Hawkeye

Thanks, findbuddha, I will wait for your tests - great work on your BLM, hope everything works! Me just had an idea, how the above design can be improved - consider the shown PCB as the frontpanel of the unit, all switches and LEDs are quite flat and SMD-soldered to it, no real need for plexiglass (but you could have something cut by ponoko, probably). But then, the LPCXpresso and all ports would be exposed, which would not be very nice visually... So, consider just flipping the upper section of the image to the backside. You would therefore only see the solder points for the LPCXpresso, the solder points for the MIDI, USB, ethernet and power sockets and the vias. The BLM_Scalar modules would then be realized with smd components on the backside, just like TKs original design - and would connect to the switches and LEDs with vias. With this method, another two centimeters of vertical PCB space (18x22cm final size) could be saved - and the original 17x4 (x5) horizontal segmentation could be used. Gotta get back to work, thanks for your comments :) Greets, Peter

Hi, thanks for checking it out using your calculator :-). All help is greatly appreciated (especially finished and tested? BLM layout files). While everything has been documented nicely (you can basically stick the LPC17, the BLM Shift Register and the Button/LED schematics together), my greatest problem is the placement of everything on this tiny board. Also, I´d like the left column of the BLM (+X component) to be user-separatable by using a dremel and a cutting wheel, that´s why I´m thinking to rotate the whole design by 90° to have a 4x17 vertical segmentation -> the 32 bit core should easily be able to translate incoming "old" rotated blm packets to the new format and back again. Roughly sketched, I could imagine it to look like the attachment - as there was a little bit space for more connectors, I´ve drawn in optionally populatable MIDI sockets as requested, they sure may come in handy for any other kind of app or BLM extension running on it... There is only one MIDI pair due to space limitations, but please bear in mind, that you could have a few of these stacked Mini-BLMs forwarding MIDI to OSC and vice versa. The smd diodes for the tactile switches are still missing in the image, but all component sizes have been measured and are roughly right. The board size would be 18x24cm for the leftmost BLM, and 16x24cm for any further (cutted) module. I am just not sure if all traces would fit, and there is enough space for it to be primarily single-sided, or if some SMD components would have to be soldered to the backside - any feedback is welcome, even destructive one :-) Greets, Peter

Thanks a lot - I tested it with my original C64 and played a game of "catalypse" (awesome, btw!), before I dared to plug it into the MB6582 :-). The only thing, I would add to retro-donalds design, is a load resistor right ahead of the 78S05 to relieve it a little - the input voltage is a bit high (9V * 1.41) for a 5V regulator - if a few volts are burned off before, it should run a little bit cooler. Otoh, you can go as insane as you like with oversized passive coolers :-). The unit is nearly twice as heavy as the original C64 PSU :-). As a conclusion, it is linear, easy to build, not too expensive and the crowbar protection also works really nice (tested with a lab PSU). Bye, Peter

As this alternative hasn´t been mentioned in this thread yet... I built mine according to retro-donalds spec and it works - it has four fuses and a crowbar overvoltage protection... and was not difficult to build... http://www.retro-don...wernetzteil.php pics here: Me haz a much better feeling now regarding the well-being of the SIDs :-) Greets! Peter

Thanks a lot for the general "thumbs-up" - the physical implementation looks like a challenge :-) Greets, Peter

Digineural, that is a really cool idea :-) But i´d rather go "classic" with those small tactile switches :-). Otherwise, you could use any touch-device (ipad, tablet-pc, etc) and software to achieve the same effect (ok, using LEDs is cooler :-)). Findbuddha - thanks for your encouraging words :-) I just never did PCB layouting before - this probably will not be the easiest project to start with :shocked:

Me was unsure too, at first - but if you have one of these fabulous "casio" school calculators used for higher-level maths, you can try it... They have the exact same spacing (1cm horizontally and vertically) and tactile feel (soft) for the upper scientific button matrix (usually 6x4) - it would be super smooth for pattern programming without too much hand travel! Greets! Peter

Hola, Would you think, that it would be feasible to create a new LPC-based BLM (16x16+x) communicating with the SEQ via ethernet (using the onboard network adapter of the LPC1769)? And if so, would it be possible to "stack" this unit? I´d love the idea to have a compact and cheap 16x16+x BLM unit, which could be extended over time with up to three peers to get a large 64x16 BLM and feel like Jean Luc Picard :-). Of course, then every unit needs to be as inexpensive as possible - e.g. by using cheap duo-color leds and tactile-switches with integrated buttons (5x5mm), just like the ones in the photo attached - cost per switch: 5 cents, cost per LED 8-10 cents (I had only single-color SMD LEDs available for illustration at the moment). As these elements are SMD, they will be quicker to solder than their through-hole counterparts. The completed BLMs would also be nicely compact, less than 20 centimeters wide for a 16x16+x BLM. The shown switches are very nice, have a "soft feeling" and the button distance of ca 1cm (5mm switch button cap, 5mm space) should be good for quick changes in the pattern or "live playing". If a nice PCB color was chosen, we would not even need a frontpanel (which reduces costs even more). The LPC would be carried as a "shield" at the top of the PCB - these "Mini-BLMs" should be stackable sideways with the possibility to omit the leftmost "+x" column of buttons and LEDs while soldering, as only the leftmost unit needs those. There would only be an ethernet port and a power connector (or even only power-over-ethernet, the adapters have become very cheap). Thanks for your feedback! Greets, Peter

Thx a lot, Smithy :-) As said, without you, I ´prolly wouldn´t be here :thumbsup:

thx, dude - no selling ´er yet, am first trying to build mad scientists gurl->fm box brain link, because only ´em can understand thiz stuff :-)

+1 and try warming your average household cat on a switcher

That´s it - but they are quite difficult to obtain. You have to bribe the original owners with your GFs best qualities :-)

Hi, probably you´ve made some host entries last year, when the DNS server was down? It will still direct you back to the old IP address, which will not work anymore. Best regards, Peter

Heheh, thanks m00dawg! Me was using the FS1R for the pads, which gets more incredible every day :-) It now just needs one big MIDIbox patch Programma with 400+ encoders for realtime parameter control :w00t: Greetz, Peter

Hi, afaik, the PIC device number is only relevant, when you are chaining multiple PICs in one unit, e.g. there are 4 PICs in the MB6582 communicating via CAN bus. I dunno about the 8 direct analog ins of the PIC - it may well work, but probably an investment in an AIN module is not bad at all - you can reuse it in later projects and it is "the way" to normally do analog inputs. Please also consider a DIN module and the usage of encoders instead of analog potentiometers - for some MIDI applications they are nicer, because they are "stateless". Greets, Peter

Well, the LPC17, while clearly having all hardware advantages on its side, has not yet been used in an official generic MIDIbox controller project. You would need to do some C programming to enable your features. It would not be difficult to do so (nice programming tutorials are available). As far as I know, efforts are being made to make a generic MIDIbox controller available for this platform in the foreseeable future. Using this platform (and using some more programming), you could also drop the PIC MIDImerger and implement it in software (it has 2 MIDI INs and 2 OUTs by default). The Core8, on the other hand, has available projects (see MIDIbox64 on ucapps.de for example) with parts lists, build descriptions and documentation. It is nicely configurable and long-time proven. Your choice :-) Greets, Peter

@Flemming, wow, thanks for the answer, I will definitely have to look into that :-) @middleman: you´d have these three options a) mod your existing keyboard with a separate Core8, DIN/AIN and encoders/potentiometers and a MIDI merger to merge external MIDI in with the keyboard MIDI out to go into the MBSID MIDI in. b) obtain a cheap, ca 10-20 year-old "pure" midi keyboard, without USB, on a second-hand basis. They are not so "hip" anymore nowadays because they don´t have USB or blue LEDs :-), but you can get them for a few $. Then you can mod it as in a) - this will save your nice original commodore unit and provide velocity out. c) get a keyboard with all the controls you need. This does not need to be brand new, but will likely cost a little bit more, but you save time and money adding a custom controller to it. Bye, Peter

:thumbsup: the sync´ed mute/unmute feature rocks, everyone try it out! *cancels ableton software update subscription* :rolleyes:

Hi, first, you could try another MIDI-Interface than the Elektron interface (if you have one at hand). But that flickering, when MIDI cables are plugged in usually indicates some other problems. For a diagnosis, we would need a) hi-res photos of the PCB with the MIDI sockets (frontside with plugged in ICs and backside for seeing the solder joints) b) name and specs of the used PSU. Bye, Peter

Hi, some notes: a) velocity won´t help much as the Sammich SID per default will just play any note with the configured ADSR envelope, regardless of the velocity. This is not bad at all and sounds C64ish :-). b) pitch-bend will work, and you can control other nice things like filter cutoff from your new keyboard via MIDI. c) make sure, that your new keyboard has a dedicated MIDI OUT port, as some new ones only offer USB, which is not good. d) make sure that you can configure, which MIDI CCs are sent when you turn an encoder. e) if possible, try it out in a shop, so that you feel comfy with the key action (there are different "key weightings", from unweighted light plastic to massive piano hammer-style). f) If all of the above is "check", follow Siempre La Lunas Eternal Steps of Glory (19 - 34): Bye, Peter

Great pictures and build! Greets, Peter

Hi, just two thoughts... a) the NT3881 may not be HD44780 compatible (it would be cheapest time-wise if you could test with a proven-to-work display) b) have you tried changing the display contrast using the contrast potentiometer? Greets, Peter

Great to hear that - the final piece to MB6582 perfection :-)