Flops' Friday mini blog

[Becky]

I love satay sauce, reading through that recipe is making me hungry!! Might have to give it a try this weekend. That being said, I made a loaf of bread yesterday which was horrifically unhealthy, so perhaps I should try and be good!

Looks like you had a great time at the pub!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Haha! Me posting that pic of myself scared everybody off! Y'all didn't know I was such an ugly old git did youse?

Well that's due, in part, to radiotherapy and chemotherapy and surgery but also it's down to old age and too much alcohol and drugs when I was a yoof.

Here's what I done over the weekend:

My pair of monoblock push-pull EL84 valve amps were housed in a 19" rack case which caused them to get too hot so I installed a pair of 80mm fans with a CCTV 12V PSU to run them, problem solved. But over a year later, although the fans are quiet, I was aware of them running when the room was silent which began to grate on me a little.

So I decided to fit the amplifiers to a base and thus not have to use cooling fans. This is something I've never done before, I'm not the best carpenter or metalworker on the planet but thought I'd give it a go. As I have plans to build a SET valve amp when funds permit I thought this would be a good test run to see if I was capable of making a housing for a valve amp home build.

Things turned out *OK, here's how I made the transfer. First off I bought a 2mm stainless steel plate from an online company name Clickmetal, 36mm x 30mm cost £30, of which £10 was postage. Next up I bought from Wickes some architrave (door frame surround) timber; some *10mm x 12mm stripwood to support the plate; a mitre guide block and a fine toothed handsaw.

I made the wood frame, cut holes at the rear for mains socket; phono sockets and loudspeaker terminals. To join the sides together I used just wood glue and one of those picture frame belt clamps (bought a couple cheap at Lidl some time ago), worked fine, turned out nice and square.

I *will at some stage tidy up the output transformer's wiring. I managed to make a couple of marks on the steel plate whilst working on it, one is covered from view by a transformer the other I tried to hide with some wet & dry but didn't entirely succeed.

Here's the steel plate with me testing the component layout:

The original rack case alongside the unfinished new housing:

How the rack case was populated:

Monoblocks taken out of case:

Drilling of the 2mm stainless steel plate. This is tough stuff, wasted a fair few drill bits and Dremel cutters doing this:

Fitted fuse holders; standoffs; neons; switches; tag strip for earth connections *and grommets where leads would pass through under the pcb's:

The underneath view:

Part wired:

Checking I'd wired the switches correctly:

Wiring complete:

Rear connections:

Complete, rear view:

In place in my system:

Front view:

And now, the next project, speed controller # 2:

And now I have the confidence to make a base for a home build SET amplifier I just need to find some pennies for the components, the transformers and chokes alone total £520 so it may be a bit of a wait (SET stands for Single ended triode' where just one valve is used for the main amplifier output. My current amplifiers are known as 'Push-pull' and use a pair of identical valves for the output stage).

 

[muckshifter]

I love the "open air" affect, makes it a great addition, Stan.

maybe stain the wood to match the other furniture.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I love the "open air" affect, makes it a great addition, Stan.

Thank you Squire

maybe stain the wood to match the other furniture.

It's pine and so will eventually darken to match the rest. If you look at the two turntable stands the one on the right is older and therefore darker than the one on the left of the pic, they were both made from pine furniture board.

And it's had six coats of satin varnish as well.

 

[crazylegs]

Fantastic project Mr Flopp's

Wish I was clever enough to design and build projects such as this. It looks great old school with the valves and as Stan has already said the open air look suits the valves..myself I love the look of valves and would take them over transistors any day of the week!

 

[muckshifter]

Stan, of Laurel & Hardy fame ... he, Floppy, looks like him without the bowler, they still make me laugh too.





my humour is sometime very subtle

 

[Taffycat]

I really love the look of your audio set-up Flopps. There are so many components, but they all look so neat, with hardly a wire in sight. Bet it all sounds grand too.

Not sure how... but I managed to miss your earlier pics and recipe ... You and your mates always look like you're having a great time - probably because you are.

Mmm... your Satay recipe sounds very yummy too. Anything which contains garlic and spices is good in my book...... well, maybe there are a few exceptions, such as ice cream, or cheesecake! lol But you know what I mean.

 

[nivrip]

Anything which contains garlic and spices is good in my book...... well, maybe there are a few exceptions, such as ice cream, or cheesecake!

Once had curry flavoured ice cream. Sounds horrendous but it was delicious and very different.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Had all three offspring here for most of the weekend, that was good, here's a coupla pix, note the lamb chops bottom left of pic, they looked to die for, very yummy.

I was sad to see Kate O'Mara died, I always had a thing for her after seeing her in quite a few cheesy Brit Flicks late sixties and early seventies, including some Hammer Horror outings. I didn't see her in Dynasty, Triangle or Howards way, I never watched any of those, but I will remember her. I think her secret was her eyes - gorgeous.

The news says she died aged 74 after a short illness in a Sussex Nursing Home, which probably means cancer.

For the past ten years I've received maintenance contracts from one school for the public address system and emergency lighting. This year, due to 'budget restraints' I lost the sound system contract. Bugger. I'm slowly losing my workbase for one reason or another, good job I got this pension.

Looks as though soon I may go from 'semi-retired' to 'retired'. Ho hum, still, I can live with that, won't have much money to buy toys but it's really very agreeable not having to do anything except the things I want to do.

I swear I'm getting better at Call Of Duty 4 online, I've had quite a few second places and even two first places this last week. I also had a brief play of CoD 2 yesterday but it's been so long since I've played it I've forgotten everything, I was absolute rubbish and got well and truly thrashed.

I've now watched nearly all the 'Call The Midwife' series and I love it. They've got the fifties era just right and it's reminding me of childhood memories I'd long forgotten. I may jhave mentioned this before but hey - early Alzheimers

Speaking of which, I'm going to visit my sister and Mum in North London later this week, not really looking forward to seeing my Mum to be quite honest, she's not herself anymore, kinda like visiting a shell of my mother whose soul has departed, nasty disease, Alzheimers.

And on that cheerful note Happy summer time to yyou all.

 

[crazylegs]

Yes sad news about Kate O Mara indeed, I had a thing for her too, 'what man didn't' those sultry eyes and smoldering lips made her one of the hottest properties of the 60's and 70's in my opinion, loved her in the Hammer horrors and Dr Who and bit parts in The Champions and The Saint..What a looker!

Looks like you got your hands full with them 3 girls of yours..lol

Took me mum out for a Mothers day meal tonight and it was lovely outside when we came out to go home, almost like a summer eve..

Lets hope we have more of em and soon..

Had a look at a car that was advertised for sale just in the next road to yours Mr Flopp's, didn't know whether to knock on your door and say hello, so left it, thought you might think I had a right cheek
Didn't buy the car though as the guy was a joker and failed to detail certain things wrong with it, he didn't like it when I walked away.

Take it easy Flopp's

 

[Becky]

Looks like you had a great weekend seeing your girls! Just looking at the food in that photo is making me hungry and it's not even 10am yet

Don't know what your weather was like daaaan saaaaath but up here it was gorgeous - felt like the start of summer. We had lunch outside and ignored all the jobs we need to get done in the garden

 

[Taffycat]

It looks like you and the girls enjoyed a good weekend Flopps

Aww, RIP Kate O'Mara, it's sad to hear that she has passed. She appeared in the comedy series "Benidorm" in 2012, and was still looking good.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your school maintenance contract. The worrying thing is, who will be carrying out the work now? Do "budget restraints" equate with hiring chappies in Stetsons, riding on horseback, I wonder? Hope not.

Still, retirement can be enjoyable too, particularly when you have lots of interests and projects in mind.

Aww, I hope the visit to see your Mum will find her having a reasonably good day. Yes, Alzheimers is a very cruel disease (my own Mum and granddad - her father - had it) so you have my sincere sympathy.

But, on a brighter note, it'll very soon be Easter, and right now, the sun is shining. Weather prospects sound a bit - er - damp, but hey, let's enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[Anon_F]

Good photo of you Tony & of your girls with lunch.
I had my sister & mum and dad yesterday and she bought her dog for me to look after.
Bit unusal for both me & my sister to be not working but mum's special day.

And yes Kat O.Mara very sad & i admit to watch dynasty just for her!

Keep the thread going Tony.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Went for a stroll with eldest female offspring and her boyfriend today at locale, they went for food, I browsed market and bought these.

I've always liked that Mike Oldfield album, that and original Tubular Bells really about the only two of his I get animated about.

Zappa and Man are welcome returns to the fold, I don't know whatever happened to my original copies. Siouxsie - I just like it a lot, have never owned that EP before.

The blue vinyl 12" Only Ones single was a nice find for me, I still have the original 7" Lovers Of Today, one of the very few 7" singles I've hung on to but this copy is in much better condition. Only downside was some lamebrain has written '50p' very large with a magic marker pen on the A side of the disc label.

I first heard the Man album in a vegetarian restaurant named Ortons Kitchen in Greenwich at the time of it's release in '73, they played some good sounds at that restaurant. This guy I know named Paul used to take myself and penniless friend Roy there late at night after pub had shut and buy us food. He reckoned he didn't mind spending money if he could convince us vegetarian food was better than following the diet of a carnivorous beastie. His efforts failed, though I did go veggie '96 - '02 some years after first hearing that LP.

I am now getting close, after 4 years of returning to vinyl, of gaining most of the albums I wanted in the vinyl format, apart from some that are now fetching ridiculous asking prices but I expect I'll still discover more.

 

[Taffycat]

Nice one Flopps, it looks like you enjoyed a rather good haul there.

Did you see some of the articles mentioning the growth in popularity of vinyl? One I read recently said this: "Sales of vinyl LPs shot up 33 percent, to 6.1 million albums, the highest level since SoundScan started counting in 1991." Source.

And in another: "The downloading generation has discovered the tangible benefits of vinyl and vinyl record sales are soaring across the country. Moreover, it seems to be a worldwide event, preorders and sales of vinyl records are on the increase in many countries across the globe." Source.

It's interesting how things go full-circle, isn't it. I sometimes think back to when I was a teen, raving about some "new" fashion idea (or whatever) that I'd just seen in a magazine. Then my mother would say something like "Oh are those coming back... I used to have a (just fill-in the blank) just like that when I was your age." Slightly mortifying at the time, but I often find myself thinking the same thing these days, when I see something coming back into fashion, lol.

Hope you enjoy the music Flopps.

 

[crazylegs]

Very nice Mr Flopp's

 

[floppybootstomp]

It's Friday and almost three months on since my last warble

Suffered some financial setback recently when a couple of computer items crapped out on me, to whit one hard disk and one mouse.

In my media computer I had a couple of Seagate 3Tb HDD's for storage and the OS on a third disk. Win 7 kept telling me one of the 3Tb disks was developing a fault and I left it a month before I decided to investigate. I wish now I'd investigated sooner.

The disk in question failed every single one of the Seagate test software tests so I took that as it was faulty. When I went to Seagate's site to rma it I was informed it was out of warranty. The warranty was two years and I'd missed the deadline by about a week. The date they use as a reference was the disk's day of manufacture.

On checking I found I'd purchased the disk within the two year warranty but Seagate still wouldn't accept the disk for rma. So I gave up and bought a new 3Tb disk (never, ever, Seagate again, this new one is Western Digital FWIW) which cost a smidge over a hundred quid.

I realise now I should have taken it up with the supplier but I didn't and it's too late now, it's out of warranty with the supplier as well.

The 2 3Tb disks are used for storage and one is purely a backup of the first, so I didn't lose any data.

Next up, a Logitech G5 mouse. I had two of these, must have had them for at least five years, possibly longer. The newer one, a Mk II, started losing it's sensitivity and eventually I had to move it about half a metre to get it to move 50mm on the screen. Tried all kinds of things including using it on another computer and in Linux but reached the conclusion it was destined for Boot Hill.

So I cycled to PC World at Charlton and bought a Steel Series Rival mouse for £50. It's as good as the Logi G5 it replaced, I do like the instant dpi change button on top, you can program the mouse for two preset dpi settings for that button.

It's a fair bit wider than the Logi and I have small hands but it's all ok.

So, there we go, £150-odd poorer in less than a week

Not much going on around here, went to the monthly classic car display they have in Greenwich market on the last Thursday of every month; I built a second speed controller for one of my record turntables; pulled a Technics turntable out of the rubbish bin and have almost finished rebuilding/restoring it.

HMS Bulwark stopped off just down the road prior to sailing to Portsmouth to take part in the D-Day commemorations.

I'll post a few pix if I can muster the oomph

On the health front, I'm still alive, which is a bonus and I have no appointments with either the consultant, the oncologist or the dentist.

 

[muckshifter]

hmmm, damn, sorry to hear computer whoa there FBS, especially as I have a G500 I don't like going spare, used once.

Happy gaming!

 

[Becky]

Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck with hardware, that really sucks It's very bad of Seagate to say the warranty runs from the date of manufacture! Surely that's not legal??

Ian's mouse has started playing up too, let's hope it's not contagious

 

[crazylegs]

What a joke 2 years on a HDD
I remember when it was 5 years warranty on all HDD's regardless of manufacturer, they have recently copped out though on this front..Dirty rotten lot!

All good on the health front then Flopp's no news is good news as they say..

Mice..They gotta be one of the most unreliable pieces of pc equipment a going HDD's and DVD drives