Wilba

You don't know how hard I tried to buy SID chips before killing a Commodore 64. And now I've gone to extreme lengths to obtain new-old-stock 6582 SIDs and sell them so people don't kill any more C64s, especially just to populate an 8xSID PCB. Sorry, I just don't want to be seen as the cause of more C64 killings... I've restored the karmic balance as much as possible. ;D

Excellent work, yet again. I challenge you to make the mechanical counter show the patch number!

I have just got an email that PCBs have been shipped from the factory. I will be preparing parcels next week and find out how much postage will be.

I am closing the sale of the spare PCBs for now. This is to simplify my management and to make sure that people on the list for spares have some relative certainty that they are getting a PCB and can join in bulk orders. If you have not ordered PCBs yet then please wait until I post here that I am accepting orders again. There is a 99% chance that I will arrange another batch of PCBs and sell them here again. The responsibility is on you to watch for new posts on this thread.

I am closing the SID sale for now. This does not mean people on the list already will miss out completely. If you have not ordered SIDs yet then please wait until I post here that I am accepting orders again. There is a 99% chance that I will arrange another batch of SIDs and sell them here again. The responsibility is on you to watch for new posts on this thread. If you have already emailed me about SIDs, you are on the list. You haven't missed out on SIDs this time. Basically I am not waiting the full two weeks to collect orders like I said initially because: a) I am already quite busy with the MB-6582 PCB order b) I already have a good number and fair distribution of noobs and gurus on the order list c) I have secured enough SIDs to please everyone on the list now, giving everyone almost all the SIDs they ordered. d) Most people check their email often enough to have already heard about this sale and replied. If you waited to email me until you counted your pennies, then bad luck. These are new-old-stock 6582 SIDs. You should have ordered first and then sold your grandmother. e) I totally forgot about the importance of buying 8 from one batch, as that's a big deal for some people, or at least a really nice thing to provide to someone spending $200 on SIDs. f) people ordering 6582 chips would prefer (as would I) that all the chips they want get shipped with the PCBs I'm shipping soon. If people are ordering more than 2, they would prefer that all were of the same batch. People ordering eight and I assume fully stocking their MB-6582 with eight 6582 ;D deserve to get all eight from one batch, and not get 2 or 4 with the PCB and then wait maybe four weeks and get another 4 or 6 which are of a different batch, pay for shipping again, etc. Please note I'm not biasing towards people buying more SIDs, I still allocate the same way and they will run out with some people not getting all the SIDs they want. So... I stop the orders now, and modify the allocation to 4 per person as I go down the list. That's more optimal for everyone, especially people buying MB-6582 PCBs (which most of you are anyway). The people on the list now will be more happy (on average) than people on a future list. People not on the list now won't be happy, but they can wait until I get another batch. And I stay sane because I'm not collecting orders and updating a spreadsheet all day and can pack nearly all of the SIDs in with PCB orders, save you guys cash, etc.

My post wasn't in response to yours, huck... ;D

Far too small and not red. More like this: PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. HE WILL NOT BE SCOURING THIS THREAD FOR "I'M INS" ;D and then another whack from the guru: Anyone giving attitude to Altitude will have their PCB payment refunded and their PCBs cremated in a traditional Viking burial ceremony, with a YouTube video for everyone's amusement.

These are PLED displays, they are being discontinued by all the manufacturers. You would be lucky to get one, as they are far nicer than an LCD, but may not have the same lifetime. It should work fine for MIOS and MB-SID (I use one on my MB-6582) but you may have problems using it in 4-bit mode (like mine) even though the datasheet says it will work in 4-bit mode. There's a solution for that, just use it in 8-bit mode (see MIDIbox SID V2 - Known Issues and Troubleshooting Tips)

Don't even think about asking me for a connector like that. ;D

Don't rush just for me! All these displays are identical in size, and if I really needed one for finalizing the panel, I would have bought one on eBay already.... ;D Now you make me feel bad that I make all of you pay twice! ;D

OK more "noobs" emailed thinking they won't get any SIDs because they have low "ranking". That's not the point of the system. Ranking is just a way of sorting the list. Everyone gets 2 SIDs each time I go down the list. And since most of you are ordering 2 or 4 SIDs, there should be plenty left over to sell 8 to the few who want 8.

hehehe yes... Maybe Altitude is quite happy to turn this into a "Bulk order of Crystalfontz LCDs of any size and colour". Maybe he is not, and is too polite to remind people this is a bulk order for "4x20 LCDs for Wilba's Kit" ;) Maybe my opinion counts for nothing, but this really ought to be a bulk order for one kind of LCD (say the green-on-black FSTN kind) which might get over 20 orders, and if people want the other kinds, then they miss out on the price break but might get cheaper shipping (I hear Crystalfontz charges stupid rates). FYI, the white-on-blue kind are plentiful on eBay, just search for "20x4 LCD", you can't miss them. People wanting those kinds should just buy them now!

::)

I got a few orders from people thinking they would miss out because they were "noobs". Don't worry, it is unlikely anyone will miss out and everyone should get at least two.

1: They haven't arrived yet. 2: No

Yeah you want the FSTN over the STN. It's "blacker" ;D My blue LEDs are diffuse, they're tinted blue semi-opaque plastic. The problem is not that they're some waterclear 20 degree view angle kind. It's that blue light is very harsh on the eyes. I can't decide which display to get, please remind me later (I have a lot of other things to work on at the moment!) Suggestion: can the "default" option be the "CFAH2004A-YTI-JP" so if you can't get a pricebreak for mixed colours etc. then at least get a good deal on this one in bulk? It's probably as close to the PLED as possible (if you like the PLED).

I was hoping people were not going to brag or compare rankings. "Ranking" was just a quick thing I worked out to sort the people by MIDIbox experience. In less than 7 hours, the 17 orders for SIDs are more than the quantity I have to sell (in this batch). Now you know why I had to do something like this, even with it's bias towards forum addicts with thousands of posts. (I think I will cap the ranking for posts to +10)

How big, red and bold do I have to make things for people to read them and do what I say?? Please... Calculate your ranking, including which criteria apply, and email it to me. It's not that hard, and I get to know who you are at the same time (eg. "Ahh, the guy who made that one! Cool!") Also, you can round your posts to nearest 100, and round years to nearest whole years.

Highly unlikely. They were a custom order from an eBay dealer who was selling this kind, but hasn't sold them since. While they look good in photos, they are blue LEDs and I only discovered after construction that you have to reduce brightness to barely visible or go blind. My next MB-6582 will not have blue LEDs. Most likely red.

UPDATE: I am ending the order collection for this batch NOW see last post ********** I have found more 6582 SIDs and will be selling them exclusively to MIDIbox forum members. If you do not know what a 6582 SID is, it is a SID that operates and sounds exactly like the 8580 SID, with the filter that is good for the MB-SID V2 bassline engine and with less noise than a 6581 SID. The price of these 6582 SIDs is US$25 each, sold in multiples of 2. As I have only a limited number of SIDs (in the current batch), and with so many MIDIbox SID builders (including 100+ MB-6582 PCBs sold), it is likely I will not have enough SIDs for everyone who wants them. They will run out. I have come up with a reasonably fair way to deal with people's orders for SIDs so that the most people can buy them, and it won't be just to the fastest people to order. I will allow two weeks from now for people to email their orders. Order quantity must be a multiple of 2. Each person will be put in a list. I will go down the list allocating 2 SIDs to each person in the list. If I reach the end of the list, I will go back to the top of the list and go down the list allocating 2 SIDs to each person/order in the list. If I run out of SIDs before I reach the end of the list, then some people miss out, and I will start from that point in the list when I get more SIDs. Instead of sorting people in the list by how soon they see this SID sale post, people will calculate their own ranking and I will sort the list by this ranking. The ranking is calculated by the following: MIDIbox Forum Membership (per year): +1 MIDIbox Forum Posts (per 100): +1 Developing MIDIbox-based user project (per project): +1 Developing and shared MIDIbox-related schematics, PIC sourcecode or PCB designs: +1 Completed any MIDIbox project (per project): +1 Completed a MIDIbox SID project (per project): +1 MIDIbox project featured as MIDIbox of the Week or in MIDIbox Gallery (per project): +1 Blog/wiki/webpage of any MIDIbox project construction (per project): +1 Currently own or have already ordered MIDIbox SID PCBs, including MB-6582 PCB: +1 Evidence of "SID fan" status, published music using SID or C64 remix, other forum memberships: +1 Missed out on a previous SID sale and asked me if I have any more SIDs to sell: +1 (people with equal ranking will be sorted by date of receiving their SID order) So for example, someone who has been on the forum 1.5 years, posted a lot, and completed a MIDIbox project and has just recently ordered MB-6582 PCBs: MIDIbox Forum Membership (per year): +1 MIDIbox Forum Posts (per 100): +1 Completed any MIDIbox project (per project): +1 Currently own or have already ordered MIDIbox SID PCBs, including MB-6582 PCB: +1 Ranking: +4 This means they will be higher in the list than someone who is very new to the forum and MIDIbox, maybe someone recently inspired to build an MB-6582: Currently own or have already ordered MIDIbox SID PCBs, including MB-6582 PCB: +1 Ranking: +1 Hopefully everyone will think this method of sorting the orders is fair. For the newbies who might think this is unfair, please remember that by only allocating 2 SIDs to each order as I pass through the list, I am maximizing the number of people I can sell some SIDs too. I could quite easily sell all these SIDs to only a few people who want lots. It is a lot less effort for me to do that too. I will try to find and sell more 6582 SIDs, and restart the allocation at the position in the list where I stopped. I've tried to give people an idea of how their contributions to the MIDIbox community and interest in MIDIbox projects will affect their ability to buy SIDs, i.e. that they will be served ahead of the newbies. However, it's not intended to be anything other than a fair method of sorting people in a list so that people who have wanted to buy SIDs for ages do not miss out because they were not fast enough. How to order Go read the entire post again and make sure you understand everything. Calculate your ranking. In the email to me, please include: Your MIDIbox forum username Your ranking, including which criteria apply (see examples above) Proof of your ranking (links to photos, forum posts, blog, wiki, webpage). Don't make it too hard to check your ranking is calculated correctly. I know it's not that important, but I also don't want people to cheat. People with 100+ posts and over a year of membership don't require photo proof of all their MIDIbox projects. I can take people's word, but when I need to tell the difference between a total newbie and one with some MIDIbox experience, I will check. How many 6582 SIDs you ultimately want to buy (even if it takes me many batches of SIDs and many passes through the list). My email address is Jason.S.Williams@ I HATE SPAM gmail.com

Since people are now finding parts (especally for control surface), I've updated the more critical items on the wiki: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=wilba_mb_6582 ... and as you can see from the wiki, I use the Crystalfontz display as a reference. Just check dimensions between the mount holes and the size of the bezel (see wiki)... if they match, it will fit. This is an "industry standard" size but there are other common sizes so you have to always check the datasheet. I would like to join in the bulk order too, especially if I can get a more interesting display than the common yellow-green backlight.

oops, I forgot, I'm not in Europe. >:(

me too! ;D

The interconnection test is testing whether the pins are high (5v) or low (0v). You should be testing voltages relative to ground, i.e. chips sense high or low inputs as voltages relative to their ground pin (Vss). So you are testing if they are getting the high or low signals. Your multimeter is testing the voltage difference between the red (+) and black (-) probes. So you put the black probe on ground (Vss) and the red probe on what you want to test, this tells you the voltage relative to ground, which is what you are testing for. If you put the black on Vss and red on Vdd then you will see 5v on the multimeter. Swap the probes around and you will see -5v (because ground is -5v below Vdd) You should have already tested and made sure that all your ground (Vss) pins are connected and if you voltage test each ground (Vss) pin with the ground of your PSU circuit, they should all read 0v. Likewise, all the Vdd pins should be at +5v (except for the SID, in this case Vdd=12v or 9v, and Vcc=5v)

Fair enough, there's just far more interesting parameters to control with dedicated buttons, which you will discover after you've finished, unfortunately...