Black and White Version of Turret@AmpGarage's JMI/VOX AC15 Schematic (OA-031 Circuit)

[dchang0]

I don't know if I have permission to reprint this, so, Turret (at Amp Garage), if you object, let me know, and I'll pull this down.

This is the black and white version of Turret's original full-color schematic for a JMI/VOX AC-15, OA-031 circuit. The full-color version is out there, somewhere. It's too hard to read when printed on a black and white printer (the colored lettering shows up as a light grey), so I went in and changed all the colored elements to black and white.

NOTE: R38 on the original JMI schematic is 1.5K, not 2.2K as on Turret's schematic. But, Turret's schematic was drawn from an actual JMI-era vintage amp, so it is not as if 2.2K is wrong.

Nothing was changed in this schematic except the font for the title and author (I do not own a copy of the original font, so while editing the PDF, I had to switch the typeface).

voxac15schemorev4_757BW.pdf

[Enzo]

Sometimes it helps to print out such problem images in grayscale, rather than black and white.

[dchang0]

Sadly, the colors chosen in the original schematic don't print well in grayscale or full-color. Light blue, light green, and would-you-believe-it, light grey text (115V on the PT)! They look beautiful on screen but were far too light on printed paper.

[dchang0]

I figure I'll upload the matching full-color layout made by Turret over at Amp Garage forum so there is a matching set in this thread.

This thing is far too complex for me to go convert to black and white, and in this case the colors have value (convey information).

What might be a good idea is to go and insert white boxes in a layer between the black text and the components to make it so that the text is easily readable when printed on a black and white or low-quality printer. If somebody else feels like doing this, please reply to this thread with the "printer-friendly" layout.

BTW, there are two typos in the layout: C35 and C36 are mistakenly labeled as R35 and R36, respectively. Since it matches the schematic above, this layout also has R38 = 2.2K instead of 1.5K as the factory schematic specifies.

voxac15layoutrev4_112.pdf

[MarkusBass]

This is quite a work but not that difficult. Please check the sample I created (with serveral options). Unfortunately, my HP printer just died and I cannot test the printout .

You may also take a look at another drawing I started sometime ago (but I left it not completed). It's AC15 schematic redrawn to my taste :-). I wanted to make it more readable. I stopped drawing it when I realized how many different schematics of this amp exist. Here it is (not completed):
Vox_AC15.pdf

Mark

[dchang0]

Looks great! I think the white resistors where you can still see the color bands will work great (but then again, we have to test it on a few printers to really find out).

At 8.5x11 landscape size (and this is an important point) printed on my crappy Canon black and white laser printer, all the mods you did are definitely more readable than the original brown colored resistors but none of the mods are noticeably better than the others. In that case, it is probably best to go with the easiest change (again, pending testing).

Did you find it a lot of trouble to drill down through all the groups to get to the actual objects?

I like your schematic--clean and easy to read. Turret's schematic is pretty easy to read too, and it's easy to correlate to the actual build/layout when double-checking wiring.

[MarkusBass]

No, that's not that difficult. But the problem is that whoever created the file made a lot of other mistakes. For example, black fonts on dark blue electrolytic capacitors are also incorrect. The same applies to other capacitors and also to the turret board itself. And correcting this is a lot of work. I'll see if I have some time for this in the next week.

EDIT: I had some time to check the file. Here it is:

AC15_Layout_v_0.1.pdf

Please print only the turret board and see if it is readable.

Mark

[dchang0]

That's brilliant, Mark! I printed it out, and pretty much everything is legible. There are a few instances where the text is above a wire and is slightly harder to read (such as "PRESET 500K on the trim pot or C24), but it is still legible.

What software did you use to do this? I was using Inkscape, and it's a lot of work.

Oh, could I ask for one change? The white lettering for R33 and R22 is still not legible on the dark green. It might be better to use the small white rectangle behind the lettering idea for them, if you want to keep the resistor colored dark green.

That said, my needs are already met because I can now use a print-out to double-check my wiring and a pencil to mark off checked joints--THANKS!

[MarkusBass]

Please check the next version - should be slightly better. I use Inkscape but the same modifications can be performed in Corel Draw.
BTW, have you noticed that R36 is C36 now?

AC15_Layout_0.2.pdf

Mark

[dchang0]

Outstanding work! I did see that you corrected R36 to C36 and so on--nice!

The two dark green resistors R33 and R22 are definitely more legible now, but still not quite perfect. I'll give it a try myself--increasing the font size should solve it. (I've got to learn how to use Inkscape eventually.)

[dchang0]

Mark, you must have the patience of a saint--it takes a long time to drill down through all the groups just to get to the text using Inkscape...

Anyway, I increased the font size of the two green wirewound resistors from 5.04 to 7pt, and that solves the problem perfectly. It is absolutely legible even on my crappy 10-year old laser printer.

What do you think? I'm happy with it (everything is legible to me).

AC15_Layout_0.3.pdf

I did notice what I think may be a source of the illegibility. For whatever reason, the kerning is really small, so the letters run right into each other, decreasing legibility. I think the author was trying to keep the resistors and capacitors pretty close to scale, so rather than increase the size of the smallest components to make the font more readable, he jammed the font in there...

[dchang0]

You're gonna laugh--I just realized that you don't have to drill down into the groups in order to edit the text. Inkscape's text tool goes right to the text! I also figured out by accident that the kerning is fixed only if you re-type the text after changing the font size. Check out R33 and R22 now--VERY legible!

I corrected a typo (Channal instead of Channel), changed the title fonts to Arial Black, and moved a couple of resistor labels so they weren't covering up the color coding.

AC15_Layout_0.4.pdf

[MarkusBass]

You're gonna laugh--I just realized that you don't have to drill down into the groups in order to edit the text. Inkscape's text tool goes right to the text!

Yes, I'm gonna laugh. Ha, ha - when you use a tool, it's nice to know in advance how it can be used . And there are thousands of very good tutorials for Inkscape.

I also figured out by accident that the kerning is fixed only if you re-type the text after changing the font size. Check out R33 and R22 now--VERY legible!
I corrected a typo (Channal instead of Channel), changed the title fonts to Arial Black, and moved a couple of resistor labels so they weren't covering up the color coding.

I've seen the typo but I wasn't able to change it due to problems with fonts.
I would increase the fonts on pots and switches and call the file "version 1.0". Have you got acceptance from the guys from turretboard.org to publish the file? They may like it, or not .
Anyway, I'm happy I could help you. What you are doing regarding Vox AC15 is a very good job .

Mark

[dchang0]

You were a massive help, man, especially in showing me what is possible within Inkscape. Thanks!

Turretboard.org shut down a while ago (the domain is parked now). I've messaged Turret over at Amp Garage (the original author), but he never responded. I'll delete this thread immediately if he objects to the edits.

As to the font weirdness--I had to delete and re-type the entire label to correct the misspelling on Channal. I imagine the same trick will have to be used for each of the other font size increases. Let me work on that and post 1.0 later.

[dchang0]

v2.0 Layout

Here's the layout MarkusBass and I improved upon. It is labeled v2.0 since the original made by Turret at Amp Garage is v1.0.

This is just barely legible on my ancient black and white laser printer. If anyone improves upon this, please make sure the smallest labels remain legible when printed on 8.5"x11". Newer 1200dpi printers have no trouble producing legible output, but older 600dpi printers can't handle tiny fonts on dithered backgrounds.

And if you find any errors, please report them here.

AC15_Layout_2.0.pdf