Jump to content

Wilba

Frequent Writer
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,310

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Wilba

  2. Adding box name on bootscreen

    in Testing/Troubleshooting

    Posted

    Sorry, I didn't mean to imply it was a good idea to remove the copyright notice, we all respect TK's work and most would not even think of removing the copyright notice because of that respect. My point was just that changing MIOS to achieve a particular effect (in this case, changing the boot screen) is not illegal, as (I believe) you would not be breaking copyright laws, no more than you would by writing your name on the first page of a printed book. Perhaps I'm wrong, and I have a lot of contraband on my bookshelf!

  3. [X] rotary encoders/3mm blue LEDs/$$$ for SID chips

    in Fleamarket

    Posted

    I really appreciate the offers, thanks... However, I have already bought 4x 8580s from Reflex Audio (the guy posted on this forum here). They sell HardSID cards as well. He was kind enough to let them run overnight and test them thoroughly before shipping. Worth the premium price of US$30 each, inc. postage. I haven't put them in yet, as I also salvaged an 8580 from a C64C recently, which is working beautifully. Now my MBSID box is set up for 4x 8580s and I am fully stocked and stoked ;D

  5. the becoming of the midibox axe

    in Design Concepts

    Posted

    If there's no LCD, just a PIC and a few DIN/DOUT chips, it would be fairly low current draw.

    Have you considered powering it with batteries in the battery holder that's already there?

    PIC datasheet says " < 1.6 mA typical @ 5V, 4 MHz ". Don't know what it would be at 10 MHz, maybe 5mA max?

    The MIDI out at full throttle would only be 7mA as it drives the LED in the other end's MIDI port.

    If you use four AA batteries, you only need a single diode to voltage drop 6v down to 5v. Any more than 6v and you could stick a 78L05 regulator in there. NiMH rechargeables are 2500 mA hours these days. Worth considering, it certainly keeps it simple anc cheap  ;)

  6. Jumps to LFO Submenu and gets stuck

    in MIDIbox SID

    Posted

    When I recently wired up a 74HC165 to the back of my "step A" CS module (and only had it wired in), pressing buttons and turning the encoder would take me to the LFO submenu. I had forgotten to tie pin 15 (the clock enable pin) to ground.

    Probably not relevant to your problem though.

    You might try the test app to find out if a 74HC165 is broken or you've got an intermittant fault in the switches: http://www.ucapps.de/mios/srio_interconnection_test_v1.zip

    Or try disconnecting all the LFO switches/encoders from the DIN module. If it still happens, swap/replace the 74HC165 that those switchs/encoders are connected to.

  7. the becoming of the midibox axe

    in Design Concepts

    Posted

    You might want to consider powering it via the two unused pins of the MIDI cable.

    That's how Starr Labs' Ztar (MIDI guitar) is powered.

    mmin172.jpg

    Obviously at the other end of the cable you have to use some kind of adapter and plug in the power there, but the idea of only having one cable attached (and hiding any other power supply components in the adapter, outside the axe) might be worth the effort. (BTW, the Ztar is the inspiration of my own still-yet-to-be-realized MIDI string/fretboard controller.)

  8. Another MBFM Benchtested succesfully - %2 Back on Track With a New Design..

    in MIDIbox FM

    Posted

    Zoner Draw 5 is almost freeware (US$49, free trial) and I've used it to design my MB-SID front panel. If you set it up to use inches and a 0.05" grid, you can place holes aligned to the vectorboard/prototyping board holes - i.e. place a LED centered halfway between two holes. You can still enter hole dimensions in millimetres. Multiple layers allows you to set up a drilling guide layers and artwork layers and view/print them separately. It also prints across multiple pages with registration marks, making the joining of the pages really easy. At first glance you'd say it's just another vector graphics program - you have to use it for a few hours to discover all the cool features.

  9. weird behavior on mbsidx4 with full cs

    in MIDIbox SID

    Posted

    I don't know what the problem is, I can only suggest you prove each Core and SID module (and SID) works independently. You're trying to debug by just swapping PICs around, when it could be a faulty PIC, a faulty Core PCB, a faulty SID, a faulty SID PCB, a faulty Core->SID cable, faulty power wiring, faulty MIDI link cable, etc. So I suggest:

    1. Plug the MIDI out into each Core and prove it's working.

    2. Plug each SID module into the master Core and prove all the SID modules work.

    Once you know each SID module works...

    3. Connect ONE slave to master, test a known good SID module with it. If it doesn't work, the most likely cause is the cable between the slave Core and SID.

    4. Repeat step 3 with each slave.

    Make sure you fully disconnect everything else when testing one part, including power. It's scenarios like these that it pays to have used cables with header connectors instead of soldering cables.

    BTW, double check if the MIOS 1.7 hardware mods are not the problem: http://www.ucapps.de/mios_v1_7_hardware_mods.html

  10. SID salvaging

    in MIDIbox SID

    Posted

    To 'smite' Wilba or not...  ;D

    I think I have already been punished for my SID-icide - cursed with only salvaging dead and broken 6581s. No need to smite.

    If anyone wants to get rid of their semi-broken 6581's, I can take them off your hands (ie, if you're never going to use them, and would be happy knowing someone would).

    I was going to do this anyway... eventually... after I've got my 8580s installed and have no more need for them. PM me if you want to reserve one - the price is $0 plus postage.

  11. SID salvaging

    in MIDIbox SID

    Posted

    I am embarrassed to admit I fried the first four SIDs when I changed over to use a C64 power supply - I built the power supply circuit to rectify the 9v AC and add it to the 5v DC (giving 14v). The 14v was supposed to be put through a single 12v regulator before feeding it to my 12v rail that feed the four SIDs. I forgot the 12v regulator. :-[  I actually heard them fading away...  :'(

    The other 8 I have plugged into my rebuilt power supply (nice, clean 12v rail) and I didn't fry these, they were broken before I got to them!

    stryd_one: I PMed and emailed you already, don't you check your mail? I wouldn't turn down a free 6581 :) If you're that curious, I can loan you a SID module, being friendly neighbours and all... :)

  13. SID salvaging

    in MIDIbox SID

    Posted

    I fried the first 4 SIDs I had over a year ago and it has taken me this long to get over it and continue! I recently salvaged 8 more 6581R1 SIDs from C64s and my bad luck continues.

    2 had no sound.

    1 made random bleeps.

    4 had working oscillators but the filters didn't work.

    1 had a filter that works, but if you changed the filter channels, it would go silent, but then if you changed the filter mode, it would work. Yet setting the filter channels caused osc 2 to be stuck on and wouldn't shut off until you switched patch, and then be stuck on again if you played a note. Just scrolling through a patch that used a filter would cause osc 2 to stay on after a note.  >:(

    I give up! I'm buying some 8580s.

    My plan all along was to ultimately make a 4x6581 MB-SID, because I liked the sound samples and started off with two brown C64s really cheap (one is now my CS case). But even the two 6581s in those weren't perfect, one had a dead osc, the other had a dead filter.

    Salvaging 6581s from old C64s is a gamble. Some people are lucky, some people live in countries where most of the second-hand C64s are a good vintage. Buy one for the case and power supply and maybe you'll get a good 6581 as a bonus. But indiscriminate buying of old C64s might lead to disappointment when the SID is noisy, or its filter and oscillators are dead, or it's got bugs on the chip, or it's just dead and silent.

    I guess I was a little hooked on the idea of the "analog synth sound" and the impression from TK and others that the 6581 filter was preferrable to the 8580... the idea of having the original SID chips was also appealing. What I didn't expect was the failure rate.

    Something should be added to the MB-SID page highlighting the differences between the 6581 and 8580 (maybe that should be "stressing" rather than "highlighting"), and especially the point that many people end up with dead or broken 6581s (especially 6581R1). There's the general impression that 6581s have a better filter than the 8580. This should be balanced with the negatives of the low probability of finding one good 6581 and even if you do find a good one, it's noisy and has bugs. (Maybe TK can add that not even he has four good 6581s!!!)

    I hope this doesn't come across as complaining about the MB-SID project or that I regret starting it myself. The aim here is to allow people starting a MB-SID project should make an informed decision - not to choose 6581 vs. 8580 based soley on the sound when they work perfectly, but also consider the poor chances of salvaging a good 6581.

  14. Building A Circuit for LEDs

    in Parts Questions

    Posted

    What's the deal with the high tolerance on some of these things anyway? I've got some nice, heavy, high-amperage ones, which I thought would be safe, but things rated for 9V will put off 12 or 13, and 12's I've got can do up to 15 or 16. Can you check the regulator inputs to see what they actually do in-circuit, or is it exactly the same on that side? (-my basic electronics theory went down the toilet about a year after leaving the classroom)

    If you measure the voltage coming out of an unregulated walwart (with nothing attached), it will be a bit higher because there's no load. It is supposed to deliver the rated voltage at the rated current, eg. 9v at 1A. If the only "load" is your multimeter, it will be a higher voltage than the rated voltage. This means that if you use a regulator, the walwart's rated voltage must be 2-3v higher than the regulator voltage so you can still regulate it down to the desired voltage when you are drawing the maximum current. You can check the regulator inputs, but the voltage would be relative to the load on the regulator outputs. (My theory might be wrong too - I'm not really an expert just a tinkerer!)

  15. Building A Circuit for LEDs

    in Parts Questions

    Posted

    If you are trying to power 60 LEDs each with 20mA, as this is 1200 mA = 1.2 Amps. More than a 7805 can handle without getting hot. On top of that, you're pumping 12v into a 5v regulator, so 7 volts at 1 amp is being turned into heat.

    Your last post suggests you think you don't need the resistors; you still do. It's the resistor that limits the current, the mA.

    I don't know why you have a 12v supply, or whether your circuit needs 12v or not... but what you can do with that 12v is drive multiple LEDs in series. There's no need to regulate it to 5v first. You can put 5 in series, so if the voltage drop on each LED is 2v then that's a 10v drop across the LEDs, 2v drop across the resistor, so for 20mA for all 5 LEDS, use R=V/I -> R=2/0.020 -> 100 ohms. This way you can drive 60 of them in groups of 5 for just 12*20mA = 240mA.

    Read that website again: http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

    ... and look at the FORWARD VOLTAGE on the specs of your LED. That's how much of a voltage drop there will be across each LED. You'll need that to calculate how many you can drive in series with 12v and thus how much voltage drop there'll be across the resistor in order to calculate the resistor value. If the forward voltage is the 4.5v to 6v values you stated already (are they blue or white??) then you can only put two in series.

  18. MBSID + BankStick question (NOW BUG!!!)

    in MIDIbox SID

    Posted

    OK, it seems to be fixed now, although it was still stuck on bank H patch 128 on first powerup, but after changing bank and patch it seems to stick on bank A after a reset.

    But during testing I noticed it wasn't responding to a MIDI channel change SysEx message,

    i.e. F0 00 00 7E 46 <device-number> 0D 02 00 <channel> F7

    Channel stays on 16 (on the display) and I receive SysEx message "F0 00 00 7E 46 00 0F F7"

    Other SysEx messages seem to work.

  19. New DIY Synth?

    in Design Concepts

    Posted

    Reconfiguring the array from a Core seems like a lot of extra work for not much gain, not when you can dump to it from a PC.

    If I had the time  :)  I'd be concentrating on getting one running and driving it from a Core module and worry about reconfiguring it from a Core module much much later, like when you actually have two great applications and really need to switch between them without using a PC.  ;)

  20. New DIY Synth?

    in Design Concepts

    Posted

    The chips are pretty cheap, but the "expensive toy" is the $199 development board. It's not that expensive for a development board, actually... at least you can plug it into a COM port and start playing right away - no soldering, known good PCB for programming, etc.

    I think you're wrong though - there's not enough on the chip to do everything like MIDI I/O and LFOs and such - you still need a Core to interface it to the world. This chip is like an uber-SID... you can program it to have whatever oscillators and filters you like. So once you've settled on a given synth design, you then use a Core to drive it much like the MBSID app (i.e. build a sound engine with the envelopes, LFOs, mod matrix, etc.). In fact, that would be a great project - program the chip to be like a SID and then use TK's sound engine to drive it via SPI. The audacious goal would be to develop a PCB that's MBHP-compatible, and combines the chip programming and Core interface components, so that you wouldn't need the $199 development board, only the chip itself and a PCB you can buy from SmashTV  :)

    Sorry, this is typical of me... too many ideas and not enough time to do them all  :)

  23. Tohohoootally other question: Experiment board?

    in Miscellaneous

    Posted

    I use an "experimenters" board exactly like that picture, I also have a little one which is handy. The big one comes with lots of wires of different lengths, very useful. They are excellent for experimenting (hence the name). I've never had problems with digital circuits, and I think analog circuits are fine too, I think they only have issues with RF transmitter/receiver circuits due to the components not being close together. As you can see in the pic, there are multiple power rails and the good/bad thing is that each power rail is not connected to the others - you have to explicitly connect them to each other and to your power supply circuit. I highly recommend them for experimenting, because it's so quick to get something going, and easy to change things later, it's not permanent, nothing is wasted (not even solder!). It's the Lego of electronics. Get one.

    My big tip for using these boards: You get a single row header and solder wires/ribbon cable to the bottom. Then you can stick the header into the experimenters board. Great for power supply wires, connecting the board to a Core, etc. Similarly, you can solder two single row headers together to use as a female-to-female adapter to connect header connectors to the board.

×
×
  • Create New...