t_xen

Oh snap! that's exactly why I posted the message on caps in the SID forum. ;D btw Wilba, I updated my info on the waiting list to 8 sids instead of 4.

This might have been asked before, but would be good for me, n00bs (no insult intended), addicts and gurus that might not know this. ;) Filter caps (C1-2) on the SID module. Is there a difference in audio characteristics on the filter between using polystyrene, ceramic, or tantalum capacitors? I suspect that the speed in the charging and charge dump is different between them. I am also pretty sure that the value of the cap will affect the filter Hz cutoff range. What I don't know is how will the cap type effect this. any enlightenment? thnx ;)

Hunting for a c64 case. would like to get just the plastic shell, or one that's dead for my sid project. I don't want to trash a perfectly good machine just to gut it. If anyone one wants or knows of a good home for a working c64 rev.C machine I'm willing to let it go for US$15 O.B.O. thnx :)

ahh. so it depends on the demand. ;)

possibly the last sale ever??? egads! :o

not sure about the IIc IDs, but with the PIC IDs, not to worry if you have them wrong. there is an app on ucapps.de in the downloads section that will let you change the PIC IDs called "Change_ID". ;)

I started using the flash chat because it was there. when it went down not too long ago, I ended up hunting down a useable (but crappy) IRC client for OSX. I actually prefer ol' Flushy over IRC, just cause it's there and easy to get to. ;)

Sounds sweet. :D I'd be down for getting a PCB if made available. :)

I'm building a v1 cuz that's what I started out with, and am going to finish it up before I upgrade. and as far as the volume goes, I don't think I'll be needing to switch it around between different types of modulations. besides it ends up causing some extra noise. what do you mean left and right buttons, and LED's for the sids? If you mean left and right buttons for the menu, there aren't any, it's a rotary encoder, and the leds for selecting sids is under the LCD. But yea, it's pretty much a dressed up version of TKs layout, because that's the idea I've stuck with for quite sometime now. If I even make another layout and get it cut, I'll prolly sell that one eventually (with the LEDs still stuck in it). ;) The v1 so far seems to suit all my needs so far. The only reason I would build a v2 is if I want to use Stereo sound which means I'd want to get more sids to stuff it with. I'll prolly do this in the future, after I can score 8 6582s off Wilba.

Sometime ago, there was a post in the "Midibox of the week" of a box dubbed the "Green Monster" cuz of the green negative LCD, and all those cool green LEDs. Well, I had an Idea for a frontpanel in my head for about a year now, and it was sort of similar, but red black and white. Here's the idea: Black aluminum panel, all text in white, the rest ink filled in red with a negative red LCD, and red LEDs. I made a FPE panel and ordered it last week. It should be ready for me to pick up later this week. here's the concept without knobs, screws, and buttons: I'll post pics of the actual panel right after I get it. :D

well, crap. haven't gotten to work on this more as of yet. Been busy with hunting down storage, moving, getting every organized ahead of time, work, and blech! I can say though, that this project will placed on hold for prolly about a month after we move and get settled in. I have a front panel on the way for my MBSIDx4v1. Once this arrives, I'll definately post some pics of it in the SID forum as I build Step C, the control surface. :)

Thanks to Moogah for donating a couple of IC's to this project, I'm going to attempt to try this this weekend. :)

Foona, to get an external VCF working on your sids, you may want to look into TK's Aout modules. basically the Core will control the Sids. the Sid application has an "Ext" option. when you enable it, it bypasses the sid's filter and sends the messages to an aout module. the aout module will send CV signals to your external analog filter. The Aout link: http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp_aout.html Links for the other 2 are listed at the bottom. AOUT isn't recommended because of the expensive DACs. AOUT_LC could work, but you need to get the resistors to be as exact as possible for accuracy. AOUT_NG (pretty accurate and not nearly as expensive as the AOUT) could be your best bet, since you can use it for more than just controlling just VCFs, you could use it with the Midibox-CV app, or use the SIDv2 app and use an analog syth instead of a Sid (does take some source code modification though). I am in the process of developing an idea of using the AOUT as it's own standalone module to swap it between different midibox projects. Hope some of these ideas help. ;)

I have a 4x SIDv1 using 6581s One of the chips does have a dead filter, but I'm going to make up for it by using an external VCF that's controlled by the SID application with an analog output module. ;)

cool. then it sounds like I should do 'em up at 5.25mm, just in case. ;)

Welcome to the community Foona. :D Yup, I built a soundlab to start with myself. as far as the midibox projects go.... Yea, they need code, but that's provided. I don't know how to write code myself, but I've needed to do slight modifications to get it proper for my project needs, and it's not really difficult to figure out at all. ;) If you need to modify it, well, the source is very well documented, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. Besides, if you run into problems and need help, ask around by posting a question. One of us will pop up sooner or later and help with suggestions, or be able to point you in the right direction. Oh and on your soundlab construction, your wiring looks so much nicer than mine. :P

About to have my first panel cut. :D I've designed a control surface in Frontpanel Express and about to send in the order, however I need a suggestion on the holes for the LEDs. The LEDs I'm going to use are Cylindrical shaped with flat tops. the Datasheet shows the diameter being 5mm with +/- 0.25mm for size tolerance. should I specify the LED holes being right on 5mm or 5.25mm to allow for the tolerance? Thanks.

thanks to the help of smashtv, nILS, and bugfight in the chat, this has been resolved. had a short that was being created by leads poking through the insulation and making contact with the aluminum panel. :D

ok. battery to voltmeter almost dead. think I may see an error. The Sid boards that I have are Master: SID_R3 Slaves: SID_R3A With J1 of the Sid modules and checking the "mbhp_4xsid_c64_psu_optimized.pdf"..... the Modules I have do not have Vs and Vd Marked on the boards. According to the PDF, It would appear that I have the 12v power connected to Vs. This tells me that the power could just be dumping straight to the ground. Do I need to move the wires over to what would be marked as Vd? Or does it matter with the version boards that I have considering that there's a rectifier setting right after J1? ??? I'll check into it, in the meantime, give me some ideas if you have any. :-\

did further checks. if the Vs and Vd lines on J2 of "ANY" SID module are connected to 5v, the whole unit doesn't power on. I even tried swapping the polarity to see if I had plugged it in backwards by mistake, and it still will not power up. :-\ ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

ok. If I have the core and the sid connected, and the 5v connected to the sid, I get no power. if I disconnect the 5v to the sid, the PIC powers up, but LCD remains blank. if I completely disconnect the sid from the core, the pic boots up fine. don't know what could be happening since the cable I madew to connect the 2 is the same one I always used. I tried the other 3 that I've also made, and I get the same result to test if the one cable is bad. all this after spending the day rewiring power and audio from a previous teardown. ??? any ideas?

cool. I'll keep that in mind when I try it. It will be about a week until I can test this. Thanks for the tip! :D

Ok. 2 options: 1. make the serial bus cable shorter 2. implement some sort of line driver. gonna go with the line driver. 2 more options: 1. use rs422, or rs232. (overkill) 2. 74HC14 - CMOS Hex Schmitt-Triggered Inverters (for signal boosting) gonna try number 2 first. (Suggested by SmashTV) I'll need to implement this on the serial bus being used to drive the aout across a length of cable. now for the question: do the 3 data lines that run from the core connect to their own single input pin on the 74HC14, and the output pins connected to the aout, directly with no extra components? Here's an interconnection diagram of the 74HC14 placed between the core and aout on the 3 data lines: *(voltage input and ground line connection to the IC left out of this diagram) The 74HC14 will be placed next to the core since the signal will need to be boosted from there. is this all I really need to do or are some filtercaps gonna need to be added (in case of signal reflection)? It can't be that simple. ;p

confirmed. issue with the Gates are the result of the overall DIN cable length being a problem. I took a measurement, and the cable is 7 feet causing the signal to degrade before hitting the Aout. Solution, shorten cable, or install buffers as suggested by Bugfight.

I used used the Front panel Express (used the print option and save the image as a file) and hand made the images of the connectors, LEDs, screws, ink fill on text engravings on the fly in photoshop. for connecting it to the power, well, because I got the components so close together, I can't get a wire soldered to the 12v +/- points on the board so I had to improvise. I soldered lead wires to the power lines coming from the PSU, and inserted them into the pin sockets (positive into pin 4 in both IC3 and 4 and negative into pin 11 in both IC3 and IC4). I know, sounds like a crack job, huh? :P