Russell Technologies ORAC Stereo Power Amplifier

ORAC Stereo Power Amplifier and Table Lamp. I built this in the early eighties. The power amp circuits are a design I was working on for a small general purpose power amplifier, something suitable for use as a headphone amp, driving long lines, or for small monitor speakers. This was some time before integrated power amplifier ICs would be a better idea. The rest of the thing is made out of junk I had lying around. I put a few small decorative lights inside, and also stuck a lampholder in the top so it could be used as a table lamp. I lent it to a group of my friends who shared a house, they named it ORAC, and it was in use for many years driving a pair of Lowther folded horns. It got passed around quite a lot after that. I don't know the full story, but inevitably somebody dropped it, and it has been gathering dust in an attic for a few years.
	Now I have it back, and need to give it a quick clean and polish ready for the next few decades.
	The corner of the back panel has cracked off, held on only by the crumpled remains of the red terminal.
	The bottom panel has the worst damage, snapped in two with extra cracks.
	Luckily, ordinary superglue sticks this stuff really well. You literally can't see the join.
	With the top and side panels removed, a better view of the fine construction methods used. This is aerospace quality stuff.
	Next job is to glue the two parts of the bottom panel together. It will take a lot of superglue, but structural integrity is important.
	Success. It's difficult to tell there was ever a problem.
	A small LED, one of the decorative internal lights, is the last resting place of this spider. It must be carefully removed and given a proper Christian burial.
	The broken corner of the front panel is completely missing. I don't have any more of this material, so will have to think of something else.
	A few hours of careful metalworking resulted in this finely crafted replacement for the missing piece.
	Another internal decorative light, this one an incandescent bulb, has failed and will be replaced.

	A view of one of the boards. These were designed old-skool, with tape and transfers stuck on transparent film. As you can see, there are some tantalum beads. Some of those will have to go.
	Here I have done some cleaning and replace the top panel and lampholder.
	Powered up for testing the amplifiers and internal lights.

	All OK, so replace the side panels.
	Fitted a small quartz halogen incandescent to the top lampholder.
	Here you can see some of the meticulously hand-crafted copper wire loops that hold the side panels on.
	Looks nice in the dark.

I don't know what's next for ORAC. But I hope it finds a new home.
Maybe there will be more to add here in the future.

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ORAC Stereo Power Amplifier and Table Lamp.