DIY Western Electric 417A Kit.

 A four+ year ebay hunt finally payed off when I bagged this little gem.  I first saw one down in DC at mikes place and from that moment I needed one.    According to mike, they made these at the factory and used the vacuum pump to get all of the air out.  The pics below are from some different angles so you can see all the parts.

proud papa....

in the realm of DIY, "proud papa" usually refers to pride in a work that you have created... in this corner of DIY, usually an amp or speaker... but in this case, I am actually a proud papa...

my oldest called me one day and told me that he found some gear... and this is the photo from his dorm room:

for scale, that is his laptop.. and yes, a full size laptop... I am so proud!

[and Happy New Year!  one of my resolutions is to start blogging twice a week.. I realized that I had been extraordinarily slack in posting when twice in the same week someone asked why I linked them to "dave's blog"... sheesh!]

peace,
me