My first DIY attempt!

[indialogue]

I just built a Electric Sumo Banzai Cmoy Amp! This was my first attempt at soldering - to be honest I dont understand much about the circuit :lol: it was more of a paint-by-numbers approach.

Unfortunately, the kit is not the best Cmoy kit out there. F

or one, there are too many fiddly wires to be dealt with - a fully PCB-based kit would be much better. Secondly, though advertised as fitting in an Altoids tin, it just doesn't Ended up breaking a capacitor and jumper trying to squeeze it all in - good thing is I learnt how to desolder using solder wick

Testing out the fully-assembled PCB

A view of my amateurish soldering skills

Trying to squeeze the PCB and 2 9V batteries into an Altoid tin

2-3 things I noticed

1. I had tried practicing soldering on perfboard brought from Nehru Place. It was really really difficult and I was beginning to wonder if I was stupid or something. However using the PCB with much cleaner copper contacts, the soldering was really easy. Wonder if there are better perfboards available in India!
2. Also, the solder provided in the kit created really shiny joints while the Indian solder created dull ones. Is there any good solder brand in India I should look out for?
3. Changing the stock JRC opamp provided in the kit with an OPA2312PA opamp I had lying around resulted in a significant change in sound. This amp, for all its fiddliness with wires (and resulting shorts), does sound good!

I'm planning to practice with a couple of Cmoy kits I've bought from an Australian seller and also try out the RA1 kit. Do provide your suggestions on how to improve and practice more! Thanks for reading

 

[quad]

Great job! I am sure it is just the first of many more (and bigger) projects in
future.

 

[indialogue]

Great job! I am sure it is just the first of many more (and bigger) projects in
future.

Thanks! Appreciate your support and confidence

 

[omishra]

Great going bro! Keep it on.
Nice Build, now enjoy!

 

[indialogue]

Great going bro! Keep it on.
Nice Build, now enjoy!

Thanks very much Mishra-ji!

 

[indialogue]

So I've got my next project lined up - its a PCB version of the Pete Millett's Starving Student amp. Thought I'd attempt it as I've a couple of 12AU7 tubes with me anyways. Wanted to ask the forum, does anybody use Digikey/Element14 to buy parts like resistors/capacitors etc.? Is it cost-efficient? I'd prefer avoiding going to a wholesale market and ordering from the comfort of my sofa!

 

[jls001]

Pete Millett's Starving Student amp.

What inventive name:lol::lol::lol:

does anybody use Digikey/Element14 to buy parts like resistors/capacitors etc.? Is it cost-efficient? I'd prefer avoiding going to a wholesale market and ordering from the comfort of my sofa!

Element14 is really, really costly. A trip back to Nehru Place would be better.

 

[indialogue]

What inventive name:lol::lol::lol:



Element14 is really, really costly. A trip back to Nehru Place would be better.

Sigh, Nehru Place it is then. Will just have to go with a few combo orders.
And yeah, starving student is a catchy name indeed. People have built it for less than 20-30 usd including the tube!

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Congratulations mate. Great going.

 

[indialogue]

Element14 is really, really costly. A trip back to Nehru Place would be better.

So I went to Nehru Place. More than 3/4ths of the parts I wanted were not available, especially the ICs. They told me to go to Lajpat Rai Market in Chandni Chowk. I had a surprisingly bad time there as well - all the ICs I wanted were not available (I've resorted to ordering samples and then Ebay) and even some of the resistors/capacitors I wanted were not available in the small (2-3 pcs) quantities I wanted.

So any suggestions on where I can get 1/4W 1% metal film resistors and 63V box capacitors??? :sad: I'm scouring through the Elevogue and OnlineTPS sites to find them right now

Congratulations mate. Great going.

Thanks Saikat!

 

[indialogue]

Element14 is really, really costly. A trip back to Nehru Place would be better.

So I went to Nehru Place. More than 3/4ths of the parts I wanted were not available, especially the ICs. They told me to go to Lajpat Rai Market in Chandni Chowk. I had a surprisingly bad time there as well - all the ICs I wanted were not available (I've resorted to ordering samples and then Ebay) and even some of the resistors/capacitors I wanted were not available in the small (2-3 pcs) quantities I wanted.

So any suggestions on where I can get 1/4W 1% metal film resistors and 63V box capacitors??? :sad: I'm scouring through the Elevogue and OnlineTPS sites to find them right now

Congratulations mate. Great going.

Thanks Saikat!

 

[sachu888]

PM me your list.I will try to source locally.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[indialogue]

PM me your list.I will try to source locally.

Regards,
Sachin

Thanks so much! Sending you PM now

 

[novice-akki]

^^Nehru place is not the place to scout around for DIY parts and components.

Lajpat Rai is the market, try and avoid big shops - you can try here:

A) AKASS Electronics [spl. in project components]
Shop no. 472, 479B Lajpat Rai Mkt - 110006
# 9910185274
# 9278901656

B) Deepak Traders
385-A Lajpat Rai mkt
# 011-23860185

This's where I picked up most of the stuff I required for a Cmoy build.

Hope this helps !

Cheers

 

[indialogue]

Lajpat Rai is the market, try and avoid big shops - you can try here:

A) AKASS Electronics [spl. in project components]
Shop no. 472, 479B Lajpat Rai Mkt - 110006
# 9910185274
# 9278901656

B) Deepak Traders
385-A Lajpat Rai mkt
# 011-23860185

Thanks, Deepak Traders is where I got most of what I could get. However, they did not have any ICs and the big shops refused to deal in quantities of 1-2 :sad:
Anyways, think I will stick to online purchases in the future

 

[HiFiManish]

Dear Indialogue, its a great 1st attempt!
Just my experiance - For better and shining soldering joints, pls apply a little amount of flux solution/paste alongwith element while soldering.
This makes soldering a biy easier as well!
Regards.

 

[indialogue]

Dear Indialogue, its a great 1st attempt!
Just my experiance - For better and shining soldering joints, pls apply a little amount of flux solution/paste alongwith element while soldering.
This makes soldering a biy easier as well!
Regards.

Thanks Manish! Yes, I've bought some liquid flux and will be using that as well from now, as I think the flux core Indian solder I'm using right now is not of good quality! The foreign solder that was provided by the kit produced nice shiny joints easily

 

[shanindia]

So any suggestions on where I can get 1/4W 1% metal film resistors and 63V box capacitors??? :sad: I'm scouring through the Elevogue and OnlineTPS sites to find them right now

Try RS Components RS Components - Electronics, MRO, Automation & Control Component Distributor, prices seem reasonable enough.

~Shan

 

[reubensm]

Great going, the soldering job is very neat for a first timer.

 

[indialogue]

Great going, the soldering job is very neat for a first timer.

Thanks very much reuben!