miggyb

Thanks Smithy and /tilted/, but after some more "quality time" with google (why isn't there a suicide emoticon?), I found this page: http://www.gorobotics.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=102&Itemid=46 The crimp tool they suggest is, of course, a dead link. ::) But I continued looking at Jameco's catalogue, and found this crimp tool: http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=159266 Turned out to be $20 including shipping, so it was a pretty good deal. Still, however, thanks for your time!

Dammit, i keep finding that tool, but never the specific name! http://www.lynxmotion.com/images/html/build022.htm >:( I found this B-Crimp Open Barrel Tool, but the website looks kind of sketchy, and I still don't know if that's what i need or not. I also found a BCT-1 Open Barrel Terminal Crimp Tool, but not for sale. I never thought a hand tool could be so elusive. If anyone has one of these "crimp tools" and would like to share where they bought it from, it would be much appreciated. Miggyb

Does anyone know what the "crimping tool" smash has on his site is called? http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/crimp.html I'm looking to buy one, but searching for "crimping tool" gives some crazy results on mosuer and ebay. I mean, i'll get things that cost $5 to $5000. It would be great if i could narrow that down. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I stayed away from Futurlec and looked for the parts at Jameco. This is what I found: http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=346773 It's something simple and cheap, and I think it will do the job. However, this brings up a whole new slew of questions: 1) Do I need to buy the tin contacts inside of the nylon housing, or do they come included? This is what I mean by "the tin contacts inside of the nylon housing": http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=234931 2) Would they be "stackable"? What I mean is that if I have a 2x5 grid of pins, could I just use 5 of those 2-pin connectors, or would I have to buy a 10-contact dual-row connector? 3) Would I just be better off buying 100 ten-contact dual-row connectors anyway, since it seems to be the most common connection used by SmashTV's PCBs? I'm assuming the greater the number of contacts, the more time-consuming it is to connect them to a cable. I don't know if I am correct in this assumption, however.

SmashTV's boards are based around the 2.54mm spacing, and when you buy his kits, they come with complimentary DIL pins so you don't have to solder cables to the copper contacts. Without any additional parts, though, you end up having to solder cables to the pins. And I would prefer not having to do that. I had a plan to count out exactly how many 5-pin female headers i would need, how many 4-pin female headers, how many 2-pin female headers... etc. But considering the seemingly endless amounts of interconnections needed to have a Step-C 4x SID Midibox, I gave up on the idea and decided to buy 100 2-pin female headers. I have had immense difficulty finding this part. Mouser seemed promising, but what they have to offer has a 10-week waiting period, for some reason. And it also has a 1,000 order minimum. http://www.mouser.com/search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=M20-1060200virtualkey57420000virtualkey855-M20-1060200 I was wondering if any Midibox builders out there have had any luck with different pin headers or if this is the only 2-pin female crimp header out there. (it looks pretty similar to what SmashTV offers.) If it is, then I am wondering if anyone else would be interested in sharing the order with me. I don't know what I'd do with 1,000 of them. They'd probably get stored in a box somewhere, while someone else had a similar problem to mine. Any comments would be appreciated. -miggyb

actually, they sent me their catalogue through the mail. it's insanely huge! i only link to the parts page for internet purposes. anyway, that clears up things for the rotary encoders and the buttons, but what about the vector boards? -miggyb

warning! the parts i link to might be the wrong parts, don't order them if you're planning on using them for a midibox sid I need help figuring out what parts i need to buy. i know that i need those things for a midibox sid, but i'm having problems getting the right parts. I ordered these buttons and these 'rotary switches' only to find that they are the wrong parts, i needed to return them, and i have to pay the shipping back and a 15% restocking fee. i bought some knobs from mouser.com, and found that they have an excellent selection and shipping for the continental US. only problem is they have diagrams and not pictures for most of their parts. this kind of scares me because i really don't want to order the wrong parts and have to send them back again. i'd appreciate if someone could help me out with these questions: i'd like a rotary encoder that "steps" forward or backward, instead of having one that has a continuous smooth motion. is that what "Detents" means? also, this might be obvious, but is the "switch" that is included in some rotary encoders just using the shaft as a push-down button? the buttons i bought, although i guess they would be functional, are way too small! :o I'd have to select stuff with my fingernail instead of being able to push on it with my finger or thumb. i really don't know where to start when looking for buttons. i'm sitting here with a ruler, trying to figure out wether 15 millimeters is too big for a button or not. does anybody know what the circuit of the button would be? i was thinking that the circuit would be off, you push the button and the circuit is on, and then you release it and it's off again. would this be an "OFF-(ON)" circuit? could someone tell me if this would be the right button to buy? as for vector boards, what pattern am i looking for? what spacing? does it matter? could i go with the cheapest option they have? thanks in advance for any help. -miggyb

Thanks for telling me about lazertran! I think this is the best option to date, and most likely the one i'm going to go with. i have a friend whose parents own a poster-size color laser printer, so i think i'll have no problem in getting a nice, colorful UI printed. I'm using the PDF of the Step-C design as a guideline. I'll probably just change some colors, the font, and put a design in the background. I don't think i'm going to start changing the position of the knobs or anything. What is the size of this surface, though? I'm using 40cm by 13 cm for now, but i'd rather have the exact measurements. In other news, i ordered the parts for the midibox sid yesterday, and i can't wait until they come in. ^_^

which is exactly why i chose that word. :P That's not a problem. I wouldn't mind disconnecting and connecting things, but as far as buying 4 more core modules or anything like that, i might be opposed to it. Just making sure that this was not the case. Also, i have a question for the front panel. I don't think i can shell out $200 for the custom-made anodized aluminum panel from frontpanelexpress.com, which was reccomended for US people by someone in the forums. I have a sheet of aluninum, and i was wondering what would happen if i bought a transparent decal with all the control labels, instead of having it etched in the aluminum. Has anybody else tried that? I don't know how tacky it might look, but i can get it for about $30CAN at sparetimehobbies.com. Any other low-cost suggestions about the control surface would be appreciated. I guess i could really just print it out on a sheet of white paper, stick it on a piece of cardboard, and then glue it to the top of the C64 case, but i think i would offend some people if i did that. ;)

I thought there was a way to make a pair of SIDs stereo in V1. It said it was lossy, but I don't think it would degrade sound quality too much. That's good. I didn't want to get into rewriting code fot it to work. I was planning on going all the way to a Step C anyway. Would the Step B be considerably harder than building a single Core/SID module? I thought it was just building 4 Core and 4 SIDs pcbs, and then hooking them up with a couple of wires. Then, step C would just be adding knobs and buttons. I didn't mean to rush TK or anything. I'm building a V1 SID while trying to futureproof as much as possible. I was just asking if there was anything I could/should do besides buying the more expensive PIC18F4685 to help with the transition between V1 to V2. On the walkthrough, it says TK won't change his front panel anymore. I'm assuming this means he won't mess around with the internal hardware, either. Or if he does, it should be backwards compatible to the extent of just switching out an older PIC for a newer one. Besides that, however, i didn't read about anything else that is reccomended for a V2 sid, hardware-wise. Just making sure that i didn't miss anything. The problem is that i don't have an FM chip, while i do have 4 SIDs. Plus, the FM looks insanely more hard to build.

Hello, i just signed up to the forums, and i plan to work on making a Midibox SID for a school project this summer. It is a graduation requirement for me learn how to do something new over the summer, document it, write a research paper on something related to it, do a presentation, etc. I'm not freaking out about that, but since there is a grade involved, I have a couple of questions. Firstly - I have 4 SIDs, 3 of which are 6581s, and the other one is a 8580. How do you suggest i handle this odd combination? all mono outputs, two 6581s with stereo effects, one 6581 without, and the 8580 also without? Would it sound really bad if i had two stereo outs, and the chips didn't quite match in sound? Secondly - How far away are you guys from finishing V2? I have a fear of being halfway through the SID walkthrough and then having it change on me. Should I print out all the website? For example, if i buy a PIC18F4685 instead of a PIC18F452, are there any repercussions that i should plan to avoid? I should start ordering parts soon. Any other advice for a first-timer would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! ;D