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fatman build


Technosoul
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So I built the fatman, It looks great, It powers on :), but its not recieving any midi  ???. I have know I idea as to what the do. I read the trouble shooting guide. I got my multimeter, but truthfully I dont even know what to do with that, considering this was my first DIY. The soldering spots look good. I might have over heated the IC6 because I first put it in the wrong spot and had to move it. So I'm stumped. I think its going back to Paia for repairs. I feel like a cheater and a failure, hell what are you going to do. I guess its back to the Doepfer.

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Nice work....to bad it won't receive anything. Did you consider to swap the optocoupler? They are prone to get busted.....so get some at your local supplier and ttry ot swap them.

thats the one I think broke. Its IC6 on the fatman PCB slot which is IC 6N138. I actually put in the wrong spot first, then had to desolder and move. Maybe it got to hot. What you do think?

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Thats the one......thats the one that "reads"the incoming midi signal. And if you desoldering it again put it in a socket......really. These opto's get busted a lot.....so really try this first before sending it back to PAIA. Good luck man. ;)

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Thats the one......thats the one that "reads"the incoming midi signal. And if you desoldering it again put it in a socket......really. These opto's get busted a lot.....so really try this first before sending it back to PAIA. Good luck man. ;)

I'm trying to find a local components shop in vegs where I'm at, I havent found the exact same one yet, but I noticed radio shack had a couple different ones. Are these in any way compatible or should I stick with the one that came with the kit

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So, where are you based? For that matter, which opto is it? Also, what other electronics stores are near you? RS will almost certainly have something you could use, but they can be expensive, particularly if you have to pay for shipping (at least, RS Australia is like that).

If you do need to substitute the opto for an alternative device, the data sheets are your main source of information. These can be a bit cryptic and overwhelming at first, but just take your time to look up all the terms online, and you should be able to get through most of the key points. Wikipedia also has decent inrtoductory information describing electronic device types, as a starting point. If you are not too sure about any of it, I recommend swapping for the same device - it may not be that part which is at fault, and you don't want to introduce additional unkowns when trouble shooting.

It should be possible to test the function of the opto with a DC test signal. I don't normally do this, but it should be possible to run a current into the opto's input, and test for a change at the output with your multimeter set to DC volts. It would probably be something like a 0V to +5V signal at the output.

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6N138s are kinda sensistive and a fair component to blame when MIDI In isn't working. Get a new one (they're not that hard to find) and this time - socket it and never ever ever solder an opto-coupler without sockets again. Actually - unless you have an incredibly good reason to never ever ever solder an IC, but always use sockets.

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So I have a question for you guys. My 6N138 optocoupler reads like this on the surface. 6N138, 0733TI. My question is, what does the second set of numbers and letters mean?

07 - Year

33 - Week

TI - Texas Instruments (?)

So your chip was made by Texas Instruments somwhen in August 2007.

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07 - Year

33 - Week

TI - Texas Instruments (?)

So your chip was made by Texas Instruments somwhen in August 2007.

Great thanks. So I'm researching online and I'm looking at mouser for example. They have a few different manufacturers of the 6N138. Does it make a difference at all? will any of them do?

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SO after some amazing tech support from Scott over at Paia via email, the problem was fixed and I have a working fatman and it sounds good. I'm quite impressed in the quality of thick analog sound it produces.

Well, what was wrong. I put the wrong power supply on I had a 12VDC instead of 12VAC. After that simple fix this afternoon. The machine couldnt wait to sing. Awesome.

its alive.JPG

its alive.JPG

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SO after some amazing tech support from Scott over at Paia via email, the problem was fixed and I have a working fatman and it sounds good. I'm quite impressed in the quality of thick analog sound it produces.

Well, what was wrong. I put the wrong power supply on I had a 12VDC instead of 12VAC. After that simple fix this afternoon. The machine couldnt wait to sing. Awesome.

LOL, something i think a few of us will have done in the past!

Glad it's working now.

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