did you end up putting any shielding / copper tape or so on inside?

I had some copper foil I put in later on (I had bought some to shield my Strat).
I'd have updated pictures, but I moved a few months ago and a lot of stuff is still in boxes.
#47
Build Reports / Baltic Birch Fuzz
March 24, 2020, 07:51:41 AM
Since its going to be at least a few weeks (or more) before I can post what I am currently working on, and inspired by this build report: https://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=30931.0
I thought I would post something I did a few years ago, A fuzz pedal in a wooden box.
I had built a 2x12 cab using some Baltic Birch and had some left over.

Here is the schematic


Made this turret board (its missing a resistor in this picture)


Gut shot


Empty box pre-polishing


Polishing. I used olive oil (its all I had on hand at the time)


All done, minus knobs.


I had my neighbor, who has a little machine shop in his garage take care of the holes and hollowing out the inside.
#48
Quote from: somnif on March 16, 2020, 11:16:02 PM
Quote from: CodeMonk on March 16, 2020, 08:14:20 PM
Hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol is out everywhere, and washing with soap and water may not be convenient (out and about, in your car, etc.), but while looking, I think I have found an as yet, untapped resource...
Mouthwash
Most of it has alcohol in it.
Might make your hands sticky, but its an option.

No no no, don't do that. You need 60%+ alcohol to have any real effectiveness, and even the booziest of mouthwashes tops out around 30%. Plus, that stickyness could make you more likely to actually pick stuff up.
ok then.
I didn't buy any.
I did find a small hotel room sized bottle of hand sanitizer amongst the rest of my stuff that is still boxed up from when I moved.
#49
Hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol is out everywhere, and washing with soap and water may not be convenient (out and about, in your car, etc.), but while looking, I think I have found an as yet, untapped resource...
Mouthwash
Most of it has alcohol in it.
Might make your hands sticky, but its an option.

As for toilet paper, bathroom sink and a washrag.
#50
Went to Walmart to do my normal shopping and get some health related things.
They are now only open 6AM - 11PM.

And this is unrelated, but relevant.
I live practically a stones throw away from Hwy 80 (maybe not a stone, but could hit it with a BB gun).
Its a MAJOR trucking/shipping route.
Its been closed at the California/Nevada border for 2 days now due to a storm.
#51
21 cases reported in Nevada, with 9 in my area, Washoe County (Reno area).
I know of at least one casino closing. Don't know about the rest of them, but i think its likely they will follow suit.
Casinos are a major source of tax revenue here and employee a massive amount of people.

Tesla, where I work is still operating. Several thousand people work there (I've been off on medical leave for a few months (unrelated to the virus).
#52
Quote from: BuGG on March 14, 2020, 03:43:14 PM
I suspect the trend was spread by the internet....

It was a little different here though, no one seemed to be hoarding anything except hand sanitizer and clorox wipes.   Ironically there was plenty of hand soap available everywhere.    ::)

Yesterday the food and toilet paper disappeared all at once.   I don't think anywhere here took it serious until it affected the sporting events.

Well, UNR (University Of Nevada Reno) as well as those they compete against has canceled all games, basically until further notice.
I only go to the football games, so that doesn't really affect me personally.

But I did have tickets for Lynyrd Skynyrd tonight, which was moved to October 2nd, and current tickets will be honored.
So I'm kinda bummed about that, but i do understand.

I haven't been to the big store for a few weeks. Just the little gas stations nearby. so I dunno how bad things are there yet.
#53
Open Discussion / Re: Finally, a new soldering iron
March 12, 2020, 04:27:50 AM
I got one of those a few weeks ago.
Keep hearing good things about it.
I got a Weller (just the iron, no station) somewhere here in a box (moved a few months ago and lots of things are still in a box :)  ).
Now I just to need setup a work area.

My previous Weller lasted over 30 years before the transformer died on me a few years back.
#54
Introductions / Re: Hello from Northern Nevada
March 11, 2020, 08:19:53 AM
OK, guess who is back.
I got such a nice welcome before, especially from Brian, I kinda feel guilty about disappearing from everything DIY, pedal, and electronics related.

About 5 years ago, I was getting a bit overworked. Mostly doing pedal and amp repairs, developing and making prototype PCBs for small companies, and everything except WORKING ON MY OWN PROJECTS.

Letting my personal projects, that I had spent quite a long time planning, designing etc. take a back seat, along with the usually BS that comes along with age, health issues and family problems, well, I needed to step away from everything for awhile.

About 3 years ago, I sort of restarted my life. Got a steady job (although currently on medical leave, hopefully just due to pinched nerves). Been working at the Tesla Gigafactory for the last 3.5 years. Mostly working on the Powerwall product. Occasionally they put me in charge of some new area to get it going. No extra pay, but they pretty much let me run the area the way I want and leave me be. That's worth a few extra bucks an hour to me. 12 hours shifts kinda suck. But alternating 3 and 4 day weekends are cool. I usually spend my first day off sleeping.

Anyway, for the last 2 months, I have been continuing work on a project I dropped 5 years ago, that I had spent almost 2 years developing. Yeah, Its a pedal. I had to learn a lot of new things when I started this thing. Bought books, read this and that, and probably annoyed R.G. Keen a bit :). And I had to do other crap, not just that. I did need to eat.
I'm not gonna give any details about it yet, but I do hope to have some prototypes built within the next month. I have almost all the parts (just need knobs). and I have to move a wall here to give me some working room.
All prototype boards are already designed in DIYLC and I will etch those as soon as I have some working room.

I started working with Diptrace about a week ago. I like it way better than Eagle so far. I have my main board designed in it already.
And speaking of Diptrace...

@rullywowr you still have your 3D Diptrace library?. All links i found here are dead :(


I hope to be popping in here now any then as time permits.

And I no longer live in that little place called Stagecoach. I live about 60 miles away from there in a place called Wadsworth, Nevada.
#55
Open Discussion / Spur of the moment video
April 30, 2015, 05:16:56 AM
Except for doing the video for my then future ex-girlfriend's daughter's wedding, this is the very first video I have ever made.
It was very much a spur of the moment thing, so please forgive the mess and shaky camera, crappy audio, crapy video.
This was filmed with a Kodak EasyShare C195 camera


The quality actually came out better than I expected.
Maybe I can actually demo some of my builds with this thing.
Although I need to find or look up the manual to see if I can hook up some kind of external audio source for better sound.
Not really to bad for a camera I paid $85 for at Walmart 4 -5 years ago.
#56
This is a very simple, basic "Bypass Box" I built 5 or 6 years ago:
Alligator clips for Input, Output, +V, Ground, with an LED and a bypass switch.
Easy to go from guitar > bypass box - breadboard > amp.





From this picture you should be able to see that the alligator clips are soldered onto a board I etched with 4 straight and wide traces.
2 screws, some solder, and a lot of hot glue hold it all together.




And now I can't seem to find my "Audio Probe 2.0" I built a few days ago  >:(
Did find the crappy "Audio Probe 1.0" I built awhile back though.
And I have a board I need to trace tonight  :(
#57
Open Discussion / Re: Star Wars trailer
April 17, 2015, 08:33:43 AM
Looking forward to it.

Hope it doesn't suck (IMO) like the prequels though.
I'm a little bit of a Star Wars geek.
Not geeky enough to have the dolls (Sorry, "Action Figures"), and stuff, but I was geeky enough to ask my (then) girlfriend for ALL the movies (1 - 6) for my birthday one year.
And she was geeky enough to know what I was talking about and to buy the right versions for me (She's also an EE).
#58
Thanks flanagan0718
Being "in the business" for much of the last 30+ years, you learn all sorts of tips and tricks over the years.
Theres a lot of good ideas in this skull of mine.
Theres also a lot of crap.
The useless probably out numbers the useful by 1000:1 (One of my GF's, during team Trivial Pursuit games, called me "My own personal database of useless knowledge  :P  ).

One more specific one with the stranded wire and heatshrink I use going from DC jack to PCB...
1. Use twisted pair.
2. Terminate only at one end.
3. Cover the whole thing with a single piece of shrink sleeving.
4. Bend to taste.
5. Shrink.

Edit: I should specify that I only do that with top mounted jacks (DC jack included) with the board (or the power connection) near the other end of the enclosure).

I tend to be pretty generous with shrink sleeving since I picked up a 300Ft roll for $33 at an electronic parts surplus store in Sun Valley, Ca. ( Apex Electronics for anyone in that area. Man, I REALLY miss that place).
Even if you don't live down there, they have an ebay store, but you will get MUCH better prices in the brick and mortar store.
#59
Quote from: flanagan0718 on April 15, 2015, 04:49:21 PM
Here are my experiences with the stranded vs solid wire
                     
                                      Pros
      Solid                            |                     Stranded
1. Stays put                        |             1. Dosen't brake easy
2. Looks good                     |              2. Easier to manuver
3. Can be used as               |              3. Readily available
    PCB mount substitute      |              4. Easier to fit in tight spots (under and over jacks)
4. Easier to solder to board  |              5. Easier to Tin or buy pre-bonded
5. Can be used for
    Bread Board Jumpers

                                      Cons
       Solid                                              Stranded
1. Breaks very easily           |            1. If not tinned correctly can cause "cold solder joints"
2. Once bent harder            |            2. Can look very messy if not zip tied or bent into place
    straighten out
3. Makes me swear A LOT!!



Nice looking work there.

There is a simple way around your #2 "cons" issue with stranded.
Its a bit more work, but not much once you get a system down, and can look quite nice with the right colors.
But only works with with 2 or more wires (so signal and +V wires together, I would not recommend).
Shrink Sleeving.
1. Cut wires to the proper finished length.
2. Cut pieces of shrink sleeving, about 0.5mm* or 1.0mm* in length.
3. Place pieces of shrink sleeving about an 20mm - 30mm* or so (but evenly) apart.
4. Route wires and shrink the sleeving. Or you can shrink the sleeving, route the wires and re-heat.
("Yeah and whats this with a damn 'Murican; using metric?'
ALL my pedal measurements are in metric. It just makes so much more sense to me.

*Adjust length as needed depending on finished wire length.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures but it can actually look very nice.

There are tools available for cutting lots of shrink sleeving, all to the same length
Example:

I used to use a tool just like this A LOT when I worked in the industry.
They work very well.
And I'm sure you can probably find them for less.

I've even made DIY cutters for this modeled after a typical arm type paper cutter.
Uses an easily changeable razor blade to cut. (If you build one, be VERY careful, unless you think you can be the next Tony Iommi  ;D).
I'll see if I can get a pic up in the next day or two of it if anyone is interested.

If nothing else, its a useful tool for all your shrink sleeving cutting needs (geez, I sound like a door to door salesman).
#60
Open Discussion / Re: What does PIF stand for?
April 16, 2015, 10:37:05 AM
OK, makes sense.
Thanks