toneburst

Well, I've managed to desolder 5 of the 8 caps, just using the iron and solder-sucker, and a pair of needle-nosed pliers. I've been cutting the caps in half, then using combinations of sucking solder from both sides of the board, adding more solder, and gently waggling the legs with a pair of needle-nosed pliers. It's been taking me 10 minutes per cap though, though, so progress is frustratingly slowwww, but I have so far managed to avoid damaging the pads too much, I think (fingers crossed). I've just invested in some liquid flux and an applicator for it, so they will hopefully help with those pads connected to the ground plane, when they eventually arrive (another eBay order). 3 more caps to go! Cheers again for the encouragement and tips, guys! a|x

Hi wilba! Thanks for the tips. You're right- I really don't want to damage the PCB. I've ordered a load of replacement caps, anyway, so I'll just do as you suggest, and cut the misplaced ones in half and try and desolder the remains a leg at a time. I've got a desoldering pump, and braid, too (though I'm not sure how to use the braid, really). Incidentally, any more tips re soldering to pads connected to the ground plane on the MB-6582 main board? I'm still having trouble getting the pads hot enough for the solder to stick, without melting the component. a|x

Hi zgba, I'll buy those ones then, and break the old ones to get them out. Cheers for the info! a|x

Yes; provided you make a better job of it than I'm currently doing ;) a|x

I had the same thing from Schaeffer in Germany (the same company, apparently). I emailed them back and said something along the lines of 'can you give it a go, anyway', and mentioning that I knew of several people who'd had their identical panels produced successfully in 1.5mm aluminium. The guy said he'd give it a go, but without guarantees. My panels arrived after a couple of weeks, and looks great. a|x

Yep, do tell :) a|x

Working my way through the rest of the soldering on the Main Board, I've just realised I soldered the wrong caps into the C4/C24 SID sockets, soooo.. I need to desolder all 8, and solder the correct ones into SID C3/C23. I'm thinking that it might be easier to snip the incorrectly-placed ones in half and desolder each leg separately. Which means I need to buy replacements. Sorry for the newbie question, but would these ones fit the bill? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ceramic-Disc-Capacitors-Y5V-50VDC-1nF-Pack-of-50-IN-UK_W0QQitemZ260338475589QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item260338475589&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 or is it better to try and remove them intact, and resolder in the correct place? a|x

P&P does seem a little excessive, especially given how small and light the items are... a|x

Hi audiocommander, thanks for getting back to me. Cool. Looks like it might do what I want, in that case (and a lot of exciting other stuff, of course). I'm actually not completely concerned about being able to get it to 'sing' completely in realtime. I'd be controlling the thing from a sequencer, anyway, so I don't need to be able to control phonemes and pitch at the same time from a keyboard (though some realtime control would also be cool for live performance, obviously). The PC/Serial control option isn't going to work for me, since I'm a Mac user. a|x

Hi, quick (and probably quite inane) question: Can this project be persuaded to 'sing' under MIDI control? When I say 'sing' I mean in an understandable, and pitch and tempo-controllable way. a|x

I made some very stupid mistakes in the PSU section. I decided, in a moment of madness, to solder up the two large radial capacitors, before installing the two smaller capacitors. Which, obviously made it much harder to install C2 and C4 (I went for PSU Option A, as I'm using Wilba's 6582A SIDs). Mistake 1 Then, (and this was about midnight last night), I mistakenly installed C2 in the C4 socket. Mistake 2 I realised I'd screwed up, but only after I'd soldered and trimmed both legs. I managed to desolder it without breaking either leg off, but it's quite possible I've melted it by applying to much heat during the desoldering. After desoldering, one of the C4 holes was still full of solder, and no matter how much I tried sucking it out with the desoldering pump, I couldn't clear it. I eventually decided to solder the correct capacitor to the underside of the board. This way, I was able to use the iron to heat the leg, and melt the solder blocking the hole with the leg, until I could push the component through. It looks OK, but again, I've probably trashed the cap with too much heat. We'll see. a|x

Wow, quick replies, thanks guys! Baconjuice's reply rings a bell, actually. It could easily be that all the pads I've been having problems with are connected to ground. This makes sense, in fact, as I've just been testing the connections between ground and the DIL sockets, and several have failed the test, whereas all the the pins that should have 5V running to them have tested fine. zgba, I'm running the iron at about 330C, though I'm not completely sure how accurate the temperature control on my solder-station is (it was a really cheap one). I'll work through your tips, and see what works best for me. Thank again guys! a|x

I'm having big problems with my soldering at the moment. I must be one of the slowest MIDIBox solderers out there, but I've also been having issues actually making good joints with the board. For some reason, some of the pads on the base PCB seem to repel the solder. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, since I'm soldering all the pads in the same way, but for some reason on some pads, particularly for the legs of the 8-pin DIL sockets, one leg of one of the large PSU capacitors, and a few others, the solder seems to stick to the leg of the component, but just won't adhere to the pad on the board. Anyone any advice? I should probably post this in another thread or something... Very frustrating. a|x

Hi Nebula, the Liquid Mix knobs are nice, aren't they? a|x

Thanks Mike. They sell them through UK eBay too. a|x

I've also heard that Wilba's 6582a Mega Sale is due to go ahead, and I've emailed him to confirm my order for 8 of them, which is exciting! a|x

Finally got back to work on the MB-6582 this evening. I must be one of the slowest solderers in the World, I think, but I've finally got all the IC sockets soldered on the main board. Still got lots of components to do though. I have some time off between Christmas and New Year, so hopefully I'll be able to get the bulk of the remaining soldering done then. a|x

Looking forward to seeing what that custom case is going to look like! I still have a couple of SID modules left over from my previous attempt to make a working SID synth (I'm making one of Wilba's MB-6582's at the moment, with the PT-1 case). I'm considering making a custom case for the 2 old SIDs, possibly with a control-surface like Ixox's ( http://www.midibox.org/midibox_gallery/ixox1.jpg ). Hopefully in the Summer of next year, when it's quiet, I'll be able to persuade the design technicians at the college where I work to let me use their laser-cutting and metal folding equipment, so it shouldn't cost me too much. Let's see how I get on with the MB-6582 too first, though... a|x

Hi Mike, where did you get your Splined encoders from? I have D-shaft ones from Voti, bit I have some nice caps that fit Splined shafts, so I'm considering changing. a|x

Completely off-topic, but can someone tell me where the Flash MP3 player used on uCapps can be downloaded from? a|x

OK, my new soldering-iron arrived today. I thought it was pretty likely I'd wrecked the other one by connecting things up wrongly, so I ordered another one. The new one is almost the same as the old one, and the actual iron part is interchangeable, so I thought I'd try the iron from the new one on the old station, and it worked! So, I didn't actually need to buy a new one afterall... Anyway, I should now be able to get back to soldering. a|x

The text and divider lines are engraved, rather than laser-cut I think. I'm no expert, but I imagine it's done with a computer-controlled engraver, which uses something like a small drill bit, or maybe a diamond tip. I guess they probably then fill the engraving with paint. I'm sure there are some people on the list who have a much better idea about this kind of thing than me, though. a|x

Hi Matt, thanks very much for that! Mine also has 5 wires, I think. I will try wiring them up the same as yours, and see what happens. Fingers crossed... Thanks again, a|x

I thought I try laying-out the two different kinds of caps on the Schaeffer panel. These are the Novation XStation ones: And these are from the Focusrite Liquid mix I think I actually prefer the Liquid Mix ones. Unfortunately, they're designed to fit a different shaft-type (knurled, rather than with a flattened side), so I'd have to buy new encoders to be able to use them. The XStation ones are also slightly too small, at just fractionally smaller than the holes in the panel, whereas the other ones cover the holes completely. I may yet be in for the next bulk-order on those 'Waldorf' knobs.. a|x

Hi there, sorry for not replying to your post earlier- I overlooked it somehow. I had a really cheap Antek iron for years, but I started to find it frustrating to use in the end. The current one has been pretty good, until recently. I think I might be in the market for a new one now though, after my botched attempt to replace the element (see my previous post). Hope I can get it going again, though. I'm feeling a bit tender of wallet at the moment, having forked out for all this other stuff... a|x