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Re: [Amps] W8ZR Autotune Amplifier Progress Report

To: Jim <jimw7ry@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Amps] W8ZR Autotune Amplifier Progress Report
From: "Steve, NR4M" <steve@nr4m.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2020 16:17:01 -0500
List-post: <mailto:amps@contesting.com>
Good question. I was wondering the same thing. 
Those switches have a serious detent. 
Someone who has the resources could partially fill them in with a machine able 
epoxy. 

73 de Steve NR4M 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 25, 2020, at 3:47 PM, Jim <jimw7ry@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Question Jim..
> 
> Do you (would you) remove the detent from a Radio Switch band switch? Or will 
> a large enough stepper turn them with the detent in place?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 73
> Jim W7RY
> 
>> On 12/19/2020 3:33 PM, Jim Garland wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>>     As you probably know, commercial automatic vacuum tube amplifiers have 
>> been available for more than decade, but they are expensive; their pricetag 
>> adds about $2000 to the cost of a comparable manual-tuned amplifier. For 
>> homebrewers, autotune capability is complex and difficult to duplicate, at 
>> least for most of us who are not professional design engineers with access 
>> to sophisticated workshops. For the past year, I've been working on an 
>> autotune control circuit intended to overcome these barriers. The purpose is 
>> to make it possible for amateurs with average technical skills to add 
>> autotune capability to almost any vacuum tube linear amplifier, whether 
>> homebrewed or commercial.
>>     Here are the design goals for my controller:
>>     (1) The performance should rival that of top-of-the-line commercial 
>> autotune amplifiers, (My benchmark is the Alpha 9500.)
>>     (2) The controller should be easy to duplicate for amplifier builders 
>> with average homebrew experience.
>>     (3) The controller should be affordable, costing no more than $100-$200.
>> 
>> It has taken me a year to realize these objectives, most of which was spent 
>> learning to use an advanced, yet inexpensive, microcontroller called the 
>> Propeller PX32A. (The PX32A was designed in California by the Parallax 
>> Corporation, maker of the popular Basic Stamp controllers) The PX32A is a 
>> sophisticated device containing eight fully independent 32-bit 
>> microprocessors that share 31 read/write IO ports and a common memory for 
>> storing variables, computation results and data. These features make it 
>> possible to construct a complete amplifier autotune circuit on an uncrowded 
>> file card-sized  printed circuit board using ordinary through-hole 
>> components that can be wired up in an evening. The circuit board 
>> intelligently operates inexpensive stepper motors and motorized switches to 
>> adjust the tank circuits of almost any h.f. vacuum tube amplifier. An 
>> ordinary PC or laptop computer programs the device,  but once programmed, no 
>> external computer is required. Because of its power, the PX32A implements 
>> numerous advanced features while requiring only a handful of additional 
>> components.
>> 
>> Although it has taken me almost a year to write and debug the program code 
>> for this controller, I 'm finally ready to move the project out of the 
>> breadboard stage. Here's a link to a YouTube video that demonstrates the 
>> controller's user features. (My eventual amplifier will use an 8877 triode 
>> in a conventional grounded grid circuit, but that's a topic for another 
>> day.) I apologize for the crudeness of the video, but hope you find it 
>> interesting and will let me know your comments and suggestions. (If the 
>> below link doesn't work, just Google "W8ZR YouTube Prototype Controller" )
>> 
>>    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qDGoEElKcU
>> 
>>    Thanks and 73,
>>    Jim W8ZR
>> 
>> 
>> 
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