Jorge

DOUT wiring loom is finished, installed the memory bank EEPROMS, all eight of them and had the joy of seeing MIOS format every bank from A-H into 128 slots, populated all the DIN boards, two from Smash and one DINx1 I etched myself, next to do is mount them under the front panel and wire the encoders and switches. Nearly there... ;D Jorge......

Hi, took some pics of my altered LCD without flash and they now show a more realistic representation of what it's like. Still not hundred percent though, digital cameras ehh! Indoor lighting tends to distort colours, must try using the white balance settings next . Anyway hope this gives you a more realistic view of what is achievable with a bit of experimentation. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Close up. Whole view, a bit bleached out though. Jorge.....

Read every relevent page in the site and also print them off and read them on your way to work ,home ,school, etc. this was the first "digital" project I ever undertook, seemed daunting at first, took me 3 months to fully understand it, which had a unforseen benefit as TK improved the SID project,Serge produced his Sysex loader, Smash started selling PICs with the bootstrap already loaded, etc. 1 year 3 months later I've nearly finished my multi SID. Not particulary fast as I have to squeeze it in between work, my analogue modular project,wife and two kids aged 4.5 years and 23months respectively , house renovation also + playing guitar, recording , etc,etc,etc arrrrggghhh. Next the MBFM project , I'm a sucker for punishment, must be some kind of masochist thing.... :) Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jorge...... ;D

What parts do you want? I have used all sorts of places, mostly mail order but some times I just go to Maplins, they have shops in most major London areas but don't stock every thing your likely to need. Try searching online, Rapid electronics are good and fairly cheap, RS have every thing but can be expensive 'cause sometimes they have minimum quantities for some parts, Telepart are good for hard to find semiconductors, Farnell are similar to RS but their site is horrible unless you know the stock numbers, Maplin also have a website, Squires model and craft tools have a fairly good electronics section+ other materials and hardware, no website though, they'll send you a catologue and their mail order by phone is V. good, Cricklewood electronics is fairly good also, website is allways incomplete though, they have a shop in guess where? Cricklewood high St. Most of these places are outside of London but all have good mail order systems , usually next day delivery and free P+P if your order is over a certain value. Just do a Google or other favoured search engine remembering to flag UK sites only. Mind you all the LCD displays I've bought were from the States (www.eio.com). Hope this is some help, Jorge.......

Front panel is made from acylic sheet (perspex /plexi) laser cut from cad drawings, glued using solvents such as MEK, dichloromethane, chloroform etc. Sticks really well to ABS, styrene which is what I think the C64 case is made from. Knob patterns were cut on a 3D milling machine in a hard enginering wax ( the blue stuff), the moulds were cast in silicone RTV (room temp vulcanisation) rubber, the knobs were cast in fast cast resin (Hexcel etc polyurethane resin), the soft rubber outer surface of the knobs and the soft buttons were cast in the same rubber as the moulds with the addition of pigment to match as close as I could get to the colour of the C64 keys (trying to retain a retro look to the design), the coloured rubber was cast in a mould made from a pattern making material sometimes known as chemi wood, I forget the trade names for it at the moment, these were also cut on the same 3D milling set up as the other patterns. All the patterns and moulds are keyed together with the little hemisperes on each surface so two fit together to produce the knob base in resin, blue pattern + rubber mould then blue pattern that produced rubber mould is used with chemi wood pattern to produce soft rubber outer skin. Only really made easy because all the cad data is referenced off each other. Its what's called subtractive rapid prototyping. I'm lucky 'cause I have access to that kind of tech at work, I'm a pro modelmaker in another world when I'm not spending hours soldering ;D. All done using Microstation and a small Roland Modella 3D cad milling machine. They cost about £3000 so one day I may get one for home , the also can do 2D engraving. Oh yea the front panel and case was sprayed with as close a colour as I could find to the original C64 case then the lettering was laser engraved and filled in with paint then laquered. Laser cutters are also getting cheaper about £6000 for a desk top version so one day I may also get one of those as well.                      Thanks for your comments,                                        Jorge...... :)Â

As has been said many times in many posts, I couldn't have done it with out Tk's excellent work. Hope to post more pics soon. :) Jorge.....

Hi, as promised many posts ago here are some pics of my quad SID . The design is obviously based on Thorstens although I prefer the display at the top of the control surface. Every thing laid out. Rear view. Chips installed. Front panel in progress. Underside of front panel. Matrix rear. Start of wiring loom. Close up of DOUT. Ended up removing the powercaps on the cores as they wern't needed and laid all others flat to save space as it was becoming a bit of a squeeze. Note new power supply design as the old one had problems re. heat etc. Success. Designed my own soft touch knobs using 3D CAD. And buttons. Patterns and moulds for data knob. D shaft pattern for data knob. Whole rear view. Error on envelope section, should read "Depth" instead of "Delay". Things left to do? Lots although the end is in sight, DIN wiring loom, some how erase,fill,recolour the error on the envelope section, laser engrave "Depth" instead of "Delay" and fill letters with paint, stick soft buttons on, put knobs on, and have fun....... ;D                                    Jorge.....

Hi ma3a , Here's some Pics of my LCD display altered from green to orange as noted in my last posts. The orange isn't as strong in the pic as in reality, I used flash on the camera and this seems to go through the screen and bounce off the green backlight diminishing the effect. I'll post another without flash and try to capture the true effect some other time. Can just see the orange. How it's done. Jorge........ ;D

Try silicone sealent for bathrooms and the like seems to work for silicone to silicone but you may have to key the surface of other materials. Jorge.... :)

Hi , no green tinge and brightness isn't compromised in my example, I am using a seiko lcd display, havn't tried any other colour though. I don't see why it shouldn't work though. Also I don't know if heat is an issue but no problems as yet. Will post some pics soon, Iv'e a bucket load to sort out and put on a host site..... Jorge..... :)

Re. Orange back lit lcds, you can change the colour of green ones using thin .5mm fluorescent what is called live edge perspex / plexi, the stuff used in displays under uv lights. it comes in blue, green, red, orange, pink and can be found in art / hobby suppliers. I turned my green 2x20 lcd into an orange one to suit the theme of the multi sid I'm still building.... hope this is of some use. Jorge.....

hi, I found it very confusing at first so posted in the testing trouble shooting section of the forum http://69.56.171.55/~midibox/forum/index.php?topic=3943.0 http://69.56.171.55/~midibox/forum/index.php?topic=3960.0 I used Serge's sysex loader and found it a breeze to use, highly recommended.... Jorge......

Hi TK , thanks I'll try that Jorge

Hi all, a question regarding ugrades, I was uploading mios v1.8 to the master core module using Serges sysex loader realised I had to send the file within two seconds and did so, success it worked then loaded sid cs app v1.7a again success, sent the link sys ex string using midi ox to open the link to my slave modules then it occurred to me, do I have to load the new os during the two second boot up time to the slaves as well? the reason I ask is that If I have to switch off and switch on my sid I must lose the link, may be I'm wrong or don't I have to upgrade the os of the slaves? I've no way of knowing whether it's been successfull for the slaves as i havn't finished my control surface yet. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Jorge....

New file opens fine now..... Cheers Jorge.... :)

Strange as it seems TK I can't open that file in my version of microstation at home but I can at work even though I have V8.1, where as at work I have V8.1.? Must be a support thing re Autocad files.. Probably the best thing is to notify Klingen??? re the error.. as you mentioned. Don't know when I'll be able to sort it out as the laser cutter at work just died on us... to much reliance on technology is abad thing some times... As ever keep up the good work Jorge....

Hi TK , I meant this file, http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid_cs/mbsid_panel2.dwg I said it was a dxf file when its a dwg file. Your pdf wiring diagrams are spot on , no criticism intended..... Jorge

Oh oh ! Never noticed that one , My Sid cs envelope section legending reads "Delay, Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release" like the oscillator section. I based my layout on the Autocad dxf file version of TK's layout posted on the sid cs page... I'll have to somehow change it... anyway thanks for pointing that out... Cheers.... Jorge...

Hi I notice you have only two gates implemented, where as TK's notes and spec says ten are possible , how are the extra ones realised, is this something to do with the pins that are bridged on the board? Also how are the four buttons integrated with the LCD display, ie. where do they connect on the core board? Questions over, Iv'e built a few modules from various diy modular synth sites EFM being one of them, Tom Gamble's boards are very good , I built his diode ladder filter and it seriously rocks in in a four pole 24db/octave squelchy kind of way... Jorge......Â

Hi , thought I'd add some comments on this topic. I totally agree with the last post, It's all TKs work ,the concept, the coding, the design etc. To sell a midibox on ebay or any where else is to rip off TK. I'm in the process of building a midibox sid, I would never have managed this without TKs work, Smash's boards and the occasional help from this forum. My input? The layout of the control surface (based on TKs design) , choice of componants. Apart from all this no way would I ever contemplate selling such a unique Instrument. Why bother making one only to sell it? I'm no stranger to using a soldering iron and have built some modules from the various analogue synth diy forums etc and as has already been noted these designs are all 30 years or more old and have undergone subtle design changes and so are now in the public domain. That is why some people sell kits, publish schematics etc. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a dedicated "for sale" section in the forum where with TKs permission we could sell unwanted midiboxes (why one would be unwanted is beyond me).    Jorge..

I decided not to use the bank stick design and went for the 8 eeprom setup as an internal memory board. If i understood the design correctly that gives me 1056 internal patches, my old yamaha FX500 has only 30 user memory slots for patches which is very poor for a commercial product , even when it was produced.. Jorge... :)

You were right Thorsten, at the input of the V reg after the bridge rectifier I have a reading of 14.5V, before the bridge rectifier I have a reading of 10Vac. I'm using a 18VA transformer tapped to give two supposed 9V outputs at 1A. I can understand the slight difference in volts AC as a 9V regulator would be able to handle the 1Vac difference. The 14.5V reading is I assume because of a feedback loop in the signal path due to the mixing of 5Vdc with 9Vac, that is strange as I mentioned earlier the 10Vac output of the transformer especially as after the 9V V reg I have a steady output of 14Vdc. Oh well back to eagle and tweak the power supply board and separate the signal paths, I hope the feedback loop isn't anything to do with the transformer being a dual supply. I'm learning just as much trouble shooting as I am in constructing the Multi SID, it's all a good learning curve... Cheers Jorge.....

Hello again, it seems like I'm making 2 steps forwards then 1 step back at the moment. As far as I can tell everything is fine re. mios,sid app etc, I get all the correct data on the lcd screen on boot up eg. mios v1.7 copyright T. Klose then quick flash showing the sid app is loaded then the channel no. and sid number and default patch. How do I switch on the slaves without having the control surface so i can test them? I sent the sysx command to open the link and burnt mios and the sid app to the slaves. I'm assuming it all went well as Serge's loader sent and received comfirmation . Any way now I'm having trouble with my power supply , the voltage reg gets very hot to the point that the thermal overload protection cuts in and shuts every thing down. No problem with the 12v supply though. Without the lcd display attached the voltage reg stays hot but dosn't cut out. My power supply is a self built one based on the improved c64 design, eg dual 9v flat transformer rated at 1 amp output each, from that I derive the 5v output and a 14v output as in TK's improved design. the 5v reg has a small clip on heat sink would a larger one help? Also when I finish the control suface will that draw much current and so add to the problem? Any thoughts on including a small fan blowing over the V reg, would that impart noise in the audio signal? Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks Jorge......

Hi Thorsten and all other midiboxers, just thought I'd let you know that I burnt my first PIC with mios and loaded the SID 6581 cs app, played some notes with midiox and success ,heard the basic patch . Deep, deep joy... Hope this provides inspiration and motivation for all other midibox newbies. Serges sysx loader made it pretty idiot proof.... Can't thank you enough Thorsten and all other midibox veterens for help and inspiration along the way, either directly or from reading other threads..... Next job is to burn the slaves 1,2,3. Have to learn how to send the link sysx string first in midiox though... Then finish the control surface, can't wait tweak those sounds hands on..... Thanks Jorge ;D ;D ;D

Thanks Thorsten, as always it pays to read every page of the web site. I had looked at serge's sysx loader but over looked its id changing facility. Hopefully all will be well now. I'll keep you posted on progress. I think the problems I had with Perl possibly are to do with my set up of windows, has anybody else had problems re XP and Perl? I'll post some pictures of progress soon. Cheers...... Jorge ;D