I wanna make something or mod something

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Got my soldering skills pretty good now, bit wobbly still but getting there...
I really enjoyed changing all the caps in the x-10d and I didn't break it, mixing the speakers was fun too ...
So now I wanna do somthing else along the same lines ...
I havent got much money at all, but I could save up for a bit if I fancied somthing .... I dnt really mind what it is, I just want to get better at making and understanding the electronics... And what ever it is, if I succeed and it sounds good, bonus!...
So, I guess some sort of kit would be a good start?
Or maybe I could mod somthing to sound better ... I have a Cambridge dac1 here I don't mind risking breaking...
Anyone got ant recommendations for a beginner in this area?

[DSJR]

Make the simple 12VAC power supply for the X10-D. The excellent trannie, switches and sockets come from RS, the ABS case and fuse from Maplin (no internal fuse is necessary as the mains socket has an inbuilt fuse), the insulated 5mm tags from Halfords and as long as you can cut the holes in the case and you have a crimping tool (or a solid bench vise), some 16A three core mains wire (I used a length I had spare and removed the outer insulation). I have some spare stick-on cable tidies you can have to neaten the job..

You won't regret doing this for the X10, as it improves it no end. I'll take some pics and post them up later..

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Cheers dave, I forgot about that, can you give me some links to the bits please buddy?

Well that's one thing, what else could I make/mod? :)

[Ali Tait]

How about a tripath board from ebay? You need a case and a power supply/transformer. Not difficult and should be a fun project.

[DSJR]

Cheers dave, I forgot about that, can you give me some links to the bits please buddy?

:)

These pics are NOT pretty and one or two of the 5mm tags were very tight and not fully inserted, any further pressure risks breaking the switch. As you can see, my cutting skills are zero and copious amounts of hot-melt glue and heatshrink were used to make things as safe as possible..

First, the two supplies. The left one is a 12AC 4A one made for Christmas lights I think. Much better than the standard wall-wart supplied - The connection to the X10-D is via a 5mm x 2,1mm "DC" plug, although the thing needs an AC voltage of around 12V (the trannie gives 15V without loading).

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/3c9e1a52.jpg

Next up, a couple of pics of the innards

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/62b689ac.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/9a68f741.jpg

Lastly, a shot of the underside, with felt pad concealing the 5mm countersunk screw-head (screws for transformer and IEC socket [3mm], nuts and mudguard washer from local hardware shop) and the little feet are from RS and the same as the ones I used for sitting speakers on stands...

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/20bbf567.jpg

Here's the link to the official version -

http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/easyxpsu.htm

The IEC socket I received had a fuse holder in it, so I used that. I added a ferrite to the mains wiring inside mine as a force of habit TBH. As I said, I have a small quantity of cable-tie bases if you want some (PM me your address again) and as long as you can cut the holes carefully and maybe hot-glue the sockets in place as well as screwing in the mains one, you won't go wrong. I'd suggest a 5A max fuse in the IEC lead as well..

These close-up pics make it look like a real dogs dinner, but it's safe enough and works fine. I like those transformers too - very quiet and no large hum fields, unlike certain other toroids I could mention :spew:

[leo]

Found this for the Dac2, obviously not dac1 but just to give some idea's http://lickham.co.uk/pdfs/dacmagic.pdf

An internal piccy of your dac with some close up details would give us some idea's what to suggest , thats if you fancy fiddling inside it .
PSU upgrades will always improve the performance of any dac so would be a good starter , you could always fiddle with the circuitry after the psu later

[markf]

If you are feeling confident why not try and modify your pre-amp for remote control, if
you want to start simple just activate the volume control,look around for a motorized pot
and control logic etc.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

My pre has a (apparently, I don't know which, Anthony chose it) pretty expensive stepped attenuator with a volume control that I specced to Anthony when he built it for me, the input switch isn't remote controlled but that doesn't bother me as I only switch between 2 of the inputs quite rarely ... Also if I wanted anything done, I'd just send it to Anthony, I'd be not confident messing with it for how much it cost and when I can just ask the guy who made it personally ... Well, it just wouldn't sence to try it my self...
Good thought though...

[Marco]

If you are feeling confident why not try and modify your pre-amp for remote control, if
you want to start simple just activate the volume control,look around for a motorized pot
and control logic etc.

:eek: :eek: :no:

Marco.

[markf]

Well the Cambridge DAC sounds like a good candidate then and I assume no one will have
any objections if you modify it.
So what doesn't it do currently that you could attempt to address and add some functionality.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I have been pointed toward a cmoy project as a starting point ... I built one from a kit last time, but this time I'm gonna do it from bits and try and learn about what I'm doing as I go ... Gotta start somewhere eh?

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Well the Cambridge DAC sounds like a good candidate then and I assume no one will have
any objections if you modify it.
So what doesn't it do currently that you could attempt to address and add some functionality.

I'm gonna work up to it I think..
Got my whole life to learn these things

Can anyone recommend a book that might help me learn more about this from starting out with only very very basic knowledge... I'm sure i could read up online... But books are better when it come to this sort of thing I reckon!