unrise_lyrical

wow, thanks for the big reply LyleHaze! That sucks that it isnt that easy though, heh, I just built a strobe light with a transformer in that from 240 to 12, and 5 i think...guess I just figured it would be as simple as that :P I have met a guy online that is dismantling a SRE-555...but I HIGHLY doubt the transformer in that is compatible....the 555 has a spring reverb...chorus too i think. His business is refurbishing and making tapes for space echoes though...so hopefully he will know. Otherwise I guess its a step-down transformer! does anyone know if they create any noise or hum?

I havent, but from previous discussions with people who have old Roland gear I know it will be pretty much pointless. When something is no longer made by them, they show little interest in even responding to emails...so something that is 35 years old isn't even going to be a blip on their radar id imagine.

Not stupid at all! I thought of that, but these are fairly rare (not super rare...but not common) And the chances of me finding one that someone is willing to part out is much less than just figuring out a new part to replace it with :) Unless someone on here knows of some secret place where you can pick up space echo parts without selling your balls? :P

So my dream came true today. I managed to pick up a real Roland Space Echo on ebay! for cheap too. (I assume) the reason I got it cheaper than others is that it is coming from Japan, and runs on 100v (im in the land of oz...240v). I figured I would just buy a step-down transformer, but then I thought...why not replace the transformer inside it? Would probably cost just as much a decent step-down transformer...and then I dont have to lug two things around (plus I could get an Australian power plug for it then too). I tracked down its service manual and this is what it has to say about the current power setup: Supply Voltage: 100/117/220/230/240V, 50/60Hz Power Consumption: 15W Pretty certain the one I have won is 100v (its like...made in 1974 or thereabouts...so it certainly wont have one of those power transformers that is universal :P) Looking at the block diagram in the service manual...from the power suply there are components that need 17V, 12V, 11V and 15V. Surely you could just have a transformer that steps the power down from 240V to whatever the current transformer changes it to, then have whatever circuitry changing that to the 17,12,11 and 15? Here is a link to the manual I am referring to (i believe the block diagram is on page 4, although its all kinda french to me) http://www.scribd.com/doc/2474420/Roland-RE201101-Space-Echo-Service-Manual As I have said in numerous other posts on here, I am not good with electronics (just starting out) but I would much rather do it this way than carrying around a stepdown transformer as well. I am not expecting to do it myself, as I don't want to risk damaging the unit, but how much would I be looking at for a replacement transformer, and a power lead? I have a family friend who is an electrical engineer, im sure he can swap over the transformer (as long as its doable!) any advice greatly appreciated!

yea, it was annoying none came with the kit. If they are cooked, I will get some when I replace the chips (dont think they will be too hard to source...one of them is a 555 timer, that much im sure of). Was just too lazy/broke to get some this time :)

awesome :D thats for the speedy reply mate! Soldered them in...my first time doing ICs....hope I didnt cook them! :-[

Hey guys, I am building a strobe kit I bought off ebay to get my soldering skills up to scratch for building a mbSID, and I am pretty much finished. I am about to solder in the 3 ICs, but the instructions are lacking (to say the least) and I am a tad worried about their orientation. The bigger one is easily oriented, as it has a notch at one end which corresponds with the image provided. The other 2 however (one is a 555 timer, the other I am not sure) dont have notches, but dimples at one end. The image shows them all with the notch at one end however. I just wanted to check, are these the same thing? as in, even though these have dimples, not notches, if the dimple is at the same end as the notch in the drawing, are they oriented correctly?

I finished putting it all back in :) it works awesomely! its interesting, its a tad bit harder to tell which is beat 1 of the bar now...if you speed it up enough its obvious but nowhere near as much as with the red one...not sure why though. And you are right...it is WAY brighter :) i love it!

thanks for the reply wilba. so basically, there isnt any real risk in trying anyway? the guy at jaycar said "i am not guaranteeing it wont destroy the drum machine" and i know he was just covering his ass but that made me a bit iffy about doing it :( not to mention they are bloody ripoff merchants there....$5 for one LED. doesn't really bother me because it gave me something to do today and $5 for a day of entertainment is cheap...but really...that is just rediculous

So I want to swap over the tempo LED in a TR626 from a red one to a blue one for shits and giggles. AFAIK, blue requires more voltage I believe...so I figured swapping the blue one in for the red one would just mean its a bit dimmer? As I have said in countless other posts, i am a bit of a newbie when it comes to this stuff so I would rather ask first instead of blowing something up :/ thanks guys

mate it would be fantastic if you could :) After pulling the screen out of mine, it looks as though it could be applicable to this design, but yea...the rough translation I had made it sound quite easy to break the screen if I screwed it up...and I hate to think how I could find a replacement screen...it would be impossible :/

wow, awesome! Thanks dude! I am going to try and implement this into my midibox! :)

I really like that mod done on that website...after reading the translated version though it sounds very full on :( I have cracked open the 626 and checked out the screen layout. It has also made me want to do a mod I have wanted to do since I bought it. Id assume anyone else that has used one would agree the feel of the buttons is pretty horrid. I have always thought it would be fun to replace them with rubberised buttons...and now I have cracked it open I cant see it being an overly hard thing to do really. Here is a photograph of the inside of where the buttons go: I have never used the stuff before, but would it be possible to use the case itself as a mould for the buttons? Perhaps stick some masking tape or something over the front so it doesnt just run out, then fill it up to a certain level in each one (maybe using a syringe to get the exact same level of liquid). Would I need to coat the inside of the button areas on the case with something to stop the rubber stuff bonding with it? or would it just peel off when dry? Cheers guys :)

I figure someone has probably already spotted this, and I haven't really looked into the power supply situation for the mbSID much yet...but is this a possibly alternative to the C64 power supply? http://www.paia.com/proddetail.asp?prod=9770R%2D12&cat=12 a tad exxie though...

thanks very much for the replies guys! I will crack it open tonight and have a look to see how easy this will be :) Yea, if you could find a link to those flexi strips that would be fantastic...they sound like the easiest way to implement it :)

So I have a TR-626 laying around that I bought a while ago, and as I am doing more live stuff lately it would be nice to at least have the option of using it. I say that because anyone that has used one will know the screen is totally useless without a backlight. What I wanted to ask was how hard is it, or is it even possible...to mount a few LEDs at the edge of the screen inside the case or something to light it up? Iv seen someone mount some...mm..think they were called cold cathode tubes on his screen? basically looked like mini neons for cars...but yea, I would rather something that can go inside...plus those ones shone in your eyes as much as on the screen so it kind of defeated the purpose imo. But yah...any advice/pointing in the right direction appreciated. I REALLY don't want to fry the thing trying to do this though...it is in too gooder condition to destroy.

Just wanted to check if the way I am setting this up is correct. The image is horrid cameraphone quality with even worse drawing skills sorry So the way i went about it is power is coming from that red lead to the board...then the gray line from it represents a solder train on the back of the board. The 5 resistors send this power into the anode side of the LEDs....but what I wasnt sure about is afterwards with the cathode side... Should I do the same sort of thing and have just 1 lead coming off the board...or 5 separate leads as drawn? Also, having one wire providing the power that runs to the 5 resistors is ok yea? I dont know much about electricity but once I had soldered it I suddenly wondered if that was ok, or if the first 4 would mean the last 1 in the line may not recieve enough power or something...I have spent more time around cars than circuit boards and was picturing it like a fuel rail supplying juice to the injectors...

As I dont have a protoboard to test out different things (And knew I would be driving past jaycar today) I figured I would just pick up some 560 ohm resistors :) seemed like a good tradeoff between min and max mA usage :) will post a sexy pic one they are all soldered in.

ok, I asked on the forum where I bought them and this was the guy's response: I DEFINATELY don't want these burning out....they would be a bitch to replace...I really don't mind if they are fairly dim...I am not going for max brightness. With that in mind....do you still reccomend 1k resistors? Sorry, I would do the math myself but...its all foreign to me :( EDIT: I was a bit confused with what that guy mentioned re. different colours. I gather from that that different colour LEDs require different power? I guess that makes sense as red is on the other spectrum from blue, and the longest wavelength. These are red LEDs by the way :) Going by the website you linked me to (you are right, very informative!) and the formula on there R = (VS - VL) / I VS = supply voltage VL = LED voltage (usually 2V, but 4V for blue and white LEDs) I = LED current (e.g. 20mA), this must be less than the maximum permitted Does this sound right?: R=(5-2)/0.02 R=150 ...does that mean i need a 150 resistor? My calculations seem way off compared to the 1k resistor you reccomend? :/

So I have picked up a bunch of these buttons for my mbSID: They have an integrated 1.8mm LED in them which looks pretty cool. ANYWAY. I want them to light up as soon as the mbSID is powered up...and remain on regardless of the button's function. I know I will need a resistor before the + of the LED...but what I dont know is what kind/strength of resistor? if someone could fill me in it would be greatly appreciated :)

Well, that board is already cactus :( I noticed a PCB pin was wobbling in its hole even though it was soldered, so i heated up the solder to reset it in its place and it wouldnt stick...turns out the copper contacts come off incredibly easy :/ blah, guess it was just a cheapie. Took forever to desolder the 5 buttons and remove them (without a solder sucker) but oh well...time to order another board i guess! :/

I ordered a stripboard (veroboard) off ebay and when it arrived i noticed it has a bit of flex in it...is this normal? I took a picture of it to try and show what I mean...its got a bit of a curve in it to begin with...I wouldnt be so bothered except it is what the buttons of a mbSID are going on to...and whilst they dont need much of a push...still... Model number is HS-03 ps. apologies for the photo quality

thanks for the replies :) it sounds like it will be a bit too full on for my knowledge level so I think I may give it a miss for now. Later on I will probably build a more full on mbSID...maybe I will implement it into that one! Thanks for all the help and advice guys! I appreciate it :)

Its all good, no, I dont "need" it, just thought it would be nice feature to implement. I have a TR626 and its nice to have an led pulsing away in your peripheral vision to help you keep a track of things.

bump, anybody? :)