It's been a while since I've been able to work on any electronics projects, and while I've been 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? :tongue: