Hello from the newbie

[Hairy]

Hi guy's, i've been following a link at sound on sound about Peter's Green Pre and im gonna give it a go, but im a complete newbie, hope you guy's can help with the barage of questions over the build. :grin:

First one's are, what kind of wire do i need to buy (what should the max current rating be?) and can anyone recomend a cheap case supplier in the UK, £25 is the best i've found which seems a bit steep for an empty metal box (but it is the UK :roll: )

 

[KingKai]

Hi Hairy,

Wellcome to the fray. Just above you and slightly to the right is a cool thing called the META-META. This is a collection of good reading that is catagorized into sections of correlated topics. There is a very complete one on the green pre that will probably answer 99.44% of your questions. Seek and ye shall find.

The sand box is on the right, and the swings are in the back. Oh yeah...be kind to the green bouncing llama...We're kind of fond of it.

Peace- Out, Irv

 

[Hairy]

Thanks for the reply KingKai, i found a few case links but nothing cheaper as for the wire question maybe its too simple (like i said im a complete newb), i fond a suggestion to use a cat 5 cable for the innards of my project (just strip it down) and was thinking of using a striped down mains cable for the psu part

Would these be ok?

 

[rodabod]

The Maplins (Craplins) 1u rack case is good and is only about £30.

It is black and supposedly anodised. Just got mine in the post for another project.

Cable is cheap on Ebay. You can get random coloured wire from one guy in any number of metres and it is very cheap. I'll try and find a link for him.

I also got my Neutrik XLRs for 50p each on Ebay - I took things off my main orders list as soon as I found them cheaper on Ebay.

 

[Guest]

Hairy
Unfortunately Blank Rack boxes are expensive - tis just one of those things
However if you have a drill press, and one of those metal cutters which cut in a straight line and a metal folding thing and hang around sheet metal workers on a friday afternoon to pick up offcuts - you can do it cheaper
Been there mate and done it - nearly killed myself with a jigsaw cutting 2.5mm aluminium offcuts
Now I quite happily buy them
You could always trash a behringer and nick the case

 

[hejsan]

hey uk! what that "metal cutters which cut in a straight line" thing?

 

[fucanay]

This Meta, http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=15136 , should be a good starting point for knowing what kind of things are useful for DIY projects.

As for the wire. I used Cat5 for the LEDs, 22 gauge stranded wire for switch and PSU hookup wire, and Belden audio cable for the Input and Outputs jacks.

I'd also advise you to make sure which option you really need. Personally, I don't really need the LED metering as I can always use the meter on my computer screen to see my levels. If I had left that out, I would not have needed to place a lot of parts on the PCB. And the chassis would have been easier too. I also don't think that everyone hooks up the HPF on these so that is something else to determine if you need.

It is very important that you read what others have posted. 99.99999% of the questions you have, have already been answered. The search function here is screwy, so be patient and thorough.

Read everything that you can on safety. No preamp is worth killing yourself over. Mains voltage "can" kill you. I might not, but it can.

Boards can be purchased from Peter C here: http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=9699

Parts Kits can be purchased from PTownkid here: http://www.groupdiy.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=7192

Good luck and happy DIYing.

Matt

 

[rbaker]

about the cat5 wire---

I'm totally new to this too, i've seen a lot of posts about using cat5 but its supposed to be solid core cat 5. I had A LOT of it laying around and since it's many diff colors I went with it for my ssl bus compressor.

Personally I think it's kinda difficult to work with. It breaks if you're not extra careful. I had to resolder some of my pots several times because of it. I broke down and bought regular hookup wire and I totally think it's worth the money.

But, I know a lot of people have been using it with success, so don't just trust me.

 

[Guest]

[quote author="hejsan"]hey uk! what that "metal cutters which cut in a straight line" thing?[/quote]
Tin Snips (I have never got these to cut in a straight line - they are like strong scissors)
or a mate with a
Plasma/laser cutters or a metal shear gullitine thing

For hookup wire I used 3 core Gotham Audio wire
For single hookup I use just big standard multi strand wire about 22-24AWG (which fit into molex connectors)

As the other have said - turn your monitor around at work - open up a word document and search search search..
Then paste everything in paste special as text...
And read..

 

[Ptownkid]

Welcome Hairy

Be prepared for the worst addiction you have ever had...

 

[Hairy]

Thanks for the replys guys,

Be prepared for the worst addiction you have ever had...

If it's anything like the audio adiction i got from picking up a copy of Sound On Sound a year ago my girlfriends deffinately gonna dump me (only so many hours in the day )