Dragonfly Rangemaster Help

[s.r.v.]

Well, i built this rangemaster:
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/album14/album150/RANGEMASTER_PERFBOARD_LAYOUT_001.gif.html
and it doesnt work. no mods, except i used 10k linear instead of audio. its on perfboard.
ANyways, i followed the layout exactly except my jumper is different and the location of where boost 2 connects is different.
Some other points:
-bypass, LED work. when on, the signal is weak, and there is a hiss in the amp. turning the knob makes a slight boost.
-on a PNP transistor, the lugs look like this -= (one back, two forward). is the one back represented by the curve of the (| on the layout?
-nothing was plugged into input jack for voltages, does this matter?
Voltages:
battery measures at: 8.29V
Q1: i dont know the names, so on i will say top middle bottom in relation to the layout:
Top: 0.58v
Middle: 7.82v
Bottom: 7.96v

Input: 4.13
Output: 0v
ground: 8.24v

C3:
negative: 0v
positive: 8.04v

C2:
negative: 7.87v
positive: 8.14v

Boost 3: 0.57v
Boost 2: 0.58v
Boost 1: 0.01v

-9v spot on board: 0v

hmm next thing is interesting. i measured all of these voltages with the black part of the multimeter on the negative of the DC jack, and poked around with the red end. when i switched it, i got ~8v at the -9v spot on the board. which way should i measure? pictures are coming soon, i can do anything else you would suggest. Please help, I really want this to work so I can order my English Channel to build 

THANKS!

[the_random_hero]

You should be measuring everything relative to ground, which in this case is the + terminal on your battery. Connect the black lead to it and poke around from there.

[s.r.v.]

so black lead to positive lug on DC jack and poke with black?

[ECistheBest]

u got the PPP PNP OC44 transistors right? if so, i got pin-outs.

when u look at the bottom with the leads pointing at u:

          B

E                   C

that's how it is on them. E should be going to ground through the 3.9k resistor and the 47uF cap. B should connected to the 470k from V+, 68k to ground, and the cap from the input. C should be connected to lug 3 of the boost pot.

[s.r.v.]

good to see you here EC. and yeah, i have it wired like that. pictures coming. any other suggestions?

[ECistheBest]

mine was basically a bass cut switch when engaged. until i did the debugging. that was my problem when it was for me.

[s.r.v.]

yeah this just doesnt work, its like an unboost

[s.r.v.]

pictures time:

[ECistheBest]

is ur polarity right? mine doesn't have a AC adapter jack. maybe take the wire off the adapter jack and put it straight to the circuit from ur battery.

[s.r.v.]

polarity is all right, any one know what to check? i'd really appreciate help from the pro's (dragonfly, aron, markm to name a few). Thanks!

[s.r.v.]

bump. i really want this to work!

[foxfire]

i may be ass wrong about this but, it looks as though the board is going to short out on the back of the pot when it is clipped on to the standoff's?

[foxfire]

also it's hard to tell but, did you connect the + leg of C3 to ground? dragonfly used a jumper, did you do the same?

[s.r.v.]

yeah i jumpered it to the ground. now when i test it, its up off the pot more, so a short is out of the question. if it did short earlier, what would happen? also, anyone else have any ideas? Thanks

[s.r.v.]

  turns out the 470k resistor was actually 4.7M. OOPS! just incase anyone was wondering, theres probably nothing wrong with the layout. Thanks for the layouts Dragonfly! and lesson: always check resistors with a DMM first, then build!

[newfish]

Soooo.

Built one of these with an OC45 (couldn't find OC44) - and there is some added top end (which sounds great by the way) - but there's no *real* boost.

I've checked all component values - and they're correct.

Would either...

a) Changing the bias resistor up the amount of gain available?

b) Doubling the supply voltage by adding another battery in series up?

c) Finding an OC44 and substituting for the lower gain '45 help any?

Cheers!

Ian.

[newfish]

Apologising for 'newbness' - can't poke 18v at the OC45, as it's only rated at 10v max.

This being the case - my next thought would be to change the value of R1 from 470K to something smaller, giving a greater supply voltage.

Any thoughts?