chimchim

I did the update to RC31 and There seems to be a bug in the bassline mode sequencer edit. The "oct" flag no longer shows it's current status (up1, up2, etc.) and when activating the slide function it causes some very strange characters to be displayed under the "oct" flag. Soundwise everything seems to be functioning normally.

Yeah the only thing holding me back from that way is lack of free channels. Currently I compromise and do two sid engines to 4 mono and the remaining two sid engines to 2 stereo channels.

It looks very good for the most part but with a few exceptions; some of the more "blob" looking joints (as opposed to "teepee" shaped) could indicate a cold solder joint. Likely the component lead was hot enough but the PCB pad was not. In fact I can see some of the IC leads where the pad is not fully covered in solder. If the pad is hot enough solder should flow into the hole and across the entire pad. Sometimes just reapplying heat (making good contact with the pad) will be enough to get the solder to flow. Other than that good work.......I don't see any char marks or lifted pads so you've done better than many noobs :)

Here is the one I was thinking: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frederius/sets/72157594404558152/

Personally I don't think green LED's would look that bad with a blue/white LCD.......in fact didn't someone already do an mb-6582 like this? thought I remember some pics.

You have to be joking right?

I would suggest just getting the stereo SID option going and controlling through MIDI. You can worry about the control surface and front panel much later. The big decision you have to make now is whether to go with the modular (1 core and 2 sid modules) versus getting the MB-6582 base PCB kit. I think the module approach would be best suited to you if you are on a budget and don't plan on ever adding more SID's. Wiring the modules together can be tricky so the MB-6582 base would eliminate that and make it extremely easy to expand in the future.

I grew up playing games on the C64 way before there was a thing called nintendo. I am afraid all those hours have warped and burned the SID sound into my brain. I can probably still hum the entire soundtrack to one of my favorites Epyx "California Games".......The opening theme which I believe is a SID rendition of "Louie, Louie" is pure gold. I sacrificed my original C64 to build the minimal sid and still couldn't stand to let that plain old "6581" from the 24th week of 1984 go. It now has a home in the mb-6582 where it is stereo paired (poorly I might add) with a 6581 R4AR.

Worst case you can always sand down the JB-weld a bit if needs be; so I would say it's better to use too much rather than too little.

I had one of the screws pop off the first time when I went to test fit into the pac-10 case set me back another 24 hours in order to re-do that one screw...........I am guessing perhaps the jb -weld blob was not big enough in that corner. My advice is to be somewhat liberal, it will be hidden so it doesn't have to be pretty!

I don't Believe FPE does silk screening the panels are actually etched and painted, which adds to their cost. I went with the ones Wilba notes as being the cheapest. The control panel was around $108 and the rear panel $30.

Thanks to TK, Wilba, and SmashTV! Stuck with Wilba's basic design; all parts bought from Smash, Mouser and the local hardware store. The indicator knobs do nothing for endless rotary encoders of course but I like their old school look! http://www.flickr.com/photos/bducklow/sets/72157611157922387/

Never f'd up and LCD but I did mess up my first core module PCB trying to unsolder the LCD cable........that was back when I was to stubborn/impatient to use headers :)

There's an old carpenter's adage: "measure twice, cut once" You will save yourself much time and frustration by being overly anal retentive when it comes to this stuff. For instance I just got done soldering all the diodes for the CS pcb and I must have verified each was oriented in the correct direction 5 times before soldering; not to mention one more time after I had one leg soldered on each. The time spent triple/quadruple/quintuple checking your work is minuscule compared to the lost time de-soldering and replacing components (add in frustrating lead time if you must mail order replacements) which WILL happen if you are too hasty.

No worries Wilba! I see the parts list is already updated. The project is actually stalled right now because Mouser short shipped my qty of LED's (arggghhh!). Oh well out of hundreds of parts from Mouser this is the first time they messed up, they are still great.

Sorry if this has been covered but i searched to no avail: The CS parts list calls for 48 small signal diodes but I came up two short when soldering them in. Does the CS board actually take 50? (Meaning there's an error in the parts list?) PCB was purchased from SmashTV. I've checked/counted about 5 times now, I'm going to feel stupid if this is something obvious...........

I am happy to report the panels arrived last week and look immaculate! The two stages of JB weld were done over the weekend and curing as I type.......barring any unseen circumstances another MB-6582 should be finished this week!

You shouldn't really need more than a 20w iron as that is what I did most of the board with (excluding audio jacks etc.). The pads are definitely a little smaller on this board compared to others I've worked with so I did notice sometimes the leads would get hot enough but not the pad. It can be hard to make a solid connection against he pad with a blunt tip (Clean it often!) My advice it to hold the iron almost vertical and try to almost wedge the point of your tip into the pcb hole with the lead; I found this was able to sufficiently heat both on the trickier joints.

Bought from mouser along w/ most of the other CS components: http://www.newhavendisplay.com/specs/NHD-0420DZ-FL-YBW.pdf The holes match up perfectly so I'm fairly certain it should work, bezel dimensions are slightly different. The main hangup it is 41.7mm tall where the "crystalfontz" is 39.3mm, I think taking about 1mm off along the top and bottom of the PCB hole would do the trick.

4 cores and 8 sid modules is a lot of wiring, personally i would rather solder one PCB.

I didn't pay close enough attention and ordered an LCD that is slightly too large to fit through the CS pcb. The LCD i have is around 42mm tall when the parts list called for 39.33mm. The PCB holes and actual character screen size match on the one I have it's just the bezel. Anyone see a problem with slightly enlarging the PCB opening? There seems to be enough room where I could dremel off a mm or two without hitting any traces.

I've found a "de-soldering" copper braid to be helpful for stubborn little blobs that don't want to let go.

Yeah, at any rate it doesn't sound like 2mm would be the end of the world, worst case. If all goes well I plan on ordering two other panels later this year for other projects. Thanks for the reassurance guys!

Suddenly I've received an "order confirmation" from Front Panel express. I can only assume they are going to go with the 1.5mm thickness since I and Wilba have emailed them about it. The only thing that bothers me is I've received no other communication other than the original email stating they could NOT do it. Guess I will find out soon enough once they get here....**fingers crossed**

That's good to hear........and we all know Front panel express in the USA has done them before since that is where Wilba got them. I thought the email from him would be the assurance they needed; It's just frustrating getting no response for a week.