[BUILD] fripholm's TG1 Zener Limiter boards - support thread

[ToBSn]

??? :-\ :-[

WTF?! That´s feels sad.

@fripholm
Thanks for the info.
Need to check how to continue...

 

[Potato Cakes]

I wonder if removing the internal bridge rectifier and stuffing some resistors in series/parallel will do the trick...

If you are using JLM's VU buffers there are parts to omit/jumper for internally rectified VU meters. I have some of these I built but never used so I'm planning on installing them in this project. I just have to mess around with the trimmer so the meter displays the gain reduction accurately, or at least as much as can be.

Thanks!

Paul

 

[mro]

Within the last weeks it has come to my attention that someone has been making and is selling clones of my boards. And yours, ToBSn, seems to be one of those. I'm in contact with a couple of members who purchased copies, which had been offered at another forum outside of GDIY. And occasionally, I have seen some of the clones showing up here in the Black Market again.

I was never asked for permission nor permitted the cloning of my PCBs, but I really hope they are electrically okay. If you find out you have a clone and they are not okay, please don't blame me!

From ToBSn's photo I can tell that the silkscreen looks slightly fuzzy and the solder pads seem somewhat irregular (maybe from scanning?!). But the most obvious difference is the rotation of R90 by 180 degrees (it's upside down) and one of the PCB manufacturer's imprints is in the free space around the output stage. Mine never were that way! Maybe the cloner deliberately rotated the resistor to be able to differentiate clone from original. This person must have had at least one original, as I've never sent out the Gerbers to anyone. And as I said before, the fine quality of my boards allowed for some abuse of the solder pads for testing around with different values. Obviously, wether this is also true for the clones can't be judged from a photo...

I have only ever offered the boards here on groupdiy and I will keep it that way. If you find these offered anywhere else and/or in larger quantities, they are most likely clones.

Just wanted to let you guys know. Take care. 

I have the exact same boards as ToBSn. Had them from a member here, as he had 'bought more than he needed'. Boards were listed on black market.
Stupid of me for sure, but it just never crossed my mind that anyone can get that low in this particular comunity.
Up untill recently I was finishing racking some Tab and Neumann modules and never got around with those.
Now as I was to start with the bould I was checking this thread and found those 'great news'. Not sure if the build is worth the hassle under these circumstances.
I'll contact the seller and ask what are his thoughts on this :/ 

 

[Rob Flinn]

As I mentioned before, using a black solder mask makes boards a bit more difficult to copy.

 

[warpie]

Within the last weeks it has come to my attention that someone has been making and is selling clones of my boards. And yours, ToBSn, seems to be one of those. I'm in contact with a couple of members who purchased copies, which had been offered at another forum outside of GDIY. And occasionally, I have seen some of the clones showing up here in the Black Market again.

I was never asked for permission nor permitted the cloning of my PCBs, but I really hope they are electrically okay. If you find out you have a clone and they are not okay, please don't blame me!

From ToBSn's photo I can tell that the silkscreen looks slightly fuzzy and the solder pads seem somewhat irregular (maybe from scanning?!). But the most obvious difference is the rotation of R90 by 180 degrees (it's upside down) and one of the PCB manufacturer's imprints is in the free space around the output stage. Mine never were that way! Maybe the cloner deliberately rotated the resistor to be able to differentiate clone from original. This person must have had at least one original, as I've never sent out the Gerbers to anyone. And as I said before, the fine quality of my boards allowed for some abuse of the solder pads for testing around with different values. Obviously, wether this is also true for the clones can't be judged from a photo...

I have only ever offered the boards here on groupdiy and I will keep it that way. If you find these offered anywhere else and/or in larger quantities, they are most likely clones.

Just wanted to let you guys know. Take care. 

Got mine from this thread and the R90 is indeed upside down. Not cool...

 

[mro]

yes,
C6 is C3 and D13 is rotated.
I guess more bugs to come 

 

[fripholm]

Got mine from this thread and the R90 is indeed upside down. Not cool...

This is not cool indeed and I know how this may look, but as far as I know that member also bought those PCBs from someone else outside of groupdiy. Please don't jump to any conclusions here as we don't know the whole picture.

 

[warpie]

This is not cool indeed and I know how this may look, but as far as I know that member also bought those PCBs from someone else outside of groupdiy. Please don't jump to any conclusions here as we don't know the whole picture.

Sorry, it wasn't my intention to accuse Chrion. I've dealt with Nicolas many times in the past. I just thought I'd mention where I got mine from.

 

[Hobbyist]

Sorry, it wasn't my intention to accuse Chrion. I've dealt with Nicolas many times in the past. I just thought I'd mention where I got mine from.

Have to admit, I also bought from Chrion.., thought they were on sale for the purpose he mentioned. They look exactly the same as the layout on the pdf to me... but not cool if they're copies 
I always make 2 units of my DIY projects as a learn process, so I definitely don't want to miss the second batch, with the PSU board. 

 

[ToBSn]

After one step backward.
I think the copies are okay. Except for the board marking bugs, we can give them a chance.
Have ordered a second "original" set from fripholm.
We can only be sure when we have originals to compare. We'll see.

Finally, it's sad for fripholm who took the time and created the boards and very detailed and cool manual.

So, let´s become this thread back to a cool build thread.

Just think about extending the sidechain with a few extra steps and using the lorilin rotary and adding a small PCB on the back.
What do you think? Any suggestions for improvements?


Thanks!
ToBSn

 

[desol]

It is not cool at all, because he stated he purchased more original copies and was selling them. Instead, he copied a layout and then lied about how he acquired them. Not very good at all...

 

[mro]

It is not cool at all, because he stated he purchased more original copies and was selling them. Instead, he copied a layout and then lied about how he acquired them. Not very good at all...

He seemed to be a nice guy but what he did is just shit! He confirmed he also has the original PCBs from friphorn.
So:
a) he knew he purchased copies and didn't menton about it
b) didn't notice they differ from the originals
You choose what is more likely.
But I agree with ToBSn. Let's leave this subject behind and focus on the subject.
If there are any legal options for friphorn to follow let him handle it.

Best to all,

 

[fripholm]

But I agree with ToBSn. Let's leave this subject behind and focus on the subject.

+1

 

[Hobbyist]

Just think about extending the sidechain with a few extra steps and using the lorilin rotary and adding a small PCB on the back.

That would be awesome ! 

 

[ToBSn]

So, the pcb layout is ready.
Wima FKP2, FKS2, MKP2 or MKS2 can be used. It´s up to you.

There are two options.

[list type=decimal]
[*]Lorlin rotary switch where position 1 is the off position of the side chain. (Just bridge C1/C12)
[*]Extra spdt switch for on/off to use all 6 rotary switch positions.
[/list]

 

[fripholm]

New batch available! 

See here for details: Black Market Thread

 

[Potato Cakes]

Sowter sent me notification that my transformers are on the way. I have the case and am awaiting a PSU board. Any other guys here finish building one of these? Also, does anyone know of a LED/digital replacement for the 1mA meter used in this project? I'm ordering one more board to build some sort of channel strip in a single space rack and the metering section would have to be something compact like LED to get everything to fit.

Thanks!

Paul

 

[mro]

I'm ordering one more board to build some sort of channel strip in a single space rack and the metering section would have to be something compact like LED to get everything to fit.

Maybe an edgewise meter?  At least that's my plan for this build.
Which softers did you order?

 

[Potato Cakes]

1365 and 1708.

Thanks!

Paul

 

[desol]

Does anyone have any clips of this unit working hard on various sources...drum room, acoustic guitar, vocals? Cheers.