On Mar 3, 2:40�pm, Michael Coslo wrote:
wrote:

You're just several pieces of brass and leather
away from steampunkin' it, Jim!

But I don't wanna be a steampunk!

Of course you can arrange your station to your own aesthetic 8^)

Actually, Steampunk is only a few pieces of brass and leather away
from my aesthetic...

But see above about "form follows function" and "aesthetically
pleasing without any added ornamentation". Would adding
brass and
leather make any difference in rig performance?
Or are they only for
looks?

�Well, now you open a interesting subsubject!

Actually I think it's the whole subject....

The addition of brass to a
station is one of those choices that does not necessarily defeat
function.

Agreed - but in the Triple-F aesthetic (hereafter referred to as
"The Southgate School" or TSS), not defeating function isn't enough.
All choices must enhance or support functionality.

TSS also involves the use of available materials and techniques,
usually from non-traditional sources. The rig pictured on my website
(known as the Southgate Type 7) was built almost entirely from reused/
recycled/recovered parts found at hamfests and in junkpiles. A few
crystals were bought new, as was the solder, but that's about it. The
main tuning capacitor is from a junked BC-221 frequency meter; the
dial drum is cut from a piece of Perspex tubing 6" in diameter that
came from a piece of industrial equipment, the VFO box was made (by
hand - hacksaw & flat file) from scraps of 3/32" thick aluminum plate,
etc., etc.

IOW, "found objects".

There needs to be a chassis to place components on or in. Is
aluminum or steel or plastic more functional than brass?

Depends on the application.

For things like power supplies, steel is preferred due to greater
strength and some level of magnetic shielding. But steel must be
painted, plated or otherwise finished to prevent rust, particularly in
a basement shack where humidity may be high.

For things like transmitters and receivers (TSS does not normally use
built-in power supplies because they usually decrease functionality),
aluminum is preferred because of its light weight, corrosion
resistance, higher conductivity and ease of working.

Brass has good conductivity and is easy to work, but it is heavy,
expensive, and rarer than aluminum or steel. There is some use of
brass in TSS, mostly for specialized applications where aluminum is
too soft and plating or painting steel is not practical. For example
in the Southgate Type 7, there is a shaft extender from the tuning
capacitor which I made from brass. You don't see it but it's there.

there might be
some technical reasons fort one over the other, but in the end,
they are a support structure.

Agreed. I have used wood as well, in applications where shielding
wasn't important, or could be obtained in other ways.

An example is the copper plated chassis found in
some radios. Pretty cool. But I wonder how much "worse" they
would
perform if they weren't plated?

Copper plating of steel chassis (Drake is a prime example) was done
for a couple of reasons. One was corrosion protection; since the steel
had to be coated with something to prevent rust. Unlike most paints,
copper plating is conductive, so shields and components mounted to the
copper-plated chassis would make a good chassis connection. Another
plus is the ability to solder directly to the chassis.

But copper plating has disadvantages too. One is that the copper
tarnishes over time. Another is that any break in the plating can set
up electrolytic corrosion. There's also the cost and relative
impracticality of copper-plating at home.

What Drake and others did was to plate the chassis after all the holes
were punched. That's fine for production-line manufactured rigs, but
if there's a possibility of future changes that require new holes, the
plating would be broken. So I stick with aluminum, steel, and
sometimes plastic and wood.

Keeping in mind that fff could be used to not allow any
embellishment,
such as staining, finishing, we have to make sure we don't
minimalize
things out of existence.

TSS is about simplicity and functionality, not minimalism. If staining
or finishing improves the functionality, it is done. For example, the
shack tabletop consists of a layer of oriented strandboard (for
strength) topped by a layer of masonite (for a smooth hard surface).
This combination (actually a composite) was chosen because it was the
least expensive at the time. The masonite was given a couple of coats
of varnish because doing so improved the functionality.

I once went to a classroom where a true minimalist had hung a
data projector from the ceiling from wires. Problem was, the fan
would
push the projector, only as far as the wires would allow, and it
made a
pendulum. People were getting seasick!

There's a textbook example of form *not* following function! The
purpose of the data projector support is to hold the projector at the
proper place so it can do its job, and if the image isn't rock-steady
the appearance doesn't matter.

� Same for leather - would the speaker sound better?

�well, possibly could make for some vibration damping.

Possibly. I've had some experience building speaker cabinets (clones
of the Altec A-7 "Voice of the Theater", JBL folded horns, for
example) and the trick is to build solid from the beginning.

My thoughts are to make a setup that incorporates the
aesthetic in a
fashion that is applicable to the situation.

Which is the basis of Triple-F. You're not far from joining TSS!

The equipment has to sit on
something, so it will be made in a fashion that involves natural
materials, and brass will be used where needed.

There's the key: "where needed".

I'm not going to remove
my radios from their cases and build wooden boxes around them.

OTOH, wood can be a good cabinet for a rig that doesn't have one.

I don't
plan on overly embellishing the station, my goals are
a warm feeling with an antique look where practical.

I've always wondered what the fascination with "antiques" is. I can
understand the fascination with craftsmanship, design, practicality
and materials, though.

The term I would use is "classic" or "timeless". Look at some Mission
or Shaker furniture - it does not appear "antique" or dated. That's
what TSS is all about, applied to Amateur Radio (and a limited
budget!)

For another example, look at the classic Hitchcock film "Rear Window".
Even though it is more than 50 years old, the overall look of James
Stewart's New York apartment, the clothes, the cameras, and all the
other details are so classic that you'd want to live there today.
(Having Grace Kelly stopping by doesn't hurt either!)

Yet "Vertigo", made just a few years later by mostly the same people
(Hitchcock, Stewart), looks very kitschy and dated by comparison.

---

Perhaps the biggest challenge is that our hamshacks are usually works
in progress, rather than fully complete, so flexibility has to be
designed in too.

73 de Jim, N2EY