smashtv

Yes! It's that way on both platforms. Some of the older Mac software I use for multitrack audio will not play a movie file made with some of the newest or high end codecs (like Sorenson MPEG), forcing a conversion to do audio editing for video. It's not usually an issue though, you need correct timing not video playback quality when doing that type of work. :) They are almost that rare here too, mine is a 1981 without T-tops and all black (no screaming chicken on the hood). It took me forever to find a black TransAm that did not look like the Smokey and the Bandit cars. :) Have fun! Smash

Heya Steven_C! Windows media player and it's associated files will cause Quicktime not to work properly on a PC. This is part of the big M$ lawsuits happening now in the US and other parts of the world. Send me a private email about this with more info on the setup(s), Logic version, OS versions, codecs used, etc. and I'll send you some test files to try made with different codecs. (After the weekend though, I have a full weekend of patch snake building and bodywork on the Trans Am ahead of me) :) We'll get you fixed up! Smash

Heya D2! I guess I'll speak up here, since I have probably handled more 18F's than anyone around here.... ;) I do know that quality control on the 18F's is a bit lacking, I have had 5 or so that were bad out of the tube (out of 100+ that I have handled) and each batch seems to have it's own personality. Some will program without issues on a stock JDM, some need the extra 10k resistor on the JDM, and some require that they be erased before they will program. They are extremely sensitive to static when handling only the bare chip, and for some reason seem to be more so before they are programmed. (that might just be coincidence, not sure yet) That said, I put the static wrist strap on and keep it on, from the time I pull the tube, through programming, until I seal it in it's short tube and anti-stat bag. Luckily the vendor I am using for the 18f's now is pulling from a stock of 3000+ 18f's that they have on hand, so I don't have to figure out the "attitude" of each batch as they come in. :) Have fun! SmashTV

Heya Flecko! .1MFD filter/bypass caps as close to the chip(s) as possible. This works best when you use a filter capacitor on every IC. Have you tried using pull-up resistors on the input/output/latch of the 373? Just some random thoughts. ;) Have fun! SmashTV

Heya Lall! Usually when Eagle complains about "not possible in the Light version" you are trying to place a component outside of the maximum board size limit. Try moving just one component out until it gives you the error to see where your limit is. It's not always the white bounding box that Eagle shows you on a new file. Have fun! SmashTV

You make a great argument Duggle! I have to think about this a bit. I'll run some numbers and check my finances. (we are talking about $1000USD+ to properly stock these parts!) Also I absolutely will not consider it without Thorsten's blessing. Lots to think about! :) Have fun! SmashTV

Yes. You must keep in mind though that my sale of midibox related things is not profit motivated, and as a result it is hard to justify tying up large amounts of cash in parts so they can sit and wait to sell. My attitude towards selecting parts to stock is "Can I beat or match the price the builder can buy it directly for?". On the parts in this list I can't, unless I'm willing to tie up thousands of dollars in bulk buys. Comments are welcome! SmashTV

Kellycam is the best when it comes to CNC software. It will do the needed file conversions for drilling circuit boards and it makes a better than average G-Code interpreter/machine controller. I have to suggest that anyone thinking of building a CNC consider buying a manual milling machine and convert it with stepper motor or servo motor drive. You can make your own machine with normal tools, but the accuracy and repeatability will be hard to maintain. A cheap machine that can be converted to CNC is the common Asian made mini-mill http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/Main/mini-mill.htm If you are only doing small pieces (work that can be moved in the vise to finish the job) and circuit boards this mill: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47158 would be a great candidate to convert to CNC. Also remember that most milling machines have a much smaller cutting capacity than their large cousins, so if you are working with metal you will need to do the job with a lot of small cuts that take a very small amount of material away with each pass, otherwise you will bog the machine down and your accuracy will suffer badly. A high speed spindle is required for PCB work (16,000 rpm+) but you must use a much lower speed for metal work. A decent Dremel tool will work for smaller runs of circuit boards, but will be almost useless with aluminum. I would suggest than anyone interested in cutting metal with a CNC find a local school that teaches machining or a machine shop that will let you take a look at a job in progress, this will clue you in on the cut speeds, required side forces on your cutting tools, and other things that don't really come with book knowledge. Also see http://www.sherline.com/ and http://www.taigtools.com/ for both manual and "CNC ready" mills. Before you start on a DIY CNC keep in mind that to have decent accuracy without constant maintenance, a pre built mill will serve you well. But if you are wanting a DIY project with a lot of metalwork and/or woodwork, that will take most weeks or months to complete, and a huge learning curve (unless you are a machinist!) build your own like I did. 8) The electronics/controller part of the machine is the easy part, there are stepper controller chips (ULN5804 is the best) that are easy to implement for driving your motors. Add some transistors and a large power supply and you can drive some extremely high torque motors. Servo motors (higher accuracy) can be used in place of steppers to move things around, but the cost of the motors and control will be at least double the cost of steppers. Remember that you don't need a machine with 19 inches of travel to cut a 19 inch panel, you can design the job as two separate jobs and move the workpiece+re-align to cut the second half. All of these thoughts are my own observations, they come from real world experience and not from theory. Have fun! SmashTV

Ok, Here is one of those "quirks" of Eagle! There is a ground plane on the board, but to see it when you open the board, you must click the ratsnest button. It's the button with the "X" looking symbol in it, near the lower part of the left side toolbar. For some reason eagle does not render the ground plane/flood areas when you first open a board layout. The images below show the difference between the USB board with and without the ground plane, and you can click the associated link for a larger view: http://mbhp.coinoptech.com/eaglehelp/USB1.gif Below is an image of the board after clicking the ratsnest feature, notice that the pins of the eeprom are connected correctly: http://mbhp.coinoptech.com/eaglehelp/USB2.gif Ground planes are designed into most of the midibox layouts, whether original or the newer ones I have done. It's a testament to Thorsten's design skill that the modules will work with no ground plane, but in situations like this where the ground is an integral part of the design, it has to be there. This issue is likely a problem for a lot of people, and obviously most who have built the USB module, so it should probably be in the FAQ. FAQMARKER Peace SmashTV

Heya 123! Take a look at http://www.pmb.co.nz/ They have a 40x2 line text display with LED backlight and the correct controller for $20NZ (around $12US), and they ship relatively cheap. I have a few on the way to me now. ;) Another great source is http://www.crystalfontz.com, they have a comprehensive line of LCD's (most with a high drool factor!) And for others who have not checked the Crystalfontz site in a few weeks, check out their new PLED backlit modules, they look like a VFD display for a lot less cost. http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/index-pled.html These actually throw light like a VFD! In my travels I have found that EL backlights are more of a pain to work with, they fade in brightness over time (unless a proper EL driver is used) and are more subject to problems with temperature. Your mileage may vary though. 8) Have fun! SmashTV

My bad, I have been using an 02R96 at one of the local post houses for some TV work lately, and it has touch sensitive faders. Have fun! SmashTV

Hey all! Just for the record, don't confuse Alltronics with All Electronics. All Electronics has always been one of the most reliable surplus dealers I have ever dealt with, while my experience with Alltronics is the same as Rowans (in other words, a total waste of time to try to deal with them). Alltronics http://www.alltronics.com has the very small quantity of the alps motor faders that are $4.95US, and All Electronics http://www.allelectronics.com has the panasonics for $7.00US. The panasonic motor faders *may* have been used in the O2R, but I'm pretty sure the 02R has touch sensitive faders (the panasonic faders all electronics has are not!) Have fun! :) SmashTV

Heya Da5id!I'm assuming that it's the BC547 transistor that's backordered, if so get your order number in hand, call or email Mouser sales, and ask them to change the backordered part from 625-BC547A to 512-BC547A. No reason to wait if they are available from a different manufacturer! ;) I'm not sure on that one yet, I'm still getting used to getting used to sorting the kits, give me some time.;) I'll put that in on the next update! :) Have fun! SmashTV

Whoops! Thanks Justin. Uppercase/lowercase isnt an issue when building html on my machine, but it is an issue on the web server! (I had .jpg instead of .JPG) :) The pictures are not that great anyway, they are very blurry due to my non-zooming digicam. But they do open correctly on the site now. Have fun! SmashTV

Hey all! Just a note to let everyone know that full parts kits are available now for the CORE, AIN, DIN, DOUT, and JDM modules. I have also changed my shipping setup so that it's cheaper for most (the postal service is giving me better rates now due to changes in packing). Check it out at http://mbhp.coinoptech.com. Have fun! SmashTV

heya Nomical!You might want to make sure it has the "V2" firmware in it, if not have your friend email redsound to get the update rom. It greatly improved what was already the best beat detector out there. Also note that there are jumpers inside to select the audio level that the box works at, it will work if they are set wrong but not as well as if they are set for the turntables/cd players he is using. I have never had mine go out of sync, even after hours of constant mix fed to it by the DJ's. Have fun! Smash

Heya Stryd!I have a voyager! I love it completely, it's one of the coolest boxes I have ever seen. I was extremely sceptical about how well it would work (most beat counters out there are pure crap) but the voyager works well enough that you don't even have to think about it. It grabs the beat quick and lights up to know when it's locked. It will accurately generate clock on everything from a slow ballad to drum-n-bass. It's expensive because there is actually DSP in there, and what seems to be a huge amount of R&D behind their detection firmware. For those interested I use it on the lighting control the same way as the SMPTE box to generate time code, so the lighting changes only happen in perfect time with the music. Anyway, think parametric eq-so you can pick the frequency of the beat you want to trigger on, AGC-so the level will be constant, then drive a 3915 with the selected signal and trigger into MIOS from your choice of the LED outputs via a transistor. It's the best way without diving into DSP, and it should keep things simple-easy to DIY. Have fun! SmashTV

Heya Da5id! You should be alright, you might have to bend some capacitor leads a bit but everything should fit without much effort. The warning about part fit on my site is mainly for the benefit of those new to electronics, who might feel a little unsure about bending things. ;) Have fun! SmashTV

hmmm.... Chat is working for me. You might make sure that the chat server's address is in your firewall's ignore list, They automatically check for some open ports before they allow you to connect. See ya there! Smash

That's an EL backlight. The white side is probably the light up side, and you do need a convertor to drive it. Have fun! Smash

I know this isn't quite what you are looking for, but I have used discs burned with SMPTE timecode on one track to clock a sequence on the lighting controller, with stellar results. If you are interested in working it this way take a look at the midiman syncman devices, I bought one on ebay for less than $20. It will "stripe the tape" with smpte, then when you play that smpte back through it you get a midi clock (MTC) out of it. I first tried this as a way to write lighting sequences in advance for some songs that the dj's using my system were playing, and quickly realized that the SMPTE is robust enough to survive +/- 12 pitch shift that the dj's use to beatmix with while still outputting valid timecode that the lighting control could follow. That's just the way I tackled what you are trying to do, not a perfect solution but one that I could work with. ;) Have fun! SmashTV

Thanks D! I'm working on another design right now using Pilo's ADC connected to the Alesis optogen chip, Line drivers and cat5 network cable in place of the optos and fiber optic cable, and several optorec chips/DACs to decode the signal back into 8ch analog and fed to small mixer(s). All of this is to try to build the perfect stage monitor system for live performance, 8 channels of analog audio from the main console converted into one cheap cat5 cable, feeding mic stand-mounted decoder/mixers, so that the performers can set the mix and the levels of their in-ear monitors or floor wedge monitors. I'll need to daisy chain the digital cat5 feed to each small mixer on the stage. The benefits here would be no multicore cable to deal with while giving each performer the monitor mix they want (A monitor mix that everyone in the band is happy with is the holy grail for every live sound engineer!) There is a commercial rig that does this, the hearback system at http://www.heartechnologies.com/hb/hearbackintro.htm It sells for around $1k street price in the US (well worth every penny) but I would love to build one with the features on the mixer that I want, Like a dedicated talkback and avanced limiting. As soon as the Alesis-semi site comes back up I'll try to get my hands on some chips to play with...... ;) Ideas? comments? suggestions? I can use all the help I can get on this one...... :) Have fun! SmashTV

Whew! Double sided boards are very hard for me to fabricate, hopefully in the near future I can finish the laser alignment rig for the CNC and make them a bit easier to do. If the component side is rather simple it (mostly ground plane) it will make it much easier. I can't do through hole plating either (after the silkscreen equipment and etch tanks I didnt want to push it with my wife by adding an electrochemical process! ;) ) Have you thought about scaling the concept back to 8x8? or even 4x4 (I bet the quad sid guys would love to use a 4x4 on their audio i/o). Sounds great, keep us informed of your progress, and let me know if I can help in any way! Smash

Heya Rowan! I don't know if you make your own PCB's or not, if not when you have a design that you think is ready to build let me know and I'll make up a set on my dime and send them out to you. This offer applies to anyone working on extensions to the midibox project, or usefull DIY stuff that will benefit this community. Even if you have a design as a schematic and have yet to route it as a PCB, let me know. I'll help. So let the designs fly, and don't let the thought of making prototype boards slow you down. ;D Have fun! SmashTV

<soapbox> As I have said before, the Midibox is a great learning experience for anyone interested in electronics. Don't deprive your friend of the opportunity to learn to like soldering, especially with a project that keeps you interested as well as this one. It's clear that there are loopholes in the license that covers the midibox project that will allow people to make cash from it, and people will do so. It's also clear that Thorsten's intent with releasing everything midibox for free is an attempt to get people to do it themselves and learn in the process, not to say "look what I can do" or to empower everyone who can solder and order parts from a list to make some spending cash. Others might feel differently than me, but my take on the whole thing is that the only people who should have a midibox are the people who built it themselves. DIY is the word of the day here, every day. Maybe your friend would be happy with a Sidstation or even a SID emulator instead? It's a great support community here, but that will quickly come to an end when the questions start coming from people who havent even heated up an iron start asking for help. And before the thought crosses anyones mind about me saying this AND selling boards, remember that I don't make PCB's for money (otherwise they would be expensive enough for me to make a profit), and it's worth it to me to know how many marriages were not ended by people having to use ferric chloride and some other nasty chemicals to make the boards in thier homes. : ) I don't intend to offend anyone with my thoughts on this, and it should be read with the idea that I will say the same thing to anyone who asks this question, or has this thought about selling a built box. &lt;/soapbox> Peace and have fun! SmashTV