***Official Electronics Thread of Officialness (it starts off with lots of Nixie Tube Clock goodness

taliesyn · 17 Nov 2011 at 18:48

p4radox said:
I think this is what I'll build next:

http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html

Finally, an amp designed by someone who's honest, objective, and doesn't use words like "warm sound" all the time. A very good blog, too.

/edit: he's been banned from HeadFi! Looks like he disagreed with some of the specs of some of the sponsors' products...

I actually have 2 O2 boards here and complete kits of parts for them. I've got 2 front panels on the way from the group buy on diyaudio and I just need the enclosures, which I'll grab next time I order from farnell.

Oh yes, and I need the time to build them too. Time is at a bit of a premium at the moment as we've had a water/kitchen based incident which has necessitated a new floor, scrapping the old kitchen entirely and having a complete new kitchen fitted. It's 85% done now, but we still have builders floating about the place most days and the floor is still drying. Aaarghh!

Lakeland · 17 Nov 2011 at 21:21

taliesyn said:
I actually have 2 O2 boards here and complete kits of parts for them. I've got 2 front panels on the way from the group buy on diyaudio and I just need the enclosures, which I'll grab next time I order from farnell.

Oh yes, and I need the time to build them too. Time is at a bit of a premium at the moment as we've had a water/kitchen based incident which has necessitated a new floor, scrapping the old kitchen entirely and having a complete new kitchen fitted. It's 85% done now, but we still have builders floating about the place most days and the floor is still drying. Aaarghh!

Oh that looks nice! Is there a uk seller which sells it in kit form? I really need a quality headphone amp for my hd650s

Feek · 17 Nov 2011 at 21:39

My second clock is all completed but I've had some issues with the tubes that Pete at PVE is helping me with.

I had to solder some SMD devices for the first time, 18 SMD LEDs. That was a little daunting at first but I think it went OK. They all work.

I did them all with my twenty year old 50 watt Weller iron with the pointy tip.

orderoftheflame · 18 Nov 2011 at 07:37

Is this the IN-18 clock Feek?

Feek · 18 Nov 2011 at 12:48

Yup, I'm hoping to be able to post a picture of it this evening as there's a package for me at home.

p4radox · 18 Nov 2011 at 12:51

taliesyn said:
I actually have 2 O2 boards here and complete kits of parts for them. I've got 2 front panels on the way from the group buy on diyaudio and I just need the enclosures, which I'll grab next time I order from farnell.

Oh yes, and I need the time to build them too. Time is at a bit of a premium at the moment as we've had a water/kitchen based incident which has necessitated a new floor, scrapping the old kitchen entirely and having a complete new kitchen fitted. It's 85% done now, but we still have builders floating about the place most days and the floor is still drying. Aaarghh!

Good stuff. Let us know how it goes.

I have the opposite problem right now - loads of time but no money. I'm starting a new job in December and have very little to do until then apart from drool over stuff I want to buy with my first paycheck...

Glaucus · 18 Nov 2011 at 12:56

Oh looking forward to pictures.

Where's a good place to get all the pcb supplies and components.

Borden · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:40

I have a couple of cMoyBB's and a Bantam DAC here ready for building but am just waiting for the time to do so!

I want to make an O2 as well but am waiting for him to release the desktop version and I'll then probably try and integrate a Bantam DAC into the enclosure with it. Should be sweet!

EDIT:

Glaucus: I bought all my parts for the cMoy at Mouser's UK store, shipping still cost £12 though which is annoying. However in order to get the right parts that I know for sure will fit on the PCB (jacks mainly) I just went for it!

There are other places that are good too, Farnell, Rapid, RS Components. Farnell does free shipping (I think) with a minimum spend of £20 which is great if you can source all your parts from them!

taliesyn · 18 Nov 2011 at 19:57

Lakeland said:
Oh that looks nice! Is there a uk seller which sells it in kit form? I really need a quality headphone amp for my hd650s

No, I don't think so. I got the pcbs from the group buy on diyaudio, and I got the parts from a gent on there who'd ordered 5 sets of components from Mouser to combat the extortionate shipping charges. The front panels are on order from another group buy. No one does complete kits as far as I'm aware. So far anyway.

Feek said:
My second clock is all completed but I've had some issues with the tubes that Pete at PVE is helping me with.

I had to solder some SMD devices for the first time, 18 SMD LEDs. That was a little daunting at first but I think it went OK. They all work.

SMD soldering looks good Feek, and it looks a monster!

p4radox said:
Good stuff. Let us know how it goes.

I have the opposite problem right now - loads of time but no money. I'm starting a new job in December and have very little to do until then apart from drool over stuff I want to buy with my first paycheck...

Will do. Good luck with the job. Sounds like that first paycheck is already gone

PhillyDee · 18 Nov 2011 at 20:25

Mouser charge so much as they are in the states.

Lakeland · 18 Nov 2011 at 22:12

Thanks for getting back taliesyn. I've managed to track down a source for the PCB, it was £10 delivered, now just to source the components. Are there any that are hard to source? I think there is a template for the front cover so it shouldn't be too hard to make one

taliesyn · 19 Nov 2011 at 01:07

PhillyDee said:
Mouser charge so much as they are in the states.

They sure are. Texas I believe. They do free shipping on orders over £50 though so it makes sense order a few spare kits.

Lakeland said:
Thanks for getting back taliesyn. I've managed to track down a source for the PCB, it was £10 delivered, now just to source the components. Are there any that are hard to source? I think there is a template for the front cover so it shouldn't be too hard to make one

No worries

There are a few which are not particularly easy to source in the UK, but equivalents are available. Have a look at the Bill of Materials spreadsheet.

The beauty of ordering from Mouser is that the vast majority of the parts for the amp are stock items, although not all are in stock at the moment. The 2.74Mohms Xicon 50PPM resistor was out of stock (Vishay make a similar one though IIRC), the knob (ooh-er!) and some easily replaced and sourced ceramic caps.

Farnell/RS are probably your best bet for a lot of it, otherwise TTI (apparently). They're in Germany, and share a lot of inventory with Mouser I'm told. Not surprising really as I believe they are Mouser's parent company

Not used them myself though.

May even be worth your while asking on diyaudio, as possibly somebody may have some left. Maybe even the guy I got my parts off.

Feek · 19 Nov 2011 at 07:54

A couple of quick video clips of the new clock, the contrast isn't great due to the lighting in the room at the time. I've stood the IN-8-2 clock next to it to give an indication of size.

Cosimo · 19 Nov 2011 at 08:30

That looks great. Now all you need is a good case.

Glaucus · 19 Nov 2011 at 18:06

Looks great Feek, although personally prefer them without the blue LEDs? Or is it just that tubes design at the base

Borden said:
Glaucus: I bought all my parts for the coy at Mouser's UK store, shipping still cost £12 though which is annoying. However in order to get the right parts that I know for sure will fit on the PCB (jacks mainly) I just went for it!

There are other places that are good too, Farnell, Rapid, RS Components. Farnell does free shipping (I think) with a minimum spend of £20 which is great if you can source all your parts from them!

Thanks, I really want to try this. I have so much spare time.
Has anyone got a circuit diagram for IV-11 tubes? I can't seem to find any.

Also can't seem to find a list of untreated wood pictures, to see what would look great for a case. I know there's a lot of wood choice out there and some with amazing grain/colour but we seem fixated on about 4 different kinds.

Tefal · 19 Nov 2011 at 18:09

rose wood like a snooker table

Cosimo · 19 Nov 2011 at 18:13

Tefal said:
got a bread board and a few bits and bobs

Not done anything yet?

Tefal · 19 Nov 2011 at 18:24

yep made some little things little voltage regulating circuits/leds etc) learning the basics

got some holiday next week so will have some weekday time to get more done.

Lakeland · 19 Nov 2011 at 19:07

Anyone fancy doing a group buy on o2 amp components from mouser? Would need about 4 people to get postage costs at a reasonable rate once divided out

p4radox · 19 Nov 2011 at 19:31

Lakeland said:
Anyone fancy doing a group buy on o2 amp components from mouser? Would need about 4 people to get postage costs at a reasonable rate once divided out

Provisionally, yes. I haven't really looked into the sourcing components side of the O2 so don't know much about it, but aren't there alternatives on Farnell for most things?