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If you own a SA-X800 series amp - Do not look in this thread!

dew042

dew042

Honky Tonk Hero
I warned you, you will be jealous...

I fabricated this tonight, discussed it a while back with Dr. Strangelove, so thanks to him for the brainstorming sessions. My SA-9800 was envious of my SA-9900 and its lighted dial -- it was feeling vastly inferior, not no more! :yes:

I should say its not fully implemented yet - I still need to do some light sealing and actually power it from somewhere in the amp (I used my 12v computer power for the initial pictures).

So, what y'all think?

dew.
 

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Great idea, looks amazing good :thmbsp: :thmbsp: :thmbsp:
Maybe power can be taken from the power-light string :scratch2:
Please post a picture when they are off and volume knob is taken away, and from the back.
 
I LIKE IT! I was just getting ready to open my 9800, do some cleaning, some de-oxit, and now I will start planning on modifying it.

MORE PHOTOS, please.

Doc
 
That's awesome! I was thinking about the same thing the last time I had mine open. You beat me to it! I was gonna use a white lite but of course the blue matches the meters. :thmbsp:
 
Now that is SPAZZY. Great mod. I bet that kicks a few owners to add that to their list of modifications. :thmbsp:
 
This thread needs more pics...

Pretty straight forward on the initial build -- used a hole saw and some lexan. Widened out the middle hole with a 1/2" bit. The lexan was frosted simply with sand paper (place a full sheet of sand paper on a glass surface and move in a figure 8 to keep it flat and uniform....) Used a smaller bit to drill three hole for the LEDS postioned so that they would be inside the knob. Then simply ran three LEDs, surface mounted in series. Little solder and a little heatshrink, hot glue to hold the LEDs in place. Due to space constraints I removed the metal dial backing, but in theory this backing could be modified to be flat against the chassis and a clear version could be made so you could see the dial.

Working out the rest of the details may take a few more days, but I am quite pleased with basic design.

More pics:
 

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After I install rectifier diodes to protect the LEDs on the power going to the power lamp I don't have enough voltage to run a series of 3 leds (only 5v).

Any other ideas? I would love to tie it in the dimmer switch/button, but I am not saavy enough to read diagrams and such.

Edit: I fixed the probelm -- I removed the 8v lamp an inserted another LED into the series. That gave me the headroom I needed.

The blues do not match. In retrospect I would have tried it in an amber, grean, or white.

dew.
 
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This is really great information. I am going to look at mine, and see about keeping the dial.

Thanks for all the great work on this.

Doc
 
Dew, that's great stuff! I just recieved my SA-8500 a couple of days ago and I'll be damned if I didn't think about doing exactly what you did. The vintage Pioneer stuff doesn't have much in the way of panel lighting so it's difficult to operate in a dark room. Small modofications like this could aliviate that. Besides, the flouroscans are blue. I already swapped the orange power light with a blue LED. Great work.

Jimmy
 
Dr. Strangelove said:
This is really great information. I am going to look at mine, and see about keeping the dial.
Click to expand...

The probelm is that there is a second piece of metal that shoots out as a guide to prevent the volume pot from spinning, so, I was able to press the dial backing against this and make a mark on the back -- that would be a good way to estimate where to drill a second hole. Then you can put the dial backing behind the nut assembly that holds the pot. The nut assembly pervented my lexan piece from going flat against the case, which helped me because I had room to hide my wriing in between. The hole for the wires to go inside will be a bit trickier too, but do-able.

Please share if anybody does this - its much harder with the potential for scratches and all.

dew.
 
Very nice!

I have me some scrap lexan, and I'm thinking about a more "traditional" style case for my next project in my metal-arts class. I wonder if lexan is availible in black?
 
I envision something with this complimenting either neighboring fluoroscan components (such as the DT-400 timer) or becoming part of them.
Very interesting work Dew.
 
When are you guys coming up with kits? I was going to copywrite that, but if you build me one, I'll drop my infringement lawsuit. :yes:
 
Strawman said:
When are you guys coming up with kits? I was going to copywrite that, but if you build me one, I'll drop my infringement lawsuit. :yes:
Click to expand...

Who knows. I have my plate full now, but if anybody is really interested I might help em out.

dew.
 
Spasticteapot said:
Very nice!

I have me some scrap lexan, and I'm thinking about a more "traditional" style case for my next project in my metal-arts class. I wonder if lexan is availible in black?
Click to expand...


I don't recal if lexan comes in colors, but you can get Sintra, which is plastic, and that comes in all colors of the rainbow from sizes 1/16" up to 1". Up here in MN, Laird Plastics and Crown Plastics carry that stuff.
 
Hi Dew,
I am not electronically savvy but if you could build me one for my SA-8800, I would gladly pay you for it and postage? I would need to know how to wire it and where.
It is a beautiful piece of work. I would like to keep the dial also if that is possible?
Thanks again,
K
 
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