TheAncientOne

I think this may need a 12 - 0 - 12 or 15 - 0 - 15 transformer, with the centre tap connected to the 0V terminal. Without that, it may well behave as a single ended 12v. Never test a supply on a MIDIbox - put a resistors, say 100/120 Ohm, 2 watt rated, between each rail and 0V and measure test before risking you precious MIDIbox.

I'm with Sasha on this one. Run, do not walk, to that garage. At the very least, you could ebay it for enough money to build a x0xb0x, and have enough left over for a 'Wilbabeast'. Me? I'd play it!

Invoices will go out when I have definitive postage prices - the Europe airmail is in 10g increments!

Status Report I have received the order acknowledgment from ACAL/Radiatron, and they have taken payment.

According to my Panasonic original data sheets, AN6562 was renamed AN1358. This would seem to be a second sourced LM358. The spec reads identically I used LM358's in my TM3030. I've now got a few 'pulled' AN6562's and will do an A/B test. The AN6562 in the power supply is to provide the different power rail voltages, and can have little impact on the sound output.

Just had an idea: what are the possibilities of making some laser/water cut black and white acrylic into moving piano keys, operating simple tact switches underneath? It's definitely a pity the ML was discontinued - I never really liked the original sequencer UI, though more knowledgeable people on the subject suggest that a lot of the 'acidity' was due to it's particular quirks. There is always the thought of a MIOS based UI to drive it - hasn't this been done/planned somewhere? I know x0x isn't just an original sequencer either. Random thoughts - I do kind of fancy some toy piano style keys though.

I think this may be a part of the initiation ritual into the Serbian Association of Skilled Homebuilding Artizans.

Please put me down for one as well - I don't really like the standard x0x front panel either, though I quite like the Pactec case. Another really inspirational design Sasha, why some company doesn't employ you to design their synth cases I don't know...

This takes me back to my schooldays, and making a model carbon arc searchlight with 2mm clutch pencil leads. Got it to work fine, using a model train power supply, but didn't realise just how much heat came out: result, one melted plastic reflector. On a practical note, the same type of controller can be used to power a hot wire cutter for shaping foam plastics. just google up 'hot wire cutter' for loads of ideas.

Order Book Closed Rien ne va plus! Order in now. (I've got yours too opkod)

Final Countdown So far we have (Please Check): Brother303 1 cimo 1 Comandante64 1 davidBanner 1 Jack 1 julienvoirin 1 LaRssA 1 Nati 1 SexyBeast 2 sparx 1 TheProf 2 Twin-X 2 Wild_Weasel 1 ToF 1 CeeDub 1 ReBoot 3 opkod 1 Anymore for any more? Faites vos jeux! Order closes in the small hours of tomorrow morning, (7th September). I'll invoice once I have a final packed delivery cost. By the way - this is for cases with the panels - the 'no panels' option was only practical on a larger order from the USA, so if you want one for anything else, an AVRsynth, an AVRx, or a mini mixer - feel free to add.

For those in Oz: C128 - has 8580

LAST CALL I've got emails for 13, plus two for me making 15 to get the price point. Anyone else wanting one or more should get in touch before 6th September. As noted above email me at: profpep AT hotmail DOT com Stating: How many you want Your MIDIbox Username Your PayPal address Your address/delivery details If you haven't got PayPal, but have a credit/debit card, you can still use PayPal - just let me know.

I have sent midi via RS422 in the past, for a lighting application. It was over 10 yeasr ago, and the docs have long gone, but I recall a conversion chipset, and sending the remote power for the receiver over some spare pairs in the cable. I think the chips were TI 75179 etc series, as used in a lot of DMX systems now. You can build a MIDI extender like this quite easily, as I recall: we used the lighting rig unit over about 400m of very electrically noisy environment. Later, one of the guys I worked with did a fancy fibre optic, because they wanted to re run it in the same ducts as the sound gear, and there was some pickup from the RS422 cable, even though both the mic cables and the RS422 were balanced lines, (my half remembered guess is that the amp feeds were single ended). That worked well, but cost a lot more. Nowadays there are a lot of fibre channel GBICs going cheap on ebay, and it might be worth reverse engineering one. With monomode fibre, you could get a 10Km MIDI. Unless you are an expert, don't even think about off the shelf radio link modules, getting full data integrity is not easy Ther is a note on how someone did a similar thing here http://www.kmitl.ac.th/~kswichit%20/Rs422/Rs422.html Worth looking at: AD7306 Chips from Maxim interesting application note from maxim here ST Micro - in 8 pin DIL

Thanks guys - I wasn't going to bid on them myself, and the thought that they might be dead/removed had crossed my mind too. Like members of the opposite sex, it's always better to pull your own. Thanks I wonder if our potential SID manufacturer, knows that "blue lantern" is old UK slang for a Police Station ?

Batch of SID chips, $225 for 9 SID Chips

The power layers with all that copper are also the reason it's nearly impossible to replace bulging electrolytics on some motherboards - you just can't get enough heat in to desolder the parts. (I binned an AMD motherboard yesterday for that reason)

I bought some very cheap LM032LN's on ebay. They have an E/L backlight though. A friend has sent me a nice little circuit for a backlight inverter, which I haven't tried out yet - it needs a small transformer winding.

Got a weight figure from Acal, and checked the Royal mail website. Flat rate for Europe air mail, and a padded bag is around £5, this will be less for the UK. So, the current guesstimate price, including delivery would be £15.20 to Europe, £13.60 to UK Those who want PT-10 Cases in Europe should email me at: profpep AT hotmail DOT com When you email me, tell me how many boxes you want your MIDIbox username (if you have one) and your PayPal email address, and your real address/delivery details. When I am ready to order I will send a PayPal invoice for Boxes+postage. If you don't have PayPal, I will send you details of how to pay into my Paypal account using a credit card. I can't take cheques etc because the bank charges make it unworkable. Mike

Very good find, Twin-X. Their price with panels is almost as good as the price Pactec quoted me for 50 off without ($14.77), and they're in the UK. One point, the price quoted is plus VAT and carriage, which needs checking. Edit. UK shipping is free - even better. I've discovered that this is the same distributer I was looking at, but I got the "Radiatron" address from PacTec. Looks like a goer. Initial price looks like £10.20 (round figure including VAT - the odd 2pence will cover my transfer fee). Carriage at cost I've asked Acal for a weight for a carriage estimate. Mike

Thye make several thin PCB's, laminate them together and then drill, and do the via's, (the inter-board connections), and through hole plating. For more exotic boards you cahave 'buried' via's where the join doesn't go right through. Usually only used for very high density boards, especially when using chips in BGA (ball grid array) packages. Not home stuff - BGA's need soldering in a reflow oven (you can't get and iron under a chip). This is why some of the higher end DSP and FPGA's aren't easy to use for one-off's. If you want to get really mad, you could look at multi layer flexible.... Designing for these boards is a bit of a black art, often involving Radio frequency work, on high speed motherboards - face it, 1066MHz Front Side Bus is a higher frequency than early Radar. This is why you see those wiggly track on modern motherboards - to keep them all the same length, so that the signals arrive together.

Haven't set an end date yet - there are some other people thinking about adding on (out side the MIDIbox community). I originally got a quote for 50, but it looks like we won't make that. Best price was for the box without panels, (no point in paying for them if you're going with the panel order or Schaeffer, also cuts down on carriage a little), but that was direct from the USA, with attendant customs duty etc.I'm waiting on a final number before approaching the UK distributers.

Continuing a small hijack here. I figure the PT-10 as pretty ideal for medium projects as well. I think I can get an AVRx into one. Elby Designs do a panel for the AVRsynth in a PT-10 too Which means one could have a matching "WilbaBeast", x0xb0x, MBFM, AVRx and AVRsynth. . . .

I'd like a set: I voted for alternate, though I will take whatever wins. Nice work.

It's all cool from here - I know just how much effort this has been. Have a good, well chilled holiday, we'll all be here when you get back. Serious kudos for doing such a good design, then doing all the work to give it to the rest of us. Have fun - and send us all a postcard. best wishes