Jidis

Oh hey Buhler :) Yeah, I've had mine a while, but didn't have much luck with it. I mailed Plog a couple weeks ago, but haven't heard anything and didn't want to bug him. From what I can remember of it, I was able to get certain signals coming off of it, but the output wasn't 100% solid, like I'd get pieces of controller messages while outputting notes and stuff, and I could send MIDI clock from it, but not MTC, etc. I didn't see the input work, but my circuit was a bit of a "mod" and I haven't had the chance to try to strip it down and see if any of the extra stuff was responsible. I also used a 16F819 chip (which Plog said was OK), but it seemed to compile OK with a change or two to some labels or something that were named differently. Main difference with mine was just that I used the two MIDI in/out subcircuits like on the MB core board going to/from the relevant PIC pins in Plog's thing, and I had some power supply stuff onboard to get my 5volts. Figures we get some fine soul who's capable of throwing together Windows driver code for a parallel MIDI interface and he goes AWOL on us. ;D (...joking Plog, take your time and thanks again!) George If anyone else here tries one, I'd be interested to hear if it went the same way.

I hadn't realized yours was that big. I glanced at the dimensions you stated and saved the picture, but just realized the other night that one of the things laying beside it was a 2x40 LCD. :o You should get it to print messages, like "-record-" or something, triggered from MIDI messages. :) Good Job!

Sasha- I think you're safe on the type Xarolium pointed to, or any of the Apple brand Mac keyboards from the old ADB generation (Mac Classics,IIxx's, maybe into beige G3). It's the old PC stuff (AT) that ends up being hit & miss. I've got a box using some from the "Extended" (M0115 maybe). They feel great and you could probably mod or paint the caps to whatever you like. I was looking at the board just now, and it's got the ALPS logo etched in the copper above Apple's. ;D http://lowendmac.com/thomas/06/1013.html If you check out these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Keyboard I think you're safe, at least from the Apple Keyboard (M0116) to the Apple Extended Keyboard II, but there's probably a bunch more in there. I've got a few of that compact one (Apple Keyboard II) as well. I can check the switches in those too if anybody needs to know for sure. All that stuff is worthless now (a few dollars if not given away free around here). I wish there were some DIY circuits to convert ADB signals to PS2. I like the keys a lot, but I also have three of my favorite Kensington Expert Mouse in beige ADB here that I'll probably never be able to use. Take Care, George PS @Xarolium- Did you notice some of those switches (like the top row numerics) are mounted sideways? Screwed me up on the box I made. Had to mod the board afterward. >:( ** In addition to that, keep in mind there are a couple different angles to the caps in different areas of the board. If you plan to keep & use the labels and caps they had on there, make sure they all "tilt" the right way.

I'll try to go look back at the manual tonight to see how hard that stuff is to get to or if they even use the same type of contact system as regulars. The way it came back is a bit confusing though. When they were out, I tapped them repeatedly, squashed them down and everything else I could think of to get any sign of life happening, then with it still just sitting on the stand, I turn it back on and two more have shown up. Maybe a connector or something needs to be reseated. I've been keeping the heat off in the room I'm working in until I get out there at night, so there are some pretty extreme temperature changes over a couple hours. Still seems weird that it would pick three specific, non-consecutive keys though. Thanks for the interest! George PS- Obviously a bit intimidated here. I cleaned some contacts in my Roland (unweighted) years ago and it was pretty risky. Lots of spring loaded plastic crap that can suddenly jump out at you with no hint as to where it came from.

Thanks Strophlex! They reminded me somewhat of the Alesis 3630 knobs I was looking for long ago, but was never able to find. Again, good work on the box. :) George

Well, still going strong on night two with all keys active. :( :( :( Maybe some dust or something was lodged under them, which broke free during the ride in the car. (...assuming there's something in there for dust to get lodged under ;D). Maybe tomorrow I'll swing it around the room like the Who and see if I can shake them back into the "dead" state so I can fix it properly. That's one thing I have going in my favor. It shouldn't matter any time soon for me, though it could be a PITA inconvenience if I don't keep a regular keyboard nearby. The guy I got it from on the other hand, played at ritzy formal events and clubs, where he'd probably be up the creek if it went out. Take Care

I like your box too. :) Which knobs are those (in the upper half)? George

That's the guy! (guys actually) I think I had it mixed up with the Studio Projects mic. I need to stop looking at this crap (I've been on sort of a buying spree lately). Thanks, George

Well, close mic'ing is probably the main thing I wouldn't be getting them for, except maybe HF stuff like an cymbal or hi-hat. They would probably be drum overheads and maybe room mics for recording band practices or a show. With the two USB interfaces I've got now (and laptops) it would be fun to do some clean stereo tracking with gear I didn't care too much about. Catch is, there were a few back when I was reading that stuff. In the back of my head I'm thinking it was a "C1" or something. It sold in a pair with a case. George

Check that "adult service manual" thread in here for details. A Technics I bought has some intermittently "dead" keys and I'm considering going inside it. :o BTW- I was also thinking about grabbing a cheap pair of Behringer condensers too, but I'll probably fish up some info later to pick some out. I've got an Apex measurement mic I like here for certain overhead and room duties and was going to get a second one for stereo (it's similar to an ECM8000), then I saw that you can get an actual pair of a similar Behringer SDC for about 10 bucks more, some of which have gotten decent reviews as overheads. Take Care, George

You guys think it seems "digital" (having fixed itself 100%) rather than contacts or something? (not looking forward to either one) It was the same keys giving trouble though. George

Good to hear Simone. :) Yeah those USB guys vary in their ability to power a condenser. When I was shopping for one, there was one that was notorious for handling 'some' condensers but not others, and caused a few headaches for people that didn't know about it. Can't remember if it was one I "looked at" or one I bought though. ;D (I've got an Edirol UA-25 which can be bus powered, and a Lexicon Omega) BTW- Always wanted that Rode, but couldn't justify buying it as I already have an AT4050, plus most of what I track is dynamic oriented. I probably would have one, but those and many of the Chinese bang-for-the buck condensers hadn't come out way back when I got mine. Still might get it later. George PS- Artesia's never ripped apart an 88-key weighted keyboard?? I need help! >:( >:( ;D

Damn thing came back at the end of the night tonight. >:( When I hauled the keyboard out there, one of the three dead keys had mysteriously "fixed" itself, then the other two showed up when I powered it up a few hours later. Don't you hate those type of failures?? George

Hi Simone, If you don't get an answer in here, you might try the geekslutz section at gearslutz ( http://www.gearslutz.com/board/geekslutz-forum/ ). I wouldn't be surprised if that place had the people that designed it lurking around. There will at least be mic modders and guys who repair them in there. Good Luck, George

BTW, I went ahead and grabbed that keyboard. The thing is beautiful. Way nicer than anything a drummer should own. ;D I gave the guy a little more than he was asking, as I really don't think it has anything "wrong" with it, at least not what he thought. He said it wasn't producing sound when played, but the demos play OK and I took a MIDIBox (MIDIMon) with me to check the MIDI output, which is fine. I have a feeling he may have switched off local mode or something. Enough rambling. 8) I heard it play via headphones and it seems fine, however, there are three keys (non-consecutive) which produce no sound. I didn't check whether they were outputting MIDI, but have a feeling it's a common contact issue. Different velocities make no difference. I'm going to check out the service/porno manual tonight to see how difficult it is to dissect, but if anyone's got any tips, warnings, or things to check, I'd appreciate it. It's a Technics SX-P50 (88-weighted keys). Thanks! George

Not in the slightest. I probably wouldn't have cared if it even stayed on here, I just thought the concept was pretty f*'n weird and had to share it with others who might be equally confused by it. ;D I mean, if a young hacker type wanted to "surprise" or shock people with porn in an inappropriate place, why a service manual? Doesn't seem most techs are going to give two turds about some nasty pictures. For those who couldn't download it, it's about like Therezin pointed out, and pretty much standard "gas station calendar" porn. I thought it was more than one picture, but it looks like the same one on each page. The line drawings thing would have been good. Maybe there's a comment/suggestions link on the site. FWIW, it looks like the real service manual (68 pages). I've found that site a few times before for PDFs. I'm wondering now if there's a bunch like that. Getting the rars off there was sort of weird, but I've dealt with worse. Some of them gave me a download dialog when I clicked them in Opera, but some didn't. In that case, you'll see some small text for "click to download" or something below the archive list that you can use. Of course you'll also need an up to date version of WinRAR or something that handles multi-part RARs. Take Care, George

Alright I think I've seen it all now. :-[ Just grabbed a service PDF for a Technics keyboard from here: http://www.eserviceinfo.com/downloadsm/16615/Technics_SX-P50.html to find pictures of a naked lady behind all the diagrams and text. Not a complaint so to speak, but jeez man, who would've seen that crap coming? err... anything else you'd like to tell us about it?? Edit: Put NSFW in the topic just in case. Sorry for intruding.

Damn true! To me it seems like half the time, just rerouting one trace or moving one small part ends up sending you back to square one. :-X It does give you a lot of respect for the guys, girls and robots who do layouts for all these computer motherboards and crap we've got though. ;D Take Care

I wonder what happened with this one (40x20cm): http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,6381.0.html

Sasha should receive some sort of award for having gotten by this long with no Dremel. 8) Actually, I didn't have one either until just a few years ago and have had all sorts of woodworking tools for decades. I finally broke down and grabbed one of those Dremel kits with the gray toolbox. Now I've got 2 Dremels and two cheap fake Dremels. They're not always "the right tool" for the job, but they can usually pretend to be. ;D

No, just gives an idea of how many of us are actually proud of what we do to make money. ;D

Greg- You did get the app changed for your particular number of pots right? (not that it's responsible for the trouble, but having it setup for 64 or whatever probably won't help) George

I was surprised he did what he did on a 16F84. :) I always figured that was for smaller stuff. Still wondering about the half duplex thing though. ???

Hi, I know I bought some 20MHz crystals at some point. IIRC, a couple in my parts collection say 200ECSL (no decimal) or something on top. Is that likely a 20? Thanks, George

Gzifcak- That "number of pots" pref should be in the main.asm file in the batch of MB64 stuff (DEFAULT_NUMBER_POTS). You'll need to change the number and recompile the app with MPASM or whatever. George