SexyBeast

Hi Thorsten, had little time the past days, so my answer is somewhat delayed - sorry for that. I tested the burner with two 16F877s and your midibox16e and midibox_mf firmwares - no issues! I burned it with 13.1V and the usual (means: as above) setup. I did not play with the "automatische Speedregelung". Perhaps it is a 16F877A specific problem I had? regards, Tom

Hi, I'm sorry to say that the test burn of the 16F877A at 13.1V showed the same problem as I described before. This does not seem to be the problem... :-\ (I tried it with two PICs of that type under the same conditions as last time) regards, Tom

Hi Thorsten, no, I didn't ! And if it really has to be burned with 13.1V then there is an error on your "PIC Burner" page! Quote: Adjust the programming voltage with pot P1 and measure it at J2: 12.5V for a PIC18F or PIC16F...A device 13.1V for a PIC16F... device So I only buned with 12.5V, because TK is always right, of course!! ;) But I will try it again in the next days. Anyway, I'm glad that this probably is the problem, for I'm very impressed by the work the new burner has done so far (apart from the one faulty 16F877A burn)..... regards, Tom

Hello, I have burned a PIC 16F877A and had to try it 3 times. I got an eeprom writing error twice. I used PBrenner35U and the 12.5V supply and I burned Admir's edrum16_v1_4_0.hex file. I don't think this is a major issue. Maybe it's a problem of my PCB because I use 74LS14 instead of the (newer) HC type. I will try this as soon I get two of these in my hands...  ;) regards, tom

Hi all, first of all: sorry for the delay; I thought I'd be ready monday night, but I was missing some parts and could not get them until today. Secondly, the changes I had to perform on the case of my old burner to fit in the new board were quite demanding... ;) But yes!, it is done! I have built the new burner, and it's working perfectly as far as I can tell now. I have tried 18F452 and 18F4550 PICs, and they're both recognized by the P18 software. Then I burned the bootstrap loader into one 18F452 and it worked perfectly (have done no other tests so far but will do tomorrow) I've added the resistor between D2/R3 and GND (like Thorsten said) and I used 74LS14s (no issues). For the transistor I used a BC547. I are some minor things (concerning beauty, not function ;D ) I wish to change on my PCB layout, and that's what I'm doing at the moment. To say it in a few words: I recommend the new burner to you! regards, Tom P.S.: Man, I'd love to post one or two photos of my new burner here but I have no webspace... :'(

Hi Thorsten, I've made a PCB from your schematic. I have just etched it and will try it tonight. I have made some minor changes to suit my needs: 1. I wanted the new burner to fit in my old burner's case. 2. The burners PIC-socket is on a different board (which makes it easier to mount in my case). 3. I added a switch and another trimpot to be able to switch between the voltages for 16F and 18F PICs. With the switch I added another LED to show which voltage is provided. 4. I omitted the rectifier and put in just one diode (for safety) because I will reuse my old burner's DC-source. If you're interested I can send you photos and the Eagle files, though it might be better to test it first... ;) regards, tom

Hello Thorsten! Now this is nice! I ask you a question and instead of an answer I get a release!! ;D Thanks a lot! I will give it a try and build one, but I have one question: I have 74LS14 ICs here. I know they belong to the somewhat older logic family, but they should work here, don't you think? regards, tom

Hi, I've got a problem with my new opl3 module. In fact it works, but I get a strange, distorted sound (sounds as if the gain was too high). I got only one YAC512 stuffed, and both channels sound the same. I checked and double checked for short circuits - nothing found. I changed the TL074 chips - no effect. What can I do? Any hints welcome. regards, tom

Hi Thorsten, will the new burner be capable of burning PIC16F877AÂ types? I just ruined my old burner by trying it with a 877A.... regards, tom

Hi, I was just soldering my opl3 board when I noticed that there are differences between the different files (the eagle board file, the schematic pdf file and the orderlist). The board file uses 68nF caps, but the schematic and the orderlist say 68pF and 2.7nF. What are the correct values? regards, tom

Hi, Don't know if this here helps: I got the new CONRAD catalogue last week (the 'business' edition) and I saw that they have alps motorfaders now. They have a 10k and a 5k type (both linear) called RSAON11M9 and RS60N11M9. They cost 19.79 Euro (10k) and 17.20 Euro (5k). If you take 10 or more you get 1 or 2 Euro off per piece. I don't knof if it's a good price; probably not (as fas as I know Conrad ;-) ). Could someone tell me what's a good price, please? The also have motorized pots now with 10k or 100k lin or log. (also one in 10k log stereo) The cheapest is 9.44 Euro. regards, SexyBeast

Hi, yeah I got a question though it may be different from what you expected to be asked... ;-) The Laztertran stuff sounds very interesting to me and I'd love to try it, but seemingly they are not shipping to europe (only UK). What can be done about it? Is there anybody in the UK (or somewhere they ship to) who would serve as a kind of "relay station", ordering stuff for me and sending it to germany? Perhaps if more people are interested we could do some kind of joint order? Hasn't this be done with encoders some month ago? regards, tom

Hi Raphael, sorry, I didn't want to offend you either and I'm sorry if I gave you the impression of feeling offended. I know that many strange questions are asked in this forum and in fact I do very much appreciate you giving a detailed answer though you might think it's a funny question. This is one of the best characteristics of this forum; people are very friendly here. I've seen a lot of places where people try to impress each other by their smattering and where they're defending their opinions in a rude tone. bye and regards, tom

Hi! Yes, Thorsten, that would be the best way indeed. Hope I didn't annoy you by my critics... no offense intended! :-[ regards, tom

Thank you Raphael, thats all I needed to know! :) regards, tom

Hi, thank you very much for your replies. By 'performance' I meant 'performance of the encoders', not the core or something else. I had something in mind about 'resolution' but it wasn't quite clear. I know that different encoders can not alter "MIDI resolution" in any way. (Why should anyone believe that?) In any case I will order encoders from voti now, the price is unbeatable... ;-) regards, tom

Hi, the Midibox Wiki suggests using encoders from voti, though they are detended. I always thought that only non-detended encoders should be used for best performance. What's the truth? regards, tom

Hi, I read somewhere that you can also use the 24LC512 EEPROM chip for your banksticks, though it's not supported by any application at the moment. What does this exactly mean? If I used one, would it just work like a 24LC256 or would it not work at all? Because, if it worked and will be fully supported some time in the future, it would be wise to get samples of the 24LC512 from Microchip instead of the smaller ones.... ;D Has anyone tried it? regards, tom

Hi, thank you all, now I've solved the problem. My mistake, of course: Thing is I used Serge's Sysexbox to upload MÃOS and stuff and when I uploaded MIOS I didn'd do it quick enough after rebooting the PIC. But it's also because of the documentation. On the page documenting Sysexbox it is said: "In difference to MIDI-Ox, you don't have to take care for timings, but only..." Obviously you can't take that literally and I think it should be changed. (I seem to bee the only fool having this problem, though... ;) ) regards, tom

You mean like when I connect a USB stick to Windows XP? ;) No, I don't get any sound. Does that mean the EEPROM is broken? regards, SB

Hi, finally I got my SID running with a (for the first tests) step A control unit. For now I got one core and one sid and a bankstick connected. I have modified the core for MIOS 1.7 usage and have uploaded mios 1.7 and setup_6581_with_cs.syx. (BTW: why do I get a 'MIOS 1.5b' message?) I installed Jsynthlib and tried to send the example patches. But only one patch will be stored. When I send one patch it will be stored to all patches of the SID. When I send the whole library the SID counts up the patch numbers but won't store the patches. While sending I get switching noises from the SID. The Bankstick EEPROM seems to be connected correctly. Any guesses welcome! regards, SB

Hi all, I know there are some projects out there about building a PC-based oscilloscope but I could not find one so far that fully satisfied me. So I wonder if someone in this forum had a hint for me... regards, tom

Hi, thank you, SmashTV!! regards, tom

Hi, I need some help in using the Eagle PCB layout software. Actually I've learned the basics of creating PCBs but I need information about some details and can't seem to find it on the net. I know there's a helpfile from cadsoft.de, but it didn't help. How do I create bridges? While using the autorouter you often have a signal that won't fit in your design and you need a bridge, but how do I do it? hints welcome! thank you regards, tom

Hi, regarding the 'shaky' voltages from the infrared sensor: you could put a small capacitor in parallel, this would surely suppress too quick changes in voltage. But I really can't tell you which capacity to use - you'll have to experiment... regards, tom