Jump to content

goyousalukis

Members
  • Posts

    387
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    5

Posts posted by goyousalukis

  1. Yeah, I know what you mean. On one of my sids, I got so frustrated, I grabbed a mini-blowtorch and quickly heated all the solder and then tapped the board to flip out the chip. At the time I thought I fried it, but once I got another sid working, I swapped it out and it still worked great. I can't say as I'd recommend this tactic though, unless you are truly desparate...

    Justin

  2. It might be possible to modify the application, but you need to have a good understanding of assembly language to tackle it. I don't think Thorsten would want to make such a huge change for what is intended to be a low cost machine.  Also, Thorsten has crammed a lot of features into the PIC processor, I'm not sure it would support everything you want.

    Marr's price of $1 an encoder is actually quite low. The lowest I've seen them new is about $2.45 or over 300 us dollars for 128 of the encoders. I found a bunch on EBay for real cheap, but I haven't seen any more in over a year.

    Even if you had a row of encoders for each track, the lcd display would have to switch between tracks every time you turn different encoders. I don't think you want 8 2x40 LCD's do you ?

    Also, the sequencer already uses 44 buttons, so that is another expense to think of.

    You do understand that the sequencer does play 16 tracks with 3 layers each at once right? You only have to press a button to switch tracks.

    Currently the app does not support buttons for each track of the pattern. - only 16 for the track currently being edited.

    from the hardware options page:

    MIDIbox SEQ supports an option to handle 64 LEDs for all 4*16 steps of a pattern (which consists of 4 tracks) for people who think that this might be useful.

    I don't think anyone has implemented this feature yet. Maybe you could be the first.

    Justin

  3. Hmm,

    I assume you don't have a chip programmer if you had smashTV burn it for you? Do you know if smashTV only burned the bootstrap loader, or did he burn the SID app as well? It almost looks like you have a MidiBox64 loaded with no pots connected(random midi events).

    If you can't completely disconnect the SID board without cutting wires, I wouldn't test with one board stuffed with chips and the other not stuffed.

    You should definately be getting 5v at all the proper places on the SID board. This board gets its 5V from the core, so start there and work your way to the core checking voltages.

    What is the midi output with the SID board chips stuffed?

    Justin

  4. Here's a link to the GIF file of the core:

    http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_core.gif

    You have tried to de-solder the area right? If not go to radio-shack and buy one of their desoldering tools. They have two types - one looks like a small bulb. You squeeze it and then let the suction pick up the heated solder. The other is a long tube - you push down the top button, heat up the solder, hold the tube over it and push the button near the bottom. It will suck up a bunch of solder. You should be able to clean up your board like that. Just take your time, so you don't overheat anything. Another trick is to heat the solder, and then tap the board sharply against a piece of wood. The solder will then fly off.

    Good Luck!

    Justin

  5. You are on the right track. Unhook the LCD and see if you get the sysex messages from the bootstrap loader. You won't get anything on the LCD (other than blocks) until you load MIOS via sysex. Once you load MIOS, you will see a boot up screen and then READY . Other than that, double and triple check all your connections. Do you have the transistor in its proper orientation? Many people reverse that. Every problem I've ever had resulted from some poor connection or a dumb mistake on my part. You don't have to have the SID module hooked up to the core in order to test it. If you used easily disconectable cables, you might want to unhook it in order to cut down on what might be wrong.

    Good Luck....

    Justin

  6. No you cannot load a standard midi file. It is a pattern sequencer.

    From uCApps:

    Banksticks

    o MIDIbox SEQ stores only a single pattern when no BankStick is connected!

    o With a 32k BankStick (24LC256) you are able to store 128 patterns

    o An additional BankStick (24LC256) is required to store 16 songs

    o Optionally you can use a 64k BankStick (24LC512) to store 128 patterns and 16 songs in a single EEPROM. This is the solution which I'm using for my own MIDIbox.

    o Multiple BankSticks for more than 128 patterns and 16 songs are not supported yet, but planned.

    o Keep in mind that every song consists of 128 positions, which can be looped up to 16 times. By setting jump points you are able to split a single song into multiple parts!

    http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_seq_options.html

    Justin

  7. Meeska, I am curious why you want both pots and encoders? The midibox 64e is designed for encoders, so I believe you'd have to modify it if you want pots. In my opinion encoders are much better than pots - you don't have to worry about the different modes, since they won't reset your values when you switch to a different layer. What is the intended purpose of the midibox, what are you going to control?

    Justin

  8. I have doubt for the buttons. It seems that on the photos that they are pushbuttons that are on 0 state most of the time, and on 1 state when you push them. (which is kind of a keyboard)

    I think the MIOS need that kind of buttons. But other buttons could be real 2 state buttons (which stay on 1-State once pushed, and come back on 0-State while re-pushed). Could someone give me some advice about it, I couldn't find lot of documentation about the choice of those parts in the making of a

    The buttons should be Momentary Normally Open. You don't want the kind that latch down. These can also be had pretty cheap on Ebay.

    Good Luck, Justin

  9. Hey Peter,

    The MidiBox SEQ doesn't use LED rings. You are thinking of the MB63E. You only need one core, one DOUT and 3 DIN modules. The color of the LED's doesn't matter, only the power consumption. I don't know the formulas to compute what amperage you need, but you just need to make sure that your power supply is properly rated. Maybe someone else can help with this. Here is a link to a VFD post:

    http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=concepts;action=display;num=1075858113;start=7#7

    when you search the archive it defaults to only the last 7 days, so you need to change that to really search.

    There is a picture of a midibox SID with a VFD display seppoman got it running.

    Good luck on your project...

    Justin

  10. Hey Synth - the display is very simple and easy to use. As soon as you build a SID, you will see. The arrow on the right only means that there are more items to the right. The currently selected item is shown by blinking. If Osc is selected, then it will blink, if Wav is selected it will blink. Don't worry too much about the details. Build a SID module and you will be impressed.

    Good Luck, Justin

    P.S.  Thorsten, don't get too caught up answering the easy questions - there are plenty of forum members that can and will help you out!!!!

  11. Ok, I think I know what you mean: If you turn to the left, it turns a little, and the values go down - to the right, the values go up. If you let go it stops in the center and nothing changes. Is this right? If so, this is not supported automatically by MIOS. It could be done, you would hook each side to a digital input and then you would have to write code to respond to it. I don't think it would be too tough to do, but I don't know. Good Luck with your project.

    Justin

  12. If you base your new MidiBox on the new MidiBox64, or MidiBox64E, Thorsten recommends:

    How many Buttons should I use?

    At least 8 buttons for the menu navigation and for the 4 most important special functions (see MIDIbox64E Tutorial)

    http://www.ucapps.de/midibox64e_tutorial_en.html

    As far as the best LCD, that is pretty much up to you. I would recommend at least a 20x2 or perhaps a 24x2, but you can use any size with MIOS.

    I really don't understand your question about spring returns on encoders - do you mean that the knob goes back to the center when you let go? I haven't seen any like that. An encoder is basically an "endless" potentiometer. The detented ones have a "click" when you turn them. They are used on a lot of modern electronics, like new synths, vcr's, car stereos and the like. I recommend you use all encoders if you can afford them. The good thing about encoders is that when you change what they control, the value won't "jump" to the previous value.

    Justin

    What you might try, is to build a core and one DIN module - hook up your 16x2, some buttons and an encoder or two and try it out. That way you can decide if you want encoders or pots, and what size lcd you want.

  13. 32 modules each with 8 faders

    Do I understand this correctly - 256 faders? Thats a big job! Do you want motorfaders? If so, I would recommend you start small with an 8 channel midiBox and go from there. Have you checked out: http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_lc.html

    yet?

    Also for a supplier have you looked at: http://avi.dezines.com/mbhp/

    SmashTV runs it and has complete kits available. If you are in the states it is a great deal.

    Good Luck

    Justin

  14. Hey gotta question:

    I just got a Korg MicroKorg synth, and I want to write a JSynth Editor for it. There is a free software editor available for it already, but it doesn't let you modify patches in real time - you have to send the entire patch at once. I am having trouble finding some of the sysex info, so I would like to see what sysex commands the program is sending. I have tried MIDIOX, but the editor won't open if anything else is using the midi ports. Is there such a thing as a "transparent" software midi monitor - that can run and show the output of the program? Any help would be great.

    Thanks

    P.S. I don't have access to my midibox stuff, or I would whip up a midi-monitor

  15. Another tip, when I made my SID frontpanel - I used the layout that Thorsten made. Everything lined up perfect. You can cut and paste elements to get the design that you want. Then print it out. You can lay out your components on the vector board and then put your printout on top and see if evwerything is lined up.

    Justin

  16. I can't wait to make this project, unfortunately I have to because I am stuck in South Korea for a year without access to my electronic equipment. I do have a request if feasible. Is it possible to implement a few presets that could be applied to a specific track? For instance - increasing, decreasing, alternating, random. This would be good for effects and filters. Great job Thorsten  - you continue to amaze me with your dedication to these projects!

    Justin

×
×
  • Create New...