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Control surface PCB for 16 encoders/LEDrings Bulk Order


Fairlightiii
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A panel depends on use-case - some might want a display to go with the encoders, some may not. Modular panels are not as appealing as single-piece ones because they look less professional. Putting a set of encoders into a rack is probably not what most people will find useful, at least not in terms of ergonomics - you'd rather operate encoders on the flat surface of a desktop-case instead. Also, I don't think a universally good panel exists.

Instead, Ponoko is a very good, cheap and reliable source for individualized panels, and with the panel files available even my grandma can order such a panel (for one, two, three or more encoder PCBs) from there.

In general, for DIY it is a very good idea to take one step at a time, especially for people new to MIDIbox. I am sure most people ordering the PCBs now do not even know what to do with them yet, and I do not even exclude myself from that...

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Hi Jerome,

Forgive me if I am a beast.

What do you mean with insurance?

A tracking service ?

So no insurance ...no tracking.

Or the cheapest shipment without insurance anyway is traceable?

A kind of registered mail.

Best regards

Antonio

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I'm agree with ilmenator.

This board is tended to be use in term of modularity either in multiboards project or where this board would be as part of more complex project.

Modularity means unpredictability.

With the rise of personal factory as Ponoko which provide cheap and relatively easy way to create things, the concept of universality seems to disappear.

This idea would have sens in my eyes only in a all-include-project with components/enclosure/application ad-hoc.

Maybe one day.

Regards.

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Hi Antonio.

What do you mean with insurance?

A tracking service ?

Yes if you take "with insurance" it's means you will be compensated of the amount of the insurance in case of lost and your shipment is tracked (until your door in this country: Germany, Belgium, Danemark, Finland, UK, Hong-Kong, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, Swiss and until the French frontier for the others country). In any case I receive a proof of delivery.

So no insurance ...no tracking.

Or the cheapest shipment without insurance anyway is traceable?

A kind of registered mail.

Yes, no insurance ...no tracking.

Regards.

Jerome.

Edited by Fairlightiii
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Modularity means unpredictability.

I won't go into any fundamental philosophical design discussion, but I do think this remark is a bit normative. In my perception of reality modularity means freedom, elegance, 'fitness' and openness to otherwise unseen possibilities. Anywho, I was trying to solve my idea of costs of a metal(!) panel with all these LED holes. Several use cases probably won't ask for such an universal solution. I was being a bit narrow-minded here?!

If I understand correctly using plastic panels won't be a big hit in the money pocket ... which is a good thing! #8-)

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Now THAT is a nice bit of work.I've been driving the MBMixer with a BCR deck for years now, and it got damaged in a trip two weeks ago.

So now I get a MidiBox control surface to match my mixer? Sweet!

I just signed up for two boards with resistors, if there is any trouble reaching me, just usemy_nickname at gmail.com.

Merry Christmas to all!rolleyes.gif

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Hi.

I would like to make a point 1 week after the beginning of the bulk order:

>We have 81 PCBs already ordered so we should probably reach the 100s soon and the price will be break again.

>The amount of the Mouser order is 57,56€ that is to say 7,44€ below the free shipping cost.

I would like to point out that (mostly) DIL resistor networks are difficult to find at good price for few quantities (at least on this side of the Atlantic).

If someone plan to use this type of component, don't have them and don't already know where finding them, should ask the question to participate at this bulk order.

I'll make a new point in some days when we'll reach the two thresholds.

Regards,

Jerome.

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Frontpanel ?

I would like to share informations I found about the frontpanel I plan to use for my own project. With the number of LEDs of the board(s) maybe it will be useful for someone.

It's acrylic panel manufactured by Formulor. It's a German cousin of the famous Ponoko.

I will use their medium grey (transparent) which is in fact the Evonik acrylic GS Grey 7C83 GT already used in Shruthi cases under the name of "Neuropa grey".

You can find pictures (mutable-instruments/fcd72 copyrighted) here and here.

I have asked Formulor the question about tranparency in case of using red LEDs bargraphs and they are confident that we will see each LEDs distinctly because the transparency is 21%.

You can check this pictures in case of use of green LEDs:

Picture 1.

Picture 2.

Picture 3.

Picture 4.

Regards,

Jerome.

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Looking great!

Thanks for the link and the idea... the transparent acrylic will be a good alternative to very costly aluminum-based panels with hundreds of LED holes - which would also be terrible to mount in conjunction with flat-top LEDs - whoever has a MB6582 with them knows the pain :)

Many greets,

Peter

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Yay for more Shruthi/MIDIbox cross-pollination! Guys, what if one was to draw a simple panel for one board? This could be cloned times x for larger panels and maybe we could ask the kick-ass friendly mr fcd72 (Herr Daniels) himself if he's interested? He always make beautiful Shruthi, Anushri and Ambika plus Shruth XT cases for us builders :sorcerer:

Cheers!

Edited by jojjelito
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...and I hate bling.

Soon.

Aww, I didn't mean it in a condescending way :console: If we wanted tacky, tasteless bling we'd be doing this with pink or purple (the horror!) LEDs and gold painted knobs plus panel. This is more like good bling of the impressive kind. If I was more eloquent I'd go get my Baudelaire on with a good quote: "Tout ce qui est beau et noble est le résultat de la raison et du calcul " All which is beautiful and noble is the result of reason and calculation.

Cheers!

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I need to expand my rack to 8U, but taking the BCR off the top should save that much space.I was digging in my junkbox last night for some resistors, and came across an unfinished project that would receive and decode a remote control into MIDI volume messages.

This looks like a good time to finish that project.

I really like the translucent panel idea, that should reduce the panel holes to 16 + 4 for mounting.

I just can't decide what color LED's and plexi.. something to think about. grin.png

LyleHaze

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It will be not exactly hole but "D hole", isn't it?.

Will you plan to use the same method than the MBseq frame with recess?

Maybe an another method to test would be to make hold the acrylic frame with the nut of the encoder with another nut underneath.

We can imagine a lot of nice things to do but the problem with metal panel is the price.

Regards.

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It will be not exactly hole but "D hole", isn't it?.

Sure it will be a hole, and bigger than the shaft too, but small enough so the knob skirt will cover it (see the MB6582 frontpanel; shafts poke through but holes are invisible with knobs on shafts).

The acrylic will be glued to the alu from the bottom, and will have a recess for it to be flush with the frontpanel, like an LCD window.

We can imagine a lot of nice things to do but the problem with metal panel is the price.

Yes you are right; the cheapest option is probably to just have a second job and buy all your toys with the extra money. Building them yourself is a big part of the fun though, and fun is allowed to cost money IMHO :laugh:

Edited by NorthernLightX
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