killswtch's Home Automation and Media Projects
This is the story of my attempts at integrating various technologies into a 3-bed semi, constructing as much of the hardware and electronics as possible myself.
Tuesday 15 January 2008, 9:47 PM
Resurrecting a dead amplifier - the continuation
At the end of last year I tested the prototype of the matrix audio switcher, in the process blowing up part of the amplifier that powers the speakers in the living room. After investigating the damage, I found a great site to buy the replacement parts from. They arrived before Christmas, but I didn’t get around to installing them until recently.
The new transistors are exactly the same as the dead ones, so it was just a matter of unsoldering the old ones and replacing them. The nice chunky pads (compared to all the SMD boards I’m used to handling as computer parts) were lovely to work with, and the work was done in a matter of minutes. Minutes + £6 of parts = one big saving over a new amplifier and a lot of waste electronics. If only all devices were this easy to fault-find and fix.
With a fire extinguisher at the ready and my adrenaline gland just waiting to explode, I switched on the repaired circuit and ….. near silence, just the sound of the fan - it worked! Now that both channels are actually wired to something rather than one of them shorting out, the sound coming out is pretty good. In a few months the whole system should be up and running.
Sunday 13 January 2008, 4:56 PM
What's next?
The Homebrew Challenge gave me a reason to progress my projects, but over Christmas things have slowed down. Winning the competition has given me some money from the sale of my old car, so it seems fitting that the money is put towards finishing the current projects. This is my plan for the projects over the next few months.
January 2008
Purchase Zone 2 amplifier, Zone 4 amplifier
Improve rack ventilation
February 2008
Purchase Zone 3 amplifier, DVI/USB KVM
March 2008
Purchase Matrix switcher
April 2008
4u blanking plate, 1u blanking plate
Write control software
The full list of things to do/purchase over the next 2 years is available on my other blog.
I have purchased the 2 amplifiers for this month from eBay, but haven’t got around to the ventilation improvements as yet.
