Blatboy's Blog

Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:30:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've been able to work on any electronics projects, and while I've been using my MB-6582 in the studio at work, I've been so slammed that I I've not been able to finish my last touches. (Filter pots, mix out, power LED... stuff like that)

Starting next Tuesday, I'll have at least one recording session every week in my studio until sometime around mid 2014. Being that I'm already so slammed, my life, as far as my "hobby" projects go, will be over, for all practical purposes, until then. Therefore, I thought I'd try to get these last few touches installed before the onslaught of work starts.

I'll admit I've been dragging my feet a little on this. My box never really worked that well. Notes would stick, cores would randomly go offline (especially if I had more than 2 cores installed) I could use it in the studio, (if it did something freaky, I'd just re-record) but it wasn't reliable to use in a live performance...which was my original inspiration to build this. It was suggested that a nice new linear power supply would be the fix. I don't have the chops at the moment to design and build one of those, and with my new job, I feel I won't have the time to learn... so I figured I'd just have to live with a MB-6582 with some intense personality quirks (much like it's owner) and not use it in a live performance situation. I've certainly learned a lot and had a blast building it, so it wouldn't be a total loss.

Last night as I was preparing to cut some ribbon cable for the remaining filter pots, I noticed that the J1_SID1 and J2_SID2 jumpers were set for 12V. I'm rockin' 8580's! I had a really good feeling that I had found the problem!

Initial testing proves correct. It seems to be working better than ever. I still need to test with a full load of 8 SID chips in it, but it's working great with four chips now. Hopefully the fact that I've been using it for the last 6 months or so with the incorrect voltage on SID1 hasn't damaged the first two SIDs. I don't typically leave it on for very long at a time (the longer it was left on, the more quirky it used to act) so, maybe I'm cool.

This was yet another somewhat embarrassing oversight on my part. (This blog and my posts are chunk full of those.) Well, maybe my willingness to publish my mistakes will help someone troubleshooting in the future.

I will eventually replace the old C64 power supply by building a linear power supply. I want my SIDs to last. But there is no way I'll have the time to get the expertise and do the build any time soon. However, as the old axiom goes: When you've got the time, you don't have the money...and when you've got the money, you don't have the time. Anyone feel like building me a power supply?

Working, in more ways than one!

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 19:09:00 +0000

I'm sure you've all been waiting in bated breath to hear how things are going with my MB6582.

Well, after some annoying setbacks that were pretty much all my fault *ahem* I've gotten the box to work.

Then, a big new job came in, which is great news!  However, it pretty much takes away all my spare time to be midiboxing. :(  Hence the reason I've not been around too much.

I still have a couple last steps to complete my box.

I've ordered some knobs, albeit somewhat boring ones for now, and just need to add the mix out and the last 3 pots for the filters in the back.  Once that's all installed, I'll post pictures.

I was visiting LA last week where I found some cheap, low profile heat sinks at All Electronics.  It was cool to be actually in that store, which I've perused the website many times.  I think they will fit on the SIDs nicely, and aren't too tall.  I'll get back to you on that when I've had a chance to try putting them in.

I've already incorporated the MB6582 into some of my work.  So far, so good.

Again, I'll post pictures and mp3s when I get a chance to come up for air...

MB-6582 is ready. Ready. Ready. er, ready for what?

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 04:15:00 +0000

It's taken a considerable amount of time due to life/work getting in the way, but I finally got my MB-6582 to the point where it should power up and go.

I attached the control board to the enclosure.  All good there.

I made all my cables.  I ended up scrapping the original idea of making them removable on both sides, the plugs didn't fit inside the case. (Just as you had thought, Hawkeye)   Maybe I'll find another use for those parts one day.  I soldered the base PCB side of the cables to the headers like the tutorial, and have some heat shrink tubing on them ready to go.

When all my cables were attached, I powered up.  Sadly nothing really happened.  I just got the same screen I originally got when the LCD started working.  No lights, no fanfare...  I just get a nice copyright notice from TK, and the awfully positive seeming, "READY."  I moved pots, and hit buttons.  Nada.  I double checked my cables and it seems they are attached ok.  Those PIC chips on the base PCB are already all set up to go, right?  The operating system just doesn't seem to be doing anything.  Or did I perhaps not hook something up correctly.  I only have two SID chips in for testing, (why fry them all, right?) but that shouldn't matter, right?  Did I miss some insanely obvious header connection or something?  Any ideas?

See below:

Here's a couple peeks inside:

Thanks!

getting closer: LCD installation a success!

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 04:52:00 +0000

It's been a while since I posted, as it's been a while since I've been able to work on the MB6582.  I've been waiting for parts to come in (namely the LCDs from China.) In the meantime, I replaced all the SMD capacitors on the logic board of an old, non working Mac Classic II I had bought on ebay for a song.  It actually works now!  I'm gaining a little confidence.  (Look out!)

So, I took all your helpful suggestions to heart.   I made a new LCD cable, attached the connector, and tested all the connections.  I twisted and tinned the ends of the wires, fluxed the pads on the LCD and added some solder.  Once I did all that, soldering all the connections was a breeze.

Then, the moment of truth (er, again)  I turned it on.  Nothing. Turned it off.  I thought it might be a good idea to try switching pins 15 and 16, as I had completely followed Hawkeye's tutorial being that I had the same part that he used (er, but mine was in blue)  So, it seems that the pads were labeled correctly on my part, as when I turned it on a second time, and adjusted the contrast, I got this:

What an amazing thrill it was to see THAT!  I celebrated in a 12oz fashion afterwards.  Seriously, I'm so happy that it worked.

So, I guess I move on...  I've already started crimping cables to connect the base PCB to the control board with my new crimping tool.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes.  I'm feelin' like I'm gonna start cookin' with gas here.

...but I don't want to jinx it...

...and a few steps back.

Fri, 11 May 2012 03:02:00 +0000

My next job was to tackle the LCD.

I think I made a few mistakes, the first being the fact that I didn't take enough pictures.

I made my cable.  I crimped on the 10 pin connector to the ribbon cable, no problem.  I did my tests and it seemed ok.

When I started soldering the ribbon cable to the LCD, I think I did them upside down.  It was odd, because I was trying to match the picture (photo 7 on step 12) on the tutorial, but I noticed the little arrow on the connector that I thought was supposed to point to pin 1.  I assumed that's what I shoudl do as opposed to just copying the picture.  Doing it that way made it seem that the connector was upside down compared to the picture, though it's not easy to see.  Looking back, that was pretty flawed thinking.  (One of my specialties!)

Being that I had the same LCD from China (in blue) that Hawkeye used for his, I figured the pins would match, even the mis labeled pins.

The soldering was a little difficult.  I had strands of wire that kept wanting to short to the pin next to it.  I probably should twist the ends better next time.

So, either my two bad assumptions or my messy soldering could have been the culprit...

I plugged in the LCD like I saw on the tutorial (with the ribbon going towards the PIC chip), and turned on the power.  Nothing.  I tried moving the contrast pot on the control board.  Nothing.  Then I smelled something.  Ooops.  I quickly unplugged it.  After inspection, one of the rubber circles on the LCD was REALLY hot, and some of the rubber looked like it may have been a wee bit melted.

I thought about how I may had put the ribbon cable on backwards (due to my thoughts about the arrow on the connector) and I figured I'd try to plug in the LCD the other way, just very quickly, to see what happened.  Sure enough, I got something on the LCD screen, but no words or anything.  It sorta lit up and then went out.  After subsequent tries, continuity tests, and some cleaning up my soldering job, I think I possibly fried the LCD.  :(  Or maybe the polarity isn't labeled correctly?  How do I test that?  Just switch the two and test and pray there's no magic smoke?

So... a PSU and an LCD I've fried.  Damn.  I'm a piece of work.  I have my doubts if I am advanced enough to be really doing this project.  I have no testing instincts, nor do I really know how to test everything.

I might just order another LCD (or two.)  At least they're cheap.

...but I won't have this thing finished for the concert, for sure.  I'll be playing Hardsid instead...

A few steps forward...

Fri, 11 May 2012 02:25:00 +0000

It's been a minute since I posted... I'm sure you've missed me.

I made some progress... then I hit a bump in the road.  Then, some work came in, and thank goodness for that, but it's eaten into the time I'd rather be spending getting this synth project finished.

Anyhoo... the progress.  (I'll put the bump in the road on the next post)

Here is the front panel with the tactile switches:

I made a mask with the cardboard that came with my front panel:

Here's the control board with the glue gunned hex spacers:

The front panel after sanding:

And the control board under a big pile of books:

Then I put on the machined socket strips and the filter capacitors, which was basically the last step I needed to do for the base PCB before putting in the ICs:

Then added the pots and 3 colors of LEDS: (I know man, I'm friggin' CRAZY.)  Planning the colors and putting in the LEDs was probably one of the most fun parts of this project so far IMHO.  I have no idea what that says about me.

And the look of it with the front panel on and the LEDS!

Woo hoo!  More to come.

Patience. Patience. Patience.

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:50:00 +0000

Patience was never a strong trait of mine, at least when I'm obsessing on something.  This MB-6582 project is certainly my main obsession right now, and I've run into another snag that I can only blame myself for.

I was not expecting to be able to get any work done last night, but the opportunity came up.  So, I started putting in the tactile switches into the CS PSB.  When working on the CS, I'm following Hawkeye's amazing tutorial thread.  I rocked step 6 while in a zone of meticulousness and awareness.

I hit step 7, which just involved popping in the remaining switches without having to snip off any leads, and I got impatient.  Maybe I was tired.  I didn't re-read Hawkeye's instructions.  I put in the switches and soldered them in record time.  While I'll admit my soldering technique is getting pretty efficient, I didn't solder them on while my front panel was attached.  The front panel will go on after about 40sec to a minute of fiddling.  Hmmmmm.  I don't think that will work for the JB-Weld step (I believe step 9 in the tutorial.)

So, let this be a lesson to you so that you don't make the mistakes I did here.

Read and follow directions.
Do not rush.
Have patience.

At 41 years old, you'd think I'd know by now.  This is the price of being a still very excitable kid at heart, I suppose.

So, I have two options at this point.

I could just go for broke and take a chance on mucking up my beautiful obnoxious new front panel. If I do this, every time I have to remove and replace the front panel from the CS board, it'll be a pain in the butt. However, once I finish this (assuming that me and my front panel survive the gluing stage) I shouldn't be needing to remove the front panel very much. I'll be too busy rocking out. (Famous last words)
I could get a new CS board. I wouldn't need to order any new parts, as I have enough diodes and switches to populate another board. This option will pretty much ruin any chances of finishing this project in time for the concert.

I'm leaning towards #2. I sent an email to SmashTV to see if he can hook me up with just a CS board. We'll see.

Hawkeye, have you any words of wisdom?

Progress: New lab, base pcb almost finished & panel arrival

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:43:00 +0000

My electronics "lab" has now been moved out of the laundry room and minimally set up in another nook in the basement.  Still yet to see if the landlord approves...

I got it set up in time to put a couple hours of work on the base PCB.  I had picked up some 1K resistors at Radio Shack to replace the ones I destroyed.  I picked up 1/2 watt resistors, thinking that was the right rating.  However, bringing them home, I see they are much bigger than my original resistors were.  I'm assuming that if the originals were 1/4 watt, it's no big deal to use 1/2 watt ones, as long as the resistance is the same, correct?

They look kinda big and old school on the board.  I like.  Now I've just got to get the machined pin socket strips for the filter capacitors, and I'll be ready to put in the ICs and test!

My obnoxious front and back panels came in!       I plopped my logo on the LED grid, as well as other customizations you can see.  I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the back panel pots yet, though I'll probably go with the feedback pots.  That being the case, I just put a big BLAT on it in case I change my mind once I get to that point.  I also put the larger hole for the 1/4" jack for the mix out.

and finally, a shot of the new lab...

And there you have it, there it is.  I'll keep ye posted, whether you like it or not.

Lab frustrations

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:14:00 +0000

So, a little background:

I have been doing my work a temporary lab I had set up down the basement of the building I live in.  It's actually in the laundry room.  I get in the way of the landlord trying to do his laundry, and I'm ducking under drying jeans just to get to the table.  I know the moisture in the room isn't ideal, but it's what I got.  If you know anything about living in NYC, space is at a total premium, and just to have access to a basement (esp without owning the bldg) is a serious luxury.

My upstairs neighbor and I, with the landlord's blessing, cleared a bunch of junk out of the basement this weekend and cleared an area for me to have a more permanent setup.  Again, not ideal as the ventilation isn't stellar, however, it's out of the way and my own space in an incredibly raw and rustic alcove.   I'll be right by the electrical mains and meters, so I can really fry myself if I choose!

I need a desk or a workbench, as the table I was using in the laundry room is too wide for this new electronics nook.  I took my studio apart getting all my spare Ikea IVAR shelving, made measurements, and put a plan together to use that old stuff.  This would be great, as it's just taking up valuable space in the studio.  After destroying my studio to get this stuff out, I realized I couldn't find the stupid little Ikea pins to put it all together. The last time I touched these shelves was probably 2005 or something. I checked the house, and the studio again for the pins, to no avail, wasting the night.  Of course this is the only night this week I've got off until Friday, and I should probably spend some time with my wife at some point...  *ahem* so I think Friday night's out, too.

I was hoping to be back in working shape with the new electronics nook but alas, I'm screwed for tonight at least. It's a bit of a setback... I'm hoping to finish this box by the end of the month, so I have a couple weeks to work it into the act for the concert in mid May.  I'm not so sure it'll work out.  I knew going into it that kind of a deadline would be a stretch for someone of my experience level.

In other, more uplifting news, I heard from Front Panel Express today and my custom panel will be arriving later this week.  Just wait till you see it.  It's awesomely obnoxious and self-serving, and I've no qualms about admitting it!

Sorry to bitch and complain about stupid non-fun non-MidiBox stuff.  Thanks for reading and I'll keep ye posted.

Fixed mistakes w/solder wick, added capacitors...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:52:00 +0000

So... After a morning session, a 5 hour rehearsal and 2 hours working in my studio, I was able to sneak into the basement lab to do some work for a short spell.

Here's the board yesterday after I yanked... uh, carefully took out those resistors I had installed incorrectly... It's the R4_SIDx and R24_SIDx series that I had put into the C3_SIDx/C23_SIDx spot. (I stole, er, borrowed my wife's nice camera, so these pics are a little more detailed)

There was still leftover solder in some of the holes as you can see here:

So, I tried using solder wick. It worked out really good sometimes for me, and took forever sometimes. Sometimes the solder sucker completely cleared out the holes too... it was a pretty imperfect science for me, and I don't feel I have quite the hang of it yet, but I more or less got the holes cleared, and only singed the board a little:

So, tonight I added some more capacitors to the SID modules:

But I ran out of time before I could finish, so here's where I stand now:

I wont have time tomorrow to work on it , so I'll hopefully find some time over the weekend...

I'm movin' forward again, and it feels good!