canidoit said:
The first time people informed me that I have to read all 44 + pages of the 1176 rev D thread, it made me very hesitant to pursue the project.
oh boohoo! :-[
you know what I did instead whining about not getting someone else to build a project for me? I not only read all the directly related threads in meta, but all the somewhat related upgrade, mod and idea threads. Yes it's a chore, but you've been here for months. You obviously have the time.
For me that was about 2006. I was a complete beginner, who did not know ohms laws, or the difference between AC and DC.
And guess what, I don't have to do that anymore. Any single combined SSL/1176/LA2A thread combines all these complete beginner questions, and then repeats them over and over and over again. And that's great, because at least they're in a single easy to find place.
At some point I was going to suggest there should be a beginners forum, but actually, all the info is in those massive SSL/1176/LA2A threads. All the favourites from wiring a PSU trafo to ordering parts and using a multimeter, the stuff I'd now shrug away as chaff.
And when you finally start reading the big threads, anytime you stumble upon a point that is even remotely interesting, copy that part to a note (1176 notes.txt). You'll find this file will become invaluable. Do it for all the projects you ever build.
As for suggestions on doing a wiki of these. We have one already, and that's the meta. Nobody is going to find the time to get this stuff into any cleaner format.
[edit]
ok so this turned into a rant. sorry. rant over.