ready to start!

[Guest zorkiii]

Hello!   I came across the uCApps site a few months ago while searching for Commodore 64 related keyboard / synth / live applications, and uCApps had my eyes popping out of my skull.  I've been a c-64 game music fan for ages.  I've performed a few of my favorite games songs live with a few different bands out here but using more traditional instrumentation (bass, guitar, rhodes keyboard and drums) -- one of my favorites is the theme to M.U.L.E. (I will post my renditions of them sometime soon)  I'm so excited to start building something here.

I'm hoping to get a few questions answered before I jump blindly into this.  I've looked over the page for the MIDIbox SID and want to build the complete control surface, but i'm a little confused.  

The list says I need a CORE, SID, Control Unit, PSU, 3 DINX4, 3DOUT4 and the the rest would be leds buttons parts .   I visited coinoptech.com and got confused on which pcb's I would need or not need.  Can someone tell me what I need to get going>?  I'm sorry if this is answered in another post or in a different forum, i'm hoping this is the right place to ask.   And thank you in advance.  

overexcited,

-Rich

[Guest zorkiii]

I know it must be taxing answering the newbie questions, but could someone help me?  I'm more experienced in music than electronics, but the music is why i'm coming here.  I could use a hand getting started.  Thanks!

-Rich

[goyousalukis]

Hey Rich, I think you are right on track with what you need. If you build the complete control surface, you won't need the minimal one. What I might recommend is for you to build your SID in the same order as Thorsten's page. I.e first build just the core, sid and power supply. Get this working with your computer using JSYNTH and a midi keyboard. Then move on to the next step.

This is what your cart should look like:

 paypal@coinoptech.com

Qty Remove Item Options Price

1 CORE module PCB    $7.00

3 DIN Module PCB    $19.50

2 DOUT Module PCB    $13.00

1 SID Module PCB    $7.00

1 PIC18F452    $8.95

1  JDM Module PCB    $6.00

You need the JDM to program the PIC unless you want to have SmashTV (coinoptech) to program it for you.

Good Luck

Justin

[Guest zorkiii]

Thanks alot for the reply, I feel more confident about starting now.  

I have a question, you mentioned that I would not need the minimal setup if I built the complete control surface, but it looked as if the minimal setup is part of the complete one.  Are they built differently?   Or is it only different if I build the improved power supply to handle more SID units?

Ok, thanks again.

-Rich

[goyousalukis]

I have a question, you mentioned that I would not need the minimal setup if I built the complete control surface, but it looked as if the minimal setup is part of the complete one.  Are they built differently?  

Or is it only different if I build the improved power supply to handle more SID units?

Ok, thanks again.

-Rich

Rich the power supply is seprate from the control surface. You can use the power supply schematics that come with the core/sid module, or you can use the C64 PSU. Thorsten recommends the C64 since it results in a much less noisy signal. I can attest to this since I started with a wallwart power supply and then built the  C64 PSU unit. It is a lot quieter. You can power 1 or 4 units with either type of power supply.

The minimal control surface uses some of the same parts as the complete control surface i.e. LCD, buttons and encoder. It also uses a DINx1, which doesn't have a premade pcb available. You can use a DINx4 though. I guess you could build the minimal, and then re-use the parts for your complete control surface. If you look at the minimal control surface, it is similar to the lower left portion of Thorsten's full SID panel. You could build that module seprate and then just start from that when you want to go to the complete surface.

I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you more!

Justin