Introducing myself + my DIY starter gear

Hello,

My name is Georgi and I have recently decided to put together some audio do-it-yourself projects (thanks to this forum mostly). My audio gear: Saffire pro 10 (soon to be replaced with MOTU ultralite mk3), an old Onkyo HTS770 HTIB, few computers (all non-windows), yamaha ypg-625 keyboard, acoustic and electric entry level fenders, numark mixer... and of course headphones: an old pioneer DJ phones, and grado sr80 for now.

I recently found this form and wanted to build a few of the DIY portable and non-portable amps that are popular here. On my list (probably in that order): cmoy, mini3, pimeta, millet mybird and maybe something else that I might find interesting. I will also mod my 2 nanos (G1 and G2).

My digi-key order of parts arrived recently (first $100, since I've been reading this forum):


Decided to put all small pieces in a 36 compartment plastic box for easy access, and labeled them with a cheap p-touch printer: (that's me)


So far my small gear looks like this:

• desoldering pump
• weller sp23L
• desoldering braid
• hammond mini3 cases
• altoids cases
• serpac cmoy case
• enough small parts for 2 minis and 2 cmoys + some extra
• some cheap DMM
• even cheaper analog?MM
• some dentist tools from ifixit for taking apart ipods
• leftover wire from RS (says magnetic wire?)

things in the mail house

• Weller WES51 (80 bucks on amazon)
• Panavise 201 Jr Mini
• Excelta 1-PI, High Precision Tweezers
• 20-ft CARDAS Quad Eutectic Silver Solder
• a bunch of teflon insulated, 18, 24 and 30 gauge wire

things in the mail (another ~$150$250$360)

• a bunch of alligator jumpers
• Needle Files
• 10x Lupe
• Rosin flux
• Canare L-4E6S and L-4E5C Star-Quad cable
• Neutrik Right-Angle 3.5mm plugs (black/gold)
• Techflex
• Pailiccs 3.5mm plugs (not the pailiccs everyone has seen here. img: http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/yhst-1940672..._2048_11322563)
• Fluke 87 III (gotta love ebay)

As for casework, I have a Milwaukee 0824-24 with few sets of drill and driver bits and a Dremel 395 MultiPro (corded) with a bag of accessories. I also have a bunch of craftsman pliers and cutters.

Things I think I still need: good wire for interconnect cables (when the amps are ready) and jacks but also tools you've found useful. I've gone through quite a bit of the DIY section here so I think I have covered most things.


So that's about it. Any suggestions are welcome, especially for good wire for LOD and interconnects.

I will be posting pics and videos of my progress probably as early as next week. I plan to tape most of my work to provide some tutorials for anyone that is interested (and material for experts to make fun of me, of course ). Videos seem to help a lot, I've found.


Regards all!
Georgi

Hey Arlekiin,

Good luck selecting the right tools. I think they are a long term investment so it is worth it to spend a bit(or even a lot) more on quality ones.

Cheers,
Georgi

joneeboi: Thanks, I hope to learn a lot about electronics by doing a few projects here, so I don't feel too bad about spending the money. Education is always a good investment. Great work on the diymod thread.

Earwax: I did the same with a bunch of plastic containers, but didn't like the way it looks, so took the small pieces out of the boxes and used the nice 36 compartment box from digikey.

-=Germania=-: I know my DMM is not good, but at the moment I prefer to spend the money on other tools that I don't have and will help me instead of upgrading old tools (even though I did upgrade my solder). That being said, I am watching ebay for second hand flukes I would also love to have an oscilliscope, but as you said they are way too expensive so that goes in the 'someday maybe' list

Thanks everyone.

As I said, I do have a DMM and it does beep for continuity check, so that functionality is covered.

My Weller WES51 is ready for pickup tomorrow morning so I will probably start with my cmoy tomorrow after work

Regards,
Georgi

dbfreak:
Fluke 179 -> $220 (might be able to get it from ebay for ~$150)
Knippex pliers -> $220 on ebay
Power supply -> cheapest is ~$40, most ~$500, I might be able to mod a computer power supply

Aren't these numbers multiplied by 10? The screwdrivers are not that expensive but I doubt I'll need them that much for audio work, unless I start screwing down resistors to the boards . I will def. put all your suggestions to my someday maybe list.

Regarding roboform, I don't use windows, and I think almost any browser now is capable of doing the same thing.

I just noticed my wire stripper is only up to gauge 22... hmm that might need to be returned and upgraded.

BlizzofOZ: Howdy, I was born and raised in Bulgaria, finished college in the US and now live and work in Stamford. I've noticed people are very helpful here. I'll find out soon enough, tonight when I start the cmoy, how much help I'm going to need