Rowan

Hi Alex, Those encoders for Farnell will work fine, I've used PIHER encoders on a MBLC and they worked a treat. Farnell isn't the cheapest of places to buy. SmashTV's web shop sells encoders with switches at $1.25 US each. If you are going to buy a large number of encoders it will cost you alot less to buy them from smash and pay the shipping (which is very reasonable) for the US. http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/info.html Check his site, lots of very useful midibox stuff Rowan

Davo, Have you tried these joy sticks? They seem like a good buy. Anyone in the UK interested in going halves in a lot? At around £0.50 per joy stick..........sounds good to me! Rowan

Hi, The easy answer to your question is yes. If you use MIOS (which implies an 18F PIC) rather than old 16F firmware. Your idea of layering some controls and having other static controls can be provided by using banksticks to store the MIDI mapping of your MB. Use the MB64e and customise it to you needs. It is the big brother of the MB Plus

There is a time lag of at least 2 second on power up due to MIOS issuing an Upload request. So as it stands this is a non-starter because MIOS will wait for 2 seconds before the application is loaded. If you don't mind keeping you foot on the switch for more than 2 seconds every time you want to send a MIDI message, it should work...........but I'm sure you don't ;) As lond as you avoid using a LCD in your MB the Current draw will be rather small, therefore your batteries will no be eaten to fast. I don't know the exact number of mA that the Core will draw with out anything else connected, but I would guess it is less than 100mA.

Some buttons that may make someone happy..........the price is right http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Illuminated-Push-Button-Switch-X-10_W0QQitemZ7623903070QQcategoryZ58169QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I've found his (?) website so he may have more than the single lot. http://www.mikay.co.uk/mainframe.htm Chech the Miscellaneous section.

When I close the program with the "Exit" command in the applet menu it saves the state. When I close the program with the "Quit" from the finder menu it doen't save the window position.

Hi, audiocommander: I've started messing around with the Xcode template that you sent me, and I have some questions. When I build the project without any modifications I get two files in the m5_controlStation folder: Script-1374BB82096603050096D7CD.sh #!/bin/sh # shell script goes here PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH cd $SRCROOT make exit 0 And: m5_controlStation.dep 0000000044798a3700000000000012f0 10017f5b20c00b6cebecacba9e2bfb09 ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff 0 /m5.syx Is the contents of the m5_controlStation.dep the SysEx file that I upload? I don't have a core here yet to try uploading with. Rowan

hi, as stryde has said, you need to know if your display conform to the 44780 standard. Almost all Charcter LCD's do, and most VFD's do as well. BUT be warned, some VFD's use a unique set of data instructions that MIOS will not correctly respond to. What is printed on the circuit board? That should tell you what the part number of the modual is...... Google it from there ;)

Looking good! How did the test with the prototype go?

Hi, Does anyone know of a source of large pad board in the UK or Europe? I need 8 sheets of 220mm x 100mm FR4 (epoxy glass) pad board at a resonable price. RS sell this stuff: http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/rswww/subRangeAction.do?catoid=-1600757208&cacheID=uknetscape but it's FR2 (SRBP) not FR4 (Epoxy glass). The price is good but I would prefer the added strength of FR4 Any Ideas? Regards Rowan

nalipali (UK) - Has lots of PCB stuff including PCB tinning powder ems-chloe (UK) - IDC's and rainbow ribbon cable cryptiensis2004 (UK) - Really cheap (£4) 128 x 64 KS108 graphic displays Enjoy!

Bingo!!! http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Nalipali-shop Look for PCB Immersion Tin Plating Powder

........Dual ganged pots in parallel ;) Rowan

Nice one! This looks like a really cool option for a panel graphic. Let me know about the progress of this as I will consider it for my panel. Rowan

Stryd, Go to your local Jaycar store and ask for a can of PCB Lacquer. Jaycar sold it in NZ so they are bound to have it in OZ Rowan

Wow! From the Demo video Fjiuu looks amazing! The source code is online too. If it could respond to MIDI it would be a great tool for VJing. Imaging that and Quartz Composer running side by side ;D Rowan

The buttons are the original ones that came with the control surface, same with the faders and jog wheel. I had to desolder them all from the PCB then make new PCB's............it took ages to do! I didn't have much of a life for a while because of it. Like I said if you can find a second hand control surface it's a good starting point for a MB. Rowan

I retrofited an Orban DSE7000 Which you can see here http://www.avishowtech.com/midibox/modules.php?set_albumName=Rowan&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php I was alot of work and I had to make pcb's as the holes were already cut in the panel. But It was worth it. unfortunately it's sitting in my parents garage gathering dust on the otherside of the world :( If you can find one the has all the right type of buttons (mometary) and faders (10k lin) it can save ALOT of money Rowan

This isn't really a question, just an Idea. After going to the local green grocer yesterday and seeing there till/scales, I thought that the keyboards that are used on POS systems would be perfect for large array of buttons on a MB. Most of them have clear plastic caps which can be removed to put labels underneath. So I set about look on ebay for a secondhand one to experiment with. I chose this one: From my research it seems that it will connect to a standard AT (5 pin DIN) connector. By the looks of the keyboard I should easly be able to remove the metal enclosure that houses the Keyboard it self and mount that on a panel with a few screws. I'm want to use this in a rackmount unit with the trackball I got off ebay......this is all working towards an intergrated MB/PC (I'de love to use a Mac Mini) for Gigging. Regards Rowan

Hum? Maybe I should wait for the panel. You say a few months.....do you think 3 month or more like 6? I would prefer a silkscreened panel. Rowan

And 10 points goes to..............Therezin ;) Congratulations, you have won absolutely nothing aside for being first ;) All I have to do now is redo the fix up a few details like mounting screw holes, order some boards from Smash, and the panel............and wait till pay day. I have two options for the panel graphic, a) Lazertran, b) Silkscreening a) will cost less but I am unsure of the durability b) will cost more but will last better Here is a mock up of the color scheme Rowan

Brendon, is that you ;D sorry i don't have time to anserw your questions...........running late for work. Rowan

Photo etch boards still need chemical to dissolve the copper.............catch 22 ;) the first time I made boards like this I to was living with a rather irritable woman, get yourself a cheap plastic tray and use that to etch the boards in. But make sure that you dispose to the etching solution well, it leaves a nasty blue stain.

Your iron on transfer may work, it will depend on weather it is chemical resistant or not. The glossy paper and toner is tried and tested.....trust me it works better than you could believe, you just have to be a little careful. If you mess up, it won't cost the earth

Do you meen "press 'n' peel"? The method I mentioned above is dead simple and dirt cheap. There is a link somewhere on the forum with a detailed tutorial about how to do it Rowan