Sebo

Hi dott.benway: Thanks for the links & info. Sadly that site don't have the chips. They are customs chips made by Yamaha YM2600 & YM2700. The big problem is that most people want them for the bigger CS-80 so when someone have one ask a really high price, that sometime is most that my CS-50 costs :( I will check the sites for the keyboard interfaces. Sebo

Hi: I'm interested in a set of PCBs. I'll send you a mail. Thanks.

HI ppl: Tanstaafl: Thanks for the advice, but PAiA is not selling the CV/Hz converter anymore. I contacted them and they give me the schematics and some info. I'm in the process of making it, but the transistors that the circuit uses aren't avlaible in my country, so I'm triying some others. stryd_one: I didn't know about it, I gonna do a search at the forum. Thank you. Sebo

Hi: I have the same problem but with a 4 voice polyphonic Yamaha CS-50 (the chip that sacan the keyboard matrix is broken, and is very hard to find and expensive). I buyed a a PAiA MIDI to CV interface very cheap (second hand), but is V/Oct and I need Hz/Oct so I'm in the process to do some mods to it. But I can't use the beatiful keyboard (that have aftertouch). So I'm planing to add a PIC based circuit to scan the matrix and convert the signals to MIDI. I found this project http://tomscarff.tripod.com/key2midi/key2midi.htm based on a PIC16F877, is really simple. Sebo

Hi I'm interested in buy you one 8085, I don't know if I miss something, but I can't find how much you are asking for it. And how can I pay you. My only way is with Credit Card via Paypal or something. I'm in Argentina, South America (If this matters). Thank you. Sebo

Thanks for all the comments. The mini64 is working great, and I'm doing some nice sounds with it. I'm about to add a noise gate to avoid the VCA leak, and in a near future the AOUT_LC and a filter.

Hi Thanks for the comments. I cut the C64 case with a hacksaw (the kind that is used to cut metal), and the cut is not so clean, then I join the parts with glue (epoxi), but I adeded a piece of metal to the botom part, to increase the mechanical resistence. I add the black strip to cover the join. Then I cut a part of the original keyboard, took out the keys I don't want to use, I move the numbers to a middle position, and then I drill 1mm holes in the PCB where the copper lanes of the key contacts are. Then solder the wires to the lanes. Here is a picture of the synth opened.

Hi all: I finished my MIDIbox SID. I just called Mini64 for the look. It sounds really great, Thanks a lot to Thorsten and all for this really great project !!!! Here are som pictures:

HI: I was planning to do a noise gate for my MIDIbox SID (a copy of a MXR Gate). But now, I want to give a try to this one. Could you please give some more info? Where I have to conect this thing in the CORE, and how can I route a Env to it. TIA Sebo

About the random characters, it did happen to me after I try to upload another application to the PIC, when MIOS was alredy booted up. Try to upload the app (or even MIOS) in the first 2 seconds after power up, before the MIOS ver 1.9 screen shows up. Hope you solve it.

Wilba: Thank you for the help. SmashTV: Thank you for the fast reply. You right I commited the same mistake as t_xen do. Is working now. Sebo

Hi: I put togheter a MIDIbox SID, using PCBs from Smash TV, I have CORE R4C and SID R3. The J2 config at SID module is different to the one showed in the site. So I wired with Core J10 using the labels on the PCBs. The difference is SC in SID PCB. CORE J10 SID J2 Vd Vs Vc Vs CLK SC CLK -- MU RC MU RC MD SO SC SO -- -- -- -- I used a 10 conductor flat ribbon cable and two 10 pin 0.100 x 0.100 dual row sockets (I crossed 2 wires). I checked with a multimeter the connections and after plug the cable I checked the voltages at SID PCB (in the sockets) I uploaded MIOS 1.9b and midibox_sid_1.7303b_RC5, and all was OK in the CORE but I didn't get any sound out of the SID. Then I uploaded mbsid_interconnection_test_b, taked out the 6581 and with a multimeter do the test, but get 0V, moved the modwheel to change the pins and nothing (I tested A0, A4, D2, D4). I checked the ribbon cable again with the multimeter, and is OK. Any ideas? Sebo

Nattgris: Thank you for the repply.

Hi: This week I received the Core and SID kits from Smash TV (Exelent quality). I just finished the soldering and plan to do some test this weekend. Last night I was reading the 6581 and 6582 data sheets, and the recommended capacitors for 6581 filter are 2200 pF and the maximum frequency cutoff is calculated with this formula: FCmax = 0.000026/C And the minimum cutoff is 9 octaves below. With a 2200 pF the filter range is aprox 30 Hz to 12 KHz. In the SID Module design this caps are 470 pF, applying the formula give me a max cutoff of 55.3 KHz and an aprox minimum of 108 Hz. I don't know if this choice for the 470 pF if for another reason. I will try both values, with 2 different 6581 (a R2 and a R4). Anybody tryed another cap values other than the 470 pF? For 6582 (same as 8580) the data sheet caps recomendation is 6800 pF, so no discrepance here. Sebo

stryd_one Thanks for the quick answer. So options 2 and 3 are out of consideration. ----- Thanks for the answer. May be I was not clear. I need -12, 0 and +12 V to power the AOUT LC, +12 V to power the SID, and +5 V to power the Core (this last voltage is the problematic one). The filter is a stomp-box-like module that have it's own PSU, so I don't need to worry about. Thanks again Sebo

Hi all: My name is Sebastian, and I'm from Argentina. I'm waiting for a Core and SID kits to come. In the meanwhile I want to build the PSU. I don't like the idea of use the C64 PSU, mostly because is big, heavy, and smells (when warms up). And because I'm planning to ad an AOUT LC to control my Moogerfooger Filter. In the beggining I planed to use a 7.5+7.5 V transformer, in that way the Core 7805 gets 7.5 V and the SID 7812 gets 15 V. But AOUT LC needs +-12 V :( So I'm going to buy a 15+15 V 1A transformer to power up the SID and the AOUT LC. And for the Core my options are to: 1 - Send 15V AC to the Core rectifier and 7805 2 - Send 12V DC (after the 7812 of the SID) to the 7805 of the Core 3 - Use a 7809 to low the voltage before the 7805 of the core 4 - Use a separate 9V 500mA for the core I'm trying to avoid this last option, but if is the only solution, I will do it. What do you think is the best option? Will I have any advantages if I choose the 3rd? How problematic the heat inside the box will be? Do you have any other ideas/solution? Thank you in advance. Sebo