ssp

why a square hole???? the switch sits on the pcb inside the case the hole would need to be a hex hole, if you want to make a case similar to the style you posted in the beginning in the link then you would need to get the case cnc cut anyway. here is a diagram i did for someone else the other week , but it shows the same thing, the green pcb, the tact switch and then the cap showing through the top panel. you would do the same thing however the panel would be spaced a little higher to allow for the thickness of the hex caps. Then when you got it cnc cut out of acrylic you could get it done at the same place as the caps. If you wanted it out of metal then you have several options. the buttons are the same pressure rating as laptop buttons, in fact they dont take much at all, they are momentary tactile buttons or tact buttons as they are also known and require very little pressure, a gentle press is all it needs. how can i compare, press a button on a dvd player etc thats the same sort of thing, behind the cap is a momentary tact button.

i just bought them from ebay, it took about 8 days for them to arrive, i always use sellers with an above 97% rating though, the one i used was 100% rated in the feedback. you could do the same thing with these here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100-pcsTactile-Push-Button-Switch-Momentary-Tact-Caps_W0QQitemZ160380150333 all you do is you make the recess hole under the hex cap a wider diameter accordingly.

i bought 200 momentary switches with round caps for under £10 uk sterling from hong kong and that was with free delivery too. as for the caps, its simple you just get a dxf of a switch done i we work out switch size what you can do is this. get the switches and round caps, have the hex caps lasercut out of some acrylic and also before this they have a 6.05mm hole drilled into the centre. if say the material is 5mm thick have them 2.5mm depth then you can have the switch cap glued into this hex cover cap. this way you get the amount you need made cheaply using a cnc shop that does acrylic. i will do a quick demo render in solidwaroks for you to show you what i mean and post it later.

did some placement checks and fitment checks, also did a test print onto some acetate of the front graphics, well, as close as i could get them, the bpm font is close but the "M" is way different to the original so i have to make an "M" now to go with the bp. i was going to put these pictures up before but i got a little sidetracked so to speak, but now im back i can add them to the thread. transport, phenolic knobs ( these have to be trimmed at the bottom) and faders etc. as you can see the pads are still grey, these are just test pads and when the case is finshed i will use the black pads. the casework will have been media blasted to remove all marks and then cleaned and de-greased before powdercoating. i have gone with a scratchproof coating, i will add details on the manufacturer etc later.

and prehaps, if you had taken the time to read all the relevent sections on the forum, ucapps.de and the wiki you would have learned that , the answer you got was the one to be expected. and now just because your not getting the answers you want you dont like it so you throw your toys out of the pram. to be honest any chance you may have had of someone building you any conroller has gone now and by your own attitude this has happened. most of the guys here have families and jobs/businesses to hold down as well as having thier own freetime learning and building thier own projects, but then prehaps you didnt think of this. as stated midibox is non profit, non commercial and as building a control surface takes time out for these guys its a lot to ask off your first post. one thing we do is encourage people to learn, the members here help at every opportunity, had you asked for help it would have been offered where self build was concerened. you could have got the complete kits for the modules from smashtv, each kit complete and simple to assemble, then we could have advised you where to get some cheap parts from, pots, faders etc, and then i would have helped with a case design or advised you on a prefabbed case/enclosure. this community has a few simple rules which we all agree to when we start using thorstens applications, but most of all if your not prepared to put any effort in, no one here will put any in either. so i suggest that if your not interested in learning, becuase you would have to learn how to use the editors and set things up anyway to use the controllers then prehaps these will be of use top you. http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BCF2000.aspx http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BCR2000.aspx oh and dont let the door hit your ass on the way out.

well i can guess why no-one has replied yet and thats because you have asked a question thats sort of a no-no here. the whole purpose of this place is to learn and to build and to share your experiences, no one will build you a controller im afraid, mostly because they are too busy building thier own. my advice is to go to ucapps.de and read up, goto the wiki and read up, read through the forums, then go back to the beginning and start again until your comfortable enough to build it yourself. thats the only way its going to happen im afriad.

im just waiting for the pcbs and the graphics for the faceplate now, as soon as i recieve both i can get on with the unit and have it finished. at the moment im just rattling around with the asm files and the editor getting used to them. im also thinking of ordering a uv photo sensitivity etch kit and making some lille bankstick boards similar to sinsurfers boards, i was really impressed by the pictures of the boards i have to say.

my concern is the casework. this is something that would need to be addressed simply because tooling for that would be quite a cost. the case really needs to be modulr in the sense that its going to be easy to design and lay out using say sheet steel or aluminium, when the casework is designed all components are usually built using the sheet steel layout as then all bends are then flattened out correctly prior to laser cutting the material and then placed into a cnc folding machine to make all the necessary bends. if your looking to get it made out of plastic then it really becomes a cost, your looking at mold blanks male and female to be mahined, the initail blocks, tooling for injection moulding etc.. it goes on. if you need help with a case then let me know as its what i do. apart from that everything else is feasable

yaaay! will be back later on so prehaps i can get on with some stuff again. will take a couple of pics for you and see where i am. nap time now, as im bloody tired.

sorry been a little busy and hadnt put case pics up. here is the casework in bare metal pre powdercoating, i checked the fitment of the pads and flush jogheel and it all looks good. powdercoating will be done shortly and then i can get on with the graphics side of things also. baseplate: case internal: case rear: case front: test fit of pads and jog wheel ring:

had call today, casework on its way, i still have to get it coated, but its good i can get on with things shortly. i can pre assemble and check clearances etc and then get it powder coated. the only thing is still sorting the front graphics out. today i tried several times to speak with the guys at uvi soundsource, but i may as well of hit my head against a brick wall, i havent had any communication from the engineers to implement the cc# changes and make each button etc all assignable. and after several tries calling them i kept getting hung up on which really pissed me off. so i have sent an email off and i no longer expect anything from them at all, i will figure things out myself. for once it seemed like a software company was really taking an interest in things and then.. pffft its not making money for them so no longer interested. fine by me, i will get on with it myself and enjoy it myself, so be it. update: i had a phone call this evening from uvi and the person i have been dealing with, it seems all my calls are being routed to the store and as none of them speak english they hang up, apologies were made and all is cool again. i should be getting some vector files for the graphics shortly and a few other things, so prehaps we are back on track.

http://www.mpcstuff.com/apc40parts.html

lol lyle its no good because today i sorta did this.. viola the MBC8 controller ;) oh well i had to put my lc build into a case and well.. it would be a shame not too. i guess i wont be buying the xtra soundproofing i wanted then either! the three of them now this lot will keep me going in the hew year when the weather here is really bad and im not out much. im going to work out the bits i need from smashtv, also work out what i need from rapid too. i just bought 200 switches with 200 buttons for £35 usd from a 100% seller in china so im happy with that, i have got all the leds i will ever need now also from ebay, i have got faders, knobs, jogw wheels, encoders, knobs, padboard and a load of other bits and pieces of unused parts here so im all ok. so its another nights reading and writing a list out for a smashtv order. mind you first comes the boards for the bpm and finish that, i also have to finish the wood and panel layout for the hu-mon as well. worst thing is i paid for my wood and it never happened, also i didnt get my cash back either. so the plan now is to have the wood done with a more reputable comapny and if need be pay a little extra.

well what can i say apart from its all smithys fault. took a look at wilbas stuff for the mb-seq, dropped the dxf in and edited it a little and viola, a seq box too. so i guess i better put my name down for a pcb and some other bits. i will have to mount the pcb to the lower case and have the encoders and switches run with link wires and cnx to the front panel and secondary boards. the jog will be an okw low profile same as im using on the bpm. thats another project to build then, thank god i dont drink or smoke, i couldn't afford it!

update: case is being cut and formed from designs, flush fit clinch studs in the main face and 4 clinch nuts in the ears of the base. powdercoat will be aluminium silver as per the software. boards almost ready to send off to be done (thanks nils) and assembly to follow shortly. still doing the lc in the meantime but its on hold while i wait for idc connectors. also been speaking with the guys at uvsoundsource who designed the software for motu, the main reason is the ability to assign any midi cc# to anything in bpm, this will make setting the unit up in the editor much easier so the plan is to get to grips with illustrator in the meantime to do the graphics for the case front. new pics of the case and brds here.

bosone, on the board IC2 is orientated with the notch of the ic pointing left on the silkscreen, however pin one is to the right upper. make sure you have this ic in the right way around. also this should be in troubleshooting not mb hui section

while im sat waiting to get on with my bpm i was looking at the spares on my desk and thought, why not build a midibox lc, so i did. yesterday i pulled everything together and took a few measurements and got on with it, did the front pansl in a few mins in solidworks and then did a 1:1 print onto some adhesive backed a4 paper. once this was printed i peeled some of the backing off and stuck it to my plasticard, matte black which still had its protective plastic covering on, leaving it on would make pulling the paper off easier when finished. so i spent a good 20 min drilling and cutting and filing to get this. even the fader fitted! i put the lcd screen on as a check and it fits so today i will get on with the 9mm encoders and the rest of the buttons and lights and then hook it up. i think this is going to be the quickest build i have had so far! i even have some nice wood for the box ;) more to follow today and hopefully running later on.

well while im waiting for the casework to be cut next week and for the boards to be done, im building an mb-lc control surface and dumping the mackie stuff i learned into the code. this means i can use it as an hui unit with digital performer. luckily i have enough spares lying around to build it so i will do another thread with this is at some point. also smithy put a real cool idea into my head abut putting a sequencer into the bpm box. well this is possible however i reduced the case size for a reason, so i thought about having another case made and having the sequencer in that one, so i would have two matching cases but one is the sequencer unit, and this can be chained with the bpm. lets just say i havent used solidworks so much in a while and the second case is almost finished! i will add some pics over the weekend, thanks smithy its something i wouldnt have thought of to be honest!

finally figured out how to attach the bottom case panel without any form of screws showing anywhere, i cut some "u" slots into the bottom case panel ears so that the pem studs slip into them and give a stop to the case when dropped into the top face unit. This will now keep the casework neat and tidy and follow the lines of the software precisely. the gm5 usb and two midi ports will be the only holes on the rear along with the dc socket now, now i could put the core by the rear edge and just have the cores two midi sockets on the rear, this is ok but i will lose usb connectivity and i want to keep this option, yes a waste of a gm5 but it will serve its purpose well. heres the solution to secret fixing the casework also here is the baseplate with the folds for the side cheeks, the holes are 4mm dia which will have clinch nuts on the inside. here is a closeup of the fold and cuts for the side panels

i gotta agree with nils and wilba on this, making something like an lc or an mb64e would be a better option for your first build, there is an awful lot to learn here and the best thing about it all the information is free. you could make an mb64e control based surface, but this would only have 8 motorfaders, however if you used non motorised faders and an ainx4 board then you can put 16 non motorised faders onto it (unless you can chain more ainboards on?), then you can attatch 4 din boards for buttons and encoders. this would be a better option for you and code changes would be minimal. i am making a little control surface inbetween my current project for something to do and to get to grips with the mb64e editor and workings of the code. best thing to do is the golden rule here, read, read and read some more, goto ucapps and read over and over, in the forums search threads out for similar items and read up. also pop into the midibox chat and ask questions. welcome to the forum

its about time we had birthday threads for the members ;) especially ones who take so much time to help members here!!

hope you have had a good day and that you got lots of shnitzels and beer lol! oh and some woman love thrown in for good measure too. all unpaid for of course! i did have a look for a nice piccy to attatch to the post as a pressie but i couldnt find one. never mind theres always xmas! ssp

now i may be wrong but i thought it was required that if you sold a midibox project you had to get permission? i may be wrong i stand to be corrected. anyway, given the opportunity i would be interested in the kit but it would be with the approval of thorsten and sale permission.

erm let me see what i can remember ... boards done... check, in nils hands now. case finished... check, awaiting several quotes on the casework. case rendered? yep gotta find the pic link again. shouldnt be long till its made hopefully, i just still gotta figure out the artwark for the front panel.

well i have been busy with eagle, i have to say that my routing really isnt great and i have still got a lot to learn about using the program, but i have to say its fantastic for me when it comes to exporting the brd file to a dxf and then uploading it onto the case in solidworks, this means i have exact position markers for all the through case buttons and encoders etc and it also means i can lay everything out much quicker now. this has resulted in the case becoming much samller in size now, although it was still dictated by button cap size and also the knobs and 4x4 pads. i decided on printing boards out and then using printable acetate to check on riser boards and positioning.