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

[Kenneth D. Grimm, K4XL]

jeff wrote:
>
> 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?
>
>
>
>
>
>   
Certainly, you can get lots of good input on design questions on the 
reflectors.  Another good source of advice is on the Usenet Newsgroup 
called rec.radio.amateur.homebrew .  One of the best series of articles 
that QST has ever run, in my opinion, is the one called Hands-On-Radio 
by Ward Silver, N0AX.  Ward writes in a style and at a level that 
non-engineers find accessible.  The articles are written as 
"Experiments" and Ward makes sure that you don't destroy what you are 
playing with and learning from.  If you are an ARRL member, you have 
access to all of these articles (48 of them and still going) at 
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/Hands-On-Radio  If you are not a 
member, I can only say that just to have access to these Experiments is 
worth the price of a subscription.  Since everything at ARRL seems to 
turn into a book, one could reasonably expect the Hands-On-Radio series 
to be published in that form at some point in the future.
73,

-- 

Ken K4XL
k4xl at arrl.net

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