sb1920alk

That's a good idea. Thanks.

Question, I would like to have the LCD visible away from the pedals (near the manuals) so I can see it while playing. I was thinking there are two ways to do this: either have the midi box up there and a long cable (33 to 40 pin) that connects to the switches below, or have the midi box below with the pedals and have a smaller-pin cable going up to connect to the LCD (and possibly midi too). So here's the real question is what's the best way to do this? I was think about having the midibox up top, but I couldn't find a convenient cable that would handle all of the switches (I'd like to do it with only one cable). So then I thought about enclosing the midibox in the pedal assembly and connecting the wires for the LCD (16), power (2), and midi (5) to a 25-pin cable, like this http://www.directron.com/ieeedb25mm6ft.html. Then in the manual assembly, I would direct the individual wires to their appropriate destination. Would there be any issues with having 6 feet of wires separating the LCD and the midibox? What about having LCD, midi, and power all together in such close quarters for 6 ft? Alternatively, anyone know of an affordable cable (with corresponding affordable sockets) with enough pins so I could put the midi box up near the manuals? I'd prefer something durable like a parallel printer cable instead of a ribbon cable. What's the minimum number of pins I would need? 33? One for each pedal, and one common ground? The closest thing I could find online was this: http://www.cyberresearch.com/store/data-acquisition-control/pc-computer-cables/CBL_3706M_1751.5.htm, but it's expensive, and I can't find any sockets for sale anywhere.

Paul, Progress is slow because I have little spare time. Almost done with adding switches. Then I've got to put the midibox together. Anybody know if I can use just the one module and to change channels on the midi IN?: when complete, I'll have two keyboards and a pedalboard. I'll need each of these on a separate midi channel (the actual channel is arbitrary, so long as they are different from each other). My keyboards both default to channel 1 at power on, and I'd rather not have to change them manually every time I sit down. Can I connect the Out of one keyboard to the In of the midibox (pedalboard) and have the midibox change that signal to channel 2, and have it transmit the pedals themselves on channel 3? Then I would plug the pedals into the other keyboard. That keyboard would connect to the computer sending channel 1 for itself, 3 for the pedals, and 2 for the other keyboard. Is that realistic? I think I remember someone asking how heavy the pedalboard is. I weighed it on my bathroom scale as 82 pounds.

The pedalboard is concave and radiating. The "toe end" of the pedals have L brackets on the end of each pedal where the bend of each L is at the same level compared to the floor. The "travel" of each pedal is around 7/8ths to 1 inch. The "travel" of the microswitches is approximately 1/2 inch with actuation at around 1/4 inch. Ideally, I would mount them above or below (they can be wired normally open or normally closed) the level portion of the L brackets so they could all be at the same height. The down side is I would only be able to actuate the switches by pressing the pedal 1/4 or less, or 3/4 of the way down or more due to the limited travel of the microswitch. I'm not sure I want dismiss using the middle range of the pedal travel. To use the middle range I could mount the switches on the underside of the pedals part way between the "heel" and "toe" but each switch would need to be at a different level, or adjustments brackets or blocks would need to be added to each pedal to provide consistency. Alternatively to take advantage of the L brackets that are already there, I could mount the switches on an angle and attach angles (probably cut some right triangles from a 2x4) to the L brackets. That would amplify the travel of the microswitch - larger angles would result in more pronounced exaggeration of the microswitch. The switches have rollers on them, so they shouldn't have trouble either way. I went to Home Depot yesterday to look for some treaded rod and came home empty-handed. The holes in the switches are only around 3mm and I couldn't find a rod with a small enough diameter to fit. My back-up plan is to use L brackets or cut some wooden blocks to hold the switches then attach those to a piece of wood or metal. I'm leaning towards wooden blocks because I can make them all different heights and mount the switches underneath the pedals halfway between "heal" and "toe" to allow me to adjust the actuation point anywhere along the full travel of the pedal.

Ok, I went to a local electronics store and bought a microswitch to test out. It's has the roller on the lever. It seems much more consistent than the magnetic reed switches. I bought a more powerful magnet while I was there too. The magnet is more useful than the other ones I was using, but I still like the microswitch better. Is the clicking noticeable when you're playing? I can't tell from your diagram, are you mounting them above or below the pedal? Are you bending the treaded rod assembly to follow the curve of the pedalboard? Last question, at what point in the pedal's travel should it trigger the switch? The one switch I tried is pretty...micro. It engages about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way down at best. The same store sold some bigger ones I might try.

Can you post a picture showing the setup?

I'm glad you mentioned that. I am indeed having difficulty with the reed switches. The magnets I got don't close the circuits unless they touch the switch. I have a few stronger magnets, but they don't close the circuits consistently. Can you tell me which model of microswitches you recommend?

Ok. I have all of my parts (I think). Now I need to start putting the electronics together and I could use some advice as to where to start. Is there a "How to solder" website that you would recommend? I've seem a lot of them from a google search, but who knows if they're any good. Then I need to know which part connects to here and which part connects there.

Awesome. Thanks,

Can you post a link to the drawing?

What about depth? (how much closer is the bottom manual than the top?)

I've obtained two 61-note keyboards that I'd like to use for the manuals. I'd like to mount them together so that the height and depth differences match those of a normal 2-manual organ. Does anyone know the proper measurements? Also, I'm going to have to crack at least one of the cases to allow them to be as close as is required. Other than harvesting material from a rubbermaid tub, are there good alternatives to make a new "double" case?

That's cool. That's for the link. I like the bench, it look's great. That's probably going to be my next project unless I come across something in the mean time.

So I solder the DIL header to the LCD, and use the IDC to snap on the ribbon cable and plug into the DIL header? Does the CORE also accept an IDC on a DIL header? Do I need to solder the headers or just plug them in? Also, my LCD and two rows of 7 on one end and the two power connections on the other.

I thought you had to solder the wires to the LCD. So, one ICD connector for each end of the LCD's ribbon cable?What's an LCD header? What about the midi jack(s)? Do I need and in and an out or just the out? Will #20 or 21 be what I need? Thanks,