Hello friends fo GDIY,
My wife found this console by chance searching for "Consolettes". Our small family builds are now affectionately being called "Custom Tube Consolettes".
As discussed some time ago, Mr. Thompson-Bell and our family have been working towards a Tube Tech course of some kind. We landed on a Console Design Masterclass with one of our first subjects pictured in this thread.
INDUSTRIAL TAPE APPLICATIONS - ACS2B - 10 CHANNEL TUBE BROADCAST CONSOLE
(Images supplied by the ebay seller)
Once we have this in our workshop we can begin to figure out what direction to take. What is an upgrade for the Dynaco A-410. Sowter is our goto.
More soon,
Wall and Family
GREETINGS!!! I just stumbled across your posting and fell flat onto my face in the living room!!! I'm OK.....just a scraped shin is all. (ow...ow...ow...ow...ow)!!!
I am not exactly certain what it is that you are both looking for in personnel or what it is that you are fully attempting to accomplish, but my background is in the combined skill-set of performing both the mechanical sheet-metal designs and PCB designs of electronic equipment. As I have read through your posting a couple of times, I get the impression that what you are wishing to do is more along the lines of teaching the broadcast console circuitry design and wiring routing rather than what it takes to come up with all of the consolette mechanical design and fabrication details and how all of the PCB's, as well as all of the vacuum tubes, are designed and mounted within the console frame. At least, that is my understanding. Perhaps you may be able to more clearly clarify that.
My background also includes a long history within the "Professional Audio" industry, having both designed and built several rather large sound systems. My high point was in once working with "one of the largest concert sound-reinforcement companies in the world" where I not only ended up designing numerous pieces of in-house equipment for use within these concert systems, but also in the purchasing of literally millions of dollars of electronic and electro-mechanical component parts that were used to build the in-house designed equipment and the concert systems themselves.
More recently, I was "The Guy" that got hired by an R&D laboratory that was developing at the time a "never-been-done-before" technology, which was "how to simultaneously radio broadcast an analog and digital signal on the same frequency at the same time"!!! It was -- me -- who worked with the R&D engineers and I then performed both the mechanical chassis designs and all of the in-house laboratory PCB designs to create the "first working prototype" of what is now called "HD Radio". The attached PDF file will show you both my initial prototype chassis designs and the final "off-the-shelf" product design.
[How or who would we talk to about a fresh coat of paint?] -- You would first need to completely remove every last single component part and nut, bolt and washer from the console housing. Personally, I would take the metalwork to a place that does "powder-coating" and have them sandblast the metalwork down to bare metal. This powder-coating shop should have one or more paint sample books and from there, you can not only select what color that you would like but, unlike most paints, with powder-coating you can also select a variety of textures and finishes (i.e., matte, semi-gloss, high-gloss).
Somebody will need to come up with some new "artwork" that can either be silk-screened or you can use a newer "laser-etching" process to print the text and graphics onto the metalwork.
[We are thinking of a rebuild using new parts but nothing is set in stone] -- Well.....that's basically what it is that I do!!! And, not only that.....in addition, I have also been involved in doing "Reverse-Engineering" of both sheet-metal items and parts and even PCB's!!! As an example, some guy down in Florida bought a very used and very old API mixing console that was originally made back in
1974!!! This guy sent me one each of all of the different PCB's that were used within his console and I then "Reverse-Engineered" each one of them and created "New/Old" PCB's using old "Thru-Hole" technology parts that he could have replicated and then put inside is ancient and vintage console. Then, on the other hand, I was once contacted by a huge aerospace company that had somehow lost
-- ALL -- of their original artwork and documentation to a -- hand-taped -- PCB that was originally designed back in
1979, again using "Thru-Hole" technology (of course, back then.....that is all that was available). The aerospace company sent to me their
> LAST < physical bare-board and wanted me to "Reverse-Engineer" it completely (i.e., both mechanically and electrically, as they
- had no - schematics!!!). The one main big difference between the aerospace project and the mixing console project was that the aerospace company
- ALSO - wanted me to convert all of the component parts from "Thru-Hole" to "Surface-Mount" technology!!! So.....after I had completed their "New/Old" PCB design, I e-mailed them all of the fabrication files and they were then able to complete a major important project that allowed U.S. fighter jets to take-off and battle against "The Bad-Guys"!!!
HOORAY!!!
If, after reading my long-winded personal history that you believe I am able to assist you in any way, just send me a PM and we can discuss this further, OK?
NOTE: Down in my basement studio I have a 15-Channel Stereo Broadcast Mixing Console by "Arrakis-Systems" out of Colorado.
I am looking forward to hearing back from you shortly.
Regards,
Jerry B. Williams
Senior Electronics Mechanical Packaging & PCB Designer
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