Midibox Sid In The making

[Smithy]

Finally got around to restarting the MB-Sid project.

For the Optimised c64 PSU i am using a special wireless protoboard as mentioned here.

Here is my plan for the board.

*Note* The Pin out for the C64 PSU socket is wrong in the diagram.

The GND lead should be connected to the bottom middle pin, instead of the top middle pin!

The view is from the bottom / solder side of the board

The only part im unsure about is where the 5V+ line meets the GND (-) line (coming from the rectifier), and goes off in parallel to the 220k resistor and  LED.

Note: I didnt bother putting every cut hole needed in the plan.

The reason for 2x4 SIL Pins at the 5v DC end is i can supply 4 Cores if needed in the future.

The reason for 8 DIL Pins at the +14V end is to supply upto 8 Sid modules easily.

[jooks]

Did this work? I´m just about to make an opt 64psu and might copy this if it´s ok :) Getting a bit dizzy trying to follow the lines here..

[Smithy]

Did this work? I´m just about to make an opt 64psu and might copy this if it´s ok :) Getting a bit dizzy trying to follow the lines here..

haha, didnt solder it fully yet!

Instead of using a spot face cutter, im using a stanley blade now as suggested to cut through the tracks.

This will allow to have the 3 pins of the Voltage Regulator in line, instead of having to bend them.

So the circuit could be modified so theres no gap between the Positive and GND pins of the 5v line,

so you could throw in a Dil Header, instead of 2 SIL headers, one gap apart.

If you need any help with it im glad to help.

Are you using a special protoboard like i am?

[Smithy]

Well finally i managed to get the PSU finished, and got a stable 14V and 5V dc reading.

As many have said before, BUY A DAMN GOOD SOLDERING IRON!

It makes life 10 times easier.

Because im using a panel mount Socket for the C64 psu,

ive connected it using sil headers for the AC (yellow wires) and DC lines, (black and red wires).

So i can detatch it and use it in a different case in the future (i think ive thrown out the top of the c64 case! damn)

Also, i broke the original C64 LED, and tried using a Green LED from an old PC which tends to get hot, so hot in fact that it shines Amber instead of green!  :P

Anyone know off hand what rating the LED should be to replace the c64 LED?

It aint pretty but heres the pics:

[Smithy]

Oh and please note that the diagram of the Pin out for the C64 PSU socket is wrong in the diagram.

The GND lead should be connected to the bottom middle pin.

I could of sworn i got 5V DC when testing the top middle pin before,

but I didnt this time so I switched to the correct pin.

[Smithy]

Just finished the core module 99%, all thats left is to solder are the midi  sockets.

I just tested it for 5V between the 4 pairs of pins TK and Jim Henry suggested,

and it passed.  :D

I also spotted a minor mistake in Jim Henry's Assembling a Midibox Core PDF

Edit: It appears i had the older version with the error in it!

I was absolutely baffled as to why i wasnt reading any voltage between those 2 incorrect pins!  :-[

Must stop trying to save bandwidth and start viewing pdfs online, instead of downloading them!

error.JPG

error.JPG

[Smithy]

I just wanted to know what type of audio cable people have being using for the SID Module, or what would ye recommend?

This is for a panel mount audio socket obviously.

Is your standard Awg 22-26 cable sufficient or would ye use something shielded a bit more?

Im guessing AWG 22-26 is grand for the midi socket at least?

[nILS]

I've used all sorts of cables for audio - the difference is subtle to say the least if you don't run the audio cables parallel to power or monitor cables ;-)

[Smithy]

Thanks for the reply nils!

I might actually use a cdrom-> soundcard  audio cable that will connect to the SILS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried hooking up an LCD to the CORE, and all that came on was the backlight,

no black boxes, no characters nothing.

Before i post a detailed thread on this, i just wanted to know if the READY message will come up when using 4-Bit mode?

I have not soldered midi sockets yet, could this be the problem?

Asked in the chat and got replies from nils, smash and sinesurfer, and these 2 things should not be causing any problems.

[Smithy]

I've created a thread in the Testing / Troubleshooting forum on the issue with my LCD:

http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,13657.msg117422.html#msg117422

Any help would be appreciated.  :)

[Smithy]

Okay, so today i managed to upload the MBSid firmware to the CORE Module.

A while back i completed the DINx4 module, but i soldered the very last resistor network back to front!

As you can see marked in  the pic it was RP8: (i lost my n95 recently so no real pic  :()

D'OH!

My desoldering skills suck so i couldnt manage to remove it i'm afraid. (cannot remember if i tried with braid however)

My question is,

will removing IC4 and leaving J6 open, be adequate enough for the other 3 DINs to be functional and unaffected?

Any help would be greatly apprecaited. Thanks.

[lief138]

it would be hard to get that part off in one piece. Just get brute force on it and cut the black part off with wire cutters then you can heat up each whole and pull the pins out one at a time with plyers. You can always get another piece or even some regular resistors to replace that.

Right?

[Smithy]

it would be hard to get htat part off in one piece. Just get brute force on it and cut the black part off with wirecuttersthen you can heat up each whole and pull the pins out one at a time with plyers. You can always get another piece or even some regualr resistors to replace that.

Right?

Right on!

The only thing i'd be afraid of is damaging the pads but i guess i'll just have to be careful.

Thanks for the reply!

[lief138]

Dont be affraid, Even if you damage the pads (which sucks) you can always conenct a piece of wire or something. Just cut one pin at a time. Youll be fine. Once you break it and fix it again, youll be that much better! I can talk as I have pulled more than one pad in my day...

[nebula]

Sorry lief, but no, no , no!!! It's easy to not damage the pads if you resign yourself to losing the resistor network.  Just do this:

1. With no heat applied, bend the resistor network to each side until it breaks off.  Or use cutters if you can get in there.  You will be left with the just the broken-off leads soldered in place.

2. Find a work surface you don't mind leaving marks on, or spread some newspaper over a table.

3. Hold the board in one hand, underside up, and the soldering iron in your other hand.  Apply heat to one of the leads.  The solder all around it will melt.  The component lead may even fall out. If not, it should be easy to get out, either by gently pushing on it with your iron's tip, or with tweezers on the other side of the board.

4. If the hole is still clogged up with solder, consider heating up the joint and gently tapping the board against the table.  The solder will often just fly out.  Failing that, copper braid or stranded copper wire works OK here, but a vacuum tool of any sort (sold-a-pullt or a cheap rubber bulb) works wonders.

Brute force shouldn't be necessary unless you needed it to insert the component.

Plated thru-holes often have connections on both sides of a circuit board.  If you apply heat and brute force, you are likely to damage those connections, and you may even lift a trace right off the board.  Repairs are usually possible, but it's much easier to just spend a few extra minutes practicing safe desoldering.

BTW the resistor network can then be replaced with another one, or it may be easier to just get some resistors and do the "alternate loading".

[lief138]

Oh Im not hating or anything. The brute force comes in the form of cutting the resistor network or in your case bending it back and forth until it breaks. At that point using the solder iron will be a piece of cake to get each leg out. I was just trying to say that one should not be affraid of pulling the pad as that will result in not doign anything. Plus I would guess that lots of people besides myself have done so at some point and I would also guess that what ever they were working on is not dead as a result (hopefully).

But you are right about all that you said and much more elegent than my description.

Either way homeboy should get on the good foot and get it done.

And lastly I was just trying to tell him not to be affraid of effing it up as it wont really be broke.

[Smithy]

Dont be affraid, Even if you damage the pads (which sucks) you can always conenct a piece of wire or something. Just cut one pin at a time. Youll be fine. Once you break it and fix it again, youll be that much better! I can talk as I have pulled more than one pad in my day...

If i do damage the pads i just realised that theres pads on both sides, so i could always solder standard resistors on the opposite side of the board.

And nebula thanks a lot for the walkthrough, ill try it later.

And thanks for the optrex display too!  ;) Its working perfect and I really like it!

[analogue_mo]

Hello everybody,

Is anyone here using recent modules from smashTV????

I want to know how the connections between the CORE_R4D and SID_R3A modules are made...can you help me??

my current connections are:

CORE      SID

J10         J2

----       ----

MD  ----> ??

SO  ----> SO

MU  ----> MU

RC  ---->  RC

CLK ----> CLK(PWM???)

SC  -??->  SC(not connected)

Vd  ---->  (not connected)

Vs  ---->  (not connected)

my questions are:

Is  CORE:J10:MD supposed to be connected somewhere in the SID module????

should I connect CORE:J10:SC to SID:J2:SC ???

I'm using ONE CORE and TWO SID modules in a STEREO SETUP so I'm using the "mbhp_8xsid_c64_psu_optimized.pdf" document as a guide for my connections, but my SID_R3A doesnt have a J2:MD, and instead of PWM I have CLK in both modules (I supose its the same thing with a different name).

I have the PSU circuit already mounted and I think its working nicely cause I get the expected voltage values (5.2V in the PIC and Octopler and 9.2V in SID), I'm just not secure about the connections mentioned above....can you help???

Thanks in advance!

analogue_MO

 

[nILS]

Well you already found this gem: http://ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_8xsid_c64_psu_optimized.pdf

It has all the wiring in it ;) Even though the silkscreen on the SID PCBs is a bit different the pinout is the same - wire them as shown in the pdf.

[Smithy]

Hello everybody,

Is anyone here using recent modules from smashTV????

I want to know how the connections between the CORE_R4D and SID_R3A modules are made...can you help me??

 

Yep.

I was a bit worried too because of PWM and MD being labeled as CLK and SC on the sid module,

but i just assumed they were and connected it up regardless.

The first cable i used caused garbage on the lcd but i got sid playback!

I used a better cable and then everything worked perfect.

So essentially this is how to connect it:

CORE      SID

J10        J2

----      ----

MD  ----> SC

SO  ----> SO

MU  ----> MU

RC  ---->  RC

CLK ----> CLK

SC  --->  (not connected)

Vd  ---->  (not connected)

Vs  ---->  (not connected)

[analogue_mo]

Great,

I'll try this later on....thank you very much for your reply!

Analogue_Mo

.....................................

Thanks, it worked perfectly with the testone app, got two triangles smooth as silk  :D

[Smithy]

I've been a bit lazy updating this lately,

but anyway i went on to do the bankstick module.

I decided to reuse a Serial Cable from an old PC, which connects the motherboard to the 9 pin male connector.

Perfect for use with a bankstick.

Since ive lost my phone, i had to take pics, using a Camcorder hooked up to a TV tuner card in my PC,

(Not the best way, but it damn well works!)

Then i connected the connector to the header of J4, note that the holes on the other side of the connector are not being used by any SIL pins.

The cable tends to put force on j2, but it doesnt really bother me, saves me removing the DIL connector and crimping a SIL connector.

                                                                                                                                                 

So then i made a new pinout diagram for the IC and connector, to make it easier to see which pins need to be soldered:

The wireless veroboard strikes again! I soldered an IC socket to it, to make the IC removable (an obsession i seem to have.

I even tried using a SIL socket for the cables but it was just too big to fit in, so ended up solering the wires directly to the SIL header instead.

(I should of just soldered them straight to the PCB first time.)

..... and ended up with a funky and compact pcb.

The Bankstick housing i bought was from Maplin is made of chrome(couldnt resist the look), and i always worried that chrome may be conductive since buying it,

so i tested it out with my multimeter and yep, you guessed it, it is indeed so something had to be done.....

Smash TV's Magic Pink Packagingâ„¢ to the rescue, to prevent those nasty shorts!

Buy now!!!! and for a limited time only, recieve free pink packaging which will insulate your bankstick,

with every purchase from SmashTV!  ;)

Then it was time to upload a patch bank to the Bankstick.

It took me a while to find out, but the V2 patches can be found in the MB-SID firmware ZIP file,

and theyre inside a preset folder.

So i fired up the SID Editor and the Vintage V2 bank transferred perfectly.

Theres some cool patches in there, my favourite is the "Techno 5th" preset,

so thank you whoever contributed that one.  :)

Heres a quick little riff i sequenced with it:

http://www.divshare.com/download/8280540-5f5

The SID Chip is more powerful than i realised, i only realised lately that each Oscillator has its own ADSR envelope,

and that you can select which channels are sent the Filter,(you can hear me cycle through them towards the end of the mp3)

every other synth ive known besides modulars just send all Oscillators to the filter.

Ive had great fun playing with it so far,  :) but mine isnt perfect,

im having issues with the drum engine presets, which ill address in my next post soon.  

Thanks again to all involved!