Spingtime Serenity

Click on photo for larger version.

Early February in southern Spain. The temperature is 23 degrees. Why did I ever come back to live in Ireland. I suppose I missed the cold damp miserable weather.

Garage Door

Click photo for larger version.

My oh my, what a picture! A new art movement has started in the town of Torrevieja in southern Spain. Professional graffiti artists are invited by the local Council to show their work on public wall spaces and on some private property. The aim of this scheme is to reduce the amount of unsolicited defacement of public and private property. One wonders if it is not self defeating.

The Sand-Castle Artist

Click on photo for larger version.

This artist needs to constantly spray his creation to stop it drying out in the hot Spanish sun.

Lunchtime in Torrevieja

Click on photo for larger version.

Una mas por favor. There's nothing like a good lunch in southern Spain. It's one of my reasons for going back time and again.

Linda Strikes For Home.

Click on photo for larger version.

Linda cuts a path through the exhausted and puts on a final spurt at the 8K mark, to finish well up in the women's Mini Marathon in Dublin on Monday.

A Place of Stones

Click on photo for larger version.

Urban Art on the banks of the Landwehr Kanal in the heart of Kreutzberg in Berlin. It was on the route of my 5K fast walk every day during my recent stay in Berlin.

Crumbling Remnant

Click on photos for larger versions.

There is still a 1Km section of the Berlin Wall standing, which runs down the north bank of the river Spree at Friedrichshain. It's referred to locally and in guide books as the "East Side Gallery" because the authorities have hired some professional graffiti artists to adorn it with fresh works. A lot of it is in a bad condition and I wonder are there any plans to restore it structurally. It would be a pity if this historic symbol of the 'Cold War' were allowed to just crumble away. It's possible to see the old East Berlin TV tower straight ahead in shot number one.

Beautiful Combination

Click on photos for larger versions.

This lovely combo was spotted parked on the footpath in Mainzerstrasse in Berlin. The bike is a 425cc 4-stroke single cylinder, with shaft drive. The whole thing seems to be new, rather than a restoration. A nice bit of retro design.

Spring in Kilmainham

Click on photo for larger version.

I took this shot at the end of April when Spring was well underway in Dublin.

May Day in Berlin

Click on photos for larger versions.

May Day in Berlin's Kreutzberg district was blessed with stunning warm weather (25C). There was no trouble, mainly due to the heavy Polizei presence, unlike the previous night, which is called Valpurgisnacht in Germany, when the Far-Left went on a violent and destructive rampage, with many injuries suffered. This blogger enjoyed a few cool beers at the Myfest festival. It was like the sixties, with lots of Neo-Hippies, and no sign at all of Neo- Nazis, who usually show themselves on May Day to counter the left wing demos. By the way, if one looks closely at the larger version of the shot of the bambino's cyclo-pram, it can be seen that it is equipped with disc-brakes. Even Hippie transport evolves through the decades. What a great day!

Treble and Fuzz

Click on photos for larger versions.

The Distortion/Treble Booster box is finished. It's very compact and easy to use, having only two controls, a power switch and an o/p level adjustment knob. It was a challenge trying to source a suitable stomp switch, but I eventually got one on Ebay from China, which is just the correct size and height, with it's multiple contacts allowing the unit to be operated in 'true bypass' mode, with the I/P completely isolated from the O/P when the foot- button is deactuated. The circuit itself draws only 150 Microamps of current, from a 9V PP3 battery, so I calculate that if the Axe Man forgets to turn off the power for 8 weeks, the battery will still produce 7.5 Volts, which is enough to operate the system. As for the sound; well it's awesome. Those guys, back in the 60s knew a thing or two about guitar effects. Of course, the idea of using a germanium transistor was purely accidental, as they were the only solid-state devices on offer at the time. However, it was fortuitous that it produced the results that it did, and all because of a basic weakness in the semiconductor technology of that era, namely that the germanium transistor exhibits a reduced gain, or hfe, when the input signal level increases substantially and drives the base current towards zero, leading to an unusual sounding compression and soft clipping of the audio signal output. This weakness was exploited to the full in the original 'Dallas Rangemaster' design, of which this stomp box is a copy, or indeed a clone, in terms of circuit design and component values anyway. Long live Rock and Roll.

The Stomp Box

Click on photos for larger versions.

Now that my Hi-Fi project is wrapped up, it's back to guitar matters. This is the basic physical layout of the new Treble Booster, with the all important Germanium Transistor. The electronics were designed in the late sixties, and the original Dallas Rangemaster as it was known then, was used extensively by all the great guitar heroes of the 1970s. So here's hoping that it will do the business for Richard, who is a budding guitar hero of the present era of Metallic Rock.

Suspended Wall Mounting

Click on photo for larger version.

I've mounted the right speaker on a hinged shelf which is supported at the front by two thin polypropylene lines from the wall. The adjustment, including the firing angle, is made by means of two turnbuckles. I found a nice spot on my computer table for the pre-amp and on top of it, on a plinth, the tube output stage. Long live Rock an' Roll.

The Beginning of the End

Click on photo for larger version.

I've moved into the boiler- house workshop to do the wiring on the last stage of my Hi-Fi project. It should all be finished in the next 24 hours.

Wood and Metal

Click on photo for larger version.

The bench comes into it's own for a bit of metal and woodwork. It's great to have lots of space to lay things out. The two "hi-end" o/p transformers from Hammond in Canada are waiting in the wings, before being mounted atop the finished chassis. The cut-outs for the 4 tubes and 2 front panel meters are visible. I decided to include the meters in the design to indicate the onset of clipping in the class A triode o/p stages.

The End is in Sight

Click on photo for larger version.

My Hi-Fi project, that I started back in November last year, is nearing completion. All the metalwork for the power amp. is finished and I have acquired two nice pieces of Ash for the side panels, which have been shaped, sanded and varnished.

Stylish Power

Click on photos for larger versions.

The Power Supply for my Hi Fi tube amplifier is now ready for service. I've added the 100 Henry choke to the HT supply and a 31,000 Microfarad condenser to the heater supply. Hopefully all residual hum will be extinguished.

Our Little Jewel

Click on photo for larger version. Courtesy of The U.K. Met Office.

I couldn't resist publishing this amazing shot from space, taken at midday today. It appears that we were specially selected for cosmic exposition.

Microwave Smoothing Choke

Click on photos for larger versions.


This Hi-Fi power supply smoothing choke was made from a microwave oven transformer. The mains and heater windings were removed and the two magnetic shunts punched out. The remaining H.T. winding has a DC resistance of 140 Ohms. The correct gap turned out to be .01 inches. The old transformer was sliced open between the I and E laminations, the gap inserted, and then the two bits glued back together again with 'Araldite'. I glued on four sides and a top, and mounted a set of lugs with captive nuts onto two of the sides internally. All edges and corners were filed down, and a rub of fine emery cloth and 3 coats of black spray-paint will make it fit to grace the deck of any high end audio amplifier. By the way, the inductance measured out at a massive 102 Henrys, with a D.C. current of 160 Milliamps.

Hi Fi Takes Over

Click on photos for larger versions.

After a very successful guitar amplifier project for Richard, I have started on a Hi Fi construction venture, which has an Op Amp preamp, a stereo tube amp and 2.5 cubic foot speakers with tuned bass reflex ports. The ports will be interchangeable to give a variety of resonant frequencies from 35 Hz down to 25 Hz. The change is accomplished by simply slotting in a different length of gutter drainpipe, somewhere between 3.5 and 8.5 inches long. One of the speakers is finished and sounds just spot on. The photos clearly show the 35 Hz port in place. Some people might wonder where the tweeter is. It's cleverly mounted within the cone of the woofer. There are actually two tweeters, side by side, so the assembly can't be called 'dual concentric'. I don't believe in mid-range units. I'm trying to emulate a particular sound that I encountered at the start of my career in radio sound, over 40 years ago. Some of my favourite loudspeakers were designed in the 1950s by the B.B.C. and were in use up to the early Seventies. I have not heard anything to match them since. They were called 'LSU/10s'. It was great to hear the rich tones of top notch announcers like Terry Wogan, Denis Meehan, John Skeehan, David Timlin, Andy O'Mahony, Leo Mc Guire, Lorna Madigan, Una Sheehy, Diane Lonergan and Catherine Hogan emanating from these loudspeakers. They were the days. Link to photo of B.B.C. LSU/10.

Kraftwerk

Click on photo for larger version.

I discovered this grainy photo in my archive. It was taken in 1994, during a camping holiday with Richard and Linda, in Germany, somewhere on the Autobahn between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. The song 'Fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn' by 'Kraftwerk' comes to mind.

The Preamp

Click on photos for larger versions.

This is the upgraded preamplifier for the Leak 40 Watt guitar amp. "Tube sound" purists would scoff at the idea of including solid state components, like op amps, in any valve design but my logic is that when you use state of the art op amps like the LM4562, the sound that goes into the tube amp is pristine and has no influence over the final tone, which will be determined by the tubes, and other elements of the design. "Chicken-head" knobs are "de rigueur" for tube amps; a sort of homage to the great days of Rock and Roll, and the American High School hops of the 50s and 60s.

Job Done

Click on photo for larger version.

The Leak amp head and it's 2 by 12 inch speaker cab are now completed. It only remains for me to install the new Op Amps into the preamp and take a listen. I hope it all sounds as good as it looks.

Morning Sky

Click on photos for larger versions.

Wednesday morning in Ballybunion started with a very unusual sky. These shots were taken about half an hour after dawn. I captured the waxing moon with my 500mm Sigma zoom telephoto, that I bought recently in New York. It was hand-held, which accounts for the less than perfect sharpness.

Rare Machine

Click on photo for larger version.

Eamonn Galvin astride his 1972 Honda CL 350 twin cylinder street scrambler. This bike is probably the only example in Ireland, as it was manufactured solely for the U.S. market.