Birmingham AL DIY'ers

[Robert Dunn]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

Ok, guys, I don't want to clutter up the PE Tech Talk Forum so, if you are interested in some form of Central/North Alabama DIY get-together , please send me a private e-mail with your direct e-mail address, name, city, and, optionally, your contact telephone number(s). (Do not post this information on the forum unless you really like spam and/or unsolicited telephone calls!)

Once I have some responses, I will send an e-mail to all who responded with our names, cities, and e-mail addresses. We can then see when and where we might get together.

robert

[Robert Dunn]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

One area of potential interest is the sharing of "prime" local diy resources.

For instance: There's a mineral wool manufacturer near B'ham, I believe.

Are there any surplus electronics sources to share?

Ed, are you thinking of AcoustiStuff (or something similarly named)? If so, they are in Mobile, AL, and not at all near Birmingham. If not, what?

robert

[rogoll]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

Ed, are you thinking of AcoustiStuff (or something similarly named)? If so, they are in Mobile, AL, and not at all near Birmingham. If not, what?

robert

Birmingham is big in the heavy metals industry, and mineral wool is used as insulation on furnaces, etc.

[edlafontaine]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

Ed, are you thinking of AcoustiStuff (or something similarly named)? If so, they are in Mobile, AL, and not at all near Birmingham. If not, what?

Mineral wool, aka rock wool, is made by Rock Wool Mfg. in Leeds, AL. I've never traded with them. I have obtained 4" batts of rock wool from commercial drywall suppliers. It has acoustic properties similar to the synthetic fibers.

[Robert Dunn]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

Mineral wool, aka rock wool, is made by Rock Wool Mfg. in Leeds, AL. I've never traded with them. I have obtained 4" batts of rock wool from commercial drywall suppliers. It has acoustic properties similar to the synthetic fibers.

Never heard of "rock wool." Could you describe? (Please tell me it's not kin to asbestos....)

Thanks,
robert

[edlafontaine]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

One of the notable attributes of rock wool is that it is benign. It doesn't itch you like fiberglass, nor does it cause health problems like asbestos.

[rogoll]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

Yeah, I cut it up to use to insulate a laser and camera assembly we placed on the roof of a reheat furnace in a steel mill. Like Ed says, it doesn't cause any irratation. Looks like off-white fiberglass, but without the itch.

[rogoll]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

One of the notable attributes of rock wool is that it is benign. It doesn't itch you like fiberglass, nor does it cause health problems like asbestos.

...in fact, I read the MSDS when I was working with it just to make sure there weren't any problems. I just found it hard to believe that it had the functionality it had without some kind of serious safety issues.

[ErinH]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

bumpin' dis here thread... ;)

I'm in Decatur. Not sure if all you Alabama natives have left, but I recognize some names still posting here.


I don't know if any of you guys are into car audio at all (not bass thumpin' car audio, either). If you are, I'm actually having a GTG at my house next month (april 16th). If you'd like to come by, let me know.

I'm also currently building a test baffle upstairs to start testing drivers with. Would be cool to hear from other locals.

- Erin

[CW Lindsey]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

I am in the Decatur area,Trinity actually. I am about done building speakers. But I am currently building a diy pc system featuring the sure amp board. If there are any audiophile types or even hifi diy'ers around I am not aware of them.

[ErinH]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

I am in the Decatur area,Trinity actually. I am about done building speakers. But I am currently building a diy pc system featuring the sure amp board. If there are any audiophile types or even hifi diy'ers around I am not aware of them.

I actually met an engineer/producer via audiogon who lives here in Decatur. Dude has some seriously nice gear, but I don't think he's a DIY'r.

[David Crewe]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

I am in Chattanooga. Where can I get info on the event in Atlanta? I would like to try to make that.
Thanks,
David

[ErinH]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

I bumped a 2 year old thread. ;)

That meet has long passed. lol.

[Jim Griffin]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

Yes, the Atlanta DIY meeting which is mentioned above was in 2009. But check out this show in Atlanta April 14-17th for a chance to see/hear the Audio Expo North America show which features manufacturers and other audio related stuff.

http://www.axpona.com/

[ErinH]

Re: Birmingham AL DIY'ers

just wanted to bump this in regadrds to my GTG next week on April 16th. Here's the latest info..

Again, it'll be in Decatur, Al. If anyone somewhat local wants to come out, feel free. It'll be car audio guys but we're after sonic bliss, lol, so we're more like home audio dudes in this regard... not bass junkies.
Plus, I'll have a few well trained ears and there will be tons of great sounding cars to change your mind on the car audio stereotype.
Oh, and an Alabama Music Hall of Fame producer/engineer will be there, too.


Next Saturday is the big day so here's an updated list. I've forgotten some names, so please feel free to tell me. A couple people can't make it, but a couple others can. If your name isn't on the list or your status is different than what I have, please let me know and I'll fix it.

1) Erin - bikinpunk
2) Mark - Audible Physics
3) Ashley - ashman5
4) Chris - Hillbilly
5) Blake - Scionboxrox
6) Jason - papacueball
7) Scott - Alpinem
8) John - Pionjek
9) Chuck White - StereoLuver
10) Kirk - AcuraTLSQ
11) Paul - PaulD
12) Jason - ImJustJason
13) Al - BigAl
14) Lee - pyropoptart
15) (?) - strakele
16) Jack - JacksonP
17) John W - SynrG
18) Nick - Nar93da
19) Scott - peg legs
20) Jason B - bertholemey (driving all the way down from NC!)
21) Fletcher - cobalt232
22) Jim - iroc2nv
23) ??? - ocblaze
24) Ryan - slade1274 (strong maybe)
25) Ben - Honda (maybe)
26) Steve McIntyre - customtronic (maybe)
27) Charles - sssnake (not confirmed, but he lives close enough to drag here)
28) ??? - Forson (maybe)

Just got off the phone with the sound engineer. He's coming over Friday to set up the speaker systems (he's bringing two :D) in the garage. We're gonna do some placement of carpet, and acoustic panels to help with the reflections due to the concrete floors. I'll post pictures of the setup next Friday night so people know what to expect.

I really hope the weather stays nice.

Please let me know what time you plan to arrive. You can get here as early as 10-11am. I just need a heads up so I know not to be slaughtering cows in the front yard barefoot and in my whitey tighties. I don't wanna scare anyone off. :laugh:
If you need to get here earlier for some reason, PM me. I'll try to be available early. Most likely I'll be cleaning out the garage or the test room anyway... you can help! :o


Make sure to remember to bring

• Chair(s)
• Gear to sell/demo/test
• RTA setup if you have it. If you don't know how to use it, we'll show you. Lots of people here know how to run TrueRTA. Just bring a mic and whatever needed to power it and download the 1 octave version of TrueRTA and we'll go from there.
• Snacks if you need them (see below).
• Power supply for your car or for someone to borrow if needed. I've got jumper cables. ;)
• Camera to take pictures with. I always appreciate it when people post pictures of GTGs and installs/etc in other threads so would appreciate someone taking some for me and posting them up. I'll try to take some myself but I usually get too wrapped up in talking to remember to take any.
• A good 'tude.

Lunch:
Given that most people will get here early afternoon, I think we'll shoot for a mid-day foodage at around 2-3pm. I need you guys to let me know when you plan to arrive so I can figure out the lunch schedule a bit better.
If you want to bring some snacks for yourself or to share, please feel free. I'll have pizzas and coke/dr. pepper/water. If you need anything outside of that, you might want to bring it.


Don't forget to email or pm me for directions/address.

And don't forget what I said about cell service being crappy with AT&T and other carriers. T-Mobile is the only one I can verify since that's what I have.


Driver Testing:
Klippel stuff should be firing up *hopefully* by the end of next week. I'm taking next Thursday and Friday off to get ready. Gotta clean the dang house. Noes!!!!!!
Will be working on the klippel stand next week so everyone can see that and the Baffle Test Stand for FR/distortion testing. I'm working my **** off to be completely done by next Saturday but it's going to be tough. Probabably won't be able to test much that day, but I should at least be able to demo whatever I have mounted on the wall so people can see how I do the FR/distortion testing and I hope to have a sub mounted on the klippel stand so people can see that testing in action.
I think it would be great for everyone to see what is behind the data that will be posted.