[toneburst]

Hi,

I've been away from the MIDIBox community for a while now, but have been periodically checking back for new developments. When I saw Wilba's amazingly slick MB-6582 design, and saw how well-documented it was, I thought it was time to dip my toe back in the water, so to speak. Finding that SmashTV was stocking both the PCBs for the main board and control-surface, and a kit of parts for the main board, too, was the clincher though.

Soo.. over the past couple of weeks, I've been ordering parts. I now have everything apart from the diodes for the CS (I'll be ordering them today, probably), and the panels from Schaeffer.

As Wilba warned they might, Schaeffer did complain that they couldn't do the panels in 1.5mm thickness, but I managed to convince them to give it a try, anyway. Fingers crossed it will be OK...

I managed to source most of the other bits and pieces from UK suppliers (I'm based in London).

• The 20x4 LCD and 3mm ultrabright LEDs from eBay. I went for a white-on-blue LCD and clear blue LEDs (though I may swap the LEDs for ones with a blue lens).
  
• PT-10 case from RS Components (a special order item, but only took about a week to arrive)
  
• Tact-switches from Rapid
  
• PCB spacers from a company called Toby, who I'd never heard of before
  
• Knobs from Novation/Focusrite
  
• Encoders from VOTI, in the Netherlands
  
• And last but most definitely not least, PCBs and main-board kit from SmashTV in the US.

I've also added myself to Decembers SID bulk-order, though I do already have a matching pair of SIDs.

I must say, I'm hugely impressed by how good SmashTVs PCBs look! They're beautiful objects in their own right. Almost seems to a shame to sully them with my inferior soldering...
I noticed that the CS board isn't labelled, but it's not a problem, as there are very few different kinds of components on there, anyway, and the symbols are perfectly clear.

I'm really impressed by how professionally the order from SmashTV was packaged-up. Tim, if you're reading this, apologies again for my email re. customs duties: I know it's not your fault.

I've got a lot of soldering ahead of me, but hopefully, at the end of it all, I'll have a really cool synth, plus the satisfaction of knowing I built (if not actually designed) it myself.

Wish me luck, guys!!

[Flexinoodle]

Interested in seeing what your clear/blue LEDs look like
I got the same for one of mine but i'm not sure now about the clear myself

[toneburst]

Hi Flexinoodle,

they're literally completely clear when not on. I haven't tried connecting any of them up yet, so I don't know how bright they are.

a|x

[toneburst]

Well, I've hit a bit of a hitch: my soldering-iron has stopped working. The tip doesn't get hot enough to melt the solder now. I've tried cleaning and re-tinning it, but it still doesn't melt the solder, so I guess the element has failed. I've ordered a replacement, but until it arrives, my MB-6582 build has ground to a halt, unfortunately.

On a more positive note, I got an email from Schaeffer on Friday to let me know that my panels are on their way though, so hopefully I should get those this week.

a|x

[Futureman]

Thats sad news about your soldering iron..

I must say tho, I've had my crappy "jaycar" (electronics store in Australia) soldering iron for about 10 years now, it cost me $18 and I've used it on everything i've built.. from xox boxes -> 1176 compressor clones -> MB-6582 -> MB-Seq and repair of heaps of synths, and it's never let me down..

It's got no temp control, no on/off switch, just a power cord.

Just out of interest, what solder are you using? you have not changed to lead free solder have you?

Regards
Mike

[Dave_Wheeler]

Hi Toneburst, Nice to see you back  :)
I am undecided whether to lay out a new board or go for the boards from Smash, you mentioned customs / Duties. Did the Post Office go the full hog ?? (Duty, VAT, collection fee)
If so (and you don't mind telling me) how much 'extra' did they cost ??

Cheers Dave

[toneburst]

Quote

Hi Toneburst, Nice to see you back  :)
I am undecided whether to lay out a new board or go for the boards from Smash, you mentioned customs / Duties. Did the Post Office go the full hog ?? (Duty, VAT, collection fee)
If so (and you don't mind telling me) how much 'extra' did they cost ??

Cheers Dave

Hi Dave!

cheers for the welcome!

Getting the boards from SmashTV is definitely the way to go if you plan to use the PT-10 enclosure, I'd say. If you're planning on putting the project in something else, then that might give you more leeway, I guess. On the other hand, SmashTV/Wilba's 8-Sid-capable kit might be overkill for your purposes. I figured I may as well go the whole hog and fill all 8 slots, given that even a basic SID synth is going to end up being quite expensive anyway.

I can't remember off the top of my head what the breakdown of customs charges was. I think it was basically the VAT + a handling charge. It came to just over £25 in total, and I bought both PCBs, and the Mainboard kit.

Hope this helps.

a|x

[Goblinz]

I think customs is a bit hit and miss in the UK.

When I got my baseboard kit from Smash I didn't get charged. In fact, the only thing I have ever been charged for was the first lot of SIDS from Wilba.

[toneburst]

Quote

I think customs is a bit hit and miss in the UK.

When I got my baseboard kit from Smash I didn't get charged. In fact, the only thing I have ever been charged for was the first lot of SIDS from Wilba.

I think they don't charge at all if the duty adds up to less that £7, as far as I can work out..

a|x

[Dave_Wheeler]

Thanks guys,
As mine is NOT going in a PT10 and I'm only using 4 SID's and I 'might' do some stuff at audio level I think I will just layout a board. My existing single SID is on Veroboard :-)
Size is not too much of and issue and although I admire the work done by Wilba and Smash I can probably do my board(s) for a similar cost but more importantly to suit my exact requirements.
Good luck with your build and post some nice piccies when done :-)
Cheers
Dave

[toneburst]

Cheers for the encouragement, Dave.

I'll post some pics soon. Doesn't look too exciting now though- just a half-populated mainboard.
Hopefully the panels should arrive soon though :)

For the record, I've just checked the Customs charges breakdown on the box, and apparently they charged an £8 handling fee (which seems a bit excessive to me, but there you go), and the rest was VAT.


a|x

[Goblinz]

Quote

Cheers for the encouragement, Dave.

I'll post some pics soon. Doesn't look too exciting now though- just a half-populated mainboard.
Hopefully the panels should arrive soon though :)

For the record, I've just checked the Customs charges breakdown on the box, and apparently they charged an £8 handling fee (which seems a bit excessive to me, but there you go), and the rest was VAT.


a|x

The handling fee sucks, down to royal mail being b*st*rds.

[Dave_Wheeler]

To be fair to RM, it does cost them quite a lot to process duty and VAT, it just sucks when you have to pay it :-)
The only time I had problems with duty was something from Norway that was sent to me to repair, as it was not staying in the UK it was not eligable for duty but DHL took some persuading !!!
This is going way off topic so probably best I stop my ranting

Cheers
Dave

[toneburst]

Just picked up my Schaeffer panel order.

For those who haven't bought panels from Schaeffer (or their US equivalent), they come in an enormous box. Inside, there's a big bit of card, with the panels shrink-wrapped into the middle. I'm dying to unwrap them, but I'll hold off until I can take a snapshot of the packaging, which is rather wonderful.

The panels themselves look really good. I changed the divider colour from the original red in Wilba's layout to blue, to go with my LEDs and display, but otherwise it's exactly as Wilba designed it.

I also received the replacement element for my soldering iron today, so I should be able to get back to putting together the main-board soon.

a|x

[toneburst]

Well, things have ground to a halt again. I made the mistake of trying to fit my new element to my soldering iron while still tired from a night out last night, and stupidly disconnected all the cables from the old unit without making a note of which connected to which, so I have no idea how to connect up the new one. Worse, in trying to test, I think I probably connected one of the heater wires to the temperature-sensor, so I've probably hosed the whole thing, now.

The element is one of these
http://cpc.farnell.c...equestid=233869

Does anyone out there happen to have an iron that uses one of these, and could maybe tell me which wire to connect to which? It's a Union Brothers BP-53, but I think they're also sold under the Soloman brand.

Here's the wires:


And this is the base part of the solder station:


a|x

[toneburst]

Quote

Thats sad news about your soldering iron..

I must say tho, I've had my crappy "jaycar" (electronics store in Australia) soldering iron for about 10 years now, it cost me $18 and I've used it on everything i've built.. from xox boxes -> 1176 compressor clones -> MB-6582 -> MB-Seq and repair of heaps of synths, and it's never let me down..

It's got no temp control, no on/off switch, just a power cord.

Just out of interest, what solder are you using? you have not changed to lead free solder have you?

Hi there,

sorry for not replying to your post earlier- I overlooked it somehow.

I had a really cheap Antek iron for years, but I started to find it frustrating to use in the end. The current one has been pretty good, until recently. I think I might be in the market for a new one now though, after my botched attempt to replace the element (see my previous post). Hope I can get it going again, though. I'm feeling a bit tender of wallet at the moment, having forked out for all this other stuff...

a|x

[toneburst]

I thought I try laying-out the two different kinds of caps on the Schaeffer panel.

These are the Novation XStation ones:



And these are from the Focusrite Liquid mix



I think I actually prefer the Liquid Mix ones. Unfortunately, they're designed to fit a different shaft-type (knurled, rather than with a flattened side), so I'd have to buy new encoders to be able to use them.

The XStation ones are also slightly too small, at just fractionally smaller than the holes in the panel, whereas the other ones cover the holes completely.

I may yet be in for the next bulk-order on those 'Waldorf' knobs..

a|x

[Kartoshka]

bit offtopic question, maybe any of you know how the lasercut/cnc process manages to fill the holes with paint?
is it same process as cutting - but instead drill bit, it goes with paint tube? my guess

[ilmenator]

no paint - just bare, shiny aluminium with a white sheet of paper underneath...

[zgba]

I have similar soldering iron. I doubt if it helps, cause there's some more wires, but I made a photo. I haven't swapped the heater yet, so everything's original. Good luck:)

EDIT: Nope, there's only 5 wires. I can't count.

Attached File(s)

•  iron.jpg (160.6K)
  Number of downloads: 28
•  iron.jpg (160.6K)
  Number of downloads: 28