jwillans

Has anyone experience of wiring optical modules such as the trct5000 into a MIDIO128?

Hi Thorsten, Thanks for your insight and the warning. The boards are from SmashTV and I think they are the latest, but I'll check before going down that path. What's interesting about the problem is that I think I am seeing the same symptoms through two different modules that are chained together through midi-in/out. I'm going to do so experimentation tonight along the lines you suggest to try and isolate the issue. Thanks again, James

Further to this - will reinstalling midios remove all applications/patches I have installed to a core?

I am using chained midiboxes with PIC cores running midio128. They were working fine although I have been tinkering with configuration and per_se's patch that enables me to add potentiometers to one of the cores on J5. However I'm getting strange behaviour with the symptoms being stuck notes. When I look at the input through mios studio I am seeing a lots of f9 events with no further parameters, I am also seeing some of the notes producing none on/off parameters in short bursts which I think may be causing the stuck notes. Any ideas on what might be going on? I have reinstalled midio128 again without any improvement. How do I go about reformatting the core (without losing its id) so that I can effectively start from scratch? I originally did this six years ago when I first built the cores and can't remember the exact process. Thanks, James

That helps a lot - I think I will give this a go. Many thanks for your detailed response. James

Most of my midibox consists of din/douts. I also have a requirement for 3 pots and have a (PIC based) core and a din module (chained to the other modules which are all running midio128). A couple of questions: 1) What is the best software to use on the core for this purpose - midibox64? I like the configuration for midio128 from MIOS studio, is anything similar available that will allow me to configure the core associated with the ain? 2) Given that I only require 3 pots would it make sense to remove 3 of the 4051 chips to avoid having to ground all these unused inputs? If so can I remove any 3 or should it be IC2 - IC4? Thanks, James

I'm building an organ console which will contain inside a couple of wall warts powering midibox and two LCD monitors. I'd like to make the whole thing self contained by having a single C14 inlet connected to an internally mounted 4 way block via a on/off switch. Fairly simple wiring but given the high voltage here I'd like to do it carefully and properly. Assuming that I am soldering the connections, what is the best approach to make sure all the soldered connections are well insulated? Should I use use heat sink tubing? Thanks, James

Here is a (unfortunately poor quality) photo to illustrate the size differential: Thoughts? James

Hello, I am in the process of midifying my church organ. I've wired the organ using the following type of cable: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-10M-40-WAY-Flat-Color-Rainbow-Ribbon-Cable-wire-Z-/150526530670?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item230c14946e Expecting that I'll be able to crimp IDC headers to the ends which will then plug into the DIN/DOUT. When I did this I noticed I was getting the same note played on different keys. Further investigations uncovered that the ribbon is slightly smaller than conventional cable (I did a side by side comparison with regular grey cable) and the crimped header was misaligned with the wires and therefore shorting some of them. As you can imagine after wiring 250+ switches I am a little annoyed that I cannot connect the cable to the midibox, Does the cable linked above conform to a different IDC standard? If so where can I find headers that for that? Many thanks, James

Hello All, I hope that I've got the right forum. I'm interested in building small remote controlled devices that would allow me to raise and lower my hard to reach roller blinds using a remote control (Harmony). I guess this would be a battery operated motor with an IR receiver. Does anyone know where I might find tried and tested designs for such a device. I'd be also interested to hear of any off the shelf solutions (suprisingly a search on ebay brought up nothing) Thanks, James

Thanks again for these TheProf. I'm interested to hear what people are using these for? How realistic would it be to use these for wireless midi transmission into something like a DIN? James

Many thanks Per S and stryd_one. I will investigate further! James

I did search before I posted, and looked briefly at the core schematics/specification on ucapps. I couldn't see anything about the core being able to support analog inputs directly without the need for an AIN module? James

Hi Per S, I didn't realise that 8 analog inputs can be hooked up directly to the core. Could you point me in the direction of instructions on how to do this and how to modify MIDIO128 to accomodate? Many thanks, James

Thanks guys, I get a set of small allen keys and see if they fit. I certainly hope - and doubt - that it is a spot weld. James

Hello PrairieOrganGuy - If you have 2 organ keyboards, that will be 64 * 2 = 128 inputs. Each DIN board accomodates 32 inputs, so you will need four of these not five. Note also that you can only daisy chain a maximum of four input boards to each core module. Are you not adding midi to the stop switches or to the pedal board? I think parallel is the conventional and most straightforward way of achieving what you want, with the core running something like MIDIO128. James

I'm attempting to replace the potentiometers in my organ's swell pedals. I'm not sure how to dettach the old one from the crank arm, there seems to be a slot that may contain an (inset) pin, but doesn't seem to contain a screw head. Anyone thoughts on how to extract this? Kind Regards James

Hi TheProf - I'll take 4 please. Thanks, James

Thanks Cimo. I've measured the pots and I'm getting 11.31 as the maximum resistance so I guess these are fairly inaccurate 10 ohm. Should these work okay? James

Hello - I have some existing organ swell shoes that I want to hook up to an AIN which have existing pots. Two questions: Can the AIN be used with pots other than 10K? How do I identify the rating of the pots on the shoes. These are labelled AB 1270-003 Type J (a google search reveals nothing)? Many thanks, James

You can find the LCDs on ebay very cheaply. Look at the midibox site to make sure you get the right type. Two 16 way ribbon cables will do the job if it is a 32 note pedal board. Does your pedal board have a switches built in, can't these be reused? Otherwise reed switches are a good choice, although you may need to experiment to get the right "feel" from the pedal board. Many church organs (at least in the UK) use Kimber-Allen switches (do a search on google to find their site). Scan matrix are useful when there are lots of inputs, but in your case I would wire the pedal board using the "standard" arrangement since you have so few inputs (you only require a single DIN), and because that is best tested and documented. The standard arrangement involves a single/shared ground connection to all the switches and for each switch an individual connection back to the DIN which creates a circuit when the switch is closed and breaks the circuit when the switch is open. Hope that helps, James

No ;D. The potentiometers will be set using organ swell shoes where precision is important, and also they should stay in position when not being set. The rack and pinion method introduces more resistance which helps with both of these requirements. If I could find linear potentiometers that have more resistance then I could be persuaded to go with these. James

This is just a while stab. I'd like to get a rack and pinion such that the pinion connects to a potentiometer (there is a reason that I am not using a linear-potentimeter). I'm struggling to source rack and pinion sets, particularly in the UK, can anyone help me out? Thanks, James

Hi Trevor - The ULN2803 do not come with the DOUT kit and I don't think Smash supply these. I bought mine from ebay.com, you could buy 15 for $17 (including postage). As Jim has said, the LCD is very useful (ebay again!). Using 10 way ribbon cable to connect the DOUTs to the Core makes life easier, don't forget the IDC sockets to crimp on to the cables (again if you are buying large quanities of these, ebay is your friend). I would also use ribbon cable to also connect the relays to the DOUT. Good luck with your project. James

Would it be wise to use a 1200ma supply? Are there any risks associated with using a large ampage supply like this? James