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,

Ok, I'm ready to start ordering parts. Please feel free to comment on my parts list: From http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/buy.html: #02 Core kit with PIC18F452 #04 DIN Kit #33 10 pin Female ICD Connector x 4 #34 10 pin Ribbon Cable x 4 From http://character-lcd-lcds.shopeio.com/inventory/details.asp?id=1197&cat=Lcds&sub=Character%20Lcd The Data Vision DV-16236-S1FTLY LCD From www.mouser.com 816-RI-01BAA Switches x >=32 From any craft store: Magnets x >=32 From misc unused electronic device: Power supply I'm going to experiment with the magnets/switch position to try to get a precise actuation point and then mount the switches on a wooden board which I mount to the end of the pedalboard.

Well, the one here was 20x2. If 16x2 works, that's fine with me. Thanks for the link. I was actually think about 1/2" or 3/8" for the magnets because I don't want them to actuate the switches of adjacent pedals. Have you had good luck with 1/2"? I know, but I can try to put together a fairly good parts list. That's cool, thanks. Any particular voltage? Do I need to solder a connection onto the board for it? That's a possibility. I still think the hardest step is collecting all the necessary parts...I may have a different opinion after I'm finished :O)

Wow, I can't believe the responses I see here. I've posted on other forums and rarely get a useful reply. Thanks so much! I did an ebay search for an LCD here. It's 20x2, like the one on SmatshTV that was sold out. What do you think? The pedals currently have no switches at all, which is why I wanted to add the reed switches. My idea to is connect a magnet to the end of each pedal. On a piece of wood which will be mounted at the end of the pedalboard, I'll connect the reed switches. This way all of the electronics will be on that board, so if I ever need to take it off, just a few screws will disconnect it from the pedalboard. The only thing left with the pedalboard would be the magnets. I went to the Mouser site to look for reed switches. They have way to many options for me to know which one to get. Can you be more specific? There's a Michael's locally, I'll stop there for the magnets. Any suggestions on the size/strength of the magnets? I'm a little confused on the ribbon cables. How do these connect to the DIN board? How does the board know which cable is connected to which note? The 8 wires for the common ground...are these connected to each other, or are they connected internally on the board? Other than the 32 note and one ground connection, what else do I need to anticipate? Is it hard to connect the LCD? Is there a power connection needed, or is it powered through the midi cable?

Yes, I'm in the US, in Texas. Ok, great. I see the Core Kit, that's item number 06. I see the LCP, number 49, but it's sold out. Is there an alternative I can use or can it be left out? There are 32 pedals, I'm not sure how the wiring works. Would two 16-pin ribbon cables do it, or do I need 4? And I see the ribbon cable connectors just above them. I've only soldered with one of those little strips of metal Radio Shack sells that you melt with a match, but I'm sure I can figure it out. How do I do the actual connection to the pedals? In my reading I saw that magnetically actuated reed switches are the most reliable option. What do you think? Do you know where to get those and magnets? However I do it, there are two leads to the switch, so 32 x 2 = 64 connections at the pedals. That's why I'm thinking I'll need 4 16-pin ribbon cables. How do you know which wire from the ribbon goes to which pedal? Here's another question. I read somewhere that there are two ways to wire pedals for midi: one-to-one connections or using an 8 x 4 scan matrix. One-to-one is pretty straight forward, but I have a question about the scan matrix configuration. It's my understanding that there are 8 columns and 4 rows. So if I push the first note, it will be (1,1). The second note will be (1,2) and so on until you get to the ninth note and it will be (2,1). How does it handle polyphony? Let's say I'm pushing the first note (1,1) and the tenth note (2,2) at the same time. How can it distinguish that from the second note (1,2) and the ninth note (2,1) at the same time? Both would signal the first and second row and first and second column. Which type of wiring configuration does the Core kit use? Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm brand new to this and looking forward to do starting the project. I appreciate your response. Thanks!

I have an organ pedalboard that I want to hook up to my digital keyboard and/or computer with midi. I've been googling around the net for a few days and just now found this site. I know I need a midi encoder that can handle 32 notes, and I need 32 magnetic reed switches and magnets. That's where I'm at now, so any help is appreciated. I can follow instructions very well, so things like "go to this site" "buy this item" etc., work well for me. Thanks!