Jidis

That sounds right :( I was looking at it again last night before I threw it back together. It looks like the backlight isn't even working correctly. You have to cup your hands over the screen to even tell that it's lit. I may try disconnecting it when I get a chance. The thing's got something like 21 leads going to it. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â -Thanks! George

That's what I had always figured too. A few days ago I finally decided to put an ear to it and try to pinpoint the source, and ultimately ended up tearing it apart to verify it. It's not the greatest looking display in the world anyway. It's always looked sort of dim and hard to read. Maybe the backlight isn't 100% up to spec. Either way, I wouldn't cry if it was replaced. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â - George PS- The kind souls at Roland also put the contrast pot on the back of the chassis, and this unit is two rackspaces, about 20" deep and weighs as much as one of those rackmount ATX cases. :o

Sorry for the rapid fire LCD posts ;D - I've got an old Roland MIDI parametric EQ here which has always produced an audible hum while it was on (I bought it used). I've gotten my rooms quiet enough where it's not a very welcomed noise, but it looks too hi-tech not to keep turned on. ;) Now that I know how common most of the standard screens and chipsets are, I thought about just finding an equivalent and swapping them. Has anyone here seen (heard) this problem in a screen and does it sound like a failure of something, or just an inherent flaw? - It's an HD chipset, but not as common as the 44780. IIRC, the screen looks like a 4x20. It has three HD44102CH chips and is a Sharp LMO9601 (I think) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â -George

Are there LCD's where the core's luminance control doesn't have a very noticeable effect on anything? I'm running a backlit 2x16 here and can't really tell the difference. -Thanks!

-- And your English is plenty good :D      - Not sure about the hips of time though. Sounds like what girls get after they've had a few babies. (probably mean "heaps" ;) )

I grabbed a set of the Ucando instructional VHS tapes a few weeks ago for the "Digital" series of electronics tapes. They look like they're going to be quite helpful. I got their "VCR Repair" tape a long time ago and skimmed through it, but all except one of my VCR's are broken, so I never had a convenient place to watch it. ;D I only took AC and DC semesters of classes here, and didn't continue into semiconductors because the class was filled with lots of "money for nothing" types who just wanted an easy job and had no real interest in electronics, so it moved way too slow and ate lots of time. These tapes move fast enough that you frequently have to back up and re-watch parts of them. Not to say that they're a substitute for proper schooling, but each hour long tape covers about a month of what my classes probably did, which may be good for other "low attention spanners" like myself. The whole third tape is on multiplexers and shift registers. I'm really excited about watching it, and had fished the web many times for such info. It was the main MBHP area that I wanted a better understanding of. If anyone else is having trouble with that, I'd recommend them. I think they're only available on VHS, and they're not the greatest picture quality or animation that I've ever seen, but it doesn't matter much for this. You can also get any of the individual tapes from them for $25 or $35 dollars here (US) and they all have fairly decent descriptions of what they cover. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â -Take Care! George PS- Just looked through the end of that third tape and it might be better than I thought. It not only hits the mux/demux chips, but it then runs over some of the LCD,LED, and matrix display theory that they're often used for. - Good Stuff!

I think it was stated earlier in this thread, but at the very least, I think anyone considering publicly offering any of this stuff for money could mention it here and to Thorsten for an OK. If you start looking for "loopholes" in the legalities of it, you're already doing something wrong. ;) I can appreciate how much work goes into a good box, but the circuits and the bulk of the code are the core of the whole system (no pun intended). Starting a box with the intention of selling it doesn't sound right, much less "mass producing" the same one for subsequent sales. Don't mean to offend anyone here, but someone gave us something they worked very hard on, so we could use it and work on it, and they didn't ask for any money in exchange. The rest is pretty self explanatory. -Take Care George

--ouch :-X That length thing sounds possible. I've noticed drum machines will only produce a quick "spike" of a MIDI note, since their modules are going to run through the full sustain, regardless. I don't know Ableton, but if it's definitely not in a "replace" mode, has it got anywhere that you can see the recorded data, like a piano roll or event list? Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sorry I can't help, George

Just noticed this forum. Great idea! :) A while back I was trying to figure a way to get rid of some of this junk. I keep having to buy these ridiculous quantities of stuff off eBay to get what I want. Haven't yet thought about how much I *know* I'm never going to need, but off the top of my head, I know I've got some new 10k linear pots (panel mount, metal 1/4" grooved shaft), a similar 90 degree PCB mount audio taper pot, dual red CA 7-seg displays in 15mm digit height, nasty looking chromed plastic fader caps and matching round button caps, plus tactile switches out the tail (-someone else's tail). I'll probably be looking for a decent sized chunk of 3mm LED's soon. I don't know what's with these Asian $15 shipping deals, but I wish someone in the US would auction bags of 100 or so for what they're actually worth.                                               -George PS-- I was also thinking during that "MIDIBox on eBay" thread, that it might be a more acceptable solution in those situations, to post picture links here or somewhere else, along with a brief list of things you might be looking for (rather than a money exchange). It seems there are a lot of people coming here looking for someone else to build them a box, and it would be cool to get a nice mic or something you need in exchange for getting someone else something that they need. I can relate to the "yesterday's project" situation. It usually only takes me about a month to hate something I built. ;)Â

Ingebret, I used to do that buffing thing years ago when I used a lot of brush on lacquer. I got buffing compound and rubbing compound in bottles from the auto paint place here. I think it was 3M brand, but it sounds like what you're referring to. I've since moved to mainly melamine and laminates instead of solid wood, so I haven't done it in a while. My worst problem with it was in the fine (in-between coats) sanding. The painted coat wasn't always consistent, and I didn't always sand the exact same amount, so I usually burned through a spot or two while smoothing it out and always had to touch up things and re-coat. This was mostly with furniture and racks, so it would probably be less of a problem with flat, panel type things. You're right about the sprayer. I finally figured that was the only way I was going to get professional looking results on anything of decent size like furniture. I've come about two inches away from buying a small HVLP system on several occasions and had done many hours of research on it. From what I read it was quieter, easier to clean, and more flexible and portable for smaller stuff than any of the "real" sprayers. They were also supposed to get some really impressive amount of paint onto the surface (like 90%), which is good for my budget and lack of spray booth. I'll probably still get one when I get back to some of these drum shells. BTW- The highest rated "consumer" model was surprisingly a Wagner. It wasn't the hardware store model, but a couple levels up in the 400 to $500 range. It beat out many of the classier brands up closer to 1000 dollars. I think it was the 3-stage turbine type, which was supposed to be capable of thicker, water based stuff as well as lacquers. This was all last year's research, so it may have changed now. I guess if I was already running a compressor for stuff, an HVLP gun would make more sense money-wise, but I try to make more "neighbor friendly" noise whenever possible. I did more plate label tests last night and got a nice looking matte finish from hand sanding with fine wet/dry metal sandpaper. The finish sander leaves tiny "swirls" which I don't care for and the hand sanding was fairly easy with the aluminum. The aluminum toner transfers, however, have gotten me just about ready to jump out a window. With the great results I'm getting with PCB's nowadays, I'm determined to figure out why the aluminum is so uncooperative. From what I can figure, the transfers are going down the same, but the cooling and drying stage is ruining everything. Right when the iron comes off, the paper begins lifting and bubbling away from the metal. This is a critical time for the bonding and the paper isn't anywhere near ready to be removed yet. I think the metal is still hot enough to where it doesn't hang on to the toner and the paper has a better chance of taking it back. I bought transparency sheets the other night. I'll try them soon. I'm also considering trying a spray coat on the metal before the transfer and trying a spray coat of something on the paper before printing, but each test takes about a half hour in total time. If I can make it work, all that test time will be worthwhile for the convenience of being able to do labels and stuff at home. I'm also thinking of sandwiching the paper between a top sheet of metal to hold it down until everything cools and can be soaked off. - I'm lost ???                               -George  Â

Ditto on all of the above :) Happy birthday and many many more! -George

Definitely! Thanks for the tips on the aluminum sanding and the heating of the paint. I think the spray nozzle you're talking about is similar to the ones I get on Deft lacquer cans. They have a fancy looking nozzle with sort of a "hinged" top section. They do make more of a fine spray mist. I didn't know about not being able to get the aluminum back to that shiny look either. The times I've played with the texture, I've usually hit it with a finishing (palm) sander with fine grit metal paper, or done swirls by hand with a scrap. I did indeed notice that it usually had more of a gray look to it afterward, but I always figured that it could be brought back to that mirror look with finer paper. The surface of the fresh glossy piece I've been using isn't in perfect condition, so I doubt I'd use any without sanding first, but I'm not sure I like that shine anyway. For the "brushed" look you mention, are you working entirely by hand or do you use power tools for that? I like that look too. I thought about maybe trying some wire wheels or a fine vertical wire brush (cup style) in a drill press. - Thanks! George

--That's amazing! I'd love to see a description of the channel strips and whatever MIOS edits he may have done, when he's got the time. I especially like the numeric LED's at the bottom.

I'm sure it's been asked, but all I can find on it are Core and PIC Burner posts- Are these capable of handling button inputs (the 165's)? There are some good eBay deals up right now. -Thanks

Steve- Yeah, I thought about that after I posted. I've done a circular saw and a couple routers, but they were under thick particle board tops. All the good metal cutting jigsaw blades I've had have always been relatively short. I'd probably have to do like you say and mount to a plate. The remote AC switch is already knocked out here. There's actually three (one with vari-speed). I do a bunch of cabinetry junk. metal hates me :'( ~George Â

Yeah it does! I'm just glad (hoping) we don't have any permanent damage from it. It is nice when we can learn our lesson without casualties. Ingebret, that's funny you did that double vacuum thing. I did that when I was in high school and needed to clean a bunch of fine sawdust off the walls and floor of my home studio. I needed the capacity of the shopvac, but the sucking power of our home (Kirby) vacuum. The Kirby bag outlet was about the same size as the larger size shopvac tubes, so I duct taped them. It was surprisingly effective. You could almost just stand in the center of the room with the Kirby hose and point at things like a sorcerer. ::) I'm not sure how friendly it was to the motors though. It sounded faster. It could be like running 8 ohm amplifiers with a 2 ohm load. Back on topic- I cut my eighth inch aluminum iron plate yesterday with a powered jigsaw (if that's the handheld type you were talking about, Ingebret). It cut really quick. With oil on the metal and a new metal blade, it's almost too fast (my magic marker lines didn't like the oil very much though). Running it dry was a lot harder. It should have no trouble doing square holes for people. That and a file should work well. I'm going to see if I can grind the sides of a file flat on a bench grinder before I do any more. Take Care -George PS- I wonder if you could mount one of those saws upside down like a router table and get some type of grooved metal wheel on a rod to brace the back of it, like what the bandsaw blades rides in. That way you could just drill your hole, lay your metal over the blade, and drop the backer rod in place. The side to side wiggle of the blade and the difficulty to view your cut are the only things I don't like about those saws. I may try it with an old one here if I've got time.

synth-o-mania, I'm the same way with stuff in my eye and I still manage to do dumb crap if I've had too much coffee or don't have goggles nearby. I've done the "scratch the eyeball and think there's still something in your eye" thing too, but it was healed enough overnight where I could let it go on it's own. The metal thing can't be overemphasized though. When I used to work in a warehouse, on two different occasions I woke up with one eye closed up and stinging. I had to hit the hospital on both. Evidently, if even a small particle of the "wrong" metal hits your eye, and sits long enough, it forms a "rust ring" around itself which will remain even if the metal is gone. They actually have to *drill* the rust out of your eyeball. The drill idea sounds worse than it was. When it gets close enough to your eyeball it sort of disappears and you just feel this mild vibration. The preparation to drill and the aftermath of it sucks though. You wear a bandage over it for a day or two while it heals. I never did figure out what it was. I think it was something in the forklift exhaust. I used to drive backwards a lot (..don't ask ;)). I'm glad yours was just wall dust. -George

Davo, (and anyone interested) I'm going to try to get you those prints out tomorrow afternoon. I'm up 'til 6am, so doing stuff in the day isn't too easy for me. Don't give up yet on the toner. There has to be a factor that's screwing things up that badly. My results have been getting better and better with some testing, and now that I've fought with the metal transfers, I actually look forward to doing the copper each time. Nothing is usually beyond a couple dabs with a thin sharpie marker, and that will depend on how patient I am at the time and how important the "look" of the board is. If I want to get closer to a perfect print, I can just wipe the toner off a couple times until I get one I'm satisfied with. The cool thing is, lately the most trouble I have with toner lifting off with the paper, is with bold, black areas, like dimensional borders and ground planes. Lightening the contrast looks like it helps, but it would be more conservative and easier just to do outlines and fill the areas by hand or tape them off. My Sharp FO-2850 printer may have something to do with that too. I just found an HP LaserJet 6 in a local for sale ad for $30, and I'm going to pick it up in about an hour. It's similar to what Tom Gootee recommends on that site. If there's a considerable difference in transfers, I'll post here about it. Some friends here gave me the Sharp, and I foolishly mangled it by running a "cleaning sheet" through it. I may just as well have soaked some newspaper in water and run that through there. >:( It broke a couple of the plastic outfeed rollers and I may have made it worse by trying to fix it. It still prints OK, but the paper has a bit of a bumpy ride through the plastic stuff, and usually gets ruined if I try to print on the backside afterward (it "curls" the ends a bit). I may look into modding it for board capacity, but it's pretty complicated. It's got a fax scanner and a front panel that flips down like a tractor-trailer. I'll be trying a bunch of new stuff over the week. A bottle of Sodium Persulfate crystals just got here, and I've started building one of those Plexiglas etch tanks. Someone here also recommended attaching a smooth flat metal (aluminum) plate to my iron, to help spread the heat more evenly. The steam holes in the bottom are more dangerous than I thought. I've been squashing a wet paper towel onto the paper with my iron, after the main heating, and there are big round lumps where all the holes were. They could very well be the reason for some of the problem traces, as two of the main heatings are with the iron held firmly in one spot for a while. I'm also thinking of mounting a flat plate to a bathroom scale, so I can do my ironing on that and monitor the pressure/time ratio during the transfers. I've already put one on the counter and checked with a "push-up" (exercise) handle thing, and it looks like my pressure is in the 30-40 pound range for the initial heavy pressure and maybe in the 20's for the spot heating. Since the toner is adequate for a bunch of us, I've wondered if there might be an easier machine than a printer to modify or build, which was more like the iron method where the object is stationary. The guy that recommended the plate on the iron also mentioned a heat press (he makes shirts). I looked it up, but they're in the $500 range. I'm wondering if you could adapt something like a waffle press or a George Foreman grill to do PCB size items. It seems like it would only be a matter of replacing the grooved crap (if it has some) with flat surfaces. Somebody sells plans on eBay for something like that, but it looks big and "wooden". I think the size of T-shirts makes their stuff bigger and more expensive. Our stuff could probably fit in something smaller and more solid, if we could find good heating elements.              Sorry for the long post (just excited :) ) -George PS- I'll probably be heading for that Yahoo group soon, and maybe the electronics newsgroups. I'm thinking there may be someone that could help me get the metal transfers going.

I've got a portable planer that can handle stock up to about 6" thick. Maybe I can rip the blades out of it and mount a heating element under the metal base. ;D Seriously though, I wish someone would come up with a good DIY laminator type rig for PCB size stuff. Even manual feed could probably work with some practice. I built a giant motor driven thing that spins drum shells, and has a pair of adjustable rollers from a Xerox machine on bars, so it can wrap drum finish as well. There's one roller against the inside and one out, and it squeezes the laminate against the shell, then you just roll the shell around by hand. If a roller was heated, it might work (obviously not a rubber one). People buy these long, raw oven type elements for doing laminate post forming (corner bending). I remember MCM Electronics having a bunch of different shapes and styles. I think the wiring was pretty simple. -George

Sorry Moebius :-[ I just have a tendency to overlook that small messages text at the top of the screen, as it usually says the same thing. I was just making sure Davo didn't.

Davo, I just sent you a PM on here. - Take Care

I read the same thing recently while troubleshooting a dead one. I think it went even further to say that you could actually hurt them by running with no load. People are known to run a light bulb in series while testing them. -George PS- I use a couple AT supplies and a Mac LC supply for 5/12v stuff here with real small loads and haven't killed anything or anybody yet.

I wish they made a more "industrial" version of the nibbler too. :( It's much more affordable and flexible, but has it's obvious limitations. I grabbed an overpriced square knockout punch for those a while back and still end up resorting to Marcel's file suggestion half the time. It's really only good for it's 13mm (1/2") hole size, unless I'm doing something big enough to knockout the square corners and saw the straight parts. Greenlee's are the popular brand, but you can get generics for less (Digikey or Mouser has those too). I've been having decent success with rather thick aluminum for the "drill & file" method (1/8th" maybe). It files pretty fast, but gunks things up and requires cleaning with kerosene. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â - George PS- Anyone ever seen (or made) a file without those god-awful teeth on the edge? They're not very friendly toward the adjacent side of a square hole.

I've been meaning to reply back to this. I ran across the place I read that again, and it said that a cellulose (natural) sponge is OK. They're regular "grocery store junk", and I've been using one for the past month. - George http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/model-book/soldering/soldering.html

Here's a good page with taper descriptions if you want it- http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm It looks like the "B"'s have never been log taper, but the linears have been "A"'s at one time, so I guess if it says B you're OK.