rite of passage

[William M. Maciejewski]

Hello all,
I've finally actually joined the ranks of builders - just finished the
Fatman last weekend.  Anyway, I was thinking of other projects, and
two questions came to mind.

First, I'd like to build a small one - a ring modulator (or balanced,
I guess they're pretty similar).  I've had two schematics floating
around for a while, from the Net.  One involves the Analog Devices
AD533 and seems pretty simple (sch by Romeo Fahl).  The other uses a
MC1496 (Motorola?) and seems somewhat more complex.  Can anyone tout
the virtues of one over the other?  Chip price?

The other question has to do with Gene's ASM boards (in a way).  I'm
planning to build one when the main shipment happens, but am having a
little trouble with the front panel idea.  I know the general idea is
to purchase metal sheets, and cut, drill, and transfer labels onto
them, but my present living circumstances (a two-bedroom apartment)
kind of limit my available tools.  Is there a more economical way (in
terms of space and/or money) to do this?

It's a really neat feeling to spend a weekend learning to solder, then
turning on this thing you've built and it actually works!  (well,
mostly... and the Paia staff are very helpful with debugging tips!) :)

Anyway, happy soldering
seeya
-bill

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William Maciejewski                            wmmaci at cs.wm.edu
 silly & boring homepage:  http://cs.wm.edu/~wmmaci/index.html
Computer  Science  graduate  and  TA    @    William  and  Mary
"Sleepless": a new progrock show: 90.7 FM Wmsburg VA Wed 6-9pm
Heuristics Inc.: fuzzy, goofy improv/sequenced electronic music!
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"It is a low spot in my style." - output of an algorithmic text
generator when given one of my short stories as input :)