haris Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Dear Midiboxers,After months of research, I am getting ready to start building my first midibox.I do not have much experience with building elecronix so please bear with me, yes, I am a beguinner. ??? ::)I want to have it inside Commodore 64, I think I will start with drilling my own top panel that should not be that difficult as my design is quite straightforward.I am planning to have a controller with 64 encoders and 8 buttons.So I believe I need:1 x core4 x DINX44 x DOUTX41 x LCD1 x USB GM5 Module64 encoders8 buttonsI have a few questions I am hoping to get answer to:1/ Is my list correct and did I miss anything?2/ C64 uses 5V DC and 9V AC power supplies, can I use those?3/ I will need to source really small encoders to fit 64 onto the panel of C64, does anyone know of a good source to get small encoders?4/ Do you think I will manage to fit all this into 404 x 216 x 75?Thank youHaris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi haris, ... and welcome aboard !1/ Is my list correct and did I miss anything?The list is correct. The only issue is: With 64 Encoders you need all the DINx for those 128 inputs. You'll have to connect your 8 buttons to J5 of the Core. I know, TK wrote that this feature will be released later. I don't know if it is already done ...2/ C64 uses 5V DC and 9V AC power supplies, can I use those?Yes.You can use the 5V DC (then you can leave out the voltage regualtor and the bridge rectifier of the CORE or you can use the 9V AC (then you'll have to full stuff the CORE.3/ I will need to source really small encoders to fit 64 onto the panel of C64, does anyone know of a good source to get small encoders?The smallest ones I've ever used are those from SmashTV. But they are still quite huge, anyway ....4/ Do you think I will manage to fit all this into 404 x 216 x 75?Thats what you'll have to find out for yourself ... 8)My opinion: You may be able to manage to put all encoders into the case. But then you'll get in serious trouble when you have to work with the box. A hint: Find the smallest encoders and paint your design on a sheet of paper (The size of the paper should be the size of your frontpanel. Thats the only way to find out, if it will fit.You also wrote about 4 x DOUTx4. What do want to do with them. Or. What are you going to control with your midibox?Have fun!greetsDoc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haris Posted September 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Thank you very much for your reply. Like I said I need all the help I can get alongside all the reading...You also wrote about 4 x DOUTx4. What do want to do with them. Or. What are you going to control with your midibox?Maybe thats the mistake. I want to build a controller that will be as universal as possible to use both with my Reaktor ensambles (I am a Reaktor builder BTW) and some Ableton FX.If J5 is not on yet, I will have to reconsider amount of encoders and buttons... perhaps I could have 16 buttons and 56 encoders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Hi,Maybe thats the mistake. I want to build a controller that will be as universal as possibleYea. The DOUTx4 are right then. i justed wanted to know if you are planning something special. Like LEDrings or something like this.With 4 DOUTs you are very universal.If J5 is not on yet, I will have to reconsider amount of encoders and buttons..Oh, I don't know if this feature is fully implemented yet. Maybe someone else can answer this.You can use J5 for input. I did this in another controller. I only don't know if the MB64E has it already implemented. If not: This is not hard to change anyway. greetsDoc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted September 12, 2008 Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Ups.... almost forgot:You know, that you are not limited to 64 Encoders? You can also build a second CORE to have another 64 ENCs ;DgreetsDoc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haris Posted September 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2008 Thanks for replying!Well, I am not sure if I really need DOUTS as I am not going to have leds... just solid close-your-eyes-and-twist-the-knobs controller.And I am trying to keep the number of components down because of the enclosure. I do not want to have to squeeze them all in.It would be good to know if those 8 knobs + 64 encoders are available on 1 core... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haris Posted October 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 I've found out that 8 additional knobs on a core feature is not available yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haris Posted October 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 If I decide to use 2 cores, how would I connect them?Would I need 2 LCD screens? ???Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Some suggestions:If you only have a perfectly good, working C64, consider asking around the forum (a "fleamarket" post might be a good idea) to see if anybody might be willing to donate an already-gutted case. If you were planning to sacrifice your C64, maybe they would accept it in trade.When designing, don't forget that any wiring to your front panel needs to be long enough that you can take off the panel, turn it over and lay it flat on your worksurface, so you can see all your connections to work on them. But they need to be short enough so that you can put it back together without all those wires bunching up so tightly that you can't get the panel on!One way to do this is to use 1-2 cm standoffs (spacers) to attach your DIN boards to the veroboard your encoders are mounted on. You could then mount your core module inside the case, and only need a small ribbon to your panel! (Maybe there's not enough room - you could make mockup boards from cardboard while you wait for your parts to arrive and figure it out for yourself).If there's not enough room, or if you want to mount your DINs to the bottom of the case instead, then you'll still need to make the wiring to the encoders as tidy as you can. To 64 encoders, you need to run 128 wires to your DINs!!! Instead of using plain veroboard, you might do well to design and etch your own PCB to put them all on, or else at least use stripboard so that all your interconnections are at the edge of the board instead of the middle. By "design and etch" I don't mean you need to use Eagle or something. Just get some copper-clad board and draw your traces using a permanent black felt marker, let the ink dry, blot some more ink on your lines, then drop the whole thing in some etchant. Presto, you've just made a board, just to bring the connections from all those encoders to a tidy row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haris Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hey, thank you very much for your reply! I am yet to start on it tho... ???I am still not sure how would I connect 2 cores... ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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