New puppy "Jake" & Tube amplifiers

Well, April passed several months ago from this date, now I have a new puppy named Jake.
It's going pretty well now. I didn't realize how tough it is to raise a brand new puppy! So things are pretty good but I am still having difficulty with my stomach.

I am still downtown Boise at this time. This will be my 5th year in this downtown apartment so far things are going okay. 

I did not want to sign a new lease for my third year but I did. I really just wanted to move out and wing it with family and friends sofas and maybe a roommate or two. But I stayed put for now. 

So overall happy to have a new puppy. Jake is a good boy! We are coming along with teaching him.
I went back to Ron after several years of separation. Things are better off with Ron and we will continue to move forward. Weve been back together for about two years now. We spend a lot of time together on weekends and holidays. We are thinking about getting married soon.

My Red Ford Pickup F-150 is starting to crumble. Transmission at this time is going to fail before the engine. The Ford pickup transmission continues to leak oil and I'm replenishing fluids for the transmission once a week.
Sometimes I want the relationship with Ron and sometimes I don't. There are other times when I just want to be alone in my own space, and other times I want to be with somebody?

I am still enjoying electronics at this time. Started building HIFI Tube amplifiers by hand a few years ago.

But now with the new Jake puppy, I don't seem to have as much time as I used to. But nevertheless, they are on the drawing board and we'll get to those projests soon enough. 

 

I have built about three Tube amplifiers now. One came out really well but needs additional work. The other two are still in the design stage halfway built. None are completely finished lol!
The tube amplifiers are coming along very well. Almost done with one (6DQ6 tube outputs)
The remaining Tube amplifiers is coming along slowly. (6L6 quad bass amp x 6L6 2 Chan stereo push-pull in one chassis) I am finding out the power transformer I bought is not going to be enough power to get to this Tube amplifier to full volume and I found out that the power transformer I did buy had NO isolation. Bad bad! It's shock hazard!! So a new transformer would be at least $85 shipped.

Things are still going well with me and Ron at this time. Marriage at this time is not in the cards (Spring 2020)  We continue to see each other and it's been a life long struggle to have a real relationship with somebody I can call when the chips are down. Ron has been a dream come true. At least he sez he loves me as I am. Which is real good!

I have since rebuilt a Rock-ola Starlight 429 amplifier chassis and it sounds great!
I bought a Rock-Ola 429 Starlight Tube amplifier chassis in pretty ruff shape from a guy though eBay. An acquaintance though a acquaintance type of deal. 66 bucks with shipping. It was a Rats nest and somehow a fire ensued inside the chassis and burned a lot of components and the tube sockets before I got it.
I took the whole chassis down to bare metal and removed all the old wiring, tubes, etc ect.. Then had all the transformers, chassis sandblasted down to bare metal and repainted those black. Cleaned and painted the inside of the amplifier chassis semi-gloss white. Repainted all transformers, rewired the underside of the chassis and installed new Vacuum tubes, wiring, and tube sockets.

About 2 1/2 mons of work and about 175 bucks later it sings like a dream. Very loud amplifier! I use a pair of 6x9 car speakers. I use this amplifier now to play my Vinyl records collection. I do plan on eventually selling this Rock-Ola amplifier. Someday? Only to make room for more Tube amplifiers! Lately It has developed a problem. All transformers heat up to warm. Except the Filament transformer. I am thinking it's a impedance mismatch with either one or all transformers? 07/2021 update. I found the problem to a be a Bias issue. Too small a Bias resistor. Increased that resistor, it don't heat up so bad now. But again it developed another problem. A loud scratchy mismatch sound in both channels. Tested output tubes with a known good set of tubes but no difference! I do have an idea what the real issue is. The output transformers. Somewhere down the line before I had it this Rock-ola amplifier the chassis got real damp and effected the output transformers. I know for a fact that at least one of them is shorting out. I get to it eventually but got way to much on my plate with backlog of projects. Hehe

Jake is doing very well. He is 2 1/2 years old . About 8 months ago Jake almost got hit by a passing car near a local public park we play ball at. Jake does not realize he's not indispensable. Def not car wise! The car grazed his nose and cheek. I don't know under the grace of God how he was not killed! After he nearly got hit, you should had seen the look in his eyes. It was a "But Dad" look. He was chasing after a female Britney! Jake still is not car-wise. Leash is a must! Jake is now 3.1 y/o. More later on Jake...

So Amplifiers, Jake, Ron and Ham radio are what's in my life now. I have been doing pretty well. But my gut/intestines have not fared well. Still suffering from gassiness and bloating. I deal with this every day 7 days a week.When I went in to see the intestinal doctor for a check up he said to stop using the syrup I was taking for constipation. Linisides (Linzess). I did that for awhile and that stopped the gassing. Update 07/2021. Doctor suggested as above I take Milk of magnesia MOM instead and I did but It did not work as well and I am back to the Syrup and the MOM. (Linzess at least for me stopped working about a year ago. I suffer a lot with bloating and a full feeling in my intestines!

10/2020 I joined a Ham radio club Voice Of Idaho ARC Boise. I am nominated for Vice Pres. And redoing the website. Both are tough projects. It fills my time.  I will add more to this as time goes by if I need to. 

Jake😉>

 

Ron LoL