tonyn41

Just checking in to let you know I am still here. This month is December so I am tapped out for spending( even a little for organ parts), because of Christmas, and my recent SID purchase(read my P.S. below). So not much I can do right now, except build a core and some DINs I have the parts for laying around, for my stops/piston part of my midification. Plus, I do have 2 speaker amp circuits to build. In the meantime I do have the Organ service manual, and will be going over it to figure out how to finish my stops, mainly how to midify the activation of the leslie motors( hint: Core+Din/DOUT, and relay circuitry, plus leds, etc.). I mainly have to see what I removed when I stripped the organ of electronics, and if the motors are 120vAC or what, and put those circuits back in to the motor control circuit(replacing with new parts of cource). But I'll take pictures and post when I build anything. P.S. I also purchased 8x 8580R5 + 1x 6582A SIDs to play with (the seller even threw in a defective 8580R5 for testing), for a SID synth unit too! I may also want to wire my organ's rythym section to a seq/synth! Since SIDs are hard to source now, I figured I would get them first. So I bought 8 SIDs ( plus a spare 6582A to replace a defective 8580R5 in the future, just in case), just in case I want to go as far as a MB6582 V2 Synth type unit. But this set me back $300! When/if I build seq/synth units, I'll possible start new threads on just those in the Seq/Synth sections. If I change my mind on the SIDs, I can always resell them here to you. But, for now, they are mine! :)

I can also highly recommend sidcolector(or androSID here) from ebay! I ordered 8x 6581s from him, at a good price point for a possible MB6582. After tons of emails with him, he convinced me to get the 8580R5s instead, from the reliability and matching pair advantages. He knows a lot about these chips, and helped me out a lot. He had already shipped out my 8x 6581s, but was able to grab them before they started the trip to the USA, and gave me a great exchange difference deal for 8x 8580R5s + 1x 6582 instead! He tests all of his chips before sending out, and packages them properly to protect them. So, he will have 8x 6581s available again, if interested, shortly. Don't PM me about this, if interested in those, since it's up to him. But you can find him on ebay, or , he is also a member here. So he MAY reply to this post to tell you how to contact him on those. Edit: Just to let you know he is a member here by the ID of androSID.

Thanks. I forgot to meantion more about the resistances. Like the SEMI conductive mat and SEMI conductive foam, you may want some resistance to slowly discharge static voltages else POP! Yes, my strap has a resistance to ground too, so I am not SHORTED to ground BUT I am BROUGHT DOWN TO GROUND POTENTIAL. Shorting the pins with aluminum foil maybe OK as an extra precaution, as long as it is also inserted into a SEMI conductive foam. Inserting everything into aluminum foil is also ok, since it shorts outside voltages from entering, and offers a shield from EMF, etc. The main part of this is the SEMI CONDUCTIVE FOAM first. This to me, is the most inportant material to have. If you do not have it, I suggested aquarium/pond carbon filter material as a possible substitute. As I also stated, I know of no substitute for a propper antistatic wrist strap, mat, or cords. Since, like you stated, they do have resistance to ground, so nothing is actually a direct short to ground. So best to buy those. Yes, the 3rd prong of a plug, normally, in the USA, gos to earth ground. Some plugs also have a terminal on them to connect to for the earth ground. The color of the earth ground wire in the outlet box is usually green or bare(non insulated). Red/Black is the hot side, white the common side, green/bare the earth ground, at least for 115/120V, as in the USA. This color scheme is normally standard in the USA, but I am not sure if it is in all countries. The idea when handling these chips is to be at the same voltage potential, being ground, so there are no stray voltages. I always connect myself up with the wrist strap/cord, then put the chip package on the antistatic mat, so everything is at the same potential, before opening and handling the chips. One hand(the non connected) holds package(optionally part of that hand/arm resting on mat, so that it can also be at grround potential), and the connected hand is the one that touchs/removes the chips. When working with live circuits, if you need both hands, try resting part of your non connected hand on the mat somehow so that any currents do not enter you, and are shorted to the mat. But even that scares me. So the "one hand behind the back" is something I was taught and is good practice. I know you may need 2 hands, the idea is that the hand that is close to live circuits be the one that is connected to ground. One time I was working with 1000v, with no wrist strap(well I wasn't working with Chips), but I had my other hand behind my back(not actually, but far away from the live circuit). The current just went through my finger and made a hole, but if it wasn't for my saftey practice(only one hand near voltage), and I had both hands near the voltage, it could have went from one hand, through my heart, to the other hand, thus killing me. Some people may say "well you were working with 1000v, and I am only working with 5-12v". Well, it's NOT THE VOLTAGE THAT CAN KILL, BUT THE CURRENT, WHICH IS NOT MUCH. I don't know the amount of current I was told(mili amps, i.e less than an amp), that going through your heart , that can kill you, but it's lower than you may think. Once you have an antistatic mat, which are nice to work on, you are basically working on water, in a way, that is connected to ground. So YOU DO NOT WANT CURRENT GOING THROUGH YOU(WITH YOUR HEART IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PATH) TO THE MAT->GROUND, OR THROUGH YOUR NONCONNECTED HAND THROUGH YOUR HEART TO THE GROUNDED HAND->GROUND. So figure a way that that those paths can not be taken. Again, this may seem like overkill, but I have seen high voltage circuits burn the mat(where I worked, everything was tested and worked on on these mats), when a live circuit just sat on the mat, solder side down, with no insolation. So there is a potential for currents to use these paths. So "better safe than sorry". I worked in a Quality Assurance Environmental Stress Screening Lab(ESS lab for short), as a programmer/test tech( at Astronautics Corp. of America, if interested, 20 years ago), where there were also high voltage circuits tested there too. I programmed the test equipment, built and designed the test interfaces, etc., if needed, and of course did testing too. The test equipment was computerized and tested chips in batches, automatically. Some parts to these testers were bought for 100's of thousands of $, pieced together, customised, had computers connected to them, and programed at Astronautics. Which I was part of. We did test a LOT of chips daily, most went into space, others, I have no idea. All I was concerned about was putting my Quality Control stamp of aproval on these chips, and send them out my door to the production floor. Since I had a military background in a lot of good electronic practices, I also setup some training sessions, for the engineers/test techs, to pass my knowledge onto them there too. The chips I tested were to go into military satellite circuits, which were also mfg there. These chips/circuits went into space, where if a chip/circuit failed, it could not be fixed/replaced, easily/cheaply. So not only did we have to not destroy or reduce the lifetime of these chips by bad ESD practices, but the chips had to pass all mfg spec tests to a military spec levels at all temps/stress levels, to last for years in space. We could not even walk across the lab with an unprotected/packaged chip! So those wrist straps became a bracelet for me that I would snap and unsnap to the cords at the ESD stations, and put on as soon as I entered the lab, and not remove until I left. We also wore latex gloves, so as not contaminate the chips either(well it was a lab, and even human contact was disaproved of). Before that, I had worked in the military as an electronics tech, and was taught the safety practices. So that, I hope, gives me a bit of credentials as to knowing a bit about this ESD/safety practice stuff. :) I just wonder how many of the chips/circuits I tested are still up in space, over your head, still working? :) Boy, that almost sounds like a resume!:) As a side note: I had one batch of 1000 chips during this job, that were grown on sapphire vs silicon, and cost about $1000 each! A handful at that time, could have made me rich, but who would buy them? Plus, most likely I would have went to prision. So I passed on stealing any. But holding them felt good :) Our SIDs may seem expensive now to you, but those chips were a LOT more expensive, and could not be destroyed. See those chips went into space, and sapphire was used to give them a longer life(doesn't deteriate over time like silicon?). That was a long time ago, and back then I knew how chips were grown, now adays I am more of a programer than an electronics engineer, so I forgot the exact specs on that. I know that a lot of us here may already know a lot of this already, and have had training in electronics/ESD. But there are a lot of hobbyists that may not have heard of these practices, and although they can solder and assemble circuits, they do not know of these practices. Plus I saw a post where a guy wanted to insert chips into cardboard, etc.! Yikes! So I decided to try to explain how these chips can be protected propperly, and why you may not want to use some materials. Plus I thought I would pass on some safety tips too.

I just thought I would pass this on to you that are worried about destroying your chips/circuits, or want to know how to store/protect them. Being involved with electronics since 1976, I went through the ESD(Electro Static Discharge) procedures when working with sensive chips, and circuitry. Back then most chips were sensitive and you had to practice this. The idea is to short any stray static voltages to ground. When packaged correctly most sensitive chips are usually stuck into conductive foam, which helps to short all pins to protect them from static voltages, and protects the pins from physical damage. Then inserted into static bags. The black foam, is inpregnated with carbon, a conductive type material. Those static bags are actually just metal impregnated plastic. Or they are just stored inside of static tubes. The static tubes are metalic impregnated plastic tubes that serve a dual purpose(protect pins from physical damage and from static voltages). DO NOT STORE YOUR CHIPS IN STYROFOAM, THIS IS NON CONDUCTIVE AND HIGHLY STATIC! When working with sensitive chips and/or circuitry, I use a static wrist strap that connects me to ground, and then a static mat, connected to a ground, for working on. To store your chips/sensitive circuits: If you do not have conductive foam, you could use aluminum foil AND foam rubber/styrofoam. Insert the chip into aluminum foil to short the pins, and then into foam rubber or styrofoam (although I would try to avoid styrofoam,since it is highly static) to protect the pins. But I would highly recommend conductive foam(still available). Since carbon impregnated filter foam for fish tanks/ponds is simular, you may get away with that instead(no guaranties on this though). Then insert the chips/foam into a static bag, or if you do not have a static bag, you can wrap it up in aluminum foil. Or just use the static tubes. Although I never trusted the tubes completely(I would do the foam/bag/aluminum foil instead). I would store a circuit board, that has sensitive chips installed, in a static protector like aluminum foil or metalic plastic until needed. To work with sensitive chips or circuitry: Well find a way to short yourself to ground(only the hand that will touch the chips/circuit board, not any other part of you). Believe it or not, you have voltages present on you that can destroy a sensitive chip too, so shorting yourself to ground you remove that. You do not have to feel a static discharge to have voltages present on you that are enough to destroy those chips! Then use a semi-conductive surface to work on that is also connected to ground. The static wrist strap I use seems to be a semi-conductive carbon impregnated cloth material strap with a connector to connect to ground. The static mat I use seems to be some sort of semi-conductive plastic or rubber type mat with a connector for connecting to ground. Right now I have no idea what to use for alternatives, so you may have to actually invest in a static wrist strap and mat. But you get the idea, so I am sure you can come up with alternatives. Optionally, to further protect the circuit board, you can connect it's ground plain to ground while working on a non live board(no voltages present), using an aligator clip, etc.. It usually is safe to keep connected and work on a semi-conductive static mat with live circuitry(voltages present), but I would be careful. You do not want to electrocute yourself! A good practice is to put one hand behind your back(the non connected one), while working on live circuits. This way the CURRENT will go from wrist to ground, and NOT THROUGH YOU, THUS STOPPING YOUR HEART! Trust me, this may save your life, since it has for me while working on high voltage circuits durring my years of working in electronics. It does not take much current through your heart to stop your heart, so just because you my not be working with high voltage, this is always good practice. Also use some type of stand off to insulate the back of the circuit board from the static mat, that is connected to ground, if applying voltages to the board. Once the circuit is complete and in it's unit, then it usually is safe from static voltages (but make sure you have good grounds in your unit though to not let static voltages develop). All of this may seem like overkill, but if all of this is practiced, you are GUARANTIED that your chips/circuits will be protected. This also is a guaranty that you can rest assured that you can keep those rare chips safely stored and protected for years. Note: The ground you want is EARTH GROUND. This in homes is usually found using the metal cold water pipes that go into the earth ground. So just find a way to connect a wire to your cold water pipes, unless you are assured that the ground(not the common black wire but the green or bare ground wire) in your electrical outlets are propperly connected to this earth ground. If they are, then you can use this ground wire for your earth ground. I hope this helps those of you whom are worried about damage to your rare and expensive SID chips(like me), and other sensitive chips/circuits.

Looking at the first picture in my last post: The angle of the camera seems to make it look as if the monitor and laptop are way up in the air! So I took some closer pictures for you, showing you that both monitor and laptop are not that high up. As you can see, with showing you my hand reaching to change a stop, that the monitor is just perfect(for me that is). Note: if you are just new to reading my thread here, and are just reading this last post. I made my own arms to hold my monitor and laptop, and provide detailed DIYs a few posts back. My thread reads like a big book, so always check posts back for more(I cover everything). I hope I provided enough detail for others to be able to easily copy what I am doing, if they want to. But my words are only half the story, my pictures need to be looked at to to tell it all:) So, join this forum, if you haven't already, it's free, to view my pictures too. Also: Post a few coments if nothing to my thread. Sometimes I feel I am just talking to myself:)

As promised more pictures! Well I just reconnected it all back up as I had it setup (laptop, touch screen, powered computer speakers). As you can see, the arms of my touch screen and laptop do good job and are not too obtrusive (still need cosmetic work, but that is for another time). The arms bring my touch screen and laptop down just enough to be easily reachable as I play the organ, but not too close to the keyboards, and can swing out of the way for access to organ. Behind the organ, as you can see, the arm mounts are not too obtrusive either. Now I just need longer usb a vga cables to extend my cables that run from the touch screen to laptop (the touch screen uses usb for the touch part, and vga cables for the monitor part). The organ program you see on the monitors is Jorgan with my own disposition, that you saw me develop earlier in this thread. I presently am using Jorgan and Miditzer. Everything works! Except: Evidently when the moving company (and I had a good one too, forgot the name, but they had a Semi truck and moved world wide) moved my organ, other than breaking the plastic part of a key (they were careless towards the end of the move, since I had a full 3 bedroom plus house all moved in one day over 200 miles, and guess they were pissed, and wore out at the end, I had so much heavy things to move), they must have jarred my keyboard contacts some and some keys and pedals stick. So I'll have to go over them( I didn't notice that before, since I haven't played the organ much since I moved). Other than that, everything works fine. The other pictures are of one of my amp kits, and my external sound blaster which I plan to get working. Right now I am using the internal sound card of the laptop along with the powered computer speakers. Today I am also ordering the service manual for my organ, which will help me out a lot on reconnecting my leslie motors back up, etc. The guy wants $40 plus $13 shipping! But, what can you do, these manuals are becoming rare now. You can also see my son's violin music stand too. He's in 4th grade this year, and being introduced to music lessons! I started out on the violin too. So I can help him with that (when we first got the rental violin for him, I showed him the old man still had it him to play it, and how to play it, before his teacher started the lessons). Along with his school music teacher, he has me to help him teach him too. So my son will get no breaks with me with violin practice either:) Every night I tell him if he wants to be as good as daddy. But it's enjoyable too, and he loves the idea of learning to play music too, rather than just listening to someone else play music. I can also get him to play along with me on the organ now too (well not quite yet, he still needs to get better at it). Maybe he will follow in my path and graduate to the organ too. Well, it's his when I die, if he wants it. Here's the pictures. Yes, I need to do some more dusting yet(everything shows up on film), and I own a cat, that just loves to claw at the legs to my organ bench. The cat has about a year or so left to her life(she's 12 years old), so when she dies, I will fix the bench legs, and declaw my next cat!

OK, now onto thinking out and working on building the discrete amps. The specs on the amps are 70wrms @ 8 ohms. My organ speakers are 8 ohms. These amps are nice since they include the power supply on board, so all that I need to add externaally is a transformer, heatsink, and optionally a volume pot on the inputs. Which I all ordered and received. I just need to get the linear pots, and hardware to connect outputs, etc. The old organ amps put out 40wrms for the center speaker and leslie speaker, and 25wrms for the left speaker. So I want to limit my new amps to put out less power so as not to blow the speakers. I could adjust the bias for the amps(but this would limit sensitivity), or build an output power limiter circuit(best option, but a bit involved), but the simple way is just to antenuate the input volume. The kits recommend 47k ohm log(audio) pots for input volume control. I bought 22kohm log pots. Those I will run in series with 50kohm linear pots and adjust the total ohms to be 47kohm by initially setting the linear pots to be 25k. 22k is about 1/2 of 47k, so that should limit volume to about 35wrms, which should work for 2 speakers. When I buy the third amp kit, I will order a 10kohm log pot instead, and since that is about 1/2 22k, I'll set the linear pot for 37kohm so my output for that amp should be limited to about 17wrms. Not exactly 40w nor 25w, but less is better than more for me and close enough to the old amps. The speakers maybe able to handle more power and if so, I can adjust the linear pots for more power. I also need to plan a box to mount these amps in in the organ. I may use the old metal box for the old amps if it works. I'll post some pictures of my amp kits in the next posts, and show you all of my work as I proceed.

OK final note on the visa arms and mounts. Final adjustments: With using pipe fittings for the arms, you can easily assemble custom arms. You can change the lengths of the nipples to suit. All that takes is unscrewing and screwing them together until you are happy. As long as you keep the price tags on them, you have a window of 30 days to return parts. To me, I just lucked out and got the right lengths. But, I will try maybe a couple of longer nipple pieces in the last arm part to the flange to maybe bring the laptop down further, etc. Then when happy, for final adjustment, return non needed pieces. Home Depot and Menards have good return policies, so that makes this possible. The only non returnable piece is the 5 inch nipples for the mount that was drilled into. But, that piece , to me, does not need changing. Cosmetic: Well this LOOKS LIKE PLUMBING ON AN ORGAN! So, one option to make it look nice, would be to box in the pipe of the arm with 1/4 inch plywood! That would make for a nice looking arm! Stain it, and it will look great! This also would allow you to possibly run the cables inside of the arms to hide cables too! Another would be to figure out the angles of the arm, and cut custom 1 1/2 pieces of wood and make hardwood arms! Improvements: The pivot point could be a 3/4 inch to 1/2 inch T fitting that would slide on back piece, with 2 holes drilled and tapped into it with bolts to tighten it, etc. That was my initial idea, but that would require careful drilling and a tapping threaded holes into pipe. Mounts: Visa monitor mount: The monitor mount is easy to improve cosmetically with using just one piece of 1/2 inch plywood, or solid wood. Just ream out one side a bit to allow bolt heads and spacers. My touch screen monitor was a cheap commercial one that doesn't have a frame, etc. It was meant to be installed in touch screen medical equipment, etc. So I need to build some type of wood frame for it too. Laptop: This could be changed to 1/2 inch plywood, and wood screws to attach the hardware to hide screws. If I am happy with the 90 degree angle of laptop, I could use molding to use instead of the hinges and back braces. So with these improvements you can have nice looking arms and mounts to match the nice wood of the organ. I LOVE MY SETUP WITH LAPTOP AND TOUCH SCREEN! The nice thing about controling the organ with a laptop is that, as laptops improve in performance, the laptop can be upgraded and just swapped out on the mount, and another custom mount easily made! Then with external sound cards(I am starting with that for now, hopefully taking some CPU processing off of my laptop to improve latency, etc., but may improve that even more to Allen sound boards), to my descrete amps, eventually I can have a VERY good modernized midified organ! But one step at a time as money and time allow. In the meantime with my present setup I can still play (until my amps are finished, I have 2 powered computer speakers, that sit on top of organ and provide enough sound for a small living room)! Today I received my amp kits! I should also be receiving my usb sound card within this week too! So my next posts will be on building the amps and powering the internal organ speakers, along with getting the leslie motors to work! I will of cource be designing new circuitry for the leslie motors too, that will use a relay board, to send midi signals to computer to let computer know if stop is physically pressed, and also allow the stop to be controled via the touch screen! To me, the most important part of the midification is to get the leslie working too, else it's just emulated tremino. All of my stops will also be changed to momentary so they can be controled both ways(physically and touch screen), with indicator lights to let you know on the organ that a stop is activated. So this is a bit more involved than just wiring up Douts and Dins. Thus why I need to thoroughly work this part out. So stay tuned!

This post will be on the laptop mount. Tools: Skill saw or table saw to cut hardboard pieces. Hand drill for holes. 1/8 inch drill bit for #8 32 inch screw holes in hardboard 1/4 inch drill bit for 1/4 inch bolts 7/16 inch open end wrench to tighen nuts. Pliers to hold nuts to tighten screws onto. Screwdrivers to screw #8 32/ inch screws and 1/4 inch bolts. C Clamps to clamp hardboard pieces together. Parts: 24 #8 32 x 3/4 inch flat head machine screws 4 #8 32 x 3/4 inch round head machine screws(for top braces, since they are mounted a bit different) 32 #8 32 washers( 4 extra for top braces, to have a washer for both sides of hardboard) 28 #8 32 lock washers. 28 #8 nuts 4 1/4 inch x 1 1/2 inch machine bolts. 12 1/4 inch washers for bolts. 4 1/4 inch lock washers for bolts. 4 1/4 nuts for bolts 4 1/4 wing nuts for bolts. 4 1 1/2 inch corner braces 4 1 1/2 inch double wide corner braces 2 hinges 4 3/4 long nylon spacers 4 1 inch long #8 32 machine screws 4 #8 32 wing nuts 2 14 3/4 inch x 10 inch 1/4 inch thick pieces of hardboard (this is the outside demensions of my laptop, + 1/4 inch). The 3/4 inch nylon spacers, 1 inch #8 32 machine screws (buy machine screws at same place as nylon spacers, so you can make sure the screws fit into nylon spacers), #8 32 wing nuts, and 1/4 inch wing nuts were bought at True Value Hardware. Again, the wing nuts were expensive ($.50 each for #8 32, and almost $1.00 each for 1/4 inch wing nuts). But the wing nuts make for easy attachments/removal. The rest of the parts can be bought at Home Depot or Menards. True Value and Ace, I use for specialty parts, Home Depot/Menards for common, cheaper, and bulk parts. Making the mount: 1. Measure the laptop: Close laptop, and measure outside demensions, add 1/4 inch for a bit of play, etc. You can always trim down if needed. 2. Cut the hardboard pieces(clamp them together so they are both same size) 3. Measure for angle piece placement: Sit laptop on bottom hardboard piece. Take a look at the front of laptop to see if there are any ports, DVD, etc., if so, note. Look at the sides to see if there are any ports,DVD, etc., note. I had no back ports, etc., so I was OK there. Then insert double wide corner brace pieces in front , under laptop, and mark placement. Do the same for the side angle brace pieces. 4. Remove laptop. 5. Put front and side angle brace pieces back, mark holes, drill 1/8 inch holes. 6. aline 2 corner braces on top sides of top hardboard piece, mark holes. 7. Drill 1/8 inch holes for top braces. 8. Butt back hardboard piece to bottom hardboard piece, aline hinges, mark holes. 9. Drill 1/8 inch holes for hinges, and mount hinges using screws, washers, lock washers, nuts. 10. Remove pipe flange from arm to use for marking holes in hardboard 11. center pipe flange on back hardboard piece, mark, and drill 1/4 inch holes. 12. attach side, front, top angle brace pieces with #8 32 screws, washers, lock washers, nuts. 13. attach 1/4 inch bolts, washers, washers,lock washers, nuts 14. move back piece forward 90 degrees, hold there, and insert double wide corner braces to be snug to top and bottom hardboard pieces, mark holes. Note: make sure back braces and hinges do not interfear with any back ports of laptop. 13. Drill 1/8 inch holes for back braces. 14. Attach back braces with #8 32 screws, washers, lock washers, nuts. Attach mount to arm: 1. Screw pipe flange back onto arm. Note: Before I put the pipe flange back onto the arm, I tried attaching the pipe flange to the bolts to make sure they alined right. I had to ream out the 1/4 holes a bit to make sure pipe flange alined right, so that when I came to mounting the monotor to the arm, it didn't give me any trouble. 2. Now all you have to do is lift laptop mount, aline bolt ends onto pipe flange of arm, put a washer on each bolt, and tighen with wing nuts. Insert laptop: Sit laptop onto mount, insert 1 inch #8 32 machine screws into nylon washers, then into side and top braces, and tighten wing nuts! The side, top, and front braces are to hold the laptop in, and keep it from sliding forward, and sidewards. The nylon spacers further hold laptop in and are easily removable with the wing nuts, to remove laptop if you want. The back braces keep laptop at 90 degree angle. I wanted these back braces to be removeable, so maybe to use different angled braces for a different angle of laptop. Thus, the hinges allow the angle to be changed, if wanted. All done, that completes the laptop mount! There is room for improvement and cosmetic work yet, but this gets you there for cheap, sturdy, and functional! Plus, I did this all in one day, including design, running to get parts, etc., for both monitor and laptop sides! Now that you have my DIY, it shouldn't take you but 1/2 hour max! Stay tuned, since over the next months I will be building amps, activating the lesie, adding relay boards, etc., and midifying the stops and pistons. Lot's to do yet on my organ! I plan to keep this organ for a long time, and pass it down to my son. So even though it was a 1 1/2 year break , before I came back here, it may take years to complete my organ midifications. As long as this site is here, I'll keep adding to this thread. If you have any questions, or suggestions for improvement, or want a picture of a peticular part to see it closer, etc., feel free to post. I'll check in here often and reply back. Now to dust off my laptop, run the cables along the arms, etc., and connect it all back up so I can play again. I'll post a couple of pictures of that too in next post. Here are some pictures:

This post will be on the touch screen visa mount. Tools: Skill saw or table saw to cut hardboard pieces. Hand drill for holes. 1/8 inch drill bit for 4 mm screw holes in hardboard (I found my screws for my visa mount to be 4 mm, yours maybe different) 1/4 inch drill bit for 1/4 inch bolts 1 inch hole saw bit for spacer holes. 7/16 inch open end wrench to tighen nuts. Screwdrivers to screw 4 mm screws and 1/4 inch bolts. C Clamps to clamp hardboard pieces together. Parts: 4 4mm x 3/4 inch screws( original screws were 1/4 inch, so add 1/2 inch to allow for 2x 1/4 inch hardboard pieces) 4 #8 x 32 washers(I found these to work for 4mm screws, and cheaper than 4mm washers, a specialty item) 4 1/4 inch x 1 1/2 inch machine bolts. 12 1/4 inch washers for bolts. 4 1/4 inch lock washers for bolts. 4 1/4 nuts for bolts 4 1/4 wing nuts for bolts. 2 4 1/4 inch x 4 1/2 inch 1/4 inch thick pieces of hardboard. Getting the right parts: First I removed the screws that attached my old visa stand mount to my monitor. Took those screws to my local True Value hardware store (I go to True Value, or ACE for specialty parts, Home Depot or Menards for cheaper common bulk parts) I had them measure and determine that the screws were 4mm, and 1/4 inch long. Then I bought 4mm 3/4 inch long screws (1/2 inch longer than the origional screws to compensate for the 2 pieces of 1/4 hardboard). While I was there I got the 1/4 inch wing nuts, since they were specialty. The wing nuts cost almost $1.00 each, so those were the expensive parts, but make for attaching the monitor to the arm easy. Hardboard and the rest of the hardware can be bought at Home Depot or Menards for cheap. Making the mounts: 1. Remove pipe flange from arm to use for marking holes in hardboard. 2. I cut 2 pieces of 1/4 inch hardboard to be 4 1/2 inch square(the size of the plate for my old visa mount). 3. I used my old visa mount to get the holes marked for the 4 mm screws onto one piece of hardboard. 4. I centered my pipe flange in the middle of that hardboard piece and got those holes marked for the 1/4 bolts. 5. I clamped the 2 hardboard pieces together. 6. I drilled my 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch holes. 7. I unclamped the hardboard pieces, and used the 1 inch hole saw bit to drill out the 4 1/4 inch pipe flange holes to make them 1 inch wide, using the 1/4 inch holes as guides. Assembling, in this order: 1. 1/4 inch bolts, to washers, hardboard, washers, lock washers, nuts. Note: Before I put the pipe flange back onto the arm, I tried attaching the pipe flange to the bolts to make sure they alined right. I had to ream out the 1/4 holes a bit to make sure pipe flange alined right, so that when I came to mounting the monotor to the arm, it didn't give me any trouble. 2. 4 mm screws, along with #8 32 washers, through hardboard pieces into monitor. 3. Screw pipe flange back onto arm. 4. Now all you have to do is lift monitor, aline bolt ends onto pipe flange of arm, put a washer on each bolt, and tighen with wing nuts! As you can see, the 1 inch holes were for the spacers and heads of bolts, and by using 2 pieces of hardboard, one hardboard piece acts like a spacer for the head of bolt and washer, so that the mount, mounts flat to the monitor. I like to use washers for when I put screws/bolts into wood/hardboard, since they help from screws/bolts coming through(inforces the hole). Plus, if your holes are off, and you need to ream them out some( larger drill bits to ream holes bigger if holes are off), the washers cover that. I use lock washers to not only keep nuts tight, but allow nut to stay in place as you tighten bolts with screwdriver. All done, that completes the the touch screen mount! There is room for improvement and cosmetic work yet, but this gets you there for cheap, sturdy, and functional! Next post will go into detail on the laptop mount. Here are some pictures:

OK back to the DIY of the visa arms. I posted a picture of the tools I used: Hand drill, drill press with clamp for pipe, drill bit set, and 7/16 inch open end wrench to tighten lag bolts. First you need to open the organ to measure where, there maybe any internal bolts that go into the side pieces of the organ. There were no bolts at about 1 inch down I found one at about 4 inches down. So my bolts need to be 1 inch down and 3 inches down. So, from the bottom of the top thread on the 5 inch nipple, I measured down on the pipe 1 inch. Made a mark for my first hole through pipe, and another at 3 inches down from bottom of thread. I then put the pipe against a streight edge to make a mark down the length. Now that I had my marks, I adjusted the drill press pipe clamp so that the drill was centered on pipe. Drilled my first holes, carefully moved the pipe down the clamp so as not to move it sideways, and drilled my second holes. These were 1/4 inch holes to allow the 1/4 lag bolts to go through. Then I alined the pipe to the organ, making sure it was square and plumb with the side piece of organ. Put the drill bit into the top hole of the pipe to make a mark(just make mark with the bit) on the organ. Removed the pipe, leveled the drill square and plumb, and drilled the top pilot hole. First I screwed the top lag bolt through the pipe piece into the organ, tightening it up , making sure pipe was square and plumb. Second I drilled the bottom pilot hole through the pipe into the organ, making sure the bit was square and plumb as I did so. Last I screwed the bottom bolt in. Repeat this for both sides if you want 2 arms. Now I had my mounts! The rest is just screwing the pipe pieces together, starting with the coupler on the mount. Make sure you start on that end. Tighten the pipe pieces as tight as you can get them and as close as possible to where you want them. If you tighten them tight enough, backing up on the threads to adjust still leaves some thread and tension to hold the arm in place. You could use loctite or epoxy on the threads when you are statisfied with the arms to lock them in place once set. But make sure you do not put anything on the pivot point thread! To swing arms to the sides to open organ for access(I wanted to be able to do this, to work inside of the organ, without having to disconnect anything), I just use that elbow as the pivot point and unscrew it a bit to swing the arm. Note: Let me clarify unscrewing. I do not dissassemble the arm by unscrewing the elbow to swing it. Swinging the arm screws and unscrews it. So it is a swing arm! Swinging it does not unscrew it enough for it to come apart either, and it is still solid. Works well and is stable enough for a laptop or touch screen monitor, even with typing and pressing on screen(they do not move). All of this for under $25 per arm(go back a couple of posts for the parts list)! Next post will be on the mount for the touch screen monitor. Here are some pictures:

Since I openly advertized the amps that I am going to use, and the supply is low: I ordered 2 complete kits! I ordered 2 kits, 2 heat sinks, 2 transformers,2 fuse holders, and 2 22k log pots. Log(or audio) pots are hard to get ahold, or expensive, so I ordered them right away from the same source(to also cut down on shipping costs). Then I will add 50k linear pots to the 22k to pots to limit the volume for each amp. The linear pots and the rest of the hardware to mount and enclose the amps, etc., I can easily get locally. Total: $232.99 including shipping. I didn't have enough for 3, besides, there isn't enough heat sinks from them to do 3. So I may have to buy the assembled one for my third amp. This is the only USA source for these amp kits I found. Their supply is low, so I hope when I can order the third one that they still have it.

Don't worry I'll continue the DIY of my visa arms for my laptop and touch screen monitor . I just wanted to take a break to think things out a bit before I continue, since I decided, that while I was at it, and before I ran my cables, that I would upgrade my system to a USB external sound card! So right now I am awaiting delivery of that. Here is the sound blaster I am getting(I am getting a used one for only $40): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00030099O This is an older unit, but it was the one that was reccomended on the miditzer site. It should be better than the internal sound of the laptop, and offer me 3 channels of audio out. The idea is to use an external decent sound card that I will either mount inside of the organ, or under the laptop. Then from the sound card the audio out would go into 3 discrete amps, which would power the 3 huge speakers in the organ. There are 3 speakers: One on the left side of the organ, one in the center and the leslie to the right. According to the organ manual, the original amps had 2x 40w, to power the left and center, and a 1x 25w to power the leslie. So I wanted to try to match that with either a 3 channel 50w amp, or 3 discrete amps, 50,50,25. I have been searching all over the place to see about what I could use for amps that would have good sound. I want class AB amps for low distortion, else it doesn't pay. Most cheap amps seem to be Class T, which has distortion, etc. So I keep coming back to these 200w kits: http://www.electronics123.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1900/.f They do offer 50w amps, and 25 w amps, but these have all of the parts available for them including heat sinks, and cost less. I will need to build 3, one for each channel/speaker They will cost about $100 per amp to build, but they have EXCELENT SPECS! They may also be overkill with providing 200w music power per 4 ohm speaker, 100wrms per 4 ohm, and 70wrms per 8 ohm speaker. My speakers are 8 ohm, so that means I should be able to get up to 70wrms to each speaker. But the distortion is 0.02% @ 1KHz/10W, and the frequency response is 3Hz to 200KHz (-3dB)! I will add pots and resisters to adjust and limit the volume so as not to blow my speakers. But then I have the ability to add more speakers too, and not worry about not having enough power! The purchase of those amp kits will have to wait until next week. In the meantime I do have 2 powered computer speakers to use, that can be temporarily set inside of the organ, to have some sound. Once I have the amps, I will then wire up the leslie motors to work too. Then it's on to the stops to finish up the organ hardware midifications. As I stated earlier in this thread, since I have a touch screen, the stop and piston wiring has been delayed until I figure it out completely. I can still play with using the touch screen!

OK I am going to start the FULL DIY now! Since I wrote out quite a bit on my last post (recheck it out, I edited a few times, adding more and more, as I usually do), I'll just cover a few details in this FULL DIY to break it down a bit more. So in this first DIY post I'll list the tools needed, and parts to make the arms. Along with the costs, so you get an idea as to how much it will cost per arm. Some of you may only want or need one arm for a monitor or laptop. The arms are identical up to the monitor and laptop mounts, so let's start with the arms first : Tools: Drill press with a clamp to hold pipe. Hand drill to drill holes in organ. 7/16" open end wrench to tighten lag bolts( if you get 2 inch, 1/4 inch lag bolts, the heads use 7/16" wrench). 1/4 " drill bit for the holes through the pipe. 1/8", or 9/64" drill bit for the pilot holes into the wood of the organ(I forgot what I used, but read note below). Note: Whenever you screw into wood, it is always important to first drill pilot holes, so you do not split the wood, they make screwing easier, and allow you to aline the pilot holes so that the bolts go in streight. For pilot hole drill bits, I look at the screw or bolt, and pick a size that is smaller than the inside non threaded part of the screw or bolt, then go a bit smaller. You DO NOT WANT YOUR PILOT HOLES TO BE TOO BIG, ELSE YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE THREAD OF THE BOLT BITE INTO THE WOOD, AND NOW YOU HAVE DESTROYED THE WOOD FOR SCREWING INTO. You can alwsys start smaller, then go larger if bolt is too tight to turn in. You are drilling into a fine piece of furniture, and you do not want to detroy it! There maybe recommended sizes listed somewhere, but this is how I determine the sizes. Pilot holes are just there to remove a bit of wood so the bolts do not split the wood, etc. So they need not be that big. Just make sure the pilot holes are not too big else you will not have a thread in the wood to secure the bolts! Parts: 2x 2 inch long, 1/4 inch wide lag bolts $0.50 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inchx5inch Galvanized nipple $1.75 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inch Galvanzed Coupling $1.76 (Home Depot) 2x 1/2inchx12inch Galvanized nipples $7.32 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inch black pipe(normally gas pipe) 90 degree elbow $1.37 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inch black pipe(normally gas pipe) 45 degree elbow $1.59 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inchx4inch Galvanized nipple $1.49 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inch black pipe(normally gas pipe) 45 degree street elbow $2.32 (Home Depot) 1x 1/2inch Pipe Flange $5.60 (Home Depot) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total parts cost: $23.70 Lag bolts are found in the hardware section with screws, etc. The rest are all found in the plumbing Ile, even the black gas pipe fittings. The galvanized parts are cheaper than the black pipe parts(and look a bit better, I think). So try to buy as many galvanized parts as possible. But for some fittings I had to get black gas pipe fittings, since there were non in galvanized. So for less than $25 each, you have arms! In my next post I'll post a few pictures of the tools, parts, and touch on the drilling and assembly. This is pretty much streight forward, so this is not too involved. But wait until my next post before you drill or assemble the arms, since there is a sequence in which to drill and screw them together right.

OK, I promised you couple of pictures so here you are. This is of my arms for my monitor and laptop. I haven't re-connected my laptop nor touch screen monitor up yet, since I want to do a bit of a breakdown of my arms and such for a FULL DIY, to take more and better pictures of each part for you. But when done with the DIY, I will re-connect my laptop and monitor using cable ties to route the cables along the pipes to the back of the organ and into it. Trust me everything will still work! I will do a full DIY for you this week with better and more pictures. I just don't have the time today, since I have house work to do with with putting out Halloween decorations. I bought a fixer upper house, so most of my time now involves things with the house. But you can get an idea from these 2 pictures as to how they are made... EDIT: I'll give you a short breakdown here. I'll do more of breakdown in a full DIY post this week, but this is something for you for now: The arms are indentical up until the monitor and laptop mounts. Each arm uses a 5 inch 1/2 inch galvanized pipe nipple(a precut piece of pipe that is threaded on each end), for the mount to the organ. These pieces required a drill press and pipe clamp to hold and aline them while drilling the holes through. I drilled 2, 1/4 inch, holes(space determined on where the other internal organ bolts were,read warning below). I already had a cheap drill press with a clamp that uses a hand drill. Did the job just fine. WARNING: The placement of these holes need to NOT be at the same place as the bolts inside of the organ that run perpendicular into the side pieces of the organ. So, first I determined that I wanted the threaded end above the top of organ. Then from there I measured 1 inch down, where no bolts were for the top hole. The second hole is 3 inches down, just in between where 2 internal perpendicular organ bolts were. Fortunately I had thought of this before drilling any holes, so I MADE NO MISTAKES AND GOT IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. My prototype was also my final finished product, with no extra holes, etc. This was because I thoroughly think things out before committing. The sides of the organ have nice 1 1/2 inch solid wood to mount to, so I used it, with only driling 2 holes, each side, into the back, where they are not seen, just in case I had to remove these arms. So the integrety of my organ is still intact(remember in the beginning, that this organ means something to me as an inheritance, and I do not want to destroy it). Make sure you drill pilot holes first, and only do one hole at a time, mounting pipe to organ, aline pipe to be square and plumb, and then drill other hole and screw in other lag bolt. If you wait for my full DIY, I will give you ALL of my tricks to do it right the first time, without mistakes:) Once those pieces were mounted, the rest is just screwing pipe fittings together. First a threaded connection, then a 12 inch galvanized nipple, 90 degree threaded connector, another 12 inch galvanized nipple, a 45 degree threaded connector, .a 4 inch galvanized nipple, a street 45 degree(male to female) threaded connector, and finally a pipe flange. These parts are all found in the plumbing Ile of Home Depot(one of my favorite hardware stores). DO NOT GET GALVANIZED PIPE FROM THE ELECTRICAL CONDUIT ILE, TOO FLIMSY! Although the monitor and laptop are not heavy, they are at the end of long arms. So you want good solid pipe that will not flex. All of the arm parts are made from premade pipe parts from the hardware store. 15 minutes to assemble the arms. The only modification is for the drilling of the holes for the organ mount pieces. But once I had it all figured out, it was pretty simple to do. Then I made the monitor and laptop mounts out of 1/4 inch hardboard(had this laying around the house), screws, nuts, wing nuts, washers, lock washers, hinges, angle pieces, and nylon spacers(these hold the laptop in from falling out). There is a bit of measurement with the hardboard, vesa monitor mount, laptop mount, and the placement of the hardware pieces on them. I'll go into more detail on how these are made in my FULL DIY post, later this week. Cosmetically they may need a bit of tweeking to make them look decent with paint, etc. But they look pretty good, for now, to me at least, considering that this is mostly made out of plumbing parts, made in less than one day, and fully functional for having the touch screen and laptop within easy reach when playing the organ. I love the plumbing dept! I have made a lot of things out of PVC pipe and plumbing parts. Plus where can you buy nice sturdy, not so bad looking, arms like this, without spending a lot?