mac said:
Congrats canidoit,
Great encouragement for a noob like me, just as I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by my dual 1176 J (I am right at the beginning).
cheers,
Mac.
Mac, Im not sure how different the Rev J is, but I have some excel sheets I built for this Rev D that you may find useful. I can send it thru to you and you can alter it if you think it could help.
I set up the case first before installing the components to the board, that way, the components installed would not get damaged while I played around with the positioning of the internals and externals. Like I mounted the empty boards into position in my case, transformers, etc. and drilled and cut out parts of the case for connectors and that. Then when I got that done, I then soldered the components.
I also printed out an exact scan of the boards I received and marked each component off with a pen or highlighter and placed subnotes on the print out as I went thru and soldered or wired the components or section or as I gathered notes from peoples posts or information collected, so that I know what to watch out for when I soldered that component.
eg.
matched fets, on the board print out, I put a note in there so that when I got up to it, that I have to make sure it is matched.
Also be wary that the large caps may need to be soldered last on some sections of the board because you will have trouble soldering components smaller than the caps in some positions, I discovered.
Very, very useful is to download as many pics of the unit you are actually building for visual reference. I am talking internals overall, close ups, etc. This is such a massive help especially when you are not electronically educated and like to build visually. It will give you options on how to position your internals and some form of guidance in wiring and soldering but always refer to whatever final documented info you have. The visual is more for assurance and confirmation. Email me and I will send you off the collection I have.
I think the key to this DIY thing, is planning and prep work.
Check out some of my posts, maybe theres some info in there you may find useful since I am coming from a newbie also.
Good luck mate! The Rev D unit sound pretty good so far, I will be recording with it more when I have time. I am off to finish Drips La2a, check this guys builds out http://dripelectronics.com. Also check out Hairball, http://www.hairballaudio.com/shop
He sells some of the parts for the 1176 and also has the customer support and service to back it up.