Wisefire

i am just stupid, that's what the issue was, or more like i was a bit conceited. thought i could pick up where i left off and have all my knowledge intact.. i FORGOT to upload the MIOS hex first.... yep, that IS dumb.. alright. so now, i'm facing other issues. i keep getting errors when uploading mios to some of my pics. i got just one of my 18f452 pics to accept mios. cool, so i have 1 pic that should work. but when i plug the mb_core into the header of the relay board, only 7 relays are working. not 8. so pin testing time, only 7 of the 8 pins output 5V. weird. bad PIC? alright, lets try my hand at programming the bootloader on one of my virgin 18f352, pickit3. nope. borrowed pickit2. nope.. oh hey an old 18f4685 in my stash, with bootloader!!! alright lets upload mios to that one.. success!!! buuuuut... only 7 of the 8 pins outputs 5V. WTF??? possible causes. issue: 1 relay doesnt switch. Could it be a faulty relay? - no, inverting the sil socket cable, moves the issue to another relay. Faulty cable? - could be, but testing directly on the mb_core shows that that specific pin wont give 5v. bad pic then? - maybe, but 2 different types of pic have the same issue on the same pin. Bad mb core PCB? - no, tried multiple, besides i've measured continuity. Bad source code - i'm not willing to believe TK wrote it incorrectly and didn't tested it, but for a learning experience let me see if i can check it with my limited knowledge.... nope it's mostly in assembly as far as i can tell. got as far as the function J5_IO_PinSet which can be found in the j5_io.inc file. dope, but it has more than 8 pins listed there, but it seems to forward those pins to the other pins if certain conditions are met. pin numbers seem to be in WREG, couldnt find that though. and even then, i wouldnt know what to do with it. TL;DR - found a solution for the problem in my previous post (i was dumb), new issue, pin a0 on j5 won't output 5v after booting like the other pins, and doesn't react when sending C4 to the MB_core, the other pins work like expected.

After coming back to this issue every once in a while (real life stuff keeps popping up) it just occurred to me that I was most likely using older pic processor back then. in the mean time i've ordered a pickit from ali. Once I find a bit of time, i'll go through my older pic processors to see if I still have an older one. and see if i'm able to program it with the bootloader.

I do hope nobody minds me resurrecting this ancient thread. I finally started on that 8 out relay thing (9 years, damn!) i've mostly got the hardware built. But i've been halted by bit of an issue. i've uploaded the j5_dout example hex to my core8, but the core8 doesn't seem to react to the midi note c4->c5 that i send it through mios studio. i've tried measuring it with my multimeter, and an oscilloscope, but only got 0v on the pins. the core announces itself dutifully through Mios Studio, so i know the core is working. I've got multiple cores lying around, so i tried it with another one as well. What am i missing? ps. sorry for the lack of pictures, as a meagre solace, here is the one i'm currently building.

i might be interested. still available?

ik heb besloten de backlog eerst maar eens af te maken, voor zover ze nog relevant zijn. en te kijken naar wat ik werkelijk nodig heb (maar het is allemaal zo mooi :P )

@NLX, hahah, heel herkenbaar idd. ik heb dozen vol met onafgemaakte projectjes, maar mijn MB_SID is toch wel de main one. die moet nou eindelijk 'ns af. :P @shruriken no worries, sowieso tof dat er zo'n community spirit leeft.

hey NLX! thnx voor de tip! Electruck heeft me er mee geholpen, maar wel leuk om te horen dat er nog steeds actieve nederlandse midiboxers zijn. :D

You can connect what you want for your CS, i've used it without any cs in the past!

Alright, another update is due. While waiting on some other things to arrive (PICs and CS pcb) i thought it was a good idea to finish some other projects. So i removed some detents from encoders and I received 25 lego pegs, dremeled them in two, glued them on tactswitches, some more dremeling and put on my custom rubber caps. And today i visited a good friend with a lasercutter. And cut out the frontpanel out of triplex wood. Sanded it down and put on somespray laquer, this is the result.

YEEH! Most of my Mouser order just came in. Tact switches, which i will modify. Dual potmeters for the feedback. Some bolts, nuts and spacers. And a lot of diodes. now its only waiting on the PACTEC PT-10 case. as for progress: The rubber buttons i want to use on top of the tactswitched are too big. so i needed to find a solution. and i think i found one. on top of the tactswitches fits, exactly fits, a lego connector peg. and the rubber buttons fit exactly on top of these. i've ordered 25 of them. i'm going to cut them in half and hopefully stay under 15 mm in total, otherwise they'll sticks out too much. In other news, I succesfully ordered a CS from SmashTV. I love how he provides some excellent service. and i'm a real stickler for service. CS en BASE boards usually go together. and smash just sold his last pair. new orders would come in about 3 weeks and he could order one CS extra for me. however this would mess with my plan to have this thing done in time for a performance i'm planning to do with it. So smash came up with another solution, he remembered that he had one bad CS board in his discard pile. it had one bad trace and usually wouldnt sell these at all. but instead of him throwing it away, i could throw it away for him :P long story short, i'll have a near mint (IMHO) CS board for a significant discount AND in time for me to complete the project in time. the guy is golden! thats it for now. till next time! thats it for now

Hey Roel, Bedankt voor je aanbod! Opsturen is te doen, maar mocht er een midiboxer in amsterdam wonen is dat uiteraard makkelijker. Mocht ik na t weekend geen verdere replies krijgen dan zal ik je ff pm'en voor de details.

Hoi, is er iemand in de buurt van amsterdam die toevallig die een PIC18F4685 kan branden? groetjes, Ysbrand

alright, i've thought about it some more. I'm going for a wilba design, with some minor alterations. which are mostly frontpanel related. His design is very good, and combined with the ease of construction it makes it the better choice. I've ordered the following from mouser: 4x 100K AUDIO POTMETERS (for the feeding the out back into the in of the SID) Some screws, washers, and spacers. 100x 7.0 mm high 100gf buttons. which i will use with custom caps. (ordering a 100 is cheaper than ordering 50, weird) 100x Diodes 1x pactec pt-10 production unit, which is only 14 euro! it doesnt have panels, but i dont need those! this means i would only need a CS PCB from SmashTV (i haven't heard back yet, i'm guessing he is enjoying the holidays and has taken some time off.) which hopefully will fit inside an envelope and means cheaper shipping i hope. and i would need a front/backpanel. i have a preliminary design for the frontpanel and will be easy to get lasercut out of plastic. for the backpanel i couldnt find a DXF file, i've contacted wilba for a frontpanel file with mountingholes, so i can have the choice to mount the spacers without jbweld (afaik, we dont have that in holland). When i get a reply i'll ask him about a DXF file for the backpanel as well. and finally a question. i'm going for the feedback option, and im wondering if the [EXT IN] button near the filter is switching only the audio in, on or off. or is it doing something more? If its only to switch external (or feebacked) audio on/off, i could rename it to feeback, change it in the software as well, would look nicer imho.

Hey Shuriken, Thnx for your input. And you are absolutely right. After some soul searching (or rather rationally evaluating the pros and cons) i've come to the same conclusion. It helps to have my conclusions externally confirmed though. There are some slight alterations i'm going to make, for which i won't need to go out of my way to achieve them. i'll put a blogpost up soon explaining my thought process.

Alright, i'm stuck within choices. When i started about 8 years ago (i had to look that up, see here for my old blog.. has it really been that long?) there was only a sidV1 and no mb6582 from wilba. I collected parts to be used in a compete CS, all diy wiring, as that was the only option. Then came the V2 and wilbas awesome mb6582 project with it. I got his base pcb, as i still had my own CS in my head. Fast forward to now. I'm finally at a point in my life where i can finish this project, as i want this to be done, and start using it. Especially because i've found one of the dutch chiptune communities, eindbaas. Back to the choice i now face. Do i really want to build my own CS? Pros are: Customized to my liking. Able to use my old stuff i've collected. Rackmountable if i so desire. Cheapest solution (excluding my time) Mono outs. Or do i want to go with wilbas design Pros: Beautiful design. Pro looking insides. Less troubleshooting. Faster to build. Here are some pics of the stuff i have: First an overview. Jacks. Datawheel. Encoders and knobs. Buttons. 2x40 and 4x20 Lcds, and row of buttons for the 2x40. Red leds and ribbon cable. For me, the most important factors are, usability/functionality, cost, and time spent. It would probably take me 2 months to design and build my own CS. Excluding any difficult troubleshooting. I may also fail completely. What would it cost to go for wilbas design? I would need: A CS pcb. From smashTV. - unknown Maybe A lot of buttons. - not much i guess. A lot of diodes. - not much i think. A pactec pt-10 - 25 euros A frontplate - free (i know a guy.) If i can change the buttons on his design, i may be able to use my the ones i have. Or make the holes bigger and use these. I'll contact smash for an estimate, so i can make an informed decision.

oh, WOW, there is a special blog section now. i'll cease to clutter the forums and will be posting further updates on my blog.

And the IC headers. i've found my SID chip collection as well, i've got 2x6582, 3x6581, 3x8580 and one 8580 that has a defective filter. i want to have 1 6581 pair, 1 6582 pair and 2 8580 pairs, which means i need to find one 8580 from somewhere. If you got one for a good price, contact me :smile: I'm also thinking design choices, the mb6582 base is prepared for stereo outs, probably to save on space. but i'd rather have mono out, that's how my studio is set up. otherwise i need special cables for my MBsid. the MB6582 has passive mixing built in, but this means i either need to buy other mono outs, or i need to go with the stereo out smashTV provided in the kit. probably need to think about this some more. Then there is the control surface. my younger self thought it was a good idea to do it myself. and i kind of agree, that way its completely the way i want, but its way easier to build the CS with the PCB wilba designed for the pactec case. I may splurge and just buy the CS and pactec case just to make it easier for myself. One big gripe i have with wilba's design though, is the buttons. maybe i can change them in his design. need to ponder these choices further ;) greetz,

Hi all, I am wisefire. I was kind of active on here a long time ago, and I promised that one day i'll be back to complete (and document) my Midibox SID. Well, the time has come to build it. I have the version of wilbas MB6582 core board directly from wilba. The idea back when I bought it was to build my own control surface around it, to be honest if I could make that choice right now I wouldn't be so sure, but i've got all the buttons and stuff for it already so let's start this adventure! Soldering the resistors was first, here is a timelapse. The next evening came the capacitors. i'll keep you guys posted!

Hey TK, Wintertime it is! Good to see the MB community still alive and kicking! And glad to be back.

And the IC headers.

Hi all, I am wisefire. I was kind of active on here a long time ago, and I promised that one day i'll be back to complete (and document) my Midibox SID. Well the time has come to build it. I have the version of wilbas MB6582 core board directly from wilba. The idea back when I bought it was to build my own control surface around it, to be honest if I could make that choice right now I wouldn't be so sure, but i've got all the buttons and stuff for it already so let's start this adventure! Soldering the resistors was first, here is a timelapse. The next evening came the capacitors. i'll keep you guys posted!

well, the thing is finished. and on time i must add.. the example code was exactly what i needed, i didnt even have to adapt it.. thnx TK!!!! the relays i had work perfectly.. no opto or extra relays needed.. ill post some pictures later..

Hey TK! glad to be back! thank you for the example code.. its exactly what i was looking for!! these reed relays are a good idea.. however ordering from reichelt would take way too long, and i would have to order for 100 euros at once.. i did have a look around to see if i could find it in one of our electronics stores.. and i did find some dual in reed relays/normally closed.. but i needed to by 25 of them.. i took a closer look at the datasheet for the relays ive already ordered.. and from what i can gather.. they already have an optocoupler in them.. these are pretty expensive relays.. solid state.. a led already on them, to show the state.. and i have no clue what a varistor is.. but they have it too.. im guessing they'll either be perfect for what i want to do with them, or it'll go horribly wrong.. either way. it'll be fun.. So the last thing is putting it all together.. i'll keep this thread updated.. and ultimately (when i have more time, i.e. a deadline that is more than 3 days away) i'll build a final box with 8 outputs and some cool code to automate stuff.. and ofcourse i'll post it all on the forums..

these are definitely some good suggestions.. so i'll be in need of some optocouplers.. gonna need to find an electronics store nearby.. my idea was to use some kind of resistor in series with the relay to limit the current.. here is the datasheet:http://www.produktinfo.conrad.com/datenblaetter/500000-524999/505395-da-01-en-HALBLEITER_REL_1S_15_A_250_VDC_AQA211VL.pdf for the relais i'm planning to use.. they say its a MAX of 20mA for the input current.. i wonder what would happen if i put in a led and resistor in series though.. as for back emf and stuff like that.. isnt that for mechanical relays.. this one is AFAIK solid state relay, or however they are called.. as for that demo app.. nils.. would you happen to have a link to that? would love to get my hands on it..

ive written some beginners code for mios before so, its not a problem if i need to write it myself(famous last words :S) however i need the right code to command the pins to do what i want.. but if its possible within the MB_CV then i should be able to do it aswell.. hopefully the CV isnt written in ASM.. cuz that stuff is way beyond me.. maybe someone knows of some example code? i didnt find it.. but maybe someone did?