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Bad BA6110 in x0xb0x #888

Published January 4, 2009

BA6110 (IC15B) in x0xb0x #888, wetted with alcohol for readability. I believe that the buffer in it is causing the x0xb0x not to work properly.

I’d previously posted about how x0xb0x #888 was generating no audio after powerup, and with Roxie now gone I had time to start digging into what was wrong.

I’d already known that the power supply, digital half (sequencer), DAC, and VCO were working fine, so I set to work tracing things back through the schematic from the headphone out. Eventually I found that I was able to see a waveform on the first half of the BA6110, after the op-amp (pins 6 and 7) but before the buffer. I didn’t see anything after the buffer (pin 8).

So, I think I have a bad BA6110, which is one of the rare / hard to find parts in the x0xb0x. This is just what I was afraid of.

Being typically paranoid of my own work I double-checked soldering, checked for shorts, and all the other normal things like that, but I really think the problem is with the buffer.

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Wide Open West Physical Installation

Published January 4, 2009

New junction box installed on the outside of my condo when Wide Open West service was installed. I think the installer did a good job.

Last Monday I had Wide Open West CATV and internet service installed. The installer was a nice guy, did just what I wanted, and did a good job putting the new junction box on the outside of the house. As requested he left the Comcast line going into the house, replaced the old splitter, and let me take care of the data side of things (very basic to set up; no Comcastic walled garden crap), and had an MCard for the TiVo.

The only problem I had is that he wasn’t familiar with setting up TiVos and forgot to check for reception of HD channels. A phone call to WOW! service after he left got those turned on and everything was set.

Thus far I’ve been mostly happy with the data service. Tests at DSLReports.com have shown that I can achieve the claimed 15Mbps downstream and 2Mbps upstream quite regularly. Everything has been much faster in real use as well, and uploads to my photo gallery are far, far faster now.

I intend to write up a more technical description of how I like the service, including how I intend to use the three IPs (DHCP assigned) that I’m allocated as part of the service, but that will have to come later. For now I’ve got some other projects to wrap up.

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Roxie Go Home

Published January 4, 2009

Roxie standing in the back of Danielle's dad's car as Danielle was about to drive her back home.

After a bit over a week here it’s time for Roxie to go back home. Danielle arrived here last night right as I returned from Brian’s birthday party, and after some gift returning / shopping stuff she left today with Roxie in the back of the car.

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Roxie Wants Snuggles

Published January 3, 2009

Roxie laying her head on my leg after my friend Brian left. She wanted me to pet her.

Here, have yet another photo of Roxie, this time with her leaning strongly against my leg wanting me to pet her. One can even see the line down her back caused by her sleeping inverted, leaning against the couch a few minutes earlier. And the nose. The nose!

(For what it’s worth, she’s now laying with her head between the bike wheels seen there chewing on the remains of a rawhide from earlier in the week. She tends to eat all but 1″ of them, then leaves that bit laying around until I won’t give her a new one.)

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Thirsty Puppy

Published January 2, 2009

Given the option, Roxie will drink out of bathroom sinks.

Normally Roxie drinks out of her water bowl, but given the option she’ll also gladly drink out of bathroom sink faucets. When doing so she doesn’t lick the tap, she just laps heartily at the stream of water.

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The Business of Being Born

Published January 1, 2009

Poster from the film The Business of Being Born.

I just finished watching The Business of Being Born. Despite what the trailer (which will automatically start playing if you visit The Business of Being Born’s website) seems to imply, this film was about modern day midwifery. Sure, the film does touch on the idea that the dramatic rise in number of Caesarean section births is a product of hospitals being more focused on getting women in and out as quickly (and as profitably) as possible, but that strike me as the focus.

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D.I.S.S. Is All Clean

Published January 1, 2009

Oury grip on the Bianchi D.I.S.S. after cleaning the bike and re-fitting them with isopropyl alcohol. Hopefully they will stay in place.

I spent a good part of yesterday and today disassembling and reassembling the Bianchi D.I.S.S. that I acquired on Monday. While it looked pretty good to begin with, the drivetrain (save for the chain) was actually pretty dirty. There was also a bunch of black dirt (chain lube / dirt gunk) hiding all over the frame and drivetrain. So, I took pretty much the whole bike apart, cleaned everything, then put it back together. (Here’s a photo of the shiny clean crankset, chainring, and chain.)

This included torquing everything to spec, re-seating the tires (with logos aligned, of course!), flipping the stem cap around so the logo faces the right way up, re-fitting the Oury grips, adjusting the brake levers, and all the other niggling things that are part of putting a bike together. The grips were fitted by first cleaning them, rinsing them with alcohol (99% isopropyl), then wetting them with alcohol and sliding them on. They appear to be drying nicely, although I’ve read that it may be best to fit them with either rubber cement or a spray adhesive. If this doesn’t hold, I’ll try another method.

It’s now all ready for riding, I just have to wait for a bit less ice on the ground and I’ll be able to ride. This bike might also be perfect for trying out the On-One Mary Bar which Bob loaned to me a few months back.

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100% Chick Designed

Published January 1, 2009

Bianchi's 100% Chick Designed logo on the bottom rear side of the seat tube of the D.I.S.S., indicating that this frame was designed by Sky Yaeger.

I spent lots of New Year’s Eve working on cleaning up the new-to-me Bianchi D.I.S.S.. As part of this involved removing the rear wheel I was able to take a photo showing off the “100% Chick Designed” logo which is placed on Bianchi frames designed by Sky Yaeger.

Yes, this is very much the bike version of a crotch shot.

Happy New Year everyone, and Happy Birthday !

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