Re: Does anybody have experience with the following equipment?

[Jim <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On Dec 22, 4:10=A0pm, Robert Macy <robert.a.m...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > I am born of the vacuum tube era.
>
> > Many of the technolgies you speak of are still available today and
> > ( though I don't follow that =A0part of the industry) I can imagine
> > there's much more sophisticated stuff available now too. I used to de-
> > bug telephones back in the 70's and it was pretty sophisticated back
> > then when there were only copper lines. Now, it's got to be pretty
> > damn complicated what with all the various kinds of telular
> > communications that are available. =A0I don't do any commercial anymore
> > and in the last ten to fifteen years have gravitated towards medium to
> > the semi high end residential realm by diversifing. I do some alarm
> > systems but also do small business and residential network wiring and
> > basic set up. ( the relatively simple stuff) CCTV, Home theater,
> > small, medium and maybe a little bit large. Nothing elaborate but with
> > some minor theme's. Whole house audio systems. Automated lighting and
> > setting up remote controls for just about anything that a homeowner or
> > small business owner can think up. Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets. The bulk
> > of my knowledge in in the installation of fine residential alarm
> > systems but I just LOVE home theater installs. I've always said that
> > I'm one of the few lucky people who can make a living with my hobby.
>
> > I don't know if what =A0you do now is related to the subject of this
> > group or not, but some of us have been here for about 15 years or so.
> > If you're in a related vocation and feel as if you can add to the
> > information pool .... stick around .... we could use some new blood.
> > Much of the once abundant blood in this group has been shed, through
> > the years.
>
> Thank you for the invitation.
>
> My background is design, towards theoretical. etc.

Mine is practical and hands on.
I've always thought I would have made a good engineer, as I have this
automatic basic understanding of how most things work and I've always
had "good hands" .    But .... some people just don't get all the
talents necessary towards their preferred endeavors. Me? really bad at
math. Just couldn't remember the formulas. So I stuck to the technical
end, and following the good advice of a mentor, I got into the
business end of electronics and used my innate knowledge of how things
work to out-shine most of the other people in sales and marketing.
Ultimately finding that I had a talent that had been hidden from
me ..... the gut's and ability to utilize all the things I learned in
big business ..... to run my own business. Took off the three piece
suit and have been crawling in attics and crawl spaces ever since. I
just have to know how everying works and can be made to work better or
how to fix it.


>
> I'm always in awe of the ones who have EXPERIENCE. =A0I keep reminding
> myself, and instilling in team members that Science DESCRIBES what we
> observe, it does NOT DEFINE what we observe.

Good observation!

>
> I arrived slightly 'after' the tube era, but I have designed vacuum
> tube amplifiers. =A0Mine were of necessity since only tubes could handle
> the high voltage. I designed extremely linear High Voltage ramp
> drivers operating in the audio range for positioning ion beams for
> implanting wafers. =A0Very intelligently the original Electronic
> Engineer had selected using a cheap $3-$5 tube which was used in TV's
> as a high voltage regulator. For field service, the tube was readily
> available anywhere across the US [alternative design required

Now THAT's a person after my own heart!

> difficult to obtain $100 microwave tube]
>
> In setting up your home theatres, do you take advantage of the PC's
> sound card to perform resonant and spectral flatness checks?
>
> You probably already know this, but you can use those sound cards as
> very cheap, yet very effective, spectrum analyzers with tracking
> generators option. That $100 card is better for this task than the
> $10,000 SA's I've used.
>
Actually, when it gets to the point ( beyond an SPL meter) that I'm
dealing with a client that has that much knowledge to be able to tell
the difference or who wants that level of expertise, I call in a sound
engineer. ( only twice, so far) For the most part, the people I deal
with wouldn't even know what equalizaion is. Most A/V receivers come
with room equalizaion software and capability built in and that, along
with some personal tweeking, is the best that I can personally ....
give them. Anything beyond that, I call in the 'real" experts. By the
way, when I say "semi high end home theaters, I talking on the high
side ..... in the $10 to $20,000.00 dollar range. Nothing more
elaborate than that .... so far. Most are done in peoples family
rooms, a new room add-on or in a dedicated basement room. Only light
themes .... sconces, maybe a popcorn machine, home theater seating,
cove molding indirect lighting and controlled lighting. Universal
remote controls. Maybe a small  stage for the screen and
speakers ..... things of that sort. Nothing like you see in some of
the magazines. A lot of it is just "guys" who want a "man cave" where
he can really turn the volume up on that new Blu Ray acton movie and
where he might occasionally let the rest of the family in for a movie
now and then ...... if there isn't a game on.



> Merry Christmas to you and your family.
>
> Regards,-

Yep ..... same here.