Author Archives: Adrian

SSMH: Construction & Completion

Last time, I left off at having just the top panel in the mail. This time, I have finished final construction on the SSMH and it’s all functional. Once I had the top panel in-hand, I did a dry test fit of everything. The heatsink fit perfectly, the tube sockets fit perfectly, the turret boards not so much. I specified the mounting holes a tad too close to the front panel and the edges of turret boards overhung more than I had accounted for. It seems like with every project, there is always at least one oversight that catches me near the end. I have gotten better, in this case all I had to do was file down the board edges a millimeter or two to fit. Easy-peasy. Continue reading →

SSMH: Planning and Provisioning

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I had a few projects floating around that I had wanted to build after I finished the DAC Controller. In the end, I settled on building a hybrid tube amplifier called the Starving Student Millet Hybrid (SSMH). The motivation was that I have yet to built a point-to-point, vacuum tube amplifier and I felt the desire to try my hand at building one. I didn’t feel comfortable jumping into a complicated build as my foray into something new. The SSMH has the benefit of a low part cost, hence “Starving Student.” A small investment translates to a low-risk first attempt at a point-to-point build which cemented my decision. Continue reading →

Weekend Project: Repairing a Sony PS-X7

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Between finishing my thesis and moving cross country for a new job, I haven’t had much time in the past six months for projects. Things are finally calming down though and I got back into the groove with a simple repair. My Sony PS-X7 turntable is from the 70s and the wear and tear is starting to show. The left channel was always intermittent and during the move it finally broke completely. So I disassembled the turntable, came up with a simple plan and spent a few hours one night fixing it. Continue reading →

Weekend Project: Building a NAS

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Recently, I have been caught up with working on my thesis and realized I probably won’t have the time for a major project until after I graduate. So lately, it has been all about the weekend projects and I finally got around to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) together. I’ve been waffling over building one for over a year now and I finally sat down, did some comparisons on parts, ordered the components and put it together. Continue reading →

DAC Controller v2: Assembly and Completion

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Last time, I had the circuit board made, the parts on hand, and I was just waiting to find a few solid hours to sit down and put everything together. All it came down to was soldering everything together, pulling out the old board, and popping in the new one. One Sunday I did just that and everything went as planned. Continue reading →

DAC Controller v2: Testing and Circuit Board

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As much as I like to procrastinate, I did finally manage to test out the circuit I described last time. I put it all on a breadboard, tested it independently, tested it in the DAC itself, finalized the circuit board for it and ordered the board. Unlike the hen and her bread, I am willing to share the penultimate fruits of my labor.

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DAC Controller v2: The Circuit

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Last time, I described the problem I was having with my DAC control circuit. At that point, I was still working on the schematic and had yet to finalize the design. I finally came up with one I’m satisfied with and I’m going to step through the different blocks here. Continue reading →

Weekend Project: Making a Sous Vide Cooker

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Every now and then I’ll find a small little something I can put together in a day or two and do that instead of working on my other projects. Now, I’ve always been interested in sous vide cooking which some people claim is simply the best way to make certain meals. The problem is that it requires what is essentially a tank of water held at a near-constant temperature for hours to days at a time. Doing just that requires a special set of tools that the majority of people don’t have in their kitchens and therefore is a bit too expensive for this guy who it a little apprehensive over spending hundreds on something I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it. Continue reading →

DAC Controller v2: The Problem

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A while back I built a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) for my audio system. What it does in a nutshell is take the digital stream of data (one of the standards for a stream is S/PDIF) from a player and convert it into an audio signal. Today, most digital audio systems (CD players to computers and everything in-between) have a DAC internally. On nicer computers, this is what a sound card is primarily for. Building a stand-alone DAC enabled me to get the audio signal away from the noisy environment of most digital systems. On my old computer, I could actually hear noise when I opened and closed windows. Continue reading →

I made a website

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I bought this domain a few years ago after a few drinks and a conversation on niche porn websites. I decided a portion of it should be made as my own personal documentation for projects as I do them. While it would be nice, I have no visions of tons of traffic or making money on SPL. Continue reading →