fussylizard
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Posts posted by fussylizard
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SmashTV just sent me my MB-FM boards so I'll probably order one of the green on black displays from Mouser to try one out. If it looks great and works well then I can see about doing a bulk order. With Wilba's MB-SEQ coming up there might be enough interest to get to the magic 80 pcs...
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You don't need IC pullers to get the SID chip out. Just use a small flat-bladed screwdriver and *gently* pry it up. Pry one end of the chip up a mm or so (put the screwdriver next to the pins on one corner, then do the same on the opposite corner), then work on the opposite end and alternate until the chip comes up. Often you can just slide the screwdriver in between the socket and the chip (holding the screwdriver parallel to the PC board) right next to the pins along one side and the shaft of the screwdriver will slowly pull the pins out of the socket (then repeat on the other side).
Just be careful and go slowly, just a mm or less at a time and it will come out.
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ok, i have news from optrex:
and it can't be paid via PayPal so someone more Native American than me would be required to do it...
...in case we'd ever be able to reach the 80 :(
& of course there will be shipping cost in addition.
Thanks for checking into it. 80 pcs sounds like quite a lot to me. I'm in the US so I could run an order for such a thing, but I would think it would be difficult to get up to 80 pcs. I found a thread a few weeks ago that indicated this display will work with MB projects (I'll have to find the link). Apparently the Optrex displays are a bit wider than the "standard" (i.e. CrystalFontz) but they will still *barely* fit in the mount holes on PCBs (like Wilba's MB-SEQ, etc.) without modification.
So...anyone interested in these displays? Green text on a black background - http://www.optrex.com/products/partdetail.asp?PartNumber=C-51850NFQJ-LG-ACN
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Man it's so eighties you should view that pic on an EGA monitor.
Top work W!
I was going through this thread this weekend getting caught up and saw this. Probably the funniest comment I've seen yet. :-)
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I just used thin ribbon cables I got from SmashTV years ago. They are nice and flexible so very little stress on the connectors. Hand crimping those connectors took me about 2.5 hours using a crimp tool. Not the most exciting of times I must say...
I do love those crimp pins and housings that SmashTV sells. I'll have to ask where he gets them so I won't be bothering him stuff like that. I finally just started ordering a bunch of each size to have them on hand since I use them so much. I tried some similar ones I found at Mouser but I had horrible luck with them. So I just ordered more from SmashTV. :-)
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Should have used the right-angle connectors like me.
Sorry, couldn't resist. :-) Glad you got it sorted out though!
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One more machining tip I should mention: you should use a punch to mark the center of each of your holes before you drill. A punch will leave a small dimple that will keep the drill bit from "wandering" before the cutting edge bites. Here's a useful video: http://www.curiousinventor.com/guides/Metal_Working They show a punch being used starting at 3:06.
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I spent a little time playing with SIDDasm. It basically generates 6510 assembly source for music routines from a .sid file. It's a bit of work (esp. if you don't know 6510 assembler) but that really is getting to the source (!) of it. This tool along with some great others is available at http://cadaver.homeftp.net/tools.htm
If you're trying to extract instruments from Rob Hubbard tunes you should definitely read the article "Rob Hubbard's Music: Disassembled, Commented and Explained" in C= Hacking 5 (http://www.ffd2.com/fridge/chacking/c=hacking5.txt). Unbelievable article. It really helped me understand how SID tunes work and it makes you appreciate how much Rob Hubbard was able to do with a relatively simple player. A must-read.
That said I started poking about with Zoids by RH trying to emulate some sounds. It's still a work in progress and I am using QuadraSID instead of my MB-6582 but it seems like a promising approach. That said, there are a lot of tricks to emulating these sounds, esp. when you have ring modulation involved since two voices have to be used instead of one, etc.
Fun stuff though. Good luck!
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Really cool. The plastic box is a great reuse of materials from around the house. What else have you used the milling machine for?
I wanted to get an XY table for my drill press so I can cut some nice clean vents, as well as other more woodworking type things.
Yeah, I was glad to reuse it. I'm a total pack rat so it was nice to get to use something for once. :-)
Having an X/Y table is incredible. Drilling precision holes is a breeze since, unlike with a regular drill press, you don't have to clamp, reposition, and reclamp the work every time. I mostly use the mini-mill like a drill press so I've not done much else of interest with it other than the vent slits. I've seen two types of X/Y tables- ones with a vise and ones with slots for a clamping kit like on a milling machine. I'd recommend you get the version with slots and buy a clamping kit since it will be way more flexible. I think I got my clamping kit (and my mini mill) from Grizzly (www.grizzly.com).
One word of warning on an X/Y table- they tend to be very tall, so if you don't have a lot of vertical travel on your drill press it can limit the height of the workpiece you can work with. (I think I also got an X/Y table from Grizzly before I switched to a mini-mill.)
BTW I also have a 7x12 mini lathe that I've done quite a bit more with, mostly making threaded adapters and such out of aluminum and delrin (plastic) for a telescope. Loads of fun. I'm thinking about trying to make some nice knurled knobs for my MIDIBox projects, but I've been busy w/ other stuff.
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Same here
I'm also looking for 3 for a FM + SEQ (at some point) combo. I was looking at:
- Cheap option. I couldn't find a datasheet so it is not clear if these will work or not, but 3 for $20 is hard to beat: http://cgi.ebay.com/LCD-Module-PC4002LRU-BSO-B-Y8Q-40x2-w-Backlight-Qty-3_W0QQitemZ370221534134QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5632ec4bb6&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
- I normally use CrystalFontz displays since I've had good luck with them but they are pricey. If we did a buy of 10 of these they would be $20 each (so $60 + shipping for 3). http://www.crystalfontz.com/product/CFAH4002A-YYH-JT
- Optrex makes a display I rather like (http://www.optrex.com/products/partdetail.asp?PartNumber=C-51850NFQJ-LG-ACN). This is the green-on-black version of the white-on-black display posted earlier. They are bloody expensive though, $40 for one (!) or $32 each for 10 at Mouser. It wasn't clear to me that they use the industry standard interface, but it sounds like others have had success w/ the white-on-black version. Can anyone confirm this? I might give it a go w/ 1 for the MB FM (next on my list) and hope for cheaper options or a large group buy for the MB SEQ since that's still a ways off.
I'm really partial to the "negative" displays like the Optrex I mentioned. I wish CrystalFontz did one in 40x2 format...
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Wow, looking good! It's nice to see a non-black case for a change!
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Anyways that case looks awesome! Boards fit really well too! My only recommendation is that having a clear box means you should mount some LEDs in there and make it glow :)
The box is very flimsy plastic but it keeps the bird off the wires and keeps things safely tucked away. IIRC the Paia power supply has two LEDs and the AOUG_NG has one, so I already have some LED action going on which gets reflected many different ways by the clear box.
LED goodness: check!
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Nice work :D :D!
I'm gonna put an NG module on my 6582 (once I get the parts).
If you are building the MB-6582 in a PAC-10 case, I'm not sure where you would fit an AOUT module. There's a bit of space by the voltage regulators, but you still have to supply +/- 12VDC. I suppose you could add an external power supply and use the expansion port to get the voltages in. Also don't forget about space for the jacks, though again you could make use of the expansion port. For me I just figured I needed a box to hold the 1/4" jacks and the power supply, so it made sense to put everything in that.
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BTW there's some more info about the Paia kit in my post here: http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,13492.msg118542.html#msg118542
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BTW there is some more info on cutting vent slits with a milling machine at http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,13502.0.html
First pic here is the rear holes drilled. Unfortunately I didn't support the thin plastic enough so my holes didn't come out lined up nicely and the box cracked a bit. So much for perfection...
Second pic is the final result awaiting its MIDIBox.org sticker. I ended up using a DB-9 connector to the box and making DB-9 to DB-25 cable to connect it to the MB-6582 expansion port.
Third pic is everything hooked up. The clear plastic reflects the power LEDs nicely though it is not very visible in the picture. The two rear jacks of the AOUT_NG is going to a Moogerfooger lowpass filter. Pity the Moogerfooger doesn't have an amplitude envelope on it.
Anyway, it worked out pretty well, and with a nice long ribbon cable I can just sit it at the back of my desk out of the way...
Now if I can just finish up an MIDIBox FM project (and maybe a MIDIBox Seq?) I can get back to actually *making* music instead of making things that make music. :-)
IMG_4379-AOUT_NG rear holes drilled.JPG
IMG_4395-AOUT_NG connected in box.JPG
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I built a Paia +/-12VDC power supply kit and an AOUT_NG to hook up to my MB-6582 and needed an enclosure. (I have a bird sharing the room and she has great fun chewing through wires on electronics projects...)
I recalled I had a small plastic box from some Rocher chocolates in it at one point, so I decided to make it into a case. The two PCBs just barely fit, so with a little milling and drilling I made up a nice little case.
First pic is the original box + the 2 PCBs. I drilled holes in the bottom and used leftover standoffs from my MB-6582 project to mount them.
Second pic is the box set up to mill ventilation slits like I did for my MB-6582 case. Making vent slits is a breeze with a small milling machine and a 1/8" end mill.
Third pic is the base of the box with its vent slits all cut.
Fourth pic is me setting up to drill holes for all the 1/4" jacks and the wall-wart connector. [EDIT: Please ignore the completely unsafe mounting of the milling machine onto cement blocks (don't try this at home!). At least I have my safety glasses!]
IMG_4352-AOUT_NG plasic box + boards.JPG
IMG_4354-AOUT_NG milling vent slits.JPG
IMG_4356-AOUT_NG slits milled.JPG
IMG_4378-AOUT_NG drilling holes.JPG
IMG_4352-AOUT_NG plasic box + boards.JPG
IMG_4354-AOUT_NG milling vent slits.JPG
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If you're trying to de-solder the chips (more) safely you might consider Chip Quik (http://www.curiousinventor.com/store/product/102). Pretty amazing stuff and makes de-soldering stuff easy. They have a video of it.
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The first thing to keep in mind is that you should have run the interconnect test and/or testtone app *before* trying it with the SID chip. That way in the event of a problem like you are having here you won't damage your SID chip. Hopefully it escaped just fine. <end lecture> :-)
Anyway...Did you test the pins of the 74HC595 chips to ensure they are getting correct voltages (google for the datasheet)? (This also should be done before inserting chips to prevent damaging them.)
If that works out okay, then (as noted in the readme.txt file that comes with the interconnect app) you should be able to move the modwheel on a MIDI controller to select different pins. Basically everything should be 0V except for CS# which should be +5V when not selected via the modwheel, and +5V when selected (except for CS# which will go to 0V when selected). Do the other pins toggle between +5V/0V as expected when they are selected?
If other pins are working then check for shorts on the bad pins (they might be shorted to +5V somehow). If other pins are not changing when selected via the modwheel, again check the soldering for shorts. You also may have a problem with the interconnect between the boards, so double-check your wiring.
I'm not familiar with the standalone config of CORE + SID (I built a MB-6582) but you apparently need a 1k resistor and a diode for the CAN bus even if you have no slaves, so make sure you have that diode and resistor as shown in the diagram posted by zgba.
Good luck!
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The LCD backlight is only powered for CORE0, and without a backlight it can be very difficult to see any text from the LCD. How much you can see probably depends on your backlight. At first I thought there was a problem with my CrystalFontz LCD on CORE1 but then I realized it was just the backlight wasn't powered and I could *barely* see the text with the contrast set just right.
The easiest way to test for a dead/partially-dead PIC is to test CORE0 with a good PIC, then move the suspect PIC to CORE0. That way your backlight works and you know everything else is working so you can isolate any problems to the suspect PIC.
One final thought-don't forget to set J11 to connect CORE1 to the MIDI Out port when testing MIDI to CORE1.
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Yeah, Wilba's stuff always looks perfect. The innards of mine looks like it was put together by an inebriated chimpanzee...
I used standard ribbon cable from SmashTV to attach mine (the older gray stuff he used to sell, now he only sells the pretty multicolored stuff) using a right angle header on the base board (Mouser 517-5111TG) and female crimp sockets from SmashTV. I soldered the other ends of the wires to the control surface. I opened and closed the case a ton and never has issues with broken wires.
I couldn't quickly find the .100" wire that Wilba used on Mouser, so I just used the ribbon cable I had sitting around.
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I've seen the same thing on mine (can't recall if it was that *exact* same screen and those exact same characters but I'm pretty sure it was). So that would suggest it is either an LCD bug or a software issue. I'm guessing LCD bug since as many bassline demos as TK has done he would surely have noticed and fixed it if it was a software issue. :-) I have a Crystalfontz display CFAH2004A-YTI-JT.
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Woohoo! Glad to hear you're sorted out then! After all the help I got building mine, I'm glad I could pass along some love. :-)
I'm still sorting through all my pics and what-not from my build so I can post a summary, parts lists, etc.
Looking forward to more pics from you.
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@futureman - btw did you make your own knobs for that panel, or did you buy them? I particularly like the knurled one in the bottom center of the panel.
I have some alps knobs coming from the bulk order, but I was thinking about trying to make some similar to the knurled one you have.
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@futureman, @mule - I've always shied away from square holes since I thought a DIY approach would look, well, DIY. But your two projects prove otherwise! Thanks for the inspiration!
Today I made a simple enclosure (for an AOUT_NG and a Paia +/-12VDC power supply for it) out of an old plastic box that some chocolates came in (Rochers). It was fairly thin plastic so it cracked a bit with all the drilling but it's good enough for now. I made a horrible looking hole for a 9 pin d-sub but the connector covers it. I probably should have tried the "file to size" method instead of winging it on the mini mill. I'll post some pics later this week.
40x2 Optrex Green on Black LCD Order finished
in Bulk Orders
Posted
Wow, about 1/4 of the way there without a real thread for this. Maybe there is interest enough...