sparx

One kit delivered safe and sound to me in London, that was quick! S

I've got 2 tested and working 8580's if anyone's interested. £29 each plus postage. In the UK but will post anywhere I am allowed to.

I think its a pedigree called a British Blue. We had 2 when I was younger, first one was a bit dim, second one was a bit smarter, but never forgave me for leaving home....

re better or worse. Jim Marshall used to have his amplifier workshop close to where I now live. In those days his customers just wanted them louder!

Guitarists are interested in *their* sound. If you think about the likes of the Edge, Brian May, Jimi Hendrix etc, all have a unique sound and it seems to be very important to them. Don't know why... Something else I notice about guitarists is that they seem to treat their instruments as one of the family, one guy I spoke to recently referred to his as as "my baby". You don't seem to get this with any other instrument.

Someone did a breadboard Pokey: http://www.retroclinic.com/leopardcats/bbpokey/breadboard_pokey_project.htm Quite why, who knows. Doubt you'd be able to do an OPL3 out of just copper, might need to use a bit of string and some hot glue or something as well.

Make sure the LED's are the right way round? Sorry if its obvious. Please post back the results.

No, that's not what I am saying at all. But your links, coupled with what I have already read and done were extremely helpful. Thank you very much. S

I’ve decided to try and develop an assembler app for MIOS, got a little setup of 6 buttons, 4 encoders, LCD and LEDs. Am OK with hardware side, but am a bit lost with where to start with the software. Have read the guides, but is there any kind of simple app that I could modify to do this: Press a button or turn an encoder to get a message on the LCD, extend this to light some LEDs as well. Just as a first step. Am no stranger to assembler (or C) but it was a long time ago…. Any pointers would be appreciated. TIA S

Hello all I have some 80+ of RAFI Lumotast FK illuminated push buttons like this: LUMOTAST FK The ones I have are white buttons not red like in this picture but they are the same thing. I opened one up and a standard LED will fit inside no problems. As they are, there is no bulb. A legend can also be put under the clear lens if you wish. Anyway, Farnell list these at £5.94 each, am lookng for £2 each + postage. If you're interested please let me know. Regards Sparx

No need for dipping, just put the boards in a plastic container and cover with the etch solution. If you make your own etch out of crystals, use warm water as this will help the etching process, but if not etching just takes a little longer. Gently rocking the liquid over the boards will also speed things up, but it IS a chemical process and takes some time depending on the strength of the Ferric Chloride. Do not get the etch solution on a worktop, on your clothes or on your hands, it will stain.

PM sent. S

Cost all depends! I'm in the UK too. You can make your own boards, you can buy boards, you can get kits, you can shop around to get your own parts. all depends on you. Nothing is really expensive, possibly the front panels are a bit pricey, but they are pro made, maybe you won't need that, it all depends. Whatever you decide to do, you will learn much and feel pleased at the end and that my friend is priceless.

You have a lot of reading to do! But to get you on your way. Pots connect to the AIn board, Buttons and switches go to the DIn board. Everything connects to the Core board. Reading time awaits you...but its worth it.

Pretty much any buttons can be used, just go for ones you like the look of. I think debouncing is done in the software. HTH? Sparx

Thats probably the best place to start. The "rules" of MIDIfying any instrument say that any changes should be reversable, which you may want to consider. But then its your instrument! Good luck with it and let us know what you decide.

OK, computer is sorted. In short, yes MIDIfying this instrument for playback is (more than likely) possible using MIDIbox. Automation of the tabs etc would be really cool, perhaps Jim Henryknows of something suitable? I would however suggest you get it playing cleanly before you start building anything.

Its going to be a big project with a lot of repetative work. Is there enough room inside for everything?

I am not familiar with that organ, but did when I first started building MIDIBoxes, turn a Hammond organ into a controller using MIDIO128. But all the sound generating bits were ripped out and it was just a fancy MIDI keyboard. All the contacts were indiviual and it was a fairly easy task to wire everything up and program. As yours has a built in Leslie you may want to seriously consider having playback before you do anything so drastic. It would make a fine controller for MIDITZER though.

Check your solder joints and also the MBNET components.

Thanks, I have a YMF and as you say it is not much use without the YAC. Noticed the bulk order and will be joining that. These chips and soundcards are getting really hard to find, so if anyone is thinking of building one of these, now would be the time to get the chips on order. Buying new is a better option than pulling chips off old soundcards. Don't be put off by the surface mount either, just take it slowly and you'll get a cool synth. S

Yes, first of all it was ill and now its died. :no: Plus side is that now I can get on and do some other things whilst I wait for all the bits to arrive and when it does, the CS is there waiting for it. It was really good whilst it lasted! I see Mike has OPL sets but no sound chips. S

Well trying to desolder the SMT chips to see which one was faulty was a no go, so I now require the above, OPL3 PCB, sound chip and the 2 DAC's. It was good so if I can get two lots that would be great, but would be happy with one. Please post with details. Thanks S

Yes replacing the DAC first makes sense, but guess what I don't have any spares of? I'll post in the Fleamarket section too, but if anyone has any spare sets of chips, (think I'll do another one of these anyway) please let me know. I do have a spare YMF262 so maybe that will get replaced first, guess its a 50/50 chance. Thanks again S

Thanks for that nILS, have seen various permutations of the "2 9V batteries as a bipolar supply" but never done it. I can confirm that this configuration will certainly power the Op-Amps in the OPL board should anyone else need to do it. But alas, it looks like it is the SMD chips on the OPL which are at fault as I suspected. Apart from replacing them, any way of testing them to see if its the sound chip, the DACs or both? S