Quote: Originally Posted by Clutz That's a really good idea- but a few questions. Why double position relays? They only really need to be single position - on and off, right? Second - if there are three of them for each position, why are they not all spst's? Alternatley a 3pst for each...

Why not just use one of those Lorlin switches with some relays? Connect the common pin of the switch to 5V/12V (whatever the coil voltage of the relays is) and connect each position to the relays for that position, with the coils in parallel. For six channels, you could use 3 DPDT relays per...

As he said, DO NOT use the solder you bought. First off, it has much too high a melting point, and you'll destroy whatever you are trying to solder. Secondly, it may have some weird flux in it that is very corrosive, which would also damage your headphones. Just go to your local Radioshack...

Quote: Originally Posted by mofey Voodoochile: Thank you, too! Weird thing is that I didn't find these threads with the built-in search function Also, why are people ordering PCBs for their DACs, if you could make one easily at home? What's the reason for that? Most of...

I've found the best way to cut the leads is with an X-acto knife. Use a new blade, and cut right next to the chip. Don't press too hard and go over the same spot many times until you cut through. Be careful not to cut any traces on the board. I would try this method before tryng a torch. The...

Quote: Originally Posted by Clutz It might be a good thing for once that I have a 40 watt soldering iron then - since it gets nice and hot. I have a set of small surgical tools including some small, high quality forceps and some small hemostats - I was sort of considering applying a...

Really the only good way to do it is with a professional desoldering station and a special tip. Otherwise, I'd reccommend carefully cutting the leads of the IC and removing the plastic chip. Then heat each lead and pull it off with tweezers or pliers. You just need to be very careful to not...

Well, I'm not really interested in getting a new station, since I have a Hakko 939 that works great for me. I just got a flier from CSI in the mail and thought that iron looked interested. I guess it's also similar to Hakko's new lead-free station, the FP-202. Smartheat looks like a great...

Well, I'm not sure it's really a clone of a Metcal. The style of tips that they use look very similar though, so I assumed that CSI was trying for a Metcal clone of some sort.

As the title states, has anyone tried this iron? You can see it at http://www.web-tronics.com/lesostwdic.html. It's somewhat similar to the Hakko clone, but has an iron similar to Metcal irons, and is a higher wattage, at 70watts. Looks like it could be a great iron, however I'm not too sure of...

Quote: Originally Posted by Teerawit Can't you use a SPST switch to switch on/off the hot line only? That certainly would work. However, I have noticed that new electronics tend to use a DPDT and switch both the hot and neutral. I don't know if this is required or not, but it...

Oh, and as far as cutting pot shafts goes, I'd stick with a hacksaw. Clamp the shaft in a bench vise so that the edge of the vise is aligned where you want to make the cut. Cut as close as possible to the vise to minimize vibrations and to allow the vise to absorb most of the heat. You might...

Quote: Originally Posted by TheMarsVolta Looked at that 400 XPR model at home depot last night, VERY nice. They've come a long way with accessories since the single speed version my dad had back in the 80's...Does anyone find that flexible shaft attachment useful? Thinking of pulling the...

Well, maybe I'm just confused about what sort of power supply the Dynalo needs. I thought that both the Dynalo and Dynahi required a tracking power supply like the supply that Kevin Gilmore designed for the Dynahi. However, it seems that the Dynalo actually needs something much less complex. In...

I'm building a Dynalo, and right now I'm working on designing a low-cost but reasonably good power supply for it. I've attached a schematic of a tracking voltage regulator from the datasheet for a LM78XX regulator IC. Now, instead of using that IC, I plan to substitute a TI uA723 regulator which...