dubka

good guess. cheers for the hot tip mate. shame about losing the graphics though, eh.

Phew! Thanks Thorsten - that's great news. 0artin

Hello again, can somebody please check the tuning of their midibox sid for me? I need to know that it's A=440. My midines turned out to be over a semi-tone flat so is pretty difficult to use with any other instruments. Cheers, Martin

Yeah, I did indeed think it was a website. Thanks Sasha.

Am I right in thinking that the lcd at the top of the first control panel page is strapped to a dinx1 with 2 rubber bands?! Martin

Anyone got a link for Doc?

Oh, I see. Thank you very much for the explaination. Martin

Nope. Nor do I know what that even means. Sorry... ?

How does that work then? The 2 ports only seem to be connected to one another...? Martin

Are the joystick ports only on Therezin's board (and soldered together?) because he's building it into the c64 case? Martin

Ah, seen... that's london slang for "I see" ;-) So, where do I get the plastic jumpers from? Do they have a proper name? And when the schematic reads "7805 not stuffed" does that mean you have to remove the IC and insert a capacitor in it's place? Martin

Thanks again. All those answers bring up a few more questions. Haha! Okay, what's a "jumper"? What do you mean by "stuff"? And where is the list of the extra parts needed? I don't understand all the symbols yet. Cheers, Martin

I seem to remember reading something about being able to switch something so that an lcd with negative voltage or polarity or whatever (like that one) would work... but I can't remember where I read it coz I quickly opted for a +5v one that I knew should work. But yeah, I gather any HD44780 can be made to work, one way or another. Martin

Perhaps a good time to explain myself as I seem to have upset a few people here. I have just finished producing (and playing bass/keys on) an album on which I ended up using QuadraSID and Gameboy, integrated into a live band, sound quite heavily. As a foot note to anyone who is interested - I've discovered Wayfar MidiNES is not A=440 but, suprisingly enough the humble Gameboy is. Anyway, when I was looking around for these sort of sounds, I stumbled across www.ucapps.de but didn't have the time (or ability) to realise my own MidiBox SID. BUT after hearing the difference I am now wholeheartedly determined to complete one for future projects. QuadraSID just sounds thin and hollow in comparison. To me, the MidiBox SID really just seems too good to be true and the more I learn the closer I am to realising one of these amazing, coveted little synths, of which I am so jealous. So here I am, a musician attempting the daunting task of making his first synthesizer. Pleased to meet you and sorry for any ruffled feathers. Martin

Sorry Thorsten, I didn't understand any of that... But just to clarify - I never said anyone was ignorant. Other than myself. Martin

Cheers for the tip Seppoman. Just when I thought I had a hold of things... this. I was under the impression I was to salvage all parts for using the old power supply from the discarded c64...? I don't understand that image AT ALL. Is this circuit built on veroboard? Is this needed because of the control surface? And am I right thinking that it also involves losing the audio input? Martin

Thanks Alex. I might be going insane here but... It doesn't seem to actually say "use the connector of a serial cable". I just deduced that from the picture. And another question comes up - of the 8 connections involved, 5 of them share one leg of the chip. How does one make that connection? Are all 5 cables just hanging to the one leg with a lump of solder? Also, if I use the DINx4 am I still connecting to J1, J3 and J4? Because on the x4 J3 and 4 these seem to be running from 2 separate IC's rather than just the one (as on the DINx1). Do I only put one IC on the board? Or 2? Or all 4 but use only 2 IC's? And another thing, the DIN page doesn't list the SID under "compatability". This all adds to my confusion. Martin

Cheers mate. I apologize. I'm just on here ALL the time... I guess things aren't moving fast enough for me. I think there's a name for that - you get it when you've been on the computer for too long and can't calm down. It was more a response to old threads I've been reading anyway. Thanks for confirming my list. Martin ps - was I right about building the banksticks from a serial cable? And would a 24LC64 work the same? Also, any links for how to make a circuit with vectorboard instead of a pcb...? I'd like to make a DINx1 rather than buying a DINx4. But haven't got a clue how it all works without a pcb. Do you just run cable behind the board to connect the various points?

Yeah. I'm obviously not good at this sort of thing but I was a bit wary of the whole negative voltage thing of the fancy coloured lcd's. I've just ordered a nice black/green text one (which nobody would help me with). Seriously, what's the point in this forum even being here if nobody will offer any help? Or is it just for "gurus" to condescend to (or simply ignore) "newbies"? I've read this site from top to bottom until I don't know what day it is and it's really tough going for someone as inexperienced as myself. How difficult would it be for one of you "midibox gurus" to say "yes, that's all you need"? You know, some of us are just mere musicians, not electrical engineers. There's a real inhospitable atmosphere on this forum. It's like asking for help from the guy who works in the comic book shop on the simpsons! Haha! Martin

Red LCD's... http://www.crystalfontz.com/products/2002a-color/index.html#CFAH2002ARGHJP 8)

also, when you say "more or less" did I miss anything off my list that you have down? cheers

cheers for the link chief. I figured out that green lcd does (should) work. Not sure about black and red... Seen a blue and white... was pretty nice. http://search-desc.ebay.com/HD4478-KS006-KS007-S6A006-LC798-SED127-NT388-SPLC78-MSM622-NJU640-NJU646-NJU647-UM388-T793_W0QQcatrefZC6QQflocZ1QQfromZR9QQfromZR9QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQfstypeZ1QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQftsZ2QQga10244Z10425QQsacatZQ2d1QQsaslcZ2QQsatitleZQ28HD4478Q2aQ2cKS006Q2aQ2cKS007Q2aQ2cS6A006Q2aQ2cLC798Q2aQ2cSED127Q2aQ2cNT388Q2aQ2cSPLC78Q2aQ2cMSM622Q2aQ2cNJU640Q2aQ2cNJU646Q2aQ2cNJU647Q2aQ2cUM388Q2aQ2cT793Q2aQ29QQsspagenameZSTRKQ3aMEFSRCHQ3aSRCH

Hello everyone, I'm going to make a "step A" MidiBox SID (20x2 lcd, rotary encoder, 6 buttons) and need to know exactly EVERYTHING that I will need so I can order it. Okay, I'm working on getting the C64 for the SID and the PSU at the moment and my part list, from what I have read, now includes the following: SID PCB KIT CORE PCB KIT DINX4 PIC18F452 6 BUTTONS ROTARY ENCODER 20x2 LCD SERIAL CORD EePROM 24LC512 RIBBON CABLE Is that all I need? Also, am I right in thinking that you make your own Banksticks from a hacked up serial cord and an Eeprom? AND will this lcd work and be powered properly by the MidiBox SID? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fantastic-20x2-character-high-quality-OLED-LCD-module_W0QQitemZ230142057886QQihZ013QQcategoryZ36323QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Many thanks in advance, Martin