first amp built.

[PoweredByDodge]

my lab partner and i successfully built our first real amp...

gain of about 600

output impedance of 0.9 ohms -- all the way down to 2 ohms we saw no loss in signal strength, so technically, its 2 ohm stable.

maximum output voltage was about 15.5 volts peak to peak.

slew rate is about 5 to 5.5 volts per microsecond.

so that's a useable power output of about 120 watts peak/max. rms around 60 watts x 1 channel @ 2 ohms

frequency response is (get this shit...) 1 hertz to 150k Hz. bitchin!

all in all, not a bad first amp. its tiny, and cheap too.

with a little dicking around with it, we could get it to run off a vehicle's 12 volt system instead of the dual 10 volt batteries we were using.

[sntnsupermen131]

Congrats!
college is useful for something besides drinking after all huh?
-Cody

[PoweredByDodge]

no -- mainly drinking.

[sntnsupermen131]

shouldve known...
you should get a job at trutech and hook me up with free amps
-Cody

[PoweredByDodge]

actually i may be quitting school soon -- not that the whole fkin world needs to know this but i'm a smidge bit unstable in the head... and its become the ruination of my life... ya... go figure. i find myself unable to do simple daily tasks or make good on my responsibilities.

honestly, at this point, i doubt i'll ever graduate.

[sntnsupermen131]

youre ok in my book...any guy who tries to fix my amp for cost of parts must be one of the coolest ppl i know
maybe those IDs are rattlin ur brain too much
ill trade you
:D
-Cody

[Jstas]

Stop whining and finish school you sissy!

Seriously, what is the big deal? School getting to you? Talk to a counselor and ask about taking a semester off. Find a job doing something you will like and get away from it for a bit. Don't get half a degree though.

I find it hard to believe that your life is anywhere near being ruined. Stop throwing the pity party and get on with life. It's too short to feel sorry for yourself.

[PoweredByDodge]

my existence is a sine wave... some days i'm up (such as clinching a 95 in electromagnetic theory and beating out 250 chinese kids to do it) and some days i'm wayyyy down (like getting a 14 in circuits II. ouchie.

my "life" persay is not bad at all... work part time, go to school, still live at home so nothin to really stress over.

but being manic-depressive throws a monkey wrench into most everything.

anywho -- back to cramming i go -- i gotta get a 50% on these two tests i got tomorrow if i'm gonna keep my head afloat... just "get by" on these two and then hunker down for the rest of the semester and i should be able at least pass, which, contrary to popular belief, is sometimes an accomplishment in its own right.

[AustinKP]

Originally posted by PoweredByDodge
with a little dicking around with it, we could get it to run off a vehicle's 12 volt system instead of the dual 10 volt batteries we were using.
---So when are you going to start taking orders??? :)

[PoweredByDodge]

lol dude its only 60 watts -- 1 channel... not exactly a powerhouse... lol.

if you wanna build the power stage and send me the design, i'll send you an assembled amplifier / output stages for free.

[AustinKP]

Ok, question. I'm just in a basic electronics class, so I don't always have a clue about what I'm talking about... This week we made a bridge rectifier to convert AC to pure DC, and I learned how to use a 555 timer. Yes, I know, I'm amazing... :)
Anyway, RMS power is normally Peak x .707, right? So why are amps' RMS often rated at like half their peak power?

[PoweredByDodge]

... ahh memories of EE101. i loved that class... it was like a nice little doorway to engulf myself in the wonders of all things that go "blinky blinky buz buz buz"

far as power.. its a grey area -- music power and sine wave power are two different things -- as one is a whole mess of sine waves, the ohter a single signal.

when dealing with waves... rms is often 0.707 * V peak to peak.(or "max").

when dealing with music -- the true music RMS is more often half-ish of the Vpp of a 100Hz sine wave.

sometimes its less... this is usually caused by saturation of transistors.

some amplifiers may put out an RMS continuous power of 100 watts but have a peak of 150 watts or 130 watts... the amp design itself would desire to jump up to 200-ish, but the transistors become saturated and gain goes down the shitter... u end up with clipping over the 130-ish mark.

[AustinKP]

I've got the coolest professor. He explains electronics this way: all electronic components are made of two things: silicon and smoke. If you let either one of these things out, they stop working. For example, LED's. Smoke is what makes them light up. They are full of it. If you let the smoke out, they stop working. So far, it seems he's right :D