Hey friends,

I recently came into some old Trident 80b gear. Among the gear were two channel strips in various stages of disarray. Nothing too bad, missing some parts here and there. I thought it would be "fun" to turn these two channel strips into external pres. I've seen it done before, shouldn't be too hard right?

Now I should say I have a basic understanding electronics. I get lost reading schematics but I eventually find my way.

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. I have the channel strip schematics and parts list so aside from getting the missing parts what's my next step?

How do I power them so I can use phantom power on them?

Is it possible to get the inserts to work?

Can I do anything cool with the aux sends?

Do I need the fader for the whole channel to work?

Anything else I should know about using a channel strip like this as an external pre?

Thanks for any information you feel like ginving me!

Murph

Hi
It would help immensely if you posted the schematics. Not many will have them to hand.
If you want phantom you will need a source of 48 Volts. You only need 14 milliamps per mic input to be powered, as well as the supplie(s) for the audio path.
Inserts, probably, need schematic.
Aux sends, probably not as they are a high (ish) impedance 'output' unbalanced.
Fader, not necessarily although with a bit of track cutting you could use an Aux send pot rather than fader.
It probably won't have a 'line output' capability that is balanced.
Matt S

Hey Matt!

Thanks for the reply!

Here's the schematic I found.

Using an aux send as a fader sounds interesting. What if I have the aux master card as well? Would that change anything as far as using them as traditional aux sends?

Why would the output be unbalanced?

Thanks again!

Murph

Hi
Both the insert send and channel direct outs are unbalanced.
If you had the aux send module/card then they could be made to work but questionable about what you can actually do with them.
Best
Matt

I'm a noob at this stuff, but is there a reason you couldn't just use it like you would on the console itself? Just set the gain, put the fader at unity and go for it? Just as far as using it as a pre goes.

Yes. Not having seen this model in the flesh I was not sure if the faders were on a separate plate. If they are on the module itself then off you go.
Matt S

Totally sKJF!

But they're not on the same plate, not really.

With the fader the strip is about 30.5", I was just thinking ergonomically if I could save a few inches and forgo the fader might be smart to do. Ascetically I think I want them there but functionally I might not if I can get by with using an aux send.

As far as using the aux sends go I thought it might be cool to have some extra routing functionality as limited as it would be with only two channels... I don't know. Also I thought it would be a great learning experience to do something dumb like that.

So Matt, in your professional opinion what should my next step be other than getting missing parts and finding an inclosure? Do you, or anyone else reading this, know of any valuable resources I could read on this topic?

Thanks!

Murph

Drop the fader amp from +10 db to unity and short the leads across. Then the direct out is useful. The mic pre is sorta crappy as it presents a variable load to the transformer secondary. That can be fixed but it requires trace cutting.

Thanks Jim! I was hoping you would chime! Glad you're here!

Hey can anyone tell me what pins deal with the power? Or just any useful information about the pins?

Pin A3 say +5v

Pins A12 & 13 says +20v

Pins A17 & 18 says ELECT 0v

Pins A 14 & 15 says -20v

Again, let me mention I am a few steps above electronically illiterate but if I had to make a guess I would assume the aforementioned pins have something to do with power?

Can anyone give me any other useful information about the pins? Will I need an extra circuit for the power supply? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Murph