phase linear 400

[gene french]

i was looking at the documentation that joe sent me on the back planes and driver boards....
where can i see how to modify the existing back plane for the full complimentary s

Yes, The Control boards are not the best quality, even when they were brand new , I will be upgrading to the new WO boards went I get time.
The original backplane are solid IMO their nothing wrong w them if the sockets are good. But you have to modify it to work for Full Comp.

where did you get the directions to modify your original back plane...i would like to look at that...if you dont mind...
thanks...as always!!!

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

a man can not have enough options either....

Too many options and it gives you more chances to make bad calls.

 

[jbeckva]

Ok, been reading this whole saga/thread here and decided to pop in with my own .02.

Gene - I also have a few WOPL builds under my belt. Started way back around 2013 when Lee here gave me a present which was a converted 700 series I with the original backplane, quasi, and rev "A" of the driver board from Joe. Being that I had 10 years 88 to 98 in Avionics, that sparked me up and from there I've done around 10 to 20 (hell I can't recall) 400's.. 700's.. series I.. series II.. you name it. If I recall as well, Lee got a hold of one of them and at that time he said the noise floor was the best he's seen so far.. but I digress........ anyway!

One thing I learned real quick.. is an absolute "hate" for the original point to point/old nasty sockets backside. Kerpow.. Kaboom... mouser order new parts.. lather, rinse, and repeat. I had and still have all of the required equipment to do it right, and even then overall the rework being done is well, upon reflection it was pretty dumb to continue in that direction once Joe released the backplanes. As well, one look at the backside of any PL original driver board gives me flashbacks of being a QA rep for about 8 of those 10 years.. to where I wouldn't even consider putting my name on the line certifying the work.. for any of them. To me, they are just that.. nasty.

Soldering equipment and the skills to do it right are in my mind a 100 percent prerequisite to take one of these on. Between splashes and cold joints, one can run into big trouble way too easy with 100 volts running amok when you're not expecting it.

Save your money for the good stuff sir... and be sure you're well equipped and able to assemble the amp.

ps.. A few years later some dude got on here who was my actual supervisor waaaaaaay back in 91/92'ish when I was just a wet behind the ears, fresh out of school tech. He's still here and you've been conversing with him in this thread LOL. He's also the one that took care to show me the in's and out's of "2M" aka micro/miniature solder and repair. Worked on only bench cards since I never went to actual school / certified in it but hey... I did have a "master" tech to show me the ropes..

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Your best option? Gut the old JUNK and build with NEW parts.

I was building a 41 Indian Chief many years back.... My bro's would pull up, check my progress, and then go riding without me. My best option? Sell all the indian parts and buy a running FLH......... Problem solved. three weeks later, when they pulled up to "check my progress", I put on my boots and went riding WITH them.

 

[George S.]

i was looking at the documentation that joe sent me on the back planes and driver boards....
where can i see how to modify the existing back plane for the full complimentary s

where did you get the directions to modify your original back plane...i would like to look at that...if you dont mind...
thanks...as always!!!

The final amps PL made were full complementary. My 700 Pro came full complementary and with silpads, these were the last 700s made. There were also 400 S2 full complementary at the end of production, again these are rare.
Never looked for a schematic, but perhaps in the very last 400 S2 maintenance manual.
I upgraded my 700 Pro full complementary back wall to Joe's full complementary back plane circuit boards.

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Ok, been reading this whole saga/thread here and decided to pop in with my own .02.

Gene - I also have a few WOPL builds under my belt. Started way back around 2013 when Lee here gave me a present which was a converted 700 series I with the original backplane, quasi, and rev "A" of the driver board from Joe. Being that I had 10 years 88 to 98 in Avionics, that sparked me up and from there I've done around 10 to 20 (hell I can't recall) 400's.. 700's.. series I.. series II.. you name it. If I recall as well, Lee got a hold of one of them and at that time he said the noise floor was the best he's seen so far.. but I digress........ anyway!

One thing I learned real quick.. is an absolute "hate" for the original point to point/old nasty sockets backside. Kerpow.. Kaboom... mouser order new parts.. lather, rinse, and repeat. I had and still have all of the required equipment to do it right, and even then overall the rework being done is well, upon reflection it was pretty dumb to continue in that direction once Joe released the backplanes. As well, one look at the backside of any PL original driver board gives me flashbacks of being a QA rep for about 8 of those 10 years.. to where I wouldn't even consider putting my name on the line certifying the work.. for any of them. To me, they are just that.. nasty.

Soldering equipment and the skills to do it right are in my mind a 100 percent prerequisite to take one of these on. Between splashes and cold joints, one can run into big trouble way too easy with 100 volts running amok when you're not expecting it.

Save your money for the good stuff sir... and be sure you're well equipped and able to assemble the amp.

ps.. A few years later some dude got on here who was my actual supervisor waaaaaaay back in 91/92'ish when I was just a wet behind the ears, fresh out of school tech. He's still here and you've been conversing with him in this thread LOL. He's also the one that took care to show me the in's and out's of "2M" aka micro/miniature solder and repair. Worked on only bench cards since I never went to actual school / certified in it but hey... I did have a "master" tech to show me the ropes..

Well said Jer.... By the way, who was the asshole who helped you all those years back???

 

[gene french]

wow...what nice responses...
i would like to state...
that i got my ham license in 1968 and have built my own rigs from scratch plus about every heathkit too....from the iambic keyer, phone patches, to the sb1200 and hw101...my favorite was the hw16 and hg10b...
.i had a computer store from 1982 until 2006 when i closed the doors and retired...
at that time we did component level repairs which required a lot of soldering and desoldering...please dont get me wrong....
i am not a tech nor an expert....but, again i was not born yesterday either...lol
i got pretty good with a logic probe...but, we had no need for scopes or anything of that nature...although i wish i would have learned...
....i can be found in the w1aw call book as AA5NX...
here i am TI7/AA5NX...i still keep a rig or two around...i only worked cw...never owned a microphone.....i did get pretty good...i could hold my own at 45 wpm....in my prime....
have i ever worked on vintage equipment....YES...but it was 50 years ago when it was new...lol
and if a lot of you remember back...you all had to get started somewhere....where would you be if you just hired it done??
i started college in electrical engineering but in the late 60s early 70s ... engineers were driving taxi cabs in new orleans....
in my junior year i switched to pure math (i can not teach...i never took education courses) so i could work nasa...if i could not be an astronaut...then i would be the ones keeping them up there....
went great...one friend a year ahead of me...did that ....and he did have a career there....
however, my luck, i finished in 1972....the year nasas budget was cut...and a hiring freeze....and was not able to pursue that...
lol....such is life...
any way....i appreciate so much all of these opinions and options and i assure you i will consider them all...you all deserve respect and congratulations for your electronic and audio accomplishments....i wish to gain a few too!!!
and learn from you as well....
never too old to learn...
thats what they say anyway....
am i the oldest guy here???

 

[gene french]

Well said Jer.... By the way, who was the asshole who helped you all those years back???

i'll bet i can guess....lol
jajajajja

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

I think Lee was in the Boy Scouts with Noah so I don't think yer the oldest

(Just kidding Lee).

 

[jbeckva]

Well said Jer.... By the way, who was the asshole who helped you all those years back???

LOL the same that actually gave that 2M school to my original A school classmate that arrived in the shop with me (man that mess crankin' built character). No matter tho LOL.. I got that TACAN school and went on to greater fame and fortune in Diego Garcia - nothing like the whole department getting together to get shitfaced drunk every other day... Master Chief included (he was the best/worst offender hahahah). We certainly worked and played hard, that year in "paradise".
Funny too.. all the old farts like you were asking me if I pissed off the detailer. Brits were awesome to party with... Even got arrested one night.. good times!

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

I mess cranked on the USS Independence. Worst experience of my career.

 

[jbeckva]

wow...what nice responses...
i would like to state...
that i got my ham license in 1968 and have built my own rigs from scratch plus about every heathkit too....from the iambic keyer, phone patches, to the sb1200 and hw101...my favorite was the hw16 and hg10b...
.i had a computer store from 1982 until 2006 when i closed the doors and retired...
at that time we did component level repairs which required a lot of soldering and desoldering...please dont get me wrong....
i am not a tech nor an expert....but, again i was not born yesterday either...lol
i got pretty good with a logic probe...but, we had no need for scopes or anything of that nature...although i wish i would have learned...
....i can be found in the w1aw call book as AA5NX...
here i am TI7/AA5NX...i still keep a rig or two around...i only worked cw...never owned a microphone.....i did get pretty good...i could hold my own at 45 wpm....in my prime....
have i ever worked on vintage equipment....YES...but it was 50 years ago when it was new...lol
and if a lot of you remember back...you all had to get started somewhere....where would you be if you just hired it done??
i started college in electrical engineering but in the late 60s early 70s ... engineers were driving taxi cabs in new orleans....
in my junior year i switched to pure math (i can not teach...i never took education courses) so i could work nasa...if i could not be an astronaut...then i would be the ones keeping them up there....
went great...one friend a year ahead of me...did that ....and he did have a career there....
however, my luck, i finished in 1972....the year nasas budget was cut...and a hiring freeze....and was not able to pursue that...
lol....such is life...
any way....i appreciate so much all of these opinions and options and i assure you i will consider them all...you all deserve respect and congratulations for your electronic and audio accomplishments....i wish to gain a few too!!!
and learn from you as well....
never too old to learn...
thats what they say anyway....
am i the oldest guy here???

Yeah Gene I had to get my solderin' mojo back after being away from it for a bit. Did the switch to "I.T." when I got out, so it was a few years. Been doing a project here and there nowadays, but pretty much retired from building these puppies. Heck now it's all class D wherever you look - when broke, throw the whole amp away.

 

[jbeckva]

I mess cranked on the USS Independence. Worst experience of my career.

Nothing like a Pilipino MSCM chasing ya around the kitchen going "FSA FSA... COME HERE.. CLEAN THIS.. IT'S DIRTY!!".. all while one of his cooks tosses a load of used cans of slop on the floor you just swabbed. Man and that was shore duty... On the GW we sent our shop airman down to the galley for 6 months - he came back, and it was like a parolee coming out of a 10 year prison stint. Dude wasn't the same as when he went LOL!

 

[MusicSteve]

The final amps PL made were full complementary. My 700 Pro came full complementary and with silpads, these were the last 700s made. There were also 400 S2 full complementary at the end of production, again these are rare.
Never looked for a schematic, but perhaps in the very last 400 S2 maintenance manual.
I upgraded my 700 Pro full complementary back wall to Joe's full complementary back plane circuit boards.

The full complementary schematic are at the end of one of my service manual after the BOM, lol (10-81) and it appears that they used the old boards and than they made some newer Boards.
also the schematic to the backplane were not 100% accurate and the board also needed a lot of rework
but going through everything I did it and it took a lot of steps.

 

[gene french]

The full complementary schematic are at the end of one of my service manual after the BOM, lol (10-81) and it appears that they used the old boards and than they made some newer Boards.
also the schematic to the backplane were not 100% accurate and the board also needed a lot of rework
but going through everything I did it and it took a lot of steps.[/QUOTE

 

[gene french]

maybe someone has documented that somewhere??
i will ask joe...but, i am pretty sure he is gonna want the new backplane...
just a hunch...
lol

 

[gene french]

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

maybe someone has documented that somewhere??
i will ask joe...but, i am pretty sure he is gonna want the new backplane...
just a hunch...
lol

Damn, you got a hard head bro.......

 

[gene french]

Damn, you got a hard head bro.......

not the first time i have been told that....
but, it looks like it is not feasible....
i thought it was a published from joe on how to utilize the existing back plane with his board and transistors...
the last post i think sums it up....i i dont have specific directions...i expect trouble....
hang on sniff....the fat lady is still in her underwear...no where ready to sing yet...

 

[gene french]

you will appreciate this one sniff...
from my dad....

a hard head wears a soft a**...

absolute truth...