lylehaze

I like Frailn's answer better. LyleHaze

Based on what you describe, the noise is moving through the power supply. There are a few different approaches you might try to fix this. A capacitor across the fan power connections will help. It will reduce the noise, it will NOT eliminate it. Depending on how the fan is made, it MIGHT be dumping back EMF back onto the power. I usually add a diode across the power leads as close to the fan as possible..with the cathode(stripe) to + and the anode to -. That's just a guess, but adding the diode temporarily will tell you if that is part of the problem. Moving the fan to unregulated DC (before the regulator) will lend some isolation as well, if the voltage is within an acceptable range. Just a few things to try. Good Luck! LyleHaze

Great Stuff! As I recall, the Yamaha CBX Driver also supports multiple MIDI Outs, up to at least 3 (maybe more) A few extra bytes in the MIDI stream could switch between the outputs. This does NOT give you 3X the bandwidth, but you do get 3X the addressing capability. I was using this feature on my MU90R for a long while when I had no MIDI interface available. LyleHaze

I don't know what neighborhood you're in, but try googling "STANCOR P8508" It's 20VCT @ 1A, but that should work fine. It'll also allow 110 or 220 hookup. As Futureman pointed out: Due caution with mains voltage Primary should be fused, and possibly a power switch? Assembly should be enclosed, to prevent unexpected shocks. If the output is a 5 pin DIN, you should mark it to make sure it doesn't get connected to a MIDI port somewhere. That's an unfortunate choice for a MIDI device. LyleHaze

Very nice! Maybe we can find a better name than "Family Organ"... or maybe it's just my mind that's gone rotten. :-) LyleHaze

So like a schmuck, I checked the above links, they are no longer valid, probably because they are dated from five years ago.. What I CAN tell you is that I use Noritake/Itron 2X20 VFD displays in all my projects. The specific part I use is CU20025ECPB-U1J. I have a PDF data sheet available if anyone wants it. They are definitely MIOS compatible, and you can see one in the pics I have posted for the MBMixer project. Some differences from "standard" LCDs: These use a bit more power than an LCD, so check your regulator heatsink. These do not use the brightness or contrast controls from the core, but as noted above you can control brightness from the code. I think there are 16 levels available. I have also written 4 bit code for other projects. I have not tested the 4 bit MIOS code, but I doubt there would be any problem. The displays I have include the vertical bars needed for the bargraph display mode of MBMixer level settings. I don't know how common those are, but the docs describe what and where these special characters are. I hope this helps someone..?? LyleHaze

OK, I'll spend a few minutes.. My interest in Electronics started before the teen years, and I've been building things ever since. I need to know how things work, and electronics are machines with no moving parts.. I HAD to understand how that worked. In high school I learned "Basic", on a terminal with an acoustic modem to "dial in" to the computer 20 miles away. Before I was 18 I took out a (big) loan to buy a TRS-80, Model 1, level 2. I went "big money" So I could get the expanded model that came with 16K of ram.. (oooh). My career path has included repairing video games, industrial electronics, working as an instructor for an industrial robotics company, and as the department leader/trainer for a group of programmers in a manufacturing plant, and designing and programming embedded solutions using PIC chips. My hobbies have included home automation, hand built guitar effects, stage lighting, and a LOT of programming around and about MIDI, especially on Amiga computers. I have been unemployed for most of the past 8 months, and if you've got a job that requires some of the above skills, I'd LOVE to hear from you. Hey, it's a tough market, I've got to advertise everywhere! LyleHaze

As a longtime Amiga owner, it's nice to see us getting something besides bashed. The problem with "classic" Amiga MIDI is that for most users, there is only one MIDI IN port and one MIDI Out port. Devices like "Triple Play Plus" allowed the one output to be multiplexed into three, but with no additional bandwidth. There are exceptions, a few of the add-on serial ports could do MIDI baud, but not many. So the timing was great, but the pipeline was narrow. Not too well known, the Amiga OS is being "re-invented" on the PowerPC platform. The OS is coming up nicely, but legal problems and limited hardware availability have prevented it from reaching a wider audience yet. Back on topic, the "CAMD.library" that classic Amigas used to handle MIDI communication has been ported to the new Amiga software, and it's working well. The "builtin" serial ports of the new Amigas cannot handle MIDI baud rates directly like the classic Amigas, but support for the joyport MIDI ports is there for most sound cards. This library offers all the multi client capability you could hope for, and a plugin system for applications as well. To help the system grow into the future, CAMD on the new Amigas also supports USB MIDI interfaces. Any interface that uses "class compatible" USB commands should work. I have not tested the GM5 chips yet, but I expect they should work fine. So we have an OS that used to have great timing on the built in MIDI ports, but now working through a "standard" USB MIDI interface. There was a thread on MIDI interface testing a while back. I added data on how well OS4 performs according to Thorstens application. It was a fair run, I ran everything at priority zero to avoid trying to skew the results. I kinda wish I still had a classic Amiga connected to run the same tests on. Getting back to the topic, I had a discussion just this week with the name of the USB stack for these new Amigas, and we are working towards adding support for streaming audio I/O for studio applications. This will allow the next gen of Amiga music software to play with digitized audio as easily as it can now with MIDI. The current Amiga community is small, and well beaten down. But there is still a strong desire to support a computer platform for creative arts. Perhaps one day the Amiga will thrive again. LyleHaze

4585 is the correct chip.. my old 458's are outdated. Since the CAN connections are on the LOW half of port B, you can still run the LCD in 4 bit mode, which will free up RB0, RB1, RB2/CANTX, and RB3/CANRX. You'll need CAN transceiver chips. They come in 3.3 and 5 volt types, most are SMT, but Digi-Key currently shows 3 that are 5 volt and in a DIP package. All priced less than $2.50 USD in single quantities. I didn't know the status of the MB-NET project, but it is definitely the best place to start. Sounds like a fun project! LyleHaze

CAN is ideal for this.. as the physical layer, anyway. the PIC18F458 is basically a 452 with CAN added. I use them here for many projects. Wasn't there a MB_NET project on the PIC core? That would be most of the battle right there. One thing to look out for: When using CAN between cores that are close together, we sometimes just link the chips without "proper" CAN transceivers.. if you want distance, I'd be sure to use the proper chips to drive the wire. If you want to stay all MIDIBox, consider splitting the job between controls on the "downstairs" box and outputs on the "upstairs" box(es), with CAN between them. The cost of the extra core is pretty reasonable. CAN trivia: Was originally developed by Bosch for automotive networking. CAN is also the physical layer of DeviceNet, frequently used in factory automation. The "built-in" error detection and management is very attractive to hackers like us. The biggest limitation of CAN is 8 byte messages, but that is no problem for a MIDI environment, where most messages are 3 bytes or less. I've been up all night coding a new MIDI toy.. I'm a bit punchy.. Have Fun, LyleHaze

OK, I looked up your datasheet. It looks like that one should not need any negative voltages. The datasheet calls for a pot from VDD to VSS, with the wiper connected to V0. The core schematic shows exactly that for the V0 connection. Contrast pot: P2 So.. check the contrast pot on the core: One end should read +5Volts, the other end should be grounded. The voltage on the wiper Should move between 0 and 5 volts as you turn the pot. This should be connected to V0 on your display. On the Ver 3 core board, this is the pot furthest away from the display connector. http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_core_v3.gif Luminance Pot: P1 Not necessary to get a working display, I'd leave it alone until everything else is working.

If I were in your position, I'd try two things: Assuming the slide projectors are fairly close to each other, move the MIDIBox and it's DOUT modules up into the rigging, as close to the projectors as possible. Use a long MIDI cable, but keep the MBox to DOUT ribbon as short as possible. If that fails, Next step would be to use CAN to link two midiboxes, one upstairs and one where you need the controls. As long as you use "real" CAN transceiver chips, the distance and speed specs are clearly spelled out. The signals between the core and DOUT module are TTL, and are not designed to be separated by much distance. If the slide projectors are not close together, you may need a core at each projector to handle your needs, or longer wires from the DOUT module to the separate projectors. Let us know how it works out! LyleHaze

I can offer a few details: Newer PCs power LPT1 at less than 5 volts, It's not a reliable way to test a display. Good thinking though! Huh? Two thoughts.. If you're getting blocks on the second line only, then it sounds like a good display that's not getting signals. If you're getting solid blocks on BOTH lines, it may well be a contrast problem. SOME displays require a negative bias to get the display visible. Check your data sheet. How can you test without connecting the data lines? That's a guaranteed no-go. There is NOTHING in the display that will say "Ready" or anything else. That comes from MIOS, and it will require connecting R/S, E, and either 4 or 8 data lines to the display. Good Luck, I'm troubleshooting a display problem here tonight, too. Sometimes it's just part of the process. :-) LyleHaze

If you want to understand why, perhaps you could study the difference between "interpreted" languages and "compiled" languages. We are working here with a compiled language, and it will need to be re-compiled for any changes to take effect. If it were an interpreted language, then it would work as you described. On the bright side, I think it's safe to say we found the problem. :-) Once you get the compiler set up and working, you'll be ready to get your MB64 working just the way you want it to. You'll find everything you need in the FAQ pages of this website. Have Fun, LyleHaze

After making the change mentioned, did you re-compile the program? I see at least six different controllers in your example results, that seems to be a bit more than four. :-) You mentioned there's a lot more after that. How many different controllers/channels are there in your "random" messages? Good Luck, LyleHaze

Now that I'm working again, I'd be happy to get in on the next bulk, whenever that might be. LyleHaze

Sure! Jeff will explain it to you. http://home.roadrunner.com/~jgglatt/tech/midispec.htm I have programmed my BCR-2000 to control the MB Mixer, but not a SID. It's not hard to muck about manually, I have never used their software. First lesson, learn to save the "current setup" by SysEx. Then you can proceed without fear. Have Fun, LyleHaze

The project is a real landmark, The documentation is most excellent. A real double-grand slam! LyleHaze

"I couldn't afford to stay involved." I can't either. But I do anyway. :-) "Does your Miggy do everything you want from a computer?" Not even close. The browser is outdated, many modern websites will not load at all. But it is still the computer that I enjoy using the most. I guess we'll call that the "Amiga Factor". "Is it good for a DAW?" At this time, the USB stack does not support Isochronous transfers, which includes streaming audio by USB. A few of us were discussing this just a few weeks ago. So our current audio technology is limited to whatever your sound card and AHI can support. If we get support for isochronous transfers at some future time, I have volunteered to write the USB drivers, and so encourage others to write the higher level sound programs. We do have some pretty cool audio software, but in my opinion we need to support more devices than we have available now. MIDI, on the other hand, is well supported, and the addition of USB MIDI support has added a LOT of functionality to programs like Bars&Pipes, Horny, and other sequencers. I also like the ability to easily whip up just about anything I want for MIDI work. This machine currently has 11 MIDI IN ports, 12 MIDI OUT ports, and is what windows folks might call "fully multiclient compatible". CAMD let's me connect and route all the MIDI signals I might ever need. It makes playing with the MIDIBox a lot easier too. "Constantly disappointing behavior of Amiga Inc." Absolutely, and they are still at it. The OS is complete, but the lawsuit is still going on. Hyperion have decided to sell the OS as they wish anyway, and I wish them all the rewards that they can find, the OS is truly amazing, and "Amiga-Like", all at the same time. Now that new hardware is available(Google "ACube SAM440"), it is possible to "buy in". The cost is a bit high, but it will never get the cost savings of mass production. There is no logical reason to buy into the new Amigas, but if you remember what they once were, you would be thrilled to see what they are today. It's not about logic, it's about fun. :-) LyleHaze This reply was composed on an AmigaOne running OS4.0

I wrote for 30 minutes this morning in reply to this thread. Then I hit "delete" instead. I can say for sure: The bipolar supply in the MBMixer puts a LOT more load on the + side than the -, and it seems to be working fine. The analog portions load both sides evenly (or should..??) then I added the core, a VFD display, a VMusic2, and a USB flash drive to the positive side only. I think as long as each winding of the transformer is rated above the _total_ current requirements of all attached circuits, it should be fine. I also think I talk too much, and I should spend a bit more time reserching this at the old alma-mater, STFU. You all have a great weekend! LyleHaze

The more I think about it, the better I like it. After a nice long 2.5 hour drive home, it makes much better sense. Big thanks to Seppoman for being patient with me. Oh, and I'd rather see a scope shot of the regulator INPUTS. the outputs would be boring as hell to look at if they are working. :-) This does NOT "balance" the load on the secondary. The current from the "top half" will be the supply for the 9v regulator, and the current on the "bottom half" will be the sum of the current of both regulators. I think. I don't know enough about transformers to say if that might be a problem or not. Enjoy Life, LyleHaze

Yes, I AM an Amigan I currently run OS4.0 on a Micro-AOne. Financially I'm not up to 4.1 or a SAM board (yet). I maintain CAMD.library for the new OS, and I also wrote the USB MIDI driver for it. I've been playing since Soundscape on an A1000. :-) The new OS is very Amiga-Like, and a LOT of fun to play with. Having unlimited MIDI I/O really helps! Have Fun, LyleHaze

Seppo: Likewise, I may have come off a bit wrong. No offense intended, and I have taken none either. This week has been stressful in ways I have not yet figured out, but it's nice to be working again anyway. All: Have a great weekend, LyleHaze

Seppoman: This was the first time in weeks I've had time to post. Sorry if I didn't read it all thoroughly. Regarding the final version of the circuit, It's not the way I'm used to seeing it, but if you say it will work, I believe you. Have Fun, LyleHaze

I'm afraid we're not there yet. You'll have full-wave rectified DC to IC1 (5V reg) You'll be feeding something resembling AC to IC2. Don't order the PC board until you've thoroughly checked this out. Have Fun, LyleHaze