From: pfjw@aol.com   
      
   On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 2:51:43 PM UTC-4, Big Bad Bob wrote:   
   > On 10/28/15 03:19, Peter Wieck so wittily quipped:   
   > > On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 2:37:11 AM UTC-4, John L Stewart wrote:   
   > >> Pink Floyd   
   > >>   
   > >    
   > > A few, those of us that still dabble anyway. The long, cold winter is   
   about to begin and I have half-a-dozen projects in the queue - mostly   
   restorations.    
   > >    
   >    
   > restorations.  cool!   
      
   Well... a restoration offers much bang for a few bucks. A tuner made by the   
   uncounted tens of thousands largely unchanged from about 1963 to about 1970   
   +/-, and cherished and improved by many users from then to this day offers a   
   lot of learning for very    
   little trouble. In the last two years, I have restored (taken to factory   
   specifications) 4 Dynaco FM3s. They are fine little tuners and in urban   
   conditions do extremely well. Perhaps not the best machine for DX, but well   
   enough and sweetly enough for a    
   daily driver.    
      
   And, one I rebuilt to much more modern standards, correcting the several   
   well-acknowledged design flaws, the weak power-supply filtering, marginal   
   resistor quality and ratings, and so forth. That is quite a nice tuner, again   
   for what amounts to about US$    
   120, including the tuner itself.   
      
   I have two more in the queue - items acquired at Kutztown for pocket change   
   (in one case, literally the change I had in my pockets - about $5).    
      
   And, A few months back, I finished with the Scott LK150, a kit-based power-amp   
   that had a bad habit of displaying a lot of 60hz hum - apparently common in   
   the species. So, that was a very careful go-over of the power-supply, lots of   
   capacitance and a few    
   more tweaks to cure properly.    
      
   Right now in the tube queue:   
      
   FM3 x 2   
   ST-70    
   Emerson Tombstone radio   
   Fisher FM100B tuner   
      
   In the SS queue:   
   Dynaco ST120 (for TIP=Mod)   
   Dynaco ST80  (the same)   
   Dynaco FM5 - (Stereo demodulator chip needs to be replaced)   
   Rabco ST7 - (needs a 'tire' on the arm transport wheel)   
   Revox B790 - (bi-annual cleaning)   
      
   That is enough to fill a few weekends over the long, cold winter. This is the   
   first time I do not have a slew of speakers needing surround replacement - I   
   did over all the kid's speakers and mine are long since done or simply don't   
   have the need. And the    
   Revox B225 that I rebuilt in March is holding nicely. Revising the   
   power-supply did wonders for stability.    
      
   The nice thing about quite-vintage US/Euro equipment is that it is well   
   understood, has good after-market support, and few wheels need to be invented.   
   Most of my questions in various support venues are answered accurately and   
   quickly - and it becomes a    
   matter of my skills and patience. And I get to develop some procedures on my   
   own which might help others.    
      
   A little bit of everything is involved as well. I keep a small lathe/mill   
   combo (Unimat), I do some casting (epoxy and similar) and I am contemplating a   
   3D scanner/printer one day. Good for the brain, good for the hands, pretty   
   much all good.    
      
   A bit long-winded, but still related to the hobby.    
      
   Peter Wieck   
   Melrose Park, PA   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)