ultra Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 hi,i've been working on a seq pcb and i want to gauge whether or not there is an interest in a run of these. the pcb has a core, 4x IIC (all midi 5 in/out available), and 8x bankstick on a single board. the pcb has two lcd headers so you can wire both of them direct (pinout matches nebula's group buy lcd), a header to the din/dout chain, and also a header to the aout. you would still have to make your own control surface. the board is about 150x75 mm. i plan on having this pcb made within the next couple of weeks or so, and after they've been tested i could have more made. this is not a thread to initiate a group buy, so please just post if you think you'd be interested in ordering one.thanks!ultra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echopraxia Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Since I did get those great lcds I am a little interested but price is a factor. Could you possibly give an estimate? would we just get the same parts needed from smash i.e resistors,crystal,octocoupler ect..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 It would help if you publish some layout picture. I`m interested in general but it depends of few factors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Since I did get those great lcds I am a little interested but price is a factor. Could you possibly give an estimate? would we just get the same parts needed from smash i.e resistors,crystal,octocoupler ect..?smash includes pcbs with his part kits, and with how busy he already is i doubt he'll want to make a parts-only kit with this specific combination of parts. i'll make up a mouser parts list later on. including parts with the pcb is definitely something i'm not interested in doing because i'm short on time as well.It would help if you publish some layout picture. I`m interested in general but it depends of few factors.i can do that when the layout is completed and tested. for now i was just seeing if there's any interest, not to get definite answers :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 i can do that when the layout is completed and tested. for now i was just seeing if there's any interest, not to get definite answers Smiley.It don`t have to be really complete, more like a rough preview to get clue how did you arranged IO and such. But, I`m sure people would be interested as we all hate wires and we all love integrated solutions for SEQ and SID projects as much as we love modules for controllers. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wicked1 Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 When I built mine, making and stuffing the internal PCB's (core, din/dout, iic, bankstick) took about a week. Building the control surface, on the other hand.... that took months!I think a control surface PCB would be far more valuable for people who just want a functioning sequencer.And as sasha said, "But, I`m sure people would be interested as we all hate wires".... The wires connecting the few internal pcb's was nothing in comparison to nightmare of running all the wires to every button and LED on the control surface.I'm not trying to shoot down Ultra's internals PCB, but... someone needs to make a control surface PCB one of these days! A few of my friends want these sequencers after seeing mine, but there's no way I'd ever consider wiring up another control surface!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugfight Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 ... someone needs to make a control surface PCB one of these days! ...hehe, "someone" is you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I think a control surface PCB would be far more valuable for people who just want a functioning sequencerI agree but I never seen 2 MBSEQ with same buttons. I think every one of us want to use different type.I don`t believe it really takes months to do CS. If you spend some time and make something else than veroboard it could save you much time and effort. I would never advise using veroboards for mounting parts for MBSEQ. I drawn my PCBs in Corel and friend did Eagle PCBs that i believe he will publish once he finish it but none of it is super universal solution. He designed his for specific button that is not very common, and I designed mine for small 6x6 common button that I`ll use to mount custom cap. So, my point is that it is very hard to justify most of peoples tastes. Probably much harder than Wilba managed with his wilbabeast. Not all of people wanted to use his CS but all wanted to use base PCB! I believe same would be with SEQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 i've been working on two control surface pcbs along with this (one for switches and one for encoders), but i didn't mention them for the reason sasha gave. everybody wants a different seq. and i think mine is especially non-standard so people wouldn't want it and it wouldn't be feasible to do a pcb run. mine has the din/dout modules built right into it on the back of the pcbs, so the two CS boards connect together and one of them has just a single cable out to the core. if someone else came up with a "standard" CS layout that others would be interested in, i'd consider helping with working on it in the future. i would love to see how quickly and inexpensively a seq could be built if a few people came together to find out what works best.i took a screenshot of the current pcb, so follow the link to see it. the image is big so i didn't want to put it here in the thread.http://www.sub-version.net/diy/seq/images/core.gifplease keep in mind: i made this pcb for myself so it's set up the way i wanted it to be. because i'm not running a business, i probably won't be very open to modifications. i barely knew eagle when i started this (still don't, but i have great help) so it's taken me a long time to get this far. changing everything for other people's purposes just isn't something i have the time to do. i don't mean to sound like i don't care about anybody else's concerns, i just don't have the time to address them. the reasons i'm going to make the pcb available is to help out those who need a pcb just like the one i'm already making. perhaps the seq will become just a little more accessible to people :).the pcb mount midi jacks are not on the board and they won't be. also, i left out any headers that are not for midi i/o, lcd, power, din, dout, and aout.in the image, the midi i/o headers go across the top. j8/j9 go to the core and the rest are IIC midi i/o. the IIC modules don't need jumpers because the addressing is built into the board. i left extra room around the headers to make it easier to use the connectors. there are two connectors near the power circuit. one comes from your power adapter and the other out to a switch. you can simply put in a header/jumper or solder a bridge if you don't want a header going out to a switch. also there's room around the voltage regulator for the kind of "wraparound" heatsink like smash sells (they're nice). the lcd headers are positioned so the cable shouldn't have to twist when going to the lcds, but i have to verify that they're not rotated. finally, the headers to the din/dout and aout chains are at the bottom right of the board.ultra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b-funk Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 hmmm, i think i´m interested...depends a little bit on the price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 the pcb is around 150 x 75 mm so it shouldn't be very expensive at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Ultra, thank you for the snapshot. It is well packed and pretty dense so it should not take much space. 150x75 sounds nice! :) You want be using gate outs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 You want be using gate outs?i will add these. as i said i was making this pcb for me and i didn't even look into those since i only use midi, but they won't be difficult to add. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 after talking to a couple people, i realize this can probably be used for other things like a control surface, and since that's my next midibox, i'm adding the rest of the headers. i can do this without adding much real estate to the pcb. and btw, this pcb is also going to end up being pretty cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 22, 2008 Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 Yeah, having all IO would make this PCB more useful. I`m glad you decided to add it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBunsen Posted March 22, 2008 Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 Agreed. This has heaps of uses apart from a seq. Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 i've added the rest of the i/o. every header on the core is available, as well as J4 for each IIC module (in addition to J4 out from the core). ignore some of the naming. i've been renaming everything to match the core/IIC schematic.here's the most recent screenshot:http://www.sub-version.net/diy/seq/images/core.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Looking good. But, is there enough clearance between those headers for flat cable connectors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Lookin good!You'll probably hate me for mentioning this but.... You only need one J4 header, as IIC is a serial buss, so it just needs one header after the rest of the chain (banksticks and iic_midi)BIG thanks for all your hard work on this! I know you've gone to great lengths to allow for everyone else's desires (even if you didn't need them) and it's very kind of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasha Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 It is easier to delete it than to draw it ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukas412 Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 I'm definitely interested if you do a pcb run.thanks!Luke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugfight Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Lookin good!You'll probably hate me for mentioning this but.... You only need one J4 header, as IIC is a serial buss, so it just needs one header after the rest of the chain (banksticks and iic_midi)...j4 on the IIC_MIDI module is a different function than j4 on the core....(same func as j11 on the core in fact) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Looking good. But, is there enough clearance between those headers for flat cable connectors?i finally bought an ink cartridge for my printer, so i'm gonna verify this today or tomorrow. i have a bunch of those 2x5 futurlec connectors here so i'll use those. i think they're gonna fit.Lookin good!You'll probably hate me for mentioning this but.... You only need one J4 header, as IIC is a serial buss, so it just needs one header after the rest of the chain (banksticks and iic_midi)regarding the extra headers, i do know the core's J4 is different than the IIC module's J4, but i don't know if i actually need 4 of the IIC module J4. i figured i'd have them all since they can fit. if in fact they could be useful to someone, there's no reason not to leave them in since you can choose how many IIC modules and which parts of it you want anyway. i think this would be a handy IIC development board because there's no extra wires getting in your way. if it's ludicrous to have 4 IIC J4 headers, as in it could never be useful, i will remove them.BIG thanks for all your hard work on this! I know you've gone to great lengths to allow for everyone else's desires (even if you didn't need them) and it's very kind of you!i'm really glad i can give something back to the midibox community, and i hope this pcb is useful to people. the time i've spent adding the features that other people may want is nothing compared to the time others have spent helping me learn enough to get the pcb to where it's useful to *me*. the pcb is really nothing more than a consolidation of what people in this forum have taught me, and without their skills and willingness to help, someone like me (who has only 1.5 years of electronics experience) wouldn't be able to do this.so, thank YOU guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultra Posted March 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 another update. i added traces to allow this pcb to be used as a router as well as a seq. you simply use those jumpers that slide onto headers to select whether you're using this for a seq or router. at minimum you need to put on one jumper to use this as a seq. soldering in a small bridge would work as well. thank bugfight for this idea. i would have missed it. in fact, i would have missed running a trace that allows this to be used as a seq ;).does anybody want to move this thread to a more appropriate place? it's not just for seq anymore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wicked1 Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Hi,I just wanted to follow up on my control surface post.. yes, I did use veroboard, and yes.. it sucked!I realize not everyone wants to use the same layout, but there already is a 'standard' layout posted on the ucapps seq page. I personally didn't use the standard layout either, but I'd bet that people who care more about getting down and using the seq would appreciate the possibility of a quick solution, even if not the PERFECT solution. (basically, I'd be able to throw a few together for my musician friends who have never picked up a soldering iron)personally, I made all my own illuminated buttons, so didn't need any LED holes or connectons/ Also laid things out differently than the posted layout. Well, I'll drop the subject here because I don't have the time to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.