Jidis

Stryd, I've got one around here, but it's sort of a backup. I've never had to use it in more than one app, and it's usually on a 2k machine. I wasn't 100% thrilled with their drivers when I used it more, but it was OK. I think Thorsten actually knows that interface and may have one (he didn't care for the latency IIRC). Take Care, George PS- I may be in the same boat for a 98 machine. Just got a nice 600MHz laptop (nice for me) for doing portable MIDIBox/PIC stuff, and it has no MIDI interface. Sad part is, I think the audio chip (ESS Maestro 3i or something) has the usual 1x1 MIDI built in, but it isn't accessible. Wish I could tap directly to the chip, but I fear it would also involve some sort of activation to cut it on.

Someone just posted this link in the MOTU forum. http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2247 Looks interesting, but I'm too tired to read the whole thing right now. :-\ Figured some here would like it. Take Care

Ditto! Happy Birthday, and many thanks again for all the knowledge, projects and assistance! :) George

I thought that thing looked familiar. ;D

Yes, very much so ;). I coincidentally tried that a week or so back after reading that link here for the guitar pedal etching: I wish I had read it earlier. I just did an EQ controller module with black on aluminum, and would much rather have etched the labels (I just did toner with a protective clear coat). That text in the picture is on a strip of metal that's only about an inch and a half tall. It doesn't look all that bad considering, plus it was ragged to begin with, and I wasn't happy with the "blackening" part of the process, so I kept sanding it down and retrying. I ultimately ended up spraying a coat of semi-gloss black on it, and burning it back down on a sharpening stone, but I don't like the shine, and it's inconsistent. The process on the pedal site just used the sludge left from the toner, but that had sort of a flat gray look, which didn't provide enough contrast. The other trouble was the large masked areas you have to deal with. Sort of wasteful and messy on toner. Next time I may try a light hatch pattern or something on the print, and then just paint mask over it like they did on the pedals. I also want to try different colors and types of filler, but I'm not sure what to expect. BTW- I didn't mess with the HCl on that. I used regular FeCl, like on the site (didn't know I could use HCl). It does leave a bubbly "goo" as it etches, which makes it sort of hard to see the progress. I think I wiped that off a couple times with a toothbrush or something, and it helped, but I wouldn't want to risk smearing off any toner. Thanks Again, George

Good news last night with this thing. :) I had gotten sick of it and left it for a few days, and got stuck waiting for something at the studio last night, so I went back and re-traced all the JDM parts of the board. Turns out there was a pretty serious error in the Vss area. The back of diode3 was tied to the negative of the two caps, and the backs of diodes 6&1 were tied to each other and to the Vss lines, but the two groups of parts never made it to each other. :-[ Everything seemed good after a short jumper wire was mounted. I didn't get a good verify of the PIC's current (unknown) contents on the 486 laptop I used to use, or after moving it to my home desktop (XPsp2), but on that same machine trying out WinPIC800 for the first time, I got a perfect read/verify on the first try. Looks like it should do OK. --> oh, and the voltage checks were the first thing I went for after the mod (all good now) Take Care George PS- Not as ashamed as usual on the missing connection. The jumper block made the layout sort of a PITA. Because of the "5-pole double throw switch" function that the jumper block is serving, a bunch of those connections aren't initially linked without the jumpers installed, and they change destinations if it's in JDM mode. Considering the area that the error was in, I guess I still screwed up nonetheless. ;D

Hey again Robin, Thanks for the info on the used stuff. I'll try to get rid of it tomorrow. I bought more Hydrogen Peroxide a few days back, so I should have plenty to do many more batches. I had way more of the acid at first, due to the quantity they make you buy. - I'm guessing this gas thing isn't something where you could slowly relieve the pressure every so often right? My masking is more low tech than you may guess. It's just many many trials and refinements to the toner technique (most of what's described on Tom Gootee's page). I'm currently using that last grade of paper he recommended by Staples, and am running an HP LaserJet 6L, with what I believe to be the original toner cart. You sound like you have access to proper equipment. I just figured I was sort of stuck with that, and managed to get pretty good with it. I'm using an iron with an eighth inch plate of aluminum "JB Welded" to the base: I'll keep an eye on the pinholes and stuff. I probably get them but don't notice it. I'm wondering if that green TRF coating would fill that sort of thing in?? Take care and thanks again for all the info, George PS- I've thought many times that I'd gladly trade my skill (or luck) with the toner transfers for some better assembler or electronics knowhow :-\.

Here's a good one for you.... DigiKey 2006 (hey, it was funny at 6am ;D)

Yeah, I hadn't considered the outside temp changes. It was a bit chilly on the last one. Come to think of it, it may have actually taken a bit longer, but it seemed to do OK anyhow. That was one of the things I liked most about it when I first tried it. It not only didn't require any additional heat source, but it also sort of fizzled away at the board on it's own. I periodically wash it around with a plastic knife, but little more than that. Everything I used in the past was dramatically different with higher temperature and mechanical agitation. Not to underestimate the dangers. I'm definitely afraid of it, but the extra bit of caution is worth the results and convenience. Take Care

Robin, Thanks, and great (so far as the etching goes :)). I have to do it outside and I'm really careful with it, but the speed is awesome, as is the cost obviously. No, it won't likely be sitting anywhere near that long. Right now the stuff I last used is bottled up tight, in a thick plastic Hydrogen Peroxide bottle in the shed. I'm sure I'll be doing something with it over the next week or so. If it slows down any or does something weird, I can always mix more. It was mainly just a matter of avoiding disposal for a bit. BTW- By "ruin" I just meant having it react poorly with the board and having to let the board sit in it for too long to get everything etched. When I've had that happen with other chemicals, I've always ended up with an inconsistent etch, where thin traces started getting eaten away while there were still some disappearing "islands" of copper in other areas. Thanks Again, George PS- Here's the latest from it- Of course, having it actually work might be nice too. :'( ( http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=7895.0 )

I know you guys hate this thing, but I'll give it a shot anyway. ;) I built a core/jdm hybrid, on which I've installed a two way switch, using a jumper block. The jumpers just flip between the normal core connections and what you would get if you connected it to a JDM with the ICSP connector (I've checked all the connections on the switch block for proper continuity). It doesn't appear to be reading chips properly (can't verify the received buffer against what's really in the PIC). On my usual JDM laptop running Win95, the voltage checks come out as: Empty Socket ------------- MCLR: 13.01V /-1.81 when off Vcc (pin 32): 5.09V /0.00 off Clock (pin 39): -0.31V /0.68 off (?) Data Out (pin 40): 4.60V /0.34 off While reading the PIC --------------------- from pin 12 to 32: 4.85V from pin 12 to MCLR(1): 12-12.5V Does it seem like the clock is my problem? Everything else is there, just a bit low I guess. The clock pin makes it to the anode and cathode of those two diodes (D1&2 in the schematic), and to pin 7 of the sub, and I checked the two diodes in circuit with a DVM (OK according to that). What else would you suspect or check for a "pin 39 problem"? Also- That 10k resistor (R1) from Vss to pin 36(RB3) in the schematic puzzled me. Do you just leave that out for ICSP? BTW- I've got the sub shell tied to pin 5 as recommended. The two zeners were pulled from a JDM, which I've used many times with this laptop, although it was never used for programming over the ICSP block. Much thanks and let me know if I left anything out, George

That is the 20 in the picture, isn't it? (16 wide ???) Hope you can get it working, George (once the destroyer of a 2x40)

I know as a last resort, you could at least use the group & "cut" from one board, and paste it into the second one (if space permits). I have no idea what that does to your schematic if you're working in sync, but I've done it on a brd file. I guess you could tie the correct pins together manually afterward. George

Robin (if you're in here)- Any idea what the "shelf life" is on this concoction? I didn't feel like neutralizing/disposing of my last batch, so I bottled it, but I don't want to ruin my next board if it isn't 100% reusable. Thanks! George PS- One of the reasons I didn't pursue the sodium persulfate etching I got into was that the mixture didn't seem to work the same after I let it sit for a period. That stuff supposedly doesn't work well immediately after it's mixed either.... go figure. :-\

I think that's the same stuff we're referring to, but it was mentioned here previously that the hazy white stuff distributes the light a bit more evenly (I think that was how Moxi ended up with that shade for the resin). I was thinking of sticking things into the lower portion of the buttons as well (actually with resin, but clear like what you're talking about on the silicone). Seems like if you cut pieces of transparency with your desired prints on it, and maybe painted or poured a thin layer of your button material into the mold first, then laid those in and poured the rest on top, you'd get a label encased in resin (or whatever). Hope you try something like that so we can see how it does. I'm stuck in the middle of the construction of the world's worst MB core board right now (valley of the vias) and haven't been doing much else. :-X BTW- I was also considering that some sort of toner printed material laid into the bottoms of the molds might stick to the button material while it dried, having it's carrier sheet be removable afterward by soaking etc. There's an aluminum foil I tried here for toner transfers, per someone's recommendation, which doesn't get a good grip on the toner. It's just sort of sitting on the foil, and is easy to smear off. I was wondering if something like silicone or liquid latex dried while sitting on top of that, if it would "glue" the print into the material, sort of like rubber buttons with silkscreening. Please let me and everyone else see if you get anything good happening with the labels :). George PS- There's also the alternative of "rubber coated" stuff, which feels about the same, depending on how much you layer. There's a piezo encased in FG resin, near the beginning of this thread, that I painted with liquid latex for mold making. Tapping on it with fingernails feels about the same as one of the harder MPC style pads (I didn't put all that much on it).

Hey again, No, I'm actually in the US. We probably have places that sell stuff like that in town, I've just been too lazy to look. Being awake until 7am doesn't make it very convenient to do "day stuff" here either. ;) I've got some people I can ask here too. Finding out what most of the stuff is actually used for would be a good start. Take Care, George PS- Main reason is I haven't really needed to mold things lately. Once I get back on that part of the stuff, I'll probably go back to looking around.

Yes, at least that. I think there's even weird stuff like bronze colored. This is just the regular construction adhesive silicone I'm referring to (the kind that comes in a caulking gun tube). Moxi's got access to some sort of powder. I'm on a more low tech-angle. ;D (I need to figure out where they sell all the real stuff like that here) George ... a "guru" huh? I figured I was about to turn into something. Don't feel like much of a guru though. :-[

Bingo!! ;D I wanted to try the same thing a few weeks back, being as the tube stuff (I guess that's what you mean) is easy as heck to get. I used to sell it, and have seen (smelled) boxes of it run over by a forklift. IIRC, the hardened globs were about the right consistency, and didn't feel too squishy for pushbuttons. In fact, they were about what the clear/white buttons on your average A/V remote feel like these days. Seems like if you mixed just the right amount of the white with some of the clear, you'd be able to find the right shade for "glow-thru". My question was actually on how to get the stuff thinned out enough (while wet) that it could be poured into such an intricate small shape. What do you cut it with to keep from ruining it? George <edit> just realized-- Bad choice of words for non-English translation. By "cut it", I meant mix or dilute it, to water it down (acetone maybe??).

Hell, try getting a foot long, 14" diameter drum shell off of a giant cylinder form, which looked like an axial lead cap. The surface was sanded, waxed, and had the crap greased out of it before the FG went on, and it wouldn't even budge. I ended up sawing it into two 6" halves (needed to do that anyway). Even then, I had to knock on it with a mallet, pry at it with a screwdriver, and everything else you can imagine. That's always a scary part of the process after spending so much time on it. Other stuff will also make a really frightening "crack" when you finally break it free from the mold. A book I've got mentions special mold release agents, but petroleum jelly and wax both seem to work OK. BTW- Eventually got those shells off, only to discover that they were ruined from birth (too large a diameter and a form which wasn't perfectly round). Been meaning to try again, but it was a headache I don't like looking back on. >:( George

Yeah, I think 90% of my ribbons started off longer. Just remember you lose all that nice "snap lock" junk when you slice off the end, so you may need a glob of epoxy or something to see that they don't fall apart later. Wish that sort of stuff was easier to get in this town. I'm getting to be too much of a scavenger these days. IDC/crimp stuff like that works out OK for me, but the "desoldered" parts are getting to be a mess. It's surprising you don't see "starter kit" variety packs of stuff like that on eBay. You either buy a hundred of one specific part on there, or you buy five of them for two cents less than what they go for at DigiKey. BTW- The spinning thing is just something to look into. I'm sure it's not perfect for all materials, and I've usually not only done it in a drill press with a table, but done it with metal parts like soldering iron tips. I've also slipped larger things onto 1/4" bolts (with a center hole in the part) and clamped them tight with a nut, using the bolt as a shank in the drill chuck. Depending on what it is, I guess you can putty the hole up afterward. Plastic dowel rod seems like it would be great for those too, if you didn't let it get gooey. I've made a bunch of non-electronic parts using resin mixed with some body filler (Bondo, which is also part resin). For the model stage, regular cheap gray modeling clay from the craft store has worked well, and as Stryd suggested with the wax, it's easy to stick a clump back on to build things up. I've usually gone with plaster for the mold itself. Just grease everything well, so it comes out easy. I like your idea of labels inset into the part too. Be nice if you could find a way to stamp them or something, so they don't look hand carved. Take Care, George

Moxi, I was meaning to mention, a while back I needed some "insert caps" for some cheap black knobs I had put on a box here, and mixed my FG resin with a couple drops of regular Testors brand brush on enamel (comes in those tiny little bottles at hobby stores here in the US). It looked great, but maybe I didn't use enough hardener (random mix) because it took way too long for all of them to totally cure. Leaves a world of possibilities "colorwise" though. I've been meaning to shop around here for the stuff you mentioned for creating the "hazy white look" for the backlits. I'll look into the colored pigments too. Sounds like a safer choice with something as particular as resin. ;) Here's a crappy picture where you can see a knob: Setting them all flat on a table, you can carefully pour just about anything into the center to get a neat looking cap. With the thickness of the resin at the right "cure point", you can actually pour it in until it forms sort of a "dome" (it builds up at the center). BTW- That's one of the regular knobs for the ribbed 1/4" shaft, where they give you those flat snap-in colored inserts that always get bumped out and lost. :P George PS @Dolphinicus - For the button modeling thing you're talking about doing, if you're going with round ones on anything, you might try to see if you can chuck them into a drill etc., for nice consistent symmetry. I've done that a bunch with metal and the occasional wood (dowel stock). Only downside is the chuck capacity is usually 3/8" or less, and soft stuff can also get crunched pretty easily. Other than that, if it's spinning fast enough, you can burn away at it with sandpaper or files and get a really smooth finish pretty quickly.

Hi, I've been trying to find this catalog ever since *jOi~'s question about acrylic rod suppliers. It showed up in the mail a few months back (someone's got me on a list I suppose). It's in the US, and I'm not sure where they ship, but they've got every sort of rod or sheet you can imagine. There's some cool looking "half ball" acrylic things, which might make for some nice Sleestak Time Doorway style buttons or something too. http://www.usplastic.com/ George

Snaper, Sorry for the confusion :-[. You'll probably need to find one of the Mac users here to help you on utility/burner software and such. If you look in the MIOSStudio forum here, there are a bunch of people obviously running that on Macs, but I'm not sure where they do their PIC burning. FWIW- I know there are a bunch of USB burners available, so I'd imagine something out there does PICs on the Mac. I'm an old time Mac user myself (going back to the Mac II series). I stopped at the G4 (my last one). My suggestion unfortunately, is to get hold of an old crappy PC running 98 or 95 and DOS, just to do some of this stuff. I've got PCs all over everywhere now, but the machine I frequently blow PICs on is a horribly slow 486DX 75MHz laptop running 95 or DOS. Stuff in the Pentium II class (around G3 speed) isn't even worth trying to sell these days, so a nice 98 capable machine is something you can likely find for free during someone's upgrade. That 486 even cooperates really well with a simple JDM programmer I use. It looks like you may even be more likely to get better COM ports and compatibility on older, otherwise "useless" PCs. If all you need it for is PIC burning, and you hate the idea of bringing in an old PC, you can always drag a JDM or PIC Burner to someone else's PC and do your burn (again, older may be better). Most of the burner software I've run is pretty much "stand-alone" and runs from it's own folder (or even floppy). It won't generally make any setup or install mess on their machine, and most "normal" people's COM ports aren't even being used these days. Once you've got the boot loader burned, you should be able to leave the machine and do the remainder of your transfers via MIDI. Sorry for the conversion attempt, but everyone should have access to at least one crappy PC, if only for stuff like this. ;) Take Care, George

I believe this is the post I was looking for the other day. - Thanks! :) (saved to disk)

I had figured your interests were probably more toward the "live" end. :) I stopped playing in bands many years back, and even then, I'm a drummer, so I never needed much outboard gear there. I figure if I was toting stuff to shows or even band practices, I probably wouldn't have much faith in a DAW either. ;D George PS- Those knobs have been here a long time (since back before they started showing up in smaller quantities on eBay). They look like cheesy crap on most stuff, but somehow they looked OK against that aluminum, and they happened to be a perfect match for a batch of cheap 10k PCB-mount pots I've got. Plus, I didn't really want a control for that Neve (it hasn't been hooked up). I've really gotten used to the whole recall thing, and the regular pots don't help there. I'd like a larger EQ control later, mainly for the UAD Cambridge, but I'll want something with encoders and all, so I can use it across the board (using Nuendo's "selected" channel item in the map).