[Boatanchors] A moment, a day, a passing of a generation/a large question

[jeff]

On Thu, 2006-12-07 at 10:08 -0500, Mark Richards wrote:
> Yes, we all know pearl harbor happened and how stellar our glorious 
> leader is present day.  

Not to mention that both Pearl Harbor and 9/11 were allowed to happen,
at very least, by powerful men with an agenda.


But I agree with you on keeping on-topic.  To that effect, I have a
question:

Short of figuring out that old time machine quandary, how does one learn
hollow-state practical tips?  Yes, I've read a few books, taken a few
things apart, attempted to build other things... but how does one learn
without a nun over your shoulder, slapping your knuckles with a ruler?

How does one learn to look at a circuit and make changes to alter the
output?  In a tiny class-A 6BQ5 audio amplifier circuit, if I lower the
B+, will I lower output while retaining most of the fidelity?  I know I
can use a resistor to lower the B+ - where do I start?  How much can I
lower the B+?  Or should I keep the B+ as-is for the other tubes and
just lower it for the output?  A 10w resistor in the power supply gets
hotter than anything I've felt in a radio, yet calculations show it only
dissipating 2w - why is that?

Where does one learn this stuff?  The practical info doesn't seem to
appear in the books.  Is it just slogging through, blowing stuff up, and
conversing with virtual elmers?