nebula

http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,10851.0.html

I have a box of broken Dell laptops. They may or may not have good displays, good RAM, good processors, keyboards, touch pads, IC's, plus whatever else. They are mostly latitudes with Pentium 2 366 MHz. I'll mail them to whoever wants to pay for shipping, or I'll give them to whoever wants to pick them up in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Tell me how many laptops you want. Sorry no picking / choosing. I'll post a picture shortly.

If you can find blue-on-black, green-on-black, or yellow-on-black, I would be interested in 2. If you're interested in colour combos like that, VFD is also a nice option (expensive though).

Thx Wilba, You're absolutely right, I would not try to use the PT-10 aluminum panel as my sole guide, although it could improve accuracy a bit if used behind the board. Unfortunately that's impractical too if you have a couple of tact switches / encoders in place on the board, because their leads will stick out the back of the board and cause the PT-10 panel to not sit flat. As I suggested and you reiterated, it would be far easier just to rework the PT-10 plastic housing's hole. So I will order my spacers at the end of the day, while I wait for my little science experiment to finish. Here's what I've done: I have a small scrap piece of unfinished aluminum, and two spare of each of the following: - small zinc pan-head screw - small brass standoff - small aluminum standoff So I have used a wire wheel to brush off any oxidization on a spot on the aluminum, I have mixed some JB-Weld and applied it to an unbrushed area and the brushed area on the aluminum. I set one of each metal fastener into the JB-Weld. While my conditions are not perfect, it will be interesting to see what holds and what doesn't.

Interesting ... it seems to me that this area is probably one where aspiring MB-6582 builders should take great care. Sticking those screws to the panel using the circuit board as a guide appears, by my eye, to leave a bit more room for error than it would if we instead used the aluminum panel sheet that shipped with the PT-10, in which the holes are slightly smaller, and more guaranteed to line up with the guides on the enclosure. Still, I will use the circuit board as a guide, and when I lay my panel into the enclosure for the first time I will absolutely be careful that no JB-welded screw comes into contact with any plastic. If it does, then I need to pull off the panel and enlarge the plastic guide hole a little bit, so that there is no permanent tension on the screw. Then the first nuts go on. Here is where we also can really take our time, because once on, that panel will never need to come off again! So stick a lockwasher ("spring washer") and a nut on there, and tighten just enough that the panel doesn't rattle, and you have flattened the lockwasher a little. Any more is overkill. Also, while doing this tightening, consider holding the screw shaft with a pair of needle-nosed pliers and a piece of cloth / paper towel / electrical tape, so that none of the rotational torque is transfered to the screw shaft while you tighten it. Of course I haven't actually done it yet so I could just be speaking out my ass. I'll try to provide pictures of my progress here.

Wilba / anyone with experience with this: I'm about to start putting together my front panel. I'm going to order the hardware from Digi-Key tomorrow, so I should have it all by Tuesday. I saw a page where Wilba said he has never had problems getting JB-Weld to adhere to any front panel, but on the "control surface construction guide" Wiki page I read the following: This appears out of sync with other statements made. So ... if I may share my plan: I have one of the panels from Altitude's bulk order. I plan to use a Dremel with a stainless steel brush on the back of the panel. I plan to brush for a few moments until the black is gone, then apply JB-Weld and attach the hardware. For the spacers I have a choice between aluminum and brass - any suggestions? BTW if, like me, anyone has trouble finding JB Weld, you need to look no further than eBay. I got mine there pretty cheaply.

Is that the current Firefox? I run Camino and love it

The real Bunsen Honeydew would never have said that.

<solder police> Remember kids: you should always apply a drop of flux, or add a little flux-cored solder to any solder joint you re-heat. </solder police>

I can definitely hear the difference, but I'm not so sure I have a preference. On the sawtooth, both units have their merits, and I would probably use either one. The second really just sounds a bit more overdriven to me. Since I have other means of achieving overdrive, I might prefer to have the cleaner sounding unit, because it's much easier to make something clean sound dirty than it is to make something dirty sound clean. On the square - I think I prefer the sound of the second. I'm not voting because I don't have a clue which is using the original component. But I'm curious to know the truth!

pm me with your mailing address and your email address so i can send you a paypal invoice.

I can send at least 6 in an $11 mailer. More if I get creative.

This probably varies between manufacturers. I have dwelled with a very hot iron for very long periods on surface-mount optocouplers and had no issue. On the other hand I've heard of a few MIDIboxers who blew up a 6N138.

The price looks excellent, but to me it appears that this display requires "negative contrast voltage" (you'll find info about that if your search this forum and the Wiki). This is not a problem if you are using a bipolar display. Otherwise, this characteristic can be a nuisance.

A while back I did a bulk order for Optrex 40x2 LCDs for a steal of a price. I bought more than we needed, I paid for transportation/currency exchange/wire transfers, and as a result I actually lost a a small bit of money in the process. I've since been selling them on eBay and privately to MIDIboxers, at a slight profit. Now I'm a few bucks ahead, and I still have about a dozen or so left to sell off. I was easily selling them for 10 bucks a crack on eBay, but when approached by MIDIbox crew I would always give offer a better deal: 1 Display: $ 8 2-3 Displays: $7 each. 4-5 Displays: $6 each. More: $5 each. U.S. shipping is $4.80 or $6.20 depending on where you live. Canadian shipping is 5 bucks, eh? Anywhere else is $11. I can do PayPal or I will accept a cheque/money order. LINK: drawing with pinout LINK: datasheet

Constructive criticism: would it not be a good idea to make a board that has 4 filters instead of 2? Then if a person decided they only needed 2 filters, they would only need to populate half the board. I'm still really excited and glad you're moving forward with this, but I would need to make 4 of these for my MB-6582, which would mean more redundant parts and more spaghetti. I suggest 4 filters because if you're controlling cutoff and resonance with control voltages, one AOUT_NG would drive 4 filters.

Oh sure, now you try to cover it up. How dumb do you think we are? Oops, sorry ... it's been more than 15 seconds since I've refreshed my inbox. Gotta run!

Prof I am in for one of everything!

Awesome! If you got a kit, that means I should get a kit by page 18! ;) (but if you meant something else by "I know what I'm doing tonight", I probably don't want to know)

Good call! Used Kawai Q-80's are inexpensive when you can find them. I'm not giving mine up until I die, though - it's just that good.

If you're considering making an 8-SID MIDIbox, I don't think this of all things should be stopping you. If you want to indicate the volume with a multicolor LED, just use an LM3915 IC (try searching google for "LM3915 VU meter") on the output of each SID. It costs about $2.50, so 8 of them would be about 20 bucks. Add it to the cost of a hand full of RGB LEDs and a few support parts, and you could do exactly what you are suggesting.

Looks awesome! What is "CV distributors"??

I got mine here: http://stores.ebay.com/Light-of-Victory-Led-Store-lvehk_W0QQ_trksidZp284Q2em158QQfrsrcZ1QQfsubZ14057638QQtZkm

Wow. Get over yourself. Nobody cares about you, whether you're a villain or a saint, an idiot or a genius. You don't need to defend yourself, because ... well ... nobody cares. There's a lot of really cool stuff happening in the MIDIbox world these days, and although you are welcome, we don't need you. I'm posting here because I would like you to understand my opinion of the DIY ethic: If you actually take the time to do something yourself, you can't help but contribute. You will ask questions that nobody has asked. You will notice design oversights that nobody has noticed. You will perhaps post pictures of your implementation, which will be a little different from everybody else's, and we will all learn from your mistakes and your great ideas. This is a collaborative community, where we all benefit from everybody else's experience. You want to offer nothing but money for MIDIbox, but nobody wants money for it. We want to make MIDIbox better, and your money does nothing to help that. The community wants your intellect and your insight. You seem like an intelligent guy, and I am going to join the masses here and say you really should try building. It's not as hard as you think. If you are technically-minded enough to wire up a computer and a MIDI studio, you can do this too. The collective insight of programmers, electronics people, musicians, designers, and tinkerers has made MIDIbox devices really great. Nobody has asked anybody for a dime, and changing this policy this would alter our entire dynamic - instead of being collaborators end-users would become "consumers", to whom the builders and designers would become accountable. So ... I'm curious about your take on this. Honestly, you're repeating yourself so much I'm beginning to wonder if you're trolling.

The host DAW software is completely responsible for what the Logic Control displays.