Member postings for Geoff Theasby

I think it was in 'Instructables'.

Geoff

Nothing here in North Sheffield

Geoff

I once crossed swords with a supporter of Neil Young because I was not immediately smitten with his pet bit of equipment. He sent me a large file of information, and was irked when I didn't read it at once. I think it was when I said that I listened to the music rather than the imperfections that we went our separate ways...

Geoff

I have taken a special interest in 'audiophiles' ludicrous proposals regarding fuses, cables, connectors, etc. Whenever I want a good laugh, I head for the previously mentioned Peter Belt's website, and others, praising oxygen free copper cables (All commercial copper is oxygen free, house wiring, water pipes, steam locomotive fireboxes etc., it's in the nature of the refining process) square wire, skin effect (at audio!) sticky labels or grains of rice resting on top of the speaker cabinets, there is no lunacy which they ignore. And the cost! £25 for a 5p fuse with a label stuck on. It's been 'conditioned' you see, for xx hours and didn't blow...

Geoff

All this talk of unidirectional cables etc., reminds me, if it makes you laugh hysterically, or weep at people's gullibility, look up Peter Belt and his claims.

Geoff

As a rough rule of thumb, 6 x wire diameter in mm = currrent in amps.

So, for 1 mm copper, 6 x 1 = 6 amps.

Geoff

Neil:

Oh dear!

I trust the sentimental value wasn't because it had 'In Loving Memoriam...' carved on one side!

Oh, that was funny! May I please use it in my Club News column?

Geoff

These disappeared from posting above.

Geoff

Catching up. First - strippers, whether or not Titian haired or named Tiffany.

Secondly - pcb jig as above

Tertiarily, or thirdly - heat resistant, resilient, pad to hold in the components when pcb is inverted. Plastikard backing, polyester foam wadding (Thanks Debs) flexible, heatproof boiler insulation. Elastic bands hold it together, and across the corners to hold it to pcb, and Robert's your aged relative! The wadding doesn't burn or support combustion, and you can make several to fit various pcbs.

Geoff

Hi Stephen,

Yes, I use solder wick with SM components. It works fine, Ronseal should sell it. Solder suckers often have too big a nozzle, curable by fitting a Hellermann sleeve over it to improve the suction by making a better seal with the work.

Geoff

On a similar matter, the Dublin 'spike' was erected by a man tightening the bolts from the inside, all the way up. According to the architects' website.

Geoff

A waking thought re: inverting pcb holders and keeping the parts 'in'.

Top quality (thick) carpet underlay for resilience and rockwool model boiler insulation as a heatproof layer?

Geoff

Neil, the Duratool device is fine, but what all these jigs are lacking is a heatproof foam to be clipped to them just before you turn them over for soldering, then all the bits don't fall out!

Geoff

Murray, yes they are expensive. One thing though, if a modern iron cuts off when quiescent, there may be a saving of electricity.

The Multicore rep told me that Savbit solder was responsible for dissolving iron-coated bits, and not to mix the two. I now turn my own bits from copper rod at 1/4 the price of Antex bits.

Geoff

John Haine, yes, I too started with a Henley Solon. Still got one. Re: the Weller irons, they ARE an industry standard, but having used one professionally for many years I'm not sure why. The bits are hollow and soon burn through, and the base unit holds only a transformer which fails rather too often. I built my own half/full base unit for the Antex (1N4007 diode and switch) which works well. Nowadays I would use a lamp dimmer or motor control circuit to vary the temperature, roughly calibrated when completed.

Geoff

I've never needed a temp controlled iron, used an Antex X25 for decades. Rework gun? No. Soda-Wick is much cheaper. Analogue meter by choice. Mostly, you don't need three places of decimals to check a voltage. You only need a digital meter for checking resistors. Wire stripper - fibreglass automatic, Light in weight, in constant use at Theasby Electronics. Pay about £20. Helping hands, Yes! Solder dispenser, otherwise the solder reel is forever rolling about. Head mounted magnifier. Desk lamp. Art of Electronics is good, but I have since discovered EPE's 'Teach in' series. They are VERY good.

Geoff

... My cameras meter internally, so I'm unlikey to need metering of the bulb output.

So do mine, Michael, but I still find it useful to have a light meter handy. Comparing light levels on solar panels, LEDs, etc., only a few quid on Doncaster market photography stall.

Geoff

"Debonging" what a wonderful word!

Dem bongs, dem bongs, dem debongs,

etc.,

De mainspring is connected to the geat wheel,

the great wheel is connected to the fusee,

the fusee is connected to the pinion,

the pinion is connected to the 'scapement,

now hear de word of de bong!

Geoff

Phil, me too! Big carrier bag of used Meccano, Great!

Geoff

Its the Feds...

Geoff