A SEQ is born..

[Guest marr]

Cue the theme music to "Weird Science" -- my SEQ is aliiive!   :D

Many, many thanks to TK for everything, and to Smash TV for the excellent kits!

Putting this togther has been a truly rewarding experience and inspired me to switch from computer science to electrical engineering at uni. I'm looking forward to hacking around in the asm and contributing to the Wiki however I can.

More pics are at http://newmercenaries.com/seq/.

I drilled and cut the faceplate at home using a drill press and a jigsaw, from a solid 0.125" 3U aluminum rack panel.  Its painted with 8 coats of paint, 7 of Rustoleum 'outdoor satin' spray paint, which stays soft/pliable and is less prone to flaking. Its a matter of preference of course. (The 6th coat was a clear enamel.) Next time, I will try using a high-heat ceramic enamel (like automobile engine paint) and the 'lazertran' stuff.

The buttons are Cherry brand keyswitches with little pegs for plugging into holes (drill press again) in protoboard -- I'll post the bit sizes later. The labeling is ink jet on regular paper, cut-to-fit with a razor, and stuck under the cap covers I got from http://www.xkeys.com/ . (I should add that the protoboard I used was from this product group: http://www.twinhunter.com/catalog.php?id=7, because it is harder and more dense than what I was able to find at Radio Shack for example. Be careful when cutting and drilling, because the dust is very fine and afaik very inorganic. Use a dust mask and don't do it indoors.)

The box itself I CAD'd out in Rhino 3D and then cut on a table saw. It is middle-grade yellow pine, 0.75" thick, painted with flat-black Rustoleum. I used a router and wheel sander to curve edges, and also routed the slot in the back panel where the midi out cables go to the Midiman Thru 3x8.

In the bottom is the painted Midiman Thru 3x8 which serves as a MIDI router. Input number 3 of 3 is internally patched to the SEQ's out, and the little switches on front assign each of 8 outputs to an input. Wires go out through the slot in the back.

There are a bunch of things I will do differently next time, like the layout of the internal components. It wasn't too bad, but wiring was a bit of a rat's nest as you can tell by the other photos. Also, I'll definitely try to use a PCB etching kit to mount all the tactiles to (instead of blank proto board), since that could keep things organized much better on the inside.

MIOS and SEQ upload were a snap with Midi0x. I tried the Sysexbox app, but I wasn't successful with it -- I think because I wasn't fast enough in starting the sysex upload. By the time I figured out how (very) quickly it was requesting the OS, I had already swicthed to trying Midi0x. (Sorry.  :-/ )

Gosh, that's about all for now. I took photos of the whole process and hope to make a complete web page once I can get the rest of my jpgs off another computer.

IMHO the shots of the faceplate preparation are one of the most interesting aspects since its much cheaper if you have access to this sort of equipment -- US$20 for the 3U plate.

Indescribable thanks to everyone who has helped -- not only with my questions but with everyone's -- I have learned SO MUCH since joining and reading the forum.

--

I forgot to add -- the cable I used inside is "RS232 short-run cable", 8-conductor plus a raw wire and shielding foil. I got a scrap of around 50'/~16m for US$6 at a local electronic shop!

[goyousalukis]

Hey marr, great job! I like the idea of the midi router built in. I have a Yamaha 8x8 midi patchbay I got for $16 on ebay - it was the best purchase ever. It saves so much trouble pluging and unpluging midi cables. One question, how did you crimp the 5 pin connectors for your din cables? The only crimper I could find for those was like $180, so I just scavenged some already crimped cables from usb connectors.

Justin

[Guest Mark420]

Bravo!!!

Well done mate...loved the keys from Xkeys and the built in Midi router...good work ;)

[robin303]

This is really nice! I love the buttons and the printed underlays.  8)

[Guest marr]

how did you crimp the 5 pin connectors for your din cables? The only crimper I could find for those was like $180

That's the only price range I've seen, too -- I used some palm-sized needle nose pliers instead... $5. :)

[goyousalukis]

That's the only price range I've seen, too -- I used some palm-sized needle nose pliers instead... $5. :)

Hah, I tried that too, but I couldn't get it to work. Maybe I'll try again. Hey - if you don't mind, you should post your cad files too. That is a great case that could be used for a lot of different projects.

[Guest marr]

Hey -- it occurred to me that we might be using different styles of crimp pins.. Here are the ones I used (pdf) http://www.molex.com/pdm_docs/sd/016021114_sd.pdf.

Mouser Part #:   538-16-02-1114

Mfr. Part #:   16-02-1114

Mfr.:   Molex  

Description:   Molex SL Connectors -- FEMALE HIGH FORCE 22-24 AWG

Category:   .100" Headers & Sockets

Maybe a little hard to get an idea of what they look like without an isometric view, but the point is that the sections you crimp (the strain relief and the contact area) are both U's, and it's easy using the pliers to bend each half of a 'U' over at a time and then flatten the whole area and tidy up the width so it slides easily into the plastic socket.

...and here are the sockets I used...

538-50-57-9005  50-57-9005 Molex

HSG 5P SINGLE ROW NON-POLARIZED

(DINs, bankstick, DOUT-to-CORE, etc..)

538-50-57-9002  50-57-9002 Molex

HSG 2P SINGLE ROW NON-POLARIZED

(for power connections and second-LCD enable-line)

538-50-57-9003  50-57-9003 Molex

HSG 3P SINGLE ROW NON-POLARIZED

(for midi connections)

538-50-57-9009  50-57-9009 Molex

HSG 9P SINGLE ROW NON-POLARIZED

(4 for DOUT)

538-22-55-2161  22-55-2161 Molex

HSG 16P DUAL ROW NON-POLARIZED

(one for each CORE-to-LCD connection)

Overall, more expensive than soldering, but much more robust...

(updated the pictures above, too... much easier to see now)

Mark