toneburst

I'm wondering if http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=5005401&N=401 could be used with a couloured gel to make nice neg-mode displays in different colours. I guess it depends how bright the characters are. That could be pretty cool though, as you could use any colour you liked, since there are a wide range of lighting gel colours available. Anyone any thoughts? Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Moogah, can you elaborate on your reply to my other thread re. CrystalFontz LCDs? You said the red/black neg. 20x2 looked nothing like the pic. Could I ask you what it did look like? I'm intrigued, because I really want a red LCD for my MIDIBox Sid 'Step A', and can't find anywhere in the UK that sells them singly. Cheers, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Realllllyy moogah- what did it look like when it arrived? Alex http://www.toneburst.net

OK, you all know how it is.... I'm filling the time while I wait for my kits to arrive from SmashTV trying to track down obscure enclosures, and lately, LCD displays. I have a blue-backlit 20x2 on order from a company in Hong Kong, but have been lusting after the CFAH2002A-RMC-JP (the red neg-mode 20x2) from Crystal Fontz. Unfortunately, while the displays themselves are very reasonably-priced, the company are US-based, and the P&P to the UK is 'prohibitive'. I've done a fair amount of googling around for a UK supplier for a similar product but without sucess- or at least have been unable to find anywhere that will supply in less than x number of units (where x is a number anywhere between 500 and 1000x the number I actually need). Does anyone happen to know of a UK or Europe-based supplier with a really good selection of different-coloured pos. and neg. character LCDs who will ship single units? I'm also very interested in white-backlit pos. and neg. displays, which I thing would go very nicely with an apple iBook/iMac-style white enclosure. Alternatively, does anyone else in the UK share my geeky desire for sexy displays that only an international order can satisfy, and would like to order some from the Crystal Fontz people and split the delivery charge? I'm happy to cover the re-delivery costs to other UK MIDIBoxers, as long as there aren't too many of you, of course. Cheers guys, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

cheers for your reply th0mas, cool! I was looking for something with a sloping front-panel too. I have a Novation Nova desktop synth which comes in a nice handy case http://www.vintagesynth.com/index2.html (and is incidentally also a really nice synth). I was thinking more of getting some sort of new case or project box for it though. I've been looking at some suppliers and some of the prices seem a little OTT. Like £40+for slope-top keyboard-style ABS boxes..... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Anyone have any cool ideas for enclosures for a 'SIDBox Uno' with a Step A interface (ie LCD, 5 buttons and an encoder)? I'm currently thinking white plastic, but want something a bit more exciting than a bog-standard ABS project box. I'd also prefer to be able to drill holes etc. myself with hand-tools, so that effectively rules-out aluminium boxes, I think. Anyone any ideas/suppliers I could try? I'm UK-based, incidentally. Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi Rowan, thanks for that. I will give them a look. They're Europe-based also, so P&P to the UK might not be too bad. Cheers, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Anyone come across the above, available in small quantities? Alx http://www. toneburst.net

Hi people, thanks for your replies. I think I'll make up a paper template sheet marked up with dots and lines a-la stripboard, then I can photocopy this sheet and use it to work out the most efficient way of laying out the components. I've done this sort of thing in the past, but a lonnnnnng time ago. Tanstaafl, if you could dig out that pcb layout, that would be brilliant. I actually have one of SmashTVs MBCore kits on the way, but I'd be really interested to see your combined PCB, as I'm thinking of putting a single Step A SID in a smallish case, so anything that saves space would be great! illogik; I will probably get one of the SmashTV DINX4 kits eventually, but at the moment I just want to start with thebasics, as it were, and get a simple 1-SID system up-and-running. Also, as I mentioned above, space is at a premium. Thanks again guys, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hiya, does anyone happen to have a simple diagram showing how the DINX1 can be physically laid-out on stripboard? I have the circuit diagram, but I'm a bit of a newbie, and I'm not too sure how to go about laying out the components. If anyone has a PCB layout for this that might also be very helpful, as I'm considering investing in some sort of circuit-board etching setup. I know this is a childishly simple circuit, but as I said; I'm new to all this really. Thanks in advance you guys, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi Rowan, thanks for your reply. I may just do that. At the moment I'm thinking about just making a 'Step A' SID synth, so buying a single encoder from Farnell just to see how it works, rather than waiting for one to be sent from the US makes sense for me. I have ordered a couple of kits from SmashTV (which have been 'In Process' awaiting shipping for some time now), so I know of his site. I think if I'm successful with the Step A SID, I'll probably order a load more bits from Smash, unless I can find a cheaper UK supplier. I'm impatient, that's my problem: don't like waiting around for things to ship.... Cheers, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Anyone any ideas on the suitability or otherwise of this encoder from Farnell UK? It has a switch option (I think when you push the knob down), which I thought could be used as a nice neat alternative to the menu button. http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=4452446&N=0 Cheers, Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Apologies all- I've found a PDF that very clearly shows where everything should be connected. Damn; made myself look like a fool with my very first post.... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Hi Rio, thanks for getting back to me so quickly! I've looked through most of the documentation, including most of the pages you list, but am still not sure about the specifcs of where to attach wires from the buttons, LCD and encoder to the DIN module. I'm probably missing something obvious here.... Alex http://www.toneburst.net

Sifam do custom colours too! I'm thinking of trying to get hold of some of the soft-touch ones in white, maybe with different colour lines, for different sections of the SID control-panel (so the filter section would be red, say, and the envelope controls blue etc.). The only problem is it looks like they have quite high minimum order quantities. Maybe I'll try ang get some samples out of them, anyway. Would anyone else perhaps be interested in some white soft-touch knobs (assuming I have to make a bulk order)? I'm happy to just order one colour-combination if necessary (white body+grey or blue line, maybe). The ones I'm thinking of at the moment are the the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ones on this page: http://www.sifam.com/2colpush_on_result.lasso?Skip=4&Type=Soft Anyone any thoughts? Alex http://www.toneburst.net

I'm a man of wealth and taste.... I'm not really: just heard that Rolling Stones track on the radio the other day and it's stuck in my head now...! I'm Alex, and I'm a MIDIBox SID newbie (though I've done bits and pieces of soldering etc. in the past). I've just picked up my first C64 on eBay, have my Core and SID kits ordered from SmashTV, and have a nice blue 2x20 LCD on the way too (also courtesy of UK eBay). I'm just debating at the moment whether to go all-out for the whole 4-SID with control-surface extravaganza, or stick to just the one-chip basic model for the moment. One thing I'm a little confused about is the details of how to setup the basic 'Step A' controllers. I'm thinking of getting a DINX4 kit, but am a little unsure exactly how to connect the buttons, encoder and LCD. Could anyone point me in the direction of a simple newbie-friendly walkthrough of this stage of the project? Also; anyone know of a supplier for nicely-coloured LCDs in, or willing to ship to the UK? I'm looking for a red positive display ideally (ie red characters on a black background). The only supplier I can find for these, that's willing to ship single units is crystalfontz in the US, but the international shipping costs are prohibitive, sadly.... I'm really excited about this project, and encouraged that you seem to have a thriving little community going on here. I think it's going to be fun! Cheers, alx http://www.toneburst.net