Sunday, November 27, 2011

Callate Gate update

The Noise Gate soldering of the PCB is complete. In looking for the 500k pot for 'sensitivity' control, I was lead to believe the Radioshack 'Volume Pot' rated 500k would work even with a missing solder connector. Turns out not to be the case, there is no third solder lug nor conductor trace to be found - so be warned - it does not behave like a normal potentiometer (voltage divider fashion). To remedy this I went to the only kind of place in this one horse town that stocks a 500k pot: a guitar store. There I dropped $10 on a fancy Fender brand-name pot, my buyers remorse being offset by having solved the problem and moving forward once again. After my initial tests of the Noise Gate, it does not appear the 'Q3' MPF102 N Chanel RF Amp is working out. Audio is simply passing through without being gated, no matter what the settings. I have tried the Q3 transistor in both orientations, since a couple of builders on the tonepad.com builder's report log describe the transistor being shown in the incorrect orientation. Looks like this project is going on the shelf until my next order from Mouser.

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