My new Tarantula

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:32 am

I am so chuffed for you man,, I am seriously loving this post, the twists the turns, the deadends to find an alley way which leads to a solution.

I am pretty sure the PIC would be the same as the Da-Vin.

Fan speed control can be done with a thermo and switch to turn the fans off and on , the lightiing is a quick easy one , I did it with mine,.

Impedence switching I dunno about so , sorry there.

I am holding thumbs for you , by the way there are a bunch of SS parts for sale right now on flea bay.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:42 pm

Well, a little update on the half dead spider...

I have been poking around at it off and on in my spare time. Coming up with an idea on some possibility and then finding out I am no better off.

A few days ago I discovered that it seemed the PIC was trying to light the power LED. I have checked over and over and then, while testing I found it had driven the power LED output high-- or so I thought. I had ~5Vdc at the output for the power indicator, but it was flaky, most of the time slowly dropping off low. I found that if I flexed the corner of the board where the PIC and pin header for the control board is that I could get the voltage to fluctuate wildly. Sometimes up to 8Vdc or higher. Even with the voltage on this pin up this high, it still did not drive enough current to light an LED, even w/ no current limiting resistor. This sealed it for me, there is something wrong with the PIC.

I finally broke down and sent Danny at Resolution Audio in OZ an email asking if he had any spare parts and described my issues. The first email I received back from him confirmed that it is likely the PIC is bad. The bad news is he does not have any spares, and he has been unable to get more from SS. He also confirmed that the micro is copy protected and that he has been unable to get them to relinquish the code. This is bad news for me-- I have some feelers out there trying to get a hold of the code and all I can do now is wait. Danny is keeping a lookout for a spare for me as well, and said it will only be a matter of time and he will turn something up. He gave me a list of other things to touch up on the amp in the mean time though, so I still have plenty to do in the interim.

Anyhow, here's me keeping my fingers crossed, and many thanks for the suggestions and support in this thread!

Thanks,
Jason

andy600rr · Post by **andy600rr** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:09 pm

Glad to hear that Danny was able to help you out even though it's not the news you really wanted.

I've got my fingers crossed for you man.

wash with gasoline · Post by **wash with gasoline** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:46 pm

parts will pop out of the woodwork at some point. it just sounds like you just have a waiting game to play for awhile ...now you can get back to old school pg projects

its not likely, but if i come across any tarantula parts il let you know

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:32 pm

Thanks guys. I am fairly confident that I will get it sorted out somehow. I just heard back from a friend of a friend sort of thing that we should be hearing from the original programmer who wrote the firmware sometime next week. I also dropped JandRelectronix a note requesting a replacement if they had them available. With so many feelers out there looking, one will turn up somewhere. Just look at Joerg and his SOFAS, once he started searching he started finding them everywhere!

Thanks again for playing along with me.

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:57 am

Oh yeah, were in business! The new SS finally got back to me, and they had only a few of the PIC's left and I bought them-- since they are copy protected, and I haven't been able to turn up the code anywhere, this is my little bit of insurance that I will be able to keep the bad bitch alive for a while

I am relieved, and geeked that I am finally going to be able to tie it up. The chips should be here next week. Wish me luck.

Later,
Jason

marko · Post by **marko** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:23 am

nice one jason

are you gonna get her replated or paint it?

i know chrome is considered a bit bling bling and gangsta but it just looks sooo good in chrome!

andy600rr · Post by **andy600rr** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:51 am

Great news Jason!!!

vingasoline · Post by **vingasoline** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:42 pm

hey I need your help with the same amp, check your pm

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 1:07 pm

Almost there on this one. I mounted some cold cathode tubes in it. I still need to find a good place for the inverter. The top obviously still needs re-finishing, and I have a little massaging left to do to the case to get the top back on. All 4 bolt points tore out at some point. Anyhow, here are a few pics.

Later,
Jason

MW3 · Post by **MW3** » Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:46 am

Ever get it sorted out and working?

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:23 pm

MW3 wrote:Ever get it sorted out and working?

Yes, aside from the case, the amp is 100% okay now!

Later,
Jason

denim · Post by **denim** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:18 am

Looks great, did I miss where you said what you were using this for?

Post by **stipud** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:57 am

My god that thing is huge...

I knew you would fix it

So are you going to CNC a new case?

Post by **Rold Gold** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:07 am

stipud wrote:
So are you going to CNC a new case?

I was thinkin the same thing Tom...........................

Post by **Jacampb2** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:40 pm

I would like to run it in my MKIV Jetta. I have an autotek mean machine MX3000.1 I repaired in there running the three strokers right now. If I can get the Tarantula to fit, I will run it.

I actually already did the drawings for a new top. I was thinking about doing one from aluminum plate and polishing it and clear coating it to avoid the problems of finding a plater and the after the job issues that crop up with chrome if things don't take real well...

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:35 am

BTT for my new one

I bought this one on ebay. It is the newer off shore model, but still the 2kW monoblock. It is missing a few pieces, like it's soundstream control panel cover, and it is missing it's mounting brackets, no biggie, I will come up with something.

Anyhow, major props for this ebay seller, juanvizio, I asked him to double box it if possible and he said he would do his best. It came triple boxed with packing in between each box layer. I have never had something packed this well from any ebayer!

Anyhow, here are the pictures, I'll keep you all posted on the repair as I have time.

Later,
Jason

Haakon · Post by **Haakon** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:13 am

If you ever need to get one of these fixed, or have any questions about them, I found the very best source possible, turns out the man who actually designed them now fixes them as a part-time after his retirement

Found this here: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/ind ... epair.html and I'm thinking about sending my Davinci over there if nobody here in Norway can fix it.

I really should have a Tarantula along with it, a bit envious of your pair of them

marko · Post by **marko** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:16 am

what's wrong with the davinci?

Haakon · Post by **Haakon** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:29 am

It makes a high pitched buzz when powered up cold, very faint, but still there. Like listening to a 10khz sinus tone. Fades out after some minutes, but still.. Would like it to be in mint condition, even if I probably never will use it in my own car :p

marko · Post by **marko** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:33 am

Haakon wrote:It makes a high pitched buzz when powered up cold, very faint, but still there. Like listening to a 10khz sinus tone. Fades out after some minutes, but still.. Would like it to be in mint condition, even if I probably never will use it in my own car :p

if it's coming from the actual amp it'll be transformer "squeel", curable by coating the transformer with suitable laquer like hifonics zed amps did..

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:20 pm

Haakon wrote:If you ever need to get one of these fixed, or have any questions about them, I found the very best source possible, turns out the man who actually designed them now fixes them as a part-time after his retirement Found this here: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/ind ... epair.html and I'm thinking about sending my Davinci over there if nobody here in Norway can fix it.

I really should have a Tarantula along with it, a bit envious of your pair of them

Thanks for that info. I already have a pretty good handle on them and repairing my amps, but it sure would be nice to get the source code for the PIC. You would have to read earlier in this thread for the challanges I faced with the first one. I bought 2 of the last 3 PIC micros from soundstream last year. I have the one as back up, but from what I understand, the new owners of SS could not find the PIC source code. The chips are unfortunately read protected, so I can't even rip it from a good chip.

As for a high freq whine, it can be as Marko said, but I have also seen this happen when the power supply is under a large load. What is the idle current draw on your amp?

Later,
Jason

Haakon · Post by **Haakon** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:50 pm

To be honest, I haven't really tested or measured it more than hooking it up to power indoors (used my Kinetik HC1800 as a power source). Was planning to use this as the only amp in my car, but then I got a sweet deal on some BNIB Tru Copper tube amps and some other fun amps.

I just hooked it up to power, no speakers connected, to check if all was well as the seller never tested it, he took it as part exchange on another sale.

The neons did not work, the fans did not start (I seem to remember that they were always running on my old one that I bought new in 98 or 99, but not entirely sure), and the amp emitted this high pitched faint sound. It fades slowly away after some time, but started over again when the amp was powered up again after being turned off for a while.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:01 pm

Haakon wrote:To be honest, I haven't really tested or measured it more than hooking it up to power indoors (used my Kinetik HC1800 as a power source). Was planning to use this as the only amp in my car, but then I got a sweet deal on some BNIB Tru Copper tube amps and some other fun amps.

I just hooked it up to power, no speakers connected, to check if all was well as the seller never tested it, he took it as part exchange on another sale.

The neons did not work, the fans did not start (I seem to remember that they were always running on my old one that I bought new in 98 or 99, but not entirely sure), and the amp emitted this high pitched faint sound. It fades slowly away after some time, but started over again when the amp was powered up again after being turned off for a while.

The lamps not working is another possible source. The orriginal lighting is neon and has a neon transformer (high voltage inverter) in there. If either the the lamps are shorted or the transformer is shot it could very easily whine under power.

I'm not sure on the Dav, another member on here has a good thread on repairing one, shaheen (iirc), but the tarantula fans do not run until the amp's temperature gets to a certain point. I cant remember for sure, but they may run non stop for the lowest impedance mode, but don't quote me on that, and it certainly should not apply to a davinci.

The next SS amp I really want-- the LE "Human Reign", not the plain jane one...

Later,
Jason

marko · Post by **marko** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 10:38 pm

if you can't test the idle current correctly with a multimetre then swap the fuse out for say, a 10 amp one. it shouldn't blow and if it does you have issues elsewhere like a shorted output for eg..