GS35-B Tubes Glow In The Dark!

[paws264]

Gee, I dunno, the person taking the lid off?

It ain't personal, it just looks "sloppy", for lack of a better word.

I know that they are not pretty but, they work.

No excuses, that's what you get when you build on your Kitchen table using hand tools, hole saws, hand nibbler tools and, tapered reamers. I personally touched/manipulated each and every nut, washer, screw, wire, resistor, capacitor, relay, tube, switch, inductor, sheet metal and, aluminum angle corner piece. These were not constructed on an assembly line using prefab parts or paid workers. You want something pretty, go buy a production model for $6 grand plus.

"The person taking the lid off"? That would be me, not you; if it is broken, you bring it to me (or , you could be like most CB wh*res, you run from one repair shop to the next until you have created a big circle, ending up back where you started). I suffer with any and all problems and errors in "Workmanship". On new construction, it's called getting the bugs out and, would be considered part of the warranty service.

After 40+ years of Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical R&D and repair, I have an acute knowledge of the "Point of diminishing returns". As an extreme example, a person could build a mono band device out of solid Gold but, will the additional effort translate into more output and or longer MTBF? Probably not and not worth finding out.

You certainly cannot says that I copy-catted Joe's garage amplifier and, I certainly am not worried about anyone copy-catting my amplifiers.

BTW, I have discovered that "Poor RF Practice" represents an opportunity for a "Payday" for someone somewhere down the road.

.

 

[Toll_Free]

Dunno, never had a DaveMade.


Having more of a mechanical back ground than electrical, it stuck out at me. When I used to build sprint cars, no nut had more than a thread, or maybe two of the bolt sticking out.

How could you pass tech then, not being able to wire the ends of bolts?

Not to mention, wheel studs are required to stick out 2 inches of thread.....


--Toll_Free

 

[Toll_Free]

Anyone who thinks this amplifier is ugly OBVIOUSLY hasn't pulled the bottom plate off ANY Bluegill amplifier.

--Toll_Free

 

[GnG8d]

How could you pass tech then, not being able to wire the ends of bolts?

Not to mention, wheel studs are required to stick out 2 inches of thread.....


--Toll_Free

Sprint cars have a single wheel nut like a F-1 car and we never wired our bolts like they do in aviation :laugh:

 

[GnG8d]

After 40+ years of Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical R&D and repair, I have an acute knowledge of the "Point of diminishing returns". As an extreme example, a person could build a mono band device out of solid Gold but, will the additional effort translate into more output and or longer MTBF? Probably not and not worth finding out.

I know what you are saying, but after 20 years in a machine shop, ascetics do count for something. I managed a couple of shops and owned one for 5 years. When training noobs I always stressed the importance of producing a good looking part. A part being submitted to QC or being sold to a customer will see far less scrutiny if it "looks good", with good surface finishes and edge breaks.

A part/assembly that is 100% accurate but looks ratty will be gone over with a fine tooth comb. A part/assembly that looks good can actually hide some inaccuracies in non-critical dimensions because ...... well, because it looks good. It's just the way it is, it's human nature.

So that's why the bolt lenghts stuck out at me and it doesn't make me a CB whore. For the record, I've only used one tech in the short 4 years I've played with radios, not that it matters. But I do apologize for bringing it up. If you're happy with it, it doesn't really matter what I think.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

My question regarding the coil was not about looks but function. It is FAR too small to handle the power output from those tubes. That was my concern.

 

[office888]

Where'd you get your transformers from?

 

[Toll_Free]

Sprint cars have a single wheel nut like a F-1 car and we never wired our bolts like they do in aviation :laugh:

Hrm, our mini-sprints and turf cars had to have them, but then again, we didn't use spindle wheels (single wheel nut).

I come from spindle wheel background, with 4500+ hp behind it.... BUT, we only shifted 6 gears in 85 yards. In the sand

EVERYTHING in that car had to have 'caged' or wired nuts on it.... Hence my questioning it.

Hard to believe they let a car that fast NOT have wired nuts on it.... BUT, I've seen crazier (like doorslammer 6 second cars today... MAN, fast as HELL).


--Toll_Free

 

[Toll_Free]

Where'd you get your transformers from?

Most run Radio Shack xformers with the GS35s. That's what they look like.


--Toll_Free

 

[GnG8d]

Hrm, our mini-sprints and turf cars had to have them, but then again, we didn't use spindle wheels (single wheel nut).

I come from spindle wheel background, with 4500+ hp behind it.... BUT, we only shifted 6 gears in 85 yards. In the sand

EVERYTHING in that car had to have 'caged' or wired nuts on it.... Hence my questioning it.

Hard to believe they let a car that fast NOT have wired nuts on it.... BUT, I've seen crazier (like doorslammer 6 second cars today... MAN, fast as HELL).


--Toll_Free

There are a couple of brothers out the road who do the sand drags, I like ANYTHING that barks at you

Before I left the dirt tracks, our mini sprints were going to a splined aluminum rear with spindle nuts too. We used direct mount front hubs on the 410's, and I think they were starting to use them on the mini's too.

But no, they never made us wire the nuts. It wasn't completely uncommon to see some of the more critical hardware wired up, but it wasn't mandated by either the STARS or World of Outlaws. In fact, if you couldn't afford titanium bolts, you used hollow bolts! Take a piece of DOM tubing and thread the OD, drill a hole in a piece of hex stock and part it off on the lathe. Then slide the hex onto the tubing and TIG it. Bam, you had a lightweight bolt at a fraction of the cost of titanium.

Note the aluminum heim too. I used to use aluminum everywhere but the rear radius rods and the jacobs ladder. One night coming off of turn four I spun out with the wheel at full right lock. As the front end came around I went full lock left to catch it and gather it back up at ~100mph. I'd done it once or twice with success, but this night the left front wheel hit the drag link so hard it took it out via the aluminum heim. The drag link hit the dirt and jammed itself in a way that caught the brake line! I shot through the infield BETWEEN the fire truck and ambulance, people running for their lives, before getting the rear end knocked out of gear and ended up over the backstretch out into left field before coasting to a stop. No steering or brakes in a 800hp direct drive sprint car - Fun Stuff :

Yes, I did start using steel heims on the drag link, but continued using aluminum on the radius rods and tie rod.

 

[Toll_Free]

Very nice story... lol.

I remember when we where playing with a double shot of N2O2, we had the first shot SUPPOSED to come on when the car got out of the gate... Then another shot about 30-40 yards down the track.

WELL, someone decided to wire the first shot to the trans-brake trigger input on the timing box...... SO, as soon as we hit the trans-brake, the car INSTANTLY brought another who KNOWS how much horsepower (it's hard to tell when there isn't a dyno made (at the time) that will run up that high

WELL, we did a wheel stand, STRAIGHT UP!. Shut the engine down, and it came down HARD!!!! Flattened the two front tires it popped down so hard.

That trans-brake sucked, come to think of it. I lost a family member, and the car was subsequently sold when it killed my cousin. He shoved the tilton into the block, and the engine fired on methanol. As soon as the pumps where switched to nitro-methane, the car had enough to overcome the brake, and that was that. My cuz was hit in the head with the wing.

We (family) pulled the plug, so to speak, 18 months later. He never came out of the coma. 7 years later, his brother died in the same shop.

I campaigned a couple gassers since then, but never anything like the rail. THAT thing would give you a hard on for a week!

--Toll_Free

 

[Crusher]

The amp looks good. As to the coil. That is an input coil and doesn't need to be big. A single 35B only needs 100W pep to produce full output. I have some pics of a two tube I built but I did my input different. The hardest part of these tubes is the bias because it takes to much to calm them down. As I said nice looking amp paws. If anyone wants to see ugly. I have pics of a Bodine 2 tuber 3000.

 

[paws264]

Where'd you get your transformers from?

Radio shack model number 273-1511

12 volt with Center-tap (6v - 0 - 6v) rated at 3.0 amps (ICAS).

I doubled up on the transformers using two per tube because, trying to run a GS35b on a single transformer raised the temp on the transformer and the filament voltage sagged to 12.1 volts.

With 2 transformers per tube, my filament voltage is 12.9 volts and it does not sag under load.

.

 

[HiDef]

I'd rather have an amp with a few ugly and experimental parts than one that looks perfect and isn't complete.

Some of the finest quality signals are made by stuff that looks like crap. Take that to the bank.

There are a whole bunch of projects like this that never get finished because someone wants perfection.

Great job!

P.S. Tony King was a gentleman. He also understood cheap QRO. That's why he said a pair of these really isn't the best choice.

 

[Toll_Free]

Tony said a pair of ANY tube wasn't the best choice. I have the email where he said a single 3CX3000 is BETTER than a pair of GS35s. Although he was a CHEAP QRO operator, he also believed in honest engineering.

NO Engineer will tell you a pair of tubes is better than one. That's stupidity at it's finest.

I believe I saw the thread where Paws got this amplifier working. On another reflector. Could be another two tuber.... BUT, not a whole lot of dual GS35b amplifiers in the prototype stage.


Anywho, glad to see you got it working. Sounded good two days ago comin outta the mighty blue!


--Toll_Free