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Wow, that's good quick work youv'e done. I second that your casing can easily be the most expensive part of a design. Do you have any plans to implement the second data pair of the DMX spec? I think RDM uses this, but I don't currently own or work with any gear that needs this, just wondering. I assume so far that you are just using the standard IIC midi module with 5 pin XLRs instead of 5 pin DIN's? Your really tempting me to start playing around with this, but I must resist..... Must finish other projects.......must resist.......Aaaaarghhhh.....must resist....

ftp://ftp.cadsoft.de/eagle/userfiles/libraries/switch-misc.lbr And all the libraries on the cadsoft site are here: http://www.cadsoft.de/cgi-bin/download.pl?page=/home/cadsoft/html_public/download.htm.en&dir=eagle/userfiles/libraries Enjoy.

there are post's in the forum for motorized pots, do a search. I don't recomend them though, too slow. Welcome and enjoy.

Nice look, I think I'll keep it....

There are some switches like that in the eagle Switch-misc library. I have the same or similar switches taken from old 911 call center equipment that I am using for my seq. I started on the vero board but I am currently working on a pcb. I got halfway through a 4x8 matrix board before I decided it probably would be easier in the long run and more reliable to make a pcb. I would have needed two of these for the entire Button duo led matrix.......I don't remember if that library is a stock library or one I dl'ed from cadsoft, and I think there were some other switch libraries with similar. Mine were Schadow switches and the lib I used was not a schadow lib, but there are many clones of this type of switch.

Bit banging probably would work. By using IIC though, you could have the possibilities to mix and match MIDI, DMX, and RS232 (as it seems phil has gotten this working) in an app.that leaves the cores built in midi interface for mios studio uploads and what not. and no hardware chnges so we can use the extra core we all already have lying around ;) Phil I have DL'ed the code for the magnulator and will try to find some time to look over it, though to date I have not been the most succesful coder to date, I do enjoy it, just wish I had more time for it. this may be useful: http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-567.html http://www.theater-technisch-lab.nl/dmxen.htm http://www.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/app_note/AN3315.pdf http://www.usitt.org/standards/DMX512_FAQ.html Unfortunately, I havent found a free copy of the official DMX-512 Spec. but it only cost's about 30 USD to buy it..... I would prefer to stick to the spec.

I don't think anyone has mentioned it so: The possibility for more IIC MIDI (or other) modules. 8 or 16 would be awesome. I'd also love to have a 16x16 BLM, for drum editing of course. Someone mentioned labels and a usb keyboard, no need for usb keyboard, we just need a shift function to use the BLM as a text input device...could also be used for direct acces to patterns (or is this alredy possible, I havent hooked up my BLM yet).

I'm really in no hurry so you don't need to worry about mine, even though I was one of the first to order. Glad to hear they have come in. As long as I get mine by mid december I am happy. Thanks for organizing this order, AB

Awesome, your'e not in a hurry. Let's see if anyone else is interested. get a little feature list going, and see when the new core comes out. I also think that the IIC DMX module is the way to go so maybe that should be the starting point. could the 16f88 be replaced by another chip with more RAM? Of course it would be rediculously cool to have motorized faders...... all the standard midibox control options should be possible, pots or encoders, buttons, etc. the modularity and customization of midibox is it's beauty. I need the ability to cue lighting scenes, recall audio settings from our digital mixer, trigger sound effects and backing tracks, trigger video clips and remote control a video switcher. I could think of more things too, but this is the core list. AS for light boards, I haven't used many but the nsi mc24/48 that I had to learn from nothing in 3 months while programming a show, is an akwward and downright buggy piece of junk. it even blew a fuse on the video card which the prevents the console from booting with no indication of what the problem is. and the 24/7 tech support promised in the manual is an answering machine .... they did call back the next day, and the guy knew what the problem was, but still come on, that is NOT 24/7 support, thank god it wasn't an hour before the show when it blew. an easy fix once I knew what the problem was. end rant. Anyone else?

Interested , yes. I have been planning to build a MIDIBOX Show control to use at my church, hence my interest in your rs 232 work. I think it is possible, but you may wish to wait for the new core that TK is working on. I believe it will be far more capable. However I really need to finish the projects I am currently working on (or they will keep getting pushed off for new projects). I would be glad offer some discussion on the project. If your not inj a big hurry, I would be willing to collaborate with you. I am hoping to be done all of my currently in progress midibox projects by the new year. perhaps the new core will be ready by then. My concept was based on using midi for lighting, as we have a lighting board that will accept some midi comands. But, if an IIC DMX module could be developed, that wopuld be more useful. I hate that console anyway, but it is what we have. I need at least 256 DMX channels. I wanted to be able to control all the equipment in our control booth from one console, so I need DMX, RS 232, and Midi. Of course contact closures could be useful and easily implemented. Gotta run, hopefully this will spark some discussion. AB

Heh, that would be a lot of sysex data streaming in all at once. nice idea though. would definitely have to do a request synth 1, wait for rx, request synth 2, wait...etc. AS for 16 GB cards, hah, you could store a rediculous number of patches on a 512Mb card. of course if there is not technical reason to limit the size of the card I'm sure TK wouldn't limit you, just doesn't seem to be his style. and of course what would you do when the 32 or 64 Gb cards come out.......

Nice Case, I love seeing projects using recycled parts!

Are there nightly's for windows? the ones I come across are Linux.....And I'm not using Linux yet. I downloaded a more curent 2008-09-06 r1238 version for windows and will try that. I had the converted eagle libraries for the components that weren't already in kicad, I'll try the new version and if it still fails I'll add the other libraries. Thanks, AB

Hmm. it worked for you? Did you have to do anything special? Did you have to have the same libraries converted to kiCAD? I always get an error "Component end expected at line 782, aborted" when opening in eeschema. what version of EAGLE/KiCAD? It fails on both my setup at home and work. I have eagle 5.0 at work, 5.2 at home. Kicad is version 2007-11-29-c. As for the chat, well I have a not so good internet connection at home, and I think it may be frowned upon to chat at work. maybe if I had a work related project..... And to the OP: I think if your work is footing the bill, you should go for EAGLE, just get quotes for Protel, Pads, Mentor Graphics stuff so you can say that it is a good deal ;) Which it is.

MB SEQ can do 1ms triggers. Perhaps you can extract what you need from there. Midibox CV has 8 ate outputs, but I don't see any mention of 1ms triggers.

Stryd_one: Youv'e hit the nail on the head with both comments above. Doug: Maybe I just need to spend more time with FPD, but It seems difficult to measure things acuratley without doing lots of X-Y coordinate math. If I am just going to drill the panel myself, I can use VISIO, and I can whip right through it. How do you "Array Shapes" (a VISIO Command that can easily create repetitive rows and columns with precise placement) in FPD? That's really my biggest gripe. AS for sketchup you will notice that I said I like it and use it a lot, despite being cripple ware. And for KiCAD, I tried the eagle to kicad schematic converter ULP but it fails always and leaves and incomplete schematic. Apparently others have complained about this and the name it seems is not going to fix it. funny that CADSoft would let it stay on thier website if it doesn't work. If I could afford Eagle, I would use it, no doubt. But I want to do large CS layouts so.........

Both are perfect and relatively bsimple examples of what MBHP is capable of. Ha... Stryd_One has beat me to it..... Anyway, Welcome, and enjoy. Oh, and be prepared to get sucked into the world of midibox never to be released....

There are eagle scripts that will convert libraries to kicad, and schematics too. haven't tried the one for the schematic, but the library seems to work. Also you can find on the web that someone has already converted the libraries. I started learning Kicad because it can do boards of any size. I am still getting used to it and am much better in eagle, alas I can not pay the price for the unlimited version of eagle. As for CAD, I use VISIO, FPD, & Sketchup. VISIO is great for front panel layouts (I drill them myself so far)it can save as DWG or DXF, though I have not tried that feature yet. FPD I find to be a pain to use and Schaffer panels seem expensive to me (thought they look better than any I have ever made. Sketchup is just easy to use and I have done a lot of things with it, its great for "Will this Fit" scenarios. Some hate it because it is google and cripple ware, but It works for me. I have not tried wings 3d yet, even though I installed it with KiCAD.

I agrre with Lief, I try to salvage as much as i can. All the buttons, case, and many connectors used in my seq are salvage. Soon I will put up some pics. Your work looks good, just needed to tidy up that wiring A bit. I know it is sometimes a pain during tetsing when you need to take stuff apart all the time. At least you have learned the lesson to keep audio away from noisy signal lines, and perhaps a good lesson in gain staging. Anyway keep up the good work!

Do you have diodes on your matrix?

Detented? Don't know of to many pots with more than a center detent, but there are many detented encoders with diferent numbers of detents. You could build a stepped attenuator for a detented pot, but I think the encoder is a better choice for this application.

I fail to see how you can get continuous values using an ADC? even at 16 bits it is still digital, ie not continuous. Higher resolution perhaps.

Excellent! Good work.

Glad I threw that link in there then, It does sound like a bunch of nonsense doesn't it. I actually found the link because I wasn't absolutely sure that nematic was the right word.....but it was 8)

No, it is super twisted nematic, negative means that the charecters are light coming through the dark areas, rather than dark areas over the light, ya dig? clear charecters on a dark background. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-twisted_nematic_display