Amp Raffle in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

[Paul Fawcett]

Hi Guys,

I know I've only posted here occasionally, my main hang-out being over at AX84.com where I'm quite active. However, I'm working on a project right now that I hope is of general interest to this community, I hope it's OK to post this here.

Aside from being an avid amp builder, I've also had a long time association with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as a fundraiser and participant in their "Team in Training" program. And this year, I'll be running the Sand Diego Marathon and fundraising once again to support their mission of funding patient support and research to eliminate blood cancers. This being my third time fundraising for this charity, I thought I'd try something a little bit different to stir up interest.

Specifically, I've decided this year to combine my interests and build a custom amplifier, to be raffled off, with the proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

You can read the full details about the amplifier raffle and watch its progress as it comes together over the next two months over on AX84:

http://www.ax84.com/bbs/dm.php?thread=459272

The current schematic (which is still a bit preliminary, but it's getting close) of the amp can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?y91lbjdeykjnosu

Major features include:

Spring reverb
Tremolo
D-style overdrive
6V6 PP power section (expecting maybe 20W tops out of this)
Regulated DC heaters
Chokeless capacitor multiplier based screen filter

In some ways, this is kind of a simplified version of my D-inspired "Grail" amp, mashed up with something like an old Gibson.

But anyway, here are the basics of the amp raffle. Each $25 donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through my fundraising website (Link is here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnr12/pfawcetnbg ) counts as one ticket for the raffle, which will be held in the days immediately after the San Diego Marathon. The raffle itself will be conducted by some trusted third party, probably someone like Chris Hurley, who runs the AX84 forum. As you can see from my fundraising site, I've already raised over $2K this year, but please be aware that at least half of those donations are from "civilians" that aren't interested in amplifiers and aren't participating in the raffle. So odds of winning definitely beat the heck out of the lottery, and the proceeds go directly to a great cause.

Incidentally, the amp is going to be built with a universal PT so folks in Europe or Australia, etc. should feel free to join the raffle, however, I will ask that if you are not in North America that you agree to pay for the shipping of the head in the instance that you win.

For those of you that aren't familiar with me from AX84 or MEF, you can take a peek at some of my projects over on my Wombat Amps blog:
http://wombatamps.blogspot.com/

Those of you with a special interest in D-style amps should put "Grail" in the blog search bar, it'll bring up some entries detailing my previous take on D-inspired amp.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Once again, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to this great charity, which does life saving work. Again, the link to my fundraising page is here:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnr12/pfawcetnbg [/url]

[xtian]

Very cool, Paul. My first build was a Firefly, with lots of help from AX84.com. Cheers.

[Reeltarded]

Excellent reason to build an amp! Thanks!

[Paul Fawcett]

Thanks guys. I'll be working this weekend on a layout, I'll try and get it posted up here for comment.

Cheers,

Paul

[Structo]

Excellent cause.

My favorite uncle survived 28 missions in a B-17 over Germany only to succumb to leukemia in his early 70's.

[M Fowler]

I agree excellent, my niece survived with several bouts now in remission.

Mark

[Paul Fawcett]

Hey Guys,

The amp I'm building for this fundraiser is starting to come together now, so I thought it would be a great time to post a couple of things up on my blog.

Here's a link showing how the Cherry wood head cabinet (handcrafted and donated by my crony in the Gothik Amps consortium Ben Sykora):

http://wombatamps.blogspot.com/2012/04/ ... -bits.html

I've also started work on the boards, here's a blog post from today with a current schematic, rough layout, and build-log type stuff from the main board construction sequence:

http://wombatamps.blogspot.com/2012/05/ ... board.html

Anyway, I've raised over $2200 so far this season, but with your help you can get in the raffle for this amp, and help me reach my goal of fundraising $3000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Each $25 donated counts as one ticket in the raffle!

Cheers,

Paul

[Paul Fawcett]

Continuing with construction of the boards. Finished the power tube board the other day. Some build-log layout & photos: http://wombatamps.blogspot.com/2012/05/ ... board.html

Have also now finished the bias and regulated DC boards, I'll post up some build log stuff soon. Now on to fabbing the PCBs for the tremolo and relay/reverb driver.

Also got word from Ben Sykora that the cabinet/chassis is completed and awaiting shipping to me here in Richmond... this thing will be coming to completion soon! Stay tuned!

[John_P_WI]

Very cool Paul,

I lost a sister to acute Leukemia back in '95. She had a bone marrow transplant only to succumb to graft vs host disease (her body rejected the marrow transplant) a short time later....

Life can be crappy when you die at 40 and leave 3 young kids....

John

[Paul Fawcett]

Very cool Paul,

I lost a sister to acute Leukemia back in '95. She had a bone marrow transplant only to succumb to graft vs host disease (her body rejected the marrow transplant) a short time later....

Life can be crappy when you die at 40 and leave 3 young kids....

John

John,

Thank you for your kind words, and I'm very sorry for your loss. Since I've become involved with Team in Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, I've become all too aware of the horrible toll this disease exacts. Fortunately, it is an area where progress is possible and is being made. But it's stories like yours that get me out fundraising season after season.

Paul

[Paul Fawcett]

On a more upbeat note, things are progressing rapidly now. As of this weekend, I've finished all the point-to-point boards (main, power tubes, bias, DC heaters), and also had a chance to make the PCB for the relay/reverb driver. The only major component remaining is the PCB for the tremolo, and I hope to get that done this week.

The really cool news though is that Ben Sykora has finished work on the gorgeous cherry wood head cab he has so generously donated. Check out the pictures of the completed cab! http://wombatamps.blogspot.com/2012/05/ ... plete.html

This amp is going to be really special... and it could be yours. Remember each $25 donated to my fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society counts as a ticket in the raffle for this amp!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnr12/pfawcetnbg

[Paul Fawcett]

Yesterday was exciting, as I both completed the tremolo PCB, and UPS dropped off a package with the head cabinet and chassis. This means that everything is here, and the final assembly phase is now beginning!

Who wants to build an amp! Here's an update with a pic of all the components ready to be mounted and harnessed up, and some news about the timing of the raffle and how it will be conducted.

This amp could be yours! Each $25 donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on my fundraising page counts as a ticket in the raffle. Help me reach my fundraising goal of $3000 and help stamp out blood cancers!!

[Paul Fawcett]

The day of the race has come and gone (it was Sunday), and I'm back home in Richmond, tired and happy, having completed my sixth Team-in-Training event in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

As for the race itself... Well, I had some challenges with my training for this event, getting sick during a few critical weeks, and missing several key long runs. In the end, my level of preparation just wasn't where it needed to be to run the full marathon as I had intended (it would have been my fifth). So in the end, I decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and dropped back to run the half marathon. This turned out to be a very wise choice, and I ended up finishing the race in a fairly dismal time of 2h:13m, which is a full 25 minutes slower than my best time for the 13.1 mile distance. But don't get me wrong, it was a great day and it was wonderful to be out running with the sea of TnT teammates with their distinctive purple Team in Training shirts.

The crowd support from the people of San Diego was also outstanding, with lots of funny signs along the course.. My two favourites were a Leave-it-to-Beaver looking kid holding a sign that said "Worst. Parade. Ever.". And also the attractive young woman with the sign that said "Your stamina is pretty good. Call me, maybe?"

All in all, of approximately 30,000 registrants for the San Diego Marathon and Half Marathon, over 2,500 were raising funds for LLS. In total, I'm proud to report that, collectively, over $7.3 Million dollars was raised for blood cancer research through this one one event alone. This year, the majority of donations to my personal fundraising efforts came from generous people on online forums like The Amp Garage. Together, we have so far raised over $3150, so please, if you have already participated in the amplifier raffle, give yourself a nice pat on the back. If you haven't, please remember that the drawing will be on 24 June, so you have until then to make your own contribution, and to get in on the raffle. This weekend should see the final assembly of the amp.
My Fundraising Page

Thanks to all!

[Paul Fawcett]

The raffle for the Wombat Amps Quest amplifier was conducted today using the RandomPicker.com website. You can see the details and the protocol that was used.

I'm excited to announce that David Morin of Monmouth, ME is the lucky winner!

Many thanks to everyone that so generously donated to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and this project. Special thanks are also in order to my collaborators from the Gothik Amps consortium that so graciously donated time and materials for the amp project.

This includes Ben Sykora of Sykora Custom Tube Amps, for his donation of a beautiful hand-built head cabinet, Mason Atom Wolak of TMI amplification, for the engraved faceplate, and Brian Schmittling of DirtyDawg Amp chassis for the custom aluminum amp chassis.

In the end, we raised almost $3800 for cancer research, with donations coming from five countries (USA, Canada, Slovakia, Australia, and the United Kingdom) and three continents. Many thanks and sincere gratitude to all.