Pablop

Is it possible to program the 16f88 with (JDM + (PicBurner 18f452 to 16f88 adapter) + icprog)compatible with 16f88? I see MBHP burner is compatible, but I have already built the JDM module a long time ago, with many succesful burns of 18f452. Thanks a lot

Thanks again!

That's good news! Thank you, TK. I'll be looking for a way to program the 16f88 with the JDM module I've already built

I'm not sure if this post belongs here, but I think it makes sense. I'm having some trouble with MB64_v2a. The problem is that in all pot modes other than normal, it isn't showing the arrows indicating which way to move the pot to start sending midi. I've tried the precompiled main.hex that comes in the package, and also the re-compiled version one can make by means of "make.bat". MPASM version works fine in this respect.

Thanx, Doc

Well, my keyboard is a low-profile electric piano. Nice touch, nice weight, 88 notes, but very basic in its MIDI functions (It doesn't even have a thru port).The manual is, let's say, 10 pages long! He! ;) Thanks for the answers, both Stryd and Thorsten, I will study it later, it's 4am. now. Cya around

A local on/off function is not what I need. That lets you control or not the sound engine built in the device with the keyboard of it. What I need is the ability to send to the MB64 both msgs. from the Controller and the PC at the same time, so, somewhere there must be a merger. Some controllers, but a few of those which I know, let you merge the thru (notes coming from outside (PC in this case)) with those coming from inside (Controller Keyboard in this case). (sorry if I'm explaining obvious things, I'm just trying to make mysef clear). Mine doesn't have that option. Regarding whether to go with the 16f or 18f version, I already have a spare PIC18F452, and I wouldn't have any trouble in using it. I have a JDM programmer, and didn't have any problem with it and the 18f452. Maybe I prefer keeping things this way. Now, I know that the first picture will work in doing what I need, whether the Merger is built as a separate unit or put it in the same case as MB64 (second picture). But my point is, In order to connect the MIDI Out of the merger to the midi in of the Core, Do I need to have all the components, or maybe there are some components that could be not used (eg. the optoisolator), or some part of the circuitry bypassed? Thanx PD: At this point I'm beginning to think the most practical idea could be to use the circuits and PCBs as given, but I'd like to learn a little out of this... Thanx again

Keyboard doesn't have a merge (or thru, or in-to-out) function, so I wouldn't be able to send sysex or any from the computer to the MB64... Not many keyboards support that function. That's why I need it this way, otherwise, I'll be connecting and disconnecting all the time. What's more, if I want to use cubase for sequencing, I cannot record my keyboard on Cubase and feed the MB64 with already recorded automation at once..

Hello everybody In order to work more comfortably, without the need of plugging and unplugging cables I would need a setup like this: But what if I include the Midi merger in the MB64 to simplify things and get this? I understand that would already allow me to get rid of the power section in the Midi Merger PCB. The question is: Are there any other components that could be removed? I guess it'd be possible to do that in the OUT section of the merger and/or in the IN section of the Core, but I'm not quite sure of what could be simplified. Thank you in advance, Pablop

Hehe! Thanx! I'm really thankful for all the knowledge given here. Although I've written very little, it's been some years from now I started working on it and reading in the forum, wiki, etc. I'm playing with it at the moment, and is as great as I imagined, and I hope I will be able to make more out of it. My next step, I think is learning to program it. I've done some first steps, when she was in the shoe-box, but now it is more motivating! You can see that I took the hard way, etching and drilling the PCBs, etc. But I can assure that it has it special flavour when you complete the task! I'm planning a few expansions for it (a merged midi in, i will be asking in another topic a few questions) and I' starting to plan a "modular" version. Maybe is not a very original idea, since all the hardware is already modular, but my idea is to build different smaller units, which you could use together or not. Example, a little box for the core and LCD, for realtime-processing of midi data. It should have connectors to plug other boxes that could have DINs for Encoders, or AINs for pots, etc. I cannot tell when I will be making it, since I want to enjoy my new MIDIBOX, but I like the idea. What do you guys think?

The page is not available anymore :'( Can you upload it somewhere else? I need to it for exactly the same as you did, I would find it very useful. Thank you very much

News: All stuff needed to run 32 pots and 32 (DINX4)+ 16 (DINX2) buttons already put in place. The creature is alive! Some little videos: www.giboon.com/pablop/mb64/DSCF7330.AVI www.giboon.com/pablop/mb64/DSCF7336.AVI www.giboon.com/pablop/mb64/DSCF7338.AVI Completing the rest of the circuitry. You can see the 4 ICs Bankstick PCB to the right. New knobs for my baby (those at the right, of course!) Reaching completion. Latest looks. It´s possible that in a near future I'll make a design in Vynil (we call it "ploteo") to stick it to the front panel. To do: the case!

The PCB is OK and working. It's useful if you have Atmel's eeproms. They will allow just 4 ICs to be used together. So this PCB is for a bankstick made of four chips. I'm adding a slightly updated design for those who could find it handy. There are two differences: First one is that it makes clear where the two bridges should be placed. Second, and maybe more important, there was a confusion regarding the labels of the pins in J1. sc should have been sd and viceversa. Cya bankstick4p.rar bankstick4p.rar

I thank you, that'd be nice. Thing is what I found are 24C256 from atmel, which have only two pins for chip select, thus giving a max of 4. I checked and double-checked the board, and seems to be fine. But since it's the first one I design I wanted to check it out.

Well, this is the way they call it here (Argentina). Yes, I think you're right. It's more a synthetic wood. I am very pleased with the cuts, they were very precise. The idea came from an architect friend of mine. They use this material a lot for the models of their design. As you can imagine, they make lots of cuts for that purpose. As you can see in the photos, the material around the cuts is "burnt". But the cuts had a precision of aproximately half a milimeter. I think the best example is in the vertical cuts for the faders. Now, behave, and in penalty go check my Bankstick PCB! ;D Kidding Cya Pablop

Thanx, cimo. I have etched my best PCB today! Doesn't it look good? 8) Me too! I'll keep working.

You may think it's another midibox, and you'd be right. But for me, it's the one and only love! ;) First some pictures of it's birth, when it was only some PCBs in a shoe box... Some close-ups of the hand-made PCBs (photocopy method). They're harsh, aren't they?. Still love them, since they do they're job! The day it became alive... I was sooo happy! Well, not really. That day is long ago (two or three years, couldn't tell). Note: The holes in the "board" are the places where the 8 pots were placed. This was of course a testing start. I tried a little programming, to send RPN or NPRN with 9bit resolution (Pic gives 10, but LSB wasn't stable) Values are not stable because of the removed pots. One of the PCBs bottoms, and the non-pro technique to make them! (now I'm getting better!) My designs of the case in paper (Illustrator) Because of costs, I made them laser-cut in a hard carton (named MDF in my country). Thery're 3, the front panel, just the buttons stick to it. The lowest panel, where pots and sliders get stuffed, and a medium panel, put there to lower the position of the knobs, so that they are not "flying" over the front panel. Some pictures of how it should look in a near future. It's a shame the buttons and knobs I can get here are sooo bad-looking and low quality. :-\ But, anyway, what matters is inside! ;D Last for now, some solderings from behind. I'm willing to get it finished, so I hope I'll have some news soon. Ah!! You're welcome home! Cya, Pablop

I´ve designed this little PCB for a Bankstick of four Atmel EEPROMs "24C256". I´d like to check this with the people in the forum before I continue. And, if it´s correct, I hope someone finds it useful. Thanx, Pablo P Update: I removed this version because it had some little bugs. See below.

Do you get only ONE sysx message, or one every two seconds? If that´s the case (second one), you only have burnt the bootstrapt loader, and so, it´d be allright if you don´t receive random controller messages until you upload *MIOS first * The application after that (I suppose MB64) Pablo

:) I know 12V is not the best, because it´s too much. I´ll buy a 9v adapter. Greets

Maybe I didn´t make myself clear: Shitty wall adapter, rated 7.5V 1A: * Midibox only works without LCD. Good 12V wall adapter: * Midibox works. Regulator gets hot, so I added a heatsink, but nevertheless I´ll buy a 9v one. * When measuring the current drain with this adapter, I see 260mA. (LCD connected) So, I say, the 7.5V 1A PSU isn´t really delivering what´s supposed to. Maybe this is also happenening to ashd?

Maybe this helps: I bought a 7.5V 1000mA wall adapter for the MIDIBOX, what´s supposed to be more than OK. It measures 9.5V when not connected to the MIDIBOX, but 6.5V when connected. It makes MIDIBOX run when no LCD connected, but when I connect the LCD nothing shows up in the LCD, and I have no SysEx commands sent. When I measure Voltages in the Core module I see that once the LCD is connected the voltage drops below 4.6V. So, I suppose this Wall adapter does not deliver what it says it does.. I´m using the MIDIBOX with another WA without problem. The current measured is 260 mA. That´s a shitty PSU, isn´t it?. It was supposed to deliver 1A!!! All other things taken into account, could this be your case? Cheers Pablo

YES!! ;D I solved it! It seems I had burnt the TX of the PIC.. >:( Apparently, a bad soldering had shortened the TX and RX pins. The PCB was made by the cheap photocopy method, so the tracks are not so neat. That makes soldering a little difficult. Once I solved that, the RX had the 5v needed, but TX was still at 3V. I bought a new PIC, and everything is correct now! By the way, I first thought that if I copied all of the data in my old PIC to the new one it would run. But it didn´t. I had to make the usual procedure, burn the bootstrap loader with the programmer and the rest via MIDI. Why´s that? Thanks Pablo dj3nk: I´m sorry if this sounds stupid, but I cannot get how could I calculate it back when the reading is 0.. Maybe is a too cheap and bad meter?

Another one: I bent a little the TX pin so that it stays away from the socket. Point: to isolate the voltage of that pin from the rest of the circuit. It keeps reading 3v in my digital multimeter (it shows a little variation +-0.2V). What I found SO wierd is that a little analog multimeter reads 0V instead of 3V! This is puzzling me more and more..! Appart from the funny thing about the analog multimeter (I´m curious, though, how can this happen), question is: Should I blame the PIC? Thank you all Pablo

One more test. This maybe stupid, I don´t know. I measured GND to TX 3V 5v to TX: -0.1 Maybe that´s normal, because the TX part isn´t connected to other parts of the circuit? Well, maybe someone can lend me a hand before I go purchase another pic ;) Thanx a lot Pablo