A lurker steps into the light...

[GratefulEight]

Good evening everyone, glad to be actually posting something to say hello to you all. I've been lurking and soaking up various tidbits of the vast array of knowledge floating around this place for some time--several months at least--and thought it was finally time to say hello and introduce myself.

I'm Nathan and glad to be here. NOT an electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, just someone that's gotten into DIY over the last year or so. I started off by building a (rather ambitious for build #2 ever) DIYRE OLA5 opto compressor kit and I've been hooked ever since. Since then I've done quite a bit of 500-series equipment (mic pres, 76-style FET compressors, a mid-side unit, among other things). Have been more in guitar pedal mode the last few months, trying my hand at working on the design side of things a little more rather than putting units together from kits...but I hear rackmount equipment builds calling my name again.

Anyway, thanks for sharing what you know and your ideas--hopefully I'll be able to meaningfully contribute at some point. Until then, I learn.

 

[TwentyTrees]

Welcome to GDIY Nathan! Great to have you here.

Coincidentally, my OLA5 kit arrived yesterday. It's a nice change of pace to work with such a well-organised kit, rather than my usual Mouser scramble...

 

[GratefulEight]

You'll have fun with the OLA5. It's a satisfying build. And yeah, I agree--Peterson is WAY more on point with that organization stuff than the combination of Mouser and myself.

 

[GratefulEight]

I was such a beginner when building mine that I managed to somehow COMPLETELY fry one of the LDRs with too much soldering iron heat. lol

 

[gyraf]

Welcome on board, Nathan!

/Jakob E.

 

[roofRob]

Hey Nathan!
I, too, loved the OLA5 build, which I did after Color Palette. All awesomly organized kits.
Soundskulptor, too. But gained experience from DIYRE helped a tad there.
Right now I‘m trying to source parts myself the first time, to build a Don Classics U76- and it‘s not that easy though Mouser had a basket. Parts shortages all along…

Welcome, have fun.

 

[GratefulEight]

Hey Nathan!
I, too, loved the OLA5 build, which I did after Color Palette. All awesomly organized kits.
Soundskulptor, too. But gained experience from DIYRE helped a tad there.
Right now I‘m trying to source parts myself the first time, to build a Don Classics U76- and it‘s not that easy though Mouser had a basket. Parts shortages all along…

Welcome, have fun.

roofRob: Tayda and Small Bear Electronics sometimes have hard-to-find parts; depending what you need, they might be worth a browse. Both are primarily geared toward the guitar pedal DIY market, though. Tayda has a bit more variety that could be more applicable to a wider range of projects. And then there's Jameco, which I have yet to use because of a funds shortage on my end but I've browsed several times. *Edit* And since I just noticed you're listed as in Germany, there's always Muskiding (and their forum) to get ideas for suppliers. The parts shortages have made this an interesting time to start building things for sure.



Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome so far. I'm sure I'll be asking for advice on lots of things as I move toward considering some of my own designs in the future.

 

[roofRob]

Yeah, thanks.
Musikding doesn‘t have what I need, but I‘ll definitely check out the other ones you mention…