Echopraxia

You are probably right about the powder coat. The surface has little "speckles" all over it. it not super smooth. It has a very little grain feeling to it. Still nice. Is powder coat harder to deal with?

Do you think the jb weld will work with it?

I think its anodized aluminum inside and out Wilba. It was from a "niche automation station" control surface. Here is a picture. I am going to cut it right at the bottom of the row of 16 black buttons so just the wrist rest is left. The good thing is that what will be cut off is abot the same size as 3U. SO the panel should fit nicely. I should have enough spare metal from getting it cut to go the lenght of the unit about 19" wide and be 10mm in lenght. Now my new question is should I, a person with no experience, go out and buy a cutting tool and try it out on some test metal then go for it or just take it to a local metal cutting shop. I think a shop would be best because I need it to be exactly straight for 19" which I don't think I nor a hand tool could do. I guess they could just make two cuts for me off the main piece. Also what type of JB weld is preferred for what I am trying. There are some many types. At a glance it seemed like regular, industrial or the marine type would be good but I really have no idea. 7b48_1.JPG

Hey the simplest answer is the best one! Thanks for that insight. What is the best size/height metal to use for support of the main panel in my case of 1.5mm with everything loaded on just that one frame? I would just cut holes on the sheet metal where the bolts would go through right? Please correct me if im wrong. I have never used JB Weld but is that what I could use aswell to attach the metal to the panels? Or should I just use that for the nuts....? ???

TK can you also slow down the tracks with scrub? (not backwards but I wish!) Would scrub be cool for live gigs?

I have a question about connecting two front panels together that are the same height of 1.5 mm. Can I attach threaded screw holes (I guess spacers?) on the undersides of the panels with some JB weld and line them up by lenght and width for each panel, then use some kind of flat figure 8 metal connector as a joint between the two panels? Has anyone ran into this issue? Take a look at my crappy diagram. My enclosure is a canabalized lighting controller that already has a front panel but it's not meant for midibox. It has a bend that I would like to keep where your hands rest. The actual panel is straight where everything goes like normal. What I want to do is cut out the whole panel leaving only the bended part and attach a new schaffer or similar panel to the bended part. The bended part straightens out where these two panels can possibly attach. panel mounting.JPG

Hello. Would I need to remove the ICs and PICs from the PCBs before cleaning the PCB?s

Wow thanks nils! I am trying to go for that dark redwood type look with a sorta glossy finish. Maybe not glossy but nice and smooth. I am also going to try to paint the metal enclosure with a candy coat finish like on low rider cars. I usually start sanding with 100 grit and end up with 400-1000 depending on how smooth I want it to be. That's really up to you though. Sorry I don't understand what you mean by 400-1000. Is 100 grit the type of paper and when you get towards the end of sanding and painting you then use 400-1000 grit paper?

jb weld?

Hello. Sorry I know this isn't home depot but what is a good quality type of wood to use as end cheeks on a table top metal enclosure? I am probably being too specific. I just want to buy good wood that won't fall apart while gigging. Does anyone have any recommendations about staining and sanding and all that good stuff?

Thanks wilba I will have to try that threaded spacer trick.

Thanks!

Mounting the LCD to the same PCB is possible, but you should design around it and mount the LCD to the panel directly. When you say "design around it" do you mean mount the lcd first and go from there? Or do you mean mount everything else on the board and mount the lcd to the panel directly? I am trying to use the least amount of screws on the front panel. Off topic but has any one ever painted their midibox with candy coat paint like on low riders cars? I am using a metal enclosure.

Where is that picture of mike's banktick pcb schematic? I ordered one and remember seeing the diagram somewhere.

I am working on how to mount every thing at one height. Has anyone been sucessful with this. I figure I could use a caliper to measure the height from the mounting board to the top part of the base of the encoders which is 6mm (smash's) + 1.5 mm for panel. So my next thing I think would be is to get switches that have 6 or 7mm shafts including the base then figure out what height caps to get for the switches. Then I also have to size the height of the LCD displays. If those are more than 6 mm high will this be a problem. If any one has some pointers I would apreciate this as I am building in a small case.

Yeah Wilba it could work... I think. :-\ I just splurged on 14 pin idc connectors for it because its my baby. ::) Rewiring was VERY time consuming but worth the effort as there is no mess of cables at all. Nebula, I just hooked up LCD number two for my seq and I am all excited know that I actually have a working core and two lcds running seq 3.2. I can't do anything because I don't have knobs and buttons yet. :'( But it sure looks nice and purdy.

Don't worry smash I just put in an order for 17 encoders, IIc kit, 8x banksticks, and some panel mount midi jacks from you. And Don't worry . I'll be back ;D Thanks.

Thanks TK. I got it to work just fine! My sequencer is up and running. I typed in 64k for the banksticks in the asm and I think thats all you noramlly need to do right? Now I just need to get my encoders and switches so I can actually do something with it.

I found 14 pin IDC connectors at my local electronics shop and they worked great! only $0.69 Wilba, the 2 back light pins are on the opposite side of the display so that is my reasoning for 14 pin. I connected my first lcd today and it works like a charm. Very happy with it. Now tommorrow I will the get the 2nd one going.

I am having a similar problem with the 2x40 lcd. I am only getting black bars on the top row and nothing on the bottom row.The blacklight is working just fine and I adjusted both trim pots on the core aswell. Is this normal? I don't have the ICs in place on the core yet (still testing). Do I need to put the ICs in and load MIOS to get the second line to show?

Thanks for the reply david. You've been alot of help these last few days. Do I just leave J2 open I.E don't even worry about it ;) and then "everything" "goes" to J2 on the pcb layout/design. If thats the case, props to smash. :-* So to put it anymore bluntly, I don't have to wire anything to ground because pin 2 of the regulator is going to J2 and J2 goes to every Vs on the board which in turn goes to every other board that is connected to the core. Right??? I know I need to still connect the vs pins to all my buttons,encoders and leds. I just wasn't sure about the main ground point.

You'll need to connect only single ground connection, it should be a common reference point of the circuit, remember. Old post moebius. For all MidiBoxes GND is at pin 2 of the 7805 voltage regulator of the core module. My question is what do you do with pin 2 of the 7805 voltage regulator? Is that where you connect "something" to? I still don't get it. Vs is ground for the rest of the boards right? So do you connect "something" to pin 2 of voltage regulator and that ground travels thru the rest of the board down the vs connectors?

I'm building a small press for frontpanels right now. Hello. Are you able to make panels aswell? If so what program are you familar with for doing that?

Last thing about allied electronics. They say shipping is not calculated untill it ships and your order may be shipped from several locations. WTF does that mean are they gonna charge for multiple shippings if they have to ship from two or more wherehouses?! Ultra please let me know how your shipping charges where from them and how many different items you got from them. I also plan to buy my 17 bourns encoders from them as they are $0.89 ea with no switch

Yeah the way you describe it it should be easy. When I try to insert my crimped wire into the header it won't fit. I can try to force it but the header starts to warp. I will have to try tyco brand. Also about the 4 pin connectors for the din and dout. Shouldn't you get 5 pin housings for those?