I have a project coming up where I needed a special face plate. I came up with the idea of engraving with a spirograph, so I ordered one on eBay and it showed up today! 
The setup was a little roughed in
But the results will be spectacular
http://posttoronto.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59
This is a very well respected read as recommended to me by Neil Muncy. At the time I was working for him (in exchange for books and resources) he would not let this one go. Because this book was originally a short run it was available in limited quantities and the used market priced this book at 100$ – 300$
The recently had an AES special where it was $20 off, but I think it’s a little past the promotion. If you were to mail the publisher, they may honor it.
Mine is coming hot off the presses:
Anthony,
I have received your order for Audio Systems Design and Installation,
and will notify you as soon as the printer delivers the first copies.
I had been hoping that would be by Sept. 30, but the printer is still
adjusting proofs so it will likely take a bit longer.
Thanks!
Alan
The Linear Traveling Potentiometer presented at AES Toronto meeting Sept 24, 2013
The Math Project that inspired the FivePointNone
I recently got a bunch of blank switch buttons. I wanted some new CH ON Buttons in APK orange… this is what I came up with.
I was going through some very old pictures when I stumbled across this. I was working at a TV station and was learning how to draw in 3D using Maya.
What a fun exercise!
I’m repairing a Yamaha PG-1 guitar pre-amp and am in need of a reverb tank
The model # I have is 1BB3C1B
1 – Type 1
B – Input Impedance 150 Ohm
B – Output Impedance 2,250 Ohm
3 – decayLong (2.75 to 4.0s)
C – Input Insulated/Output Grounded
1 – No Lock
B – Horizontal Open Side Down
The spring had come apart inside and the other spring must have broken in the past and was removed.
let me know if you have something similar!
I took a crack at having something water cut to see what the quality of the cut was…
It was very accurate
This is the front cut
But…the back was a little rough
10 Lessons I’ve learned about engraving by hand:
1 – CLAMP CLAMP CLAMP
2 – Flexible material WILL FLEX WHEN CLAMPED!
3 – Start in the middle of the “A”
4 – 1:1 ratios show mistakes 1:1
5 – Don’t try to “go over” a skip
6 – One letter, one pass.
7 – WD 40 on cutting head
8 – stop are just guides, they stop nothing from moving unless there is a lock on the other side\
9 – The first two “setups” are typically throw aways
10 – don’t beat yourself up, the landing gear is down.
I’ve learned my letter set is a little worn down, thus making some skips and pits a little more noticeable (this is where lesson 4 comes into play)… A new set is a little out of my price range for now.
I had an old WBS 60-12 input transformer with tails too short to re use. so I opened it up. After desoldering the bottom cap, I cut the shell open. I’m sure if I heated up the wax it would have dropped out, but I had no intension of getting it out and re-using it.
I was given a 78 to transfer. When I transfer something one of a kind I do 3 passes. The first is dry, dusted as the client delivered.
The second is wet (Ultrasonic bath if possible)
The third is in reverse. I find it cuts the pops and skips differently. EX: if you have a scratch in one direction it MAY not show up in the reversed transfer. Edit together and whadaya get… bitty bopity boo.
I had a couch take out the shaft of one of these dimmers. Looking at a parts list reminds me how awesome these dimmers really are.
Such a smart design
Practicing what I preach. Moving (14) drives into long term storage. Pulled all the backups out of the safety deposite box, and moved their contents move forward onto a 3TB hard drive.
Once it’s all checked for redundancies I will back it up to another drive off site.
For anyone nocking my non-antistatic plastic bags, I assure you they performed perfectly and will the next time I spin them up. Silica and a way for them to breath is fine.
This is client sessions, designs, pictures, documents, notes etc etc dating back to about 2001. I have Client DVD archives at home I don’t plan to move forward as it is mostly damaged and virus ridden from before I went all OSX.
Now I need to find a Hard drive shipping container from a computer store… Anyone?
anyone have this Plessey? I need (3) for a console refurb.
From: http://www.charm.rhul.ac.uk/history/p20_4_1_3.html
High Quality Recording and Reproducing of Music and Speech
By J P Maxfield and H C Harrison (Bell Telephone Laboratories 1926). Introductory paragraphs by Roger Beardsley.
The age of electrical recording
In this time of incredible technical achievements in every field of scientific endeavour, it is perhaps hard to imagine the effect that Maxfield and Harrison’s work had on the recording industry. Nothing has matched it since. The change from LP to CD was marked by longer playing times and a reduction in already low ambient noise levels. Sound quality was much as before (or worse according to some). The change from 78 rpm discs to LP again brought playing time and noise benefits, but in terms of quality of reproduction, the change over to microgroove was often very marginal, and sometimes showed a loss.
However, the change from mechanical (acoustic) recording to electrical recording was very different. The new system compared to the old, really was a chalk and cheese affair. Not just a wider frequency range, and frequencies in correct and designed proportion, but for the first time, the whole ambience and feel of a performance and its surroundings was reproduced. The nearest analogy is that of hearing a performance of say an orchestra though a closed door and down a corridor, and then being brought into a box at the venue. Admittedly perhaps not at the front of the box, but the difference was astounding. Listen to the examples in “A brief history of recording” to hear what I mean.
Maxfield and Harrison came from a telephone engineering background – then the height of technology. Their work on equalisers and line transmission systems, together with additional work with high power audio amplifiers all came together by one of those happy chances. For the first time, recording (and reproduction) was subjected to a proper system of scientific research, as against the largely empirical developments of the mechanical recording system. The resulting Western Electric recording system was an elegant solution to the deficiencies of mechanical recording. And it worked, again and again.
High Quality Recording and Reproducing of Music and Speech
By J P Maxfield and H C Harrison (Bell Telephone Laboratories 1926).
I admire this man. And I must say: SM58
From http://www.coutant.org/allmics/index.html
Here is the sound file of many of the microphones on this site. This provides a means of comparing them. To keep the comparison equitable, no processing was used during recordings nor in post. Audio console EQ settings were centered.
Please bear in mind that these samples were recorded over a three-year period in various acoustic environments, most of them favorable. There are a couple of samples that contain echoes. One sample includes the sound of a fan in the background. At least two samples contain small amounts of AC hum. Apologies are offered.
Finally, some listeners will argue correctly that MPEGs are not the best format for evaluating the quality of a sound. This was done to conserve loading time. One could just as easily argue that unless all mics are recorded in the same acoustic environment, the comparison is invalid. Again I concur. Perhaps we can agree that this sampling at least proves that not all microphones sound alike.
Thank you for your interest. From the beginning this web site has been, and continues to be, an interesting undertaking.
—Prof. S. O. Coutant, retired
I saw this today, thought it was rather amazing. 
