sammich sid: encoder problem [solved]

[SammichedSince2010]

hi everyone,

as my first midibox project, i just built a sammichSID kit, and i'm absolutely loving it! great sounds, great little kit, thanks wilba (and nils, and tk obviously)!

everything seems to be working fine, except that i'm having a bit of trouble with the encoder - hope i can describe this properly in english: when turning it clockwise, the value that i'm trying to increase will occasionally 'skip a click' (i.e. remain unchanged while the encoder has passed one of those clicky detent things), or even decrease by 2 steps instead of increasing by 1. this seems to happen around every 16 clicks or so, and it only happens when turning it clockwise/increasing values. anti-clockwise/decreasing seems to work ok.

any idea what might be wrong here? is it the encoder itself, or is it a bad connection somewhere? where do i start looking, and how? i don't really know much about electronics, so any help would be much appreciated.

[edited: typo]

Edited March 20, 2010 by SammichedSince2010

[clem!]

Hi,

and welcome to the board.

I don't have experience with the sammich but some month ago I've build a midibox sid. I have tried some different encoder types and had to adapt the firmware for different encoders. More about encoders you will find here:

http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=encoders#rotary_encoders

Sometimes if you have cheap encoders there is a larger span of inaccuracy in the mechanic of the contacts. Perhaps a little adaption of the firmware or the exchange of the encoder can solve this problem.

Best regards,

clem!

Edited March 2, 2010 by clem!

[seppoman]

It could be some bad contact on the CS PCB, maybe around the resistor networks. But most likely the encoder itself is faulty. Maybe it got too much heat or a strong physical hit. If you don't find any other issues on the PCB I'd suggest exchanging the encoder for a new one.

Edit - "every 16 clicks" - maybe the encoder is a version with 16 clicks per rotation? That's a usual number of clicks. So maybe you can try out if it always happens on the same position of the encoder? If that's the case, it's definitely a faulty encoder.

Edited March 2, 2010 by seppoman

[nILS]

+1 on what seppo said, and

Welcome Aboard! :flowers:

[SammichedSince2010]

thanks for the warm welcome!

ok, so i'll start with exchanging the encoder and see if that solves the problem. would this be the correct part?

ALPS ENCODER STEC12E07

(there's a conrad's right around the corner, so i could pick one up after work and exchange it this very evening)

"every 16 clicks" - maybe the encoder is a version with 16 clicks per rotation? That's a usual number of clicks. So maybe you can try out if it always happens on the same position of the encoder? If that's the case, it's definitely a faulty encoder.

the encoder came with the kit, i don't know exactly what type it is. that bit about the problem occurring every 16 or so clicks was more like an estimate. i did indeed have the impression that there was some kind of regularity as to when the problem occurs, but when i started counting clicks, i didn't find a pattern...

Edited March 2, 2010 by SammichedSince2010

[seppoman]

The kit encoders are a (quite good) chinese clone of the Alps STEC16B series. Don't know if Conrad stocks these.

[SammichedSince2010]

The kit encoders are a (quite good) chinese clone of the Alps STEC16B series. Don't know if Conrad stocks these.

apparently not. and neither do segor or reichelt.

so i couldn't just replace it with that stec12e07 type they have at conrad?

the only place i found that stec16b one is at a mailorder called distrelec. this would be the correct one, right?

Edited March 2, 2010 by SammichedSince2010

[seppoman]

yes that's the 16b - are you in Germany? If yes, there's also Buerklin who stock them (but only sell to commercial customers as long as you can't visit them in person in their Munich store). I don't know about the 12b - you can try to compare mechanical drawings and pin configuration in the pdf datasheets of the two models.

[Wilba]

Don't buy one - I will get my German slave to post you a new Soundwell encoder. :thumbsup:

[SammichedSince2010]

Don't buy one - I will get my German slave to post you a new Soundwell encoder. :thumbsup:

great, thanks!

[SammichedSince2010]

i replaced the encoder today, now everything is working like it should. so my problem is now officially: [solved]

thanks once more to wilba and nils for helping me out with a replacement!

[edited for typos]

Edited March 20, 2010 by SammichedSince2010