the becoming of a midbox sid.

[Wisefire]

yes.. but it has to be cheap.. really cheap

[titan]

If you re interested,please send me your file and i will tell you the price...

Greetings

titan

[Wisefire]

dont have a dwf or a dxf yet.. i still have to finalize the design..

but im getting closer.. ive read your german topic on this subject.. but mexico is way off course..

which means itll probably take some shipping costs..

[Wisefire]

hey all,

ive been neglecting you guys havent i.. no photos.. no amazing stories to tell.. But i have done SOME work on my MBSID.. i am now in the slow process of making a frontplate design.. slow because i have no knowledge of how autocad works.. but so far its going allright..  also ive been in contact with SmashTV, who has programmed my PICs, and has sent them back with my order from him.. ive ordered a second core module and a second sid module. also some other stuff.. like a encoder that clicks.. and some female sil thingies.. to connect it all up.. in the end, ease of use triomphed over monetairy problems.. but ive ordered about a 100 of them instead of 300.. so i will choose what i can disconnect and what i cant..also ive been prebuilding, testing if you will, the led matrix.. to see how it will turn out with mec switches.. and imho it looks really nice..

check it out!

you can see that its pretty big in comparison to the standard matrix design..

ive used a protoboard.. or whatever its called.. with 3 holes grouped together.. and it should work perfectly.. 

now for the autocad design of it..

as for the mec switches beneath the LCD.. it should fit perfectly.. ive tested it.. and its perfectly alligned..

in about 10 days i will receive my package from smash.. and then i will hopefully have something to show and listen to..

[titan]

..

which means itll probably take some shipping costs..

I will check this tomorrow. I think it will be too much since a 19" Frontplate 25 cm high for example is less than 500 gramms (I dont know which is exactly the measure of one Rack Unit?!?!)

Greetings

[Wisefire]

i dont understand..

because its less than 500 grams its to expensive?

[titan]

I am sorry: It wont be so much... ::)

[Wisefire]

@titan: good.. i understand there will be a mass ordering.. when will this order be placed.. do i have time to make my design? if i can participate in this order, i assume it will be even cheaper.. and thats a good thing for me..

as for you other people.. here are some self explainatory pics..

[drin]

well got another package.. nothing spectacular.. just a big knob for my primary rotary encoder..

i sampled it from OKW..

Hi wisefire - good looking knobs! I found the RS english website but I can't find that knob in their inventory. Do you have a part number for it, please?

Thanks!

-drin

[titan]

Dag meneer! ;D (Ik ben uit belgie)

@titan: good.. i understand there will be a mass ordering.. when will this order be placed.. do i have time to make my design? if i can participate in this order, i assume it will be even cheaper.. and thats a good thing for me..

Mass order not yet. First i will check the definitive price they can offer me, and shipping costs and if they wont be problems with money transfer. I have confirmation very soon.

Greetings

[Wisefire]

@drin: if im not mistaken mine have the following stock number..467-6005, however this could be different within the english website/company..

@Titan:zou ik ze um bijna kunnen komen ophalen :P

get the price as low as you can.. and get as much people into it as possible.. make an english version of the post in the german forum.. i for one cant really read german well.. you can get some more participants that way.. good luck..

[offe]

Wisefire: That "datawheel" would fit really nice in my current design. (I'm using Mec switches  http://www.mec.dk/billeder/7_638.jpg with black frame and gray button) Did you get it from RS as well and if, do you happen to have the part number?

[drin]

@drin: if im not mistaken mine have the following stock number..467-6005, however this could be different within the english website/company..

Thanks Wisefire. I checked the english site and couldn't find it, but I found the knob (or very similar) at OKW directly.

Offe: Did you purchase the through-hole LED switches directly from Mec? What did you pay for them, if you don't mind me asking? Oh, and I have a URL for the knobs wisefire used - it's http://www.okw.co.uk/products/okw/com-knobs.htm. Grab their PDF file from there for size and cost info.

Thanks everyone! Great info!

-drin

[Wisefire]

jup thats the knob i used.. i ordered a free sample.. evil me..

i use mec switches aswell.. but i got them from a dutch supplier.. but payed about 35 euros for 42 switches..

[offe]

Drin: Thanks

Well, as I live and work in Sweden, pretty close to http://www.elfa.se I puchased the Mec switches there (I even got to try them before buying...). I'm not sure the exact price for the led fitted ones but the plain ones with frame were 2,3 € each and as I'm buying the led ones as well (tomorrow) I'll guess the price will be 3,2 €, including led. Yeah, it's a bit pricey...  I might go for som simple tactiles for the led matrix... maybe... (getting hooked on the Mec thing.... :-)

[Wisefire]

i got my order in from SmashTV.. this includes the PICs.. YAY..

unfortunately, im sick right now.. so im not able to a lot.. no testing or mios uploading just yet..

but i did make a nice little photoshoot..

IMHO overkill for some electronic parts.. but at least i am sure nothing got hurt in the transportation process..      Nicely packed :P

a lot of stuff...                                                                                                            Core module parts..

Sid module parts                                                                                                    even the various chips are packed seperately!!! WOW..

TOO MUCH PICs.. nah.. i can use them for a lot of things :D             

the encoders look nice.. but feel a little cheaper then the ones from voti.nl    i do need these things.. but not 300 of them i guess..

THIS is what i would like my PCBs to look like.. NICE!!..

im going back to bed.. ugh..

[Wisefire]

still sick.. but ive finished the core and sid module..

ive tested the voltages on my core aswell.. it all works but i have to give it 7.65 volts (my "stabilisiertes netzgerät" says it gives out 7.5 but hey)

and the voltages are .05 to 0.08 volts over but that could be due to a very cheap multimeter.. so lets see whats next.. stuff it with all the.. stuff....

and give it some ears and a voice i guess..

[Wisefire]

eyes, ears and voice given.. and it saw me and it whispered softly into my ear... "NEED INPUT!" now if thats not something to be psyched about i dont know what is!

[Wisefire]

well.. i owe you guys a good bedtime story dont i..

ive got some pics of the building of the last core and sid.. but quite frankly.. those pics are very boring..

instead im gonna tell you how it went from there..

after they where completed i started testing my core module.. checking the voltages as described on the core module page.. everything looked good.

allthough its a bit odd that i have to power my core with 7.5 (or later 7) volts instead of 5 or 6.. but so be it..

the next dayl i stuffed the pic and the optocoupler in.. and started midi-ox.. i configured it as described on the bootstrap loader page..

and uploaded the mios OS.. it was a bit confusing at first.. with all the different pages i have to wade through.. and i didnt know that you'd have to upload mios AND the sid application.. however.. when reading this was explained to me very clear.. moral for aspiring MBSID builders: ALWAYS READ THE DOCUMENTATION (if you can find it :P) 

when powering on my core with pic, i inmediately became excited, because it gave out some sysex message (didnt bother to search for what it meant) every 2 seconds.. this meant it was working according to plan!!

so i uploaded mios.. and tried out another pic..and uploaded mios on that.  and my other core.. and another pic.. and uploaded mios again..

at least i think i was uploading mios.. as i didnt bother to read the documentation i didnt know what the sysex messages it sent back meant (at least i think it was sending them back.. didnt bother to read that either..)

well after that i went to bed..

so earlier this evening i wanted to hear it.. but i was very affraid of damaging something..

i began the difficult task of wiring my sid module to my core.. this was not an easy task.. but im not that big of a noob.. so it wasnt THAT hard..

but still not as easy as wiring my core to work..

the only info on how to wire them both together is a PDF with info on how to wire it to a C64 PSU.. and i didnt want to do that just yet (as it would take to much time)

i didnt know the sid needed 2 different voltages.. it consumes power from the core module and it needs its own 9v (for the8580(actually i gave it 12v as 9v wasnt enough to get it through the sid voltage check succesfully))

but hey it had to be the way.. so i wired that to the 8pins dil header.. it isnt a 1:1 connection at all.. you have to put 5v in there.. and you have to relocate a wire.. its odd.. but luckily thats all it is..

now the audio output.. why the ground of my audio output has to be connected to the ground of my j2(5v OUTput on the core) is a bit of a mystery to me.. but i dont mind..

as for the weird connection with the c64 voltages.. NO WAY.. so i thought i'll just let the rectifiers and the voltage regulators on the modules do their trick.. thats what they're there for.. but..

my voltage regulator on my core was getting very hot.. which i didnt notice at first.. luckily in not the guy who leaves the setup running while taking a smoking break.. so everything still worked.. had to find the problem though.. first i thought it was the fact that i was running 12v through the thing.. so i switched to 2 different wall warts.. one for my sid and one for my core.. nope didnt do the trick.. then i noticed that my ground from my weird connection with the sid side of the data plug was mixed with the 5v on that same plug.. so i switched.. didnt work.. then i noticed i had exchanged the ground from my audio out in the process.. so finally that did the trick..

next up was stuffing the sid and the 2 other IC's whatever they may be.. so i switched everything on.. at first no sound.. (even when receiving midi)

so i checked the wiring.. it was all good.. however i got speakers that check for sound.. and if they detect enough of it.. they switch on.. so i started cubase.. and made some noise with my machinedrum.. (had to power down the core for that as it was using the MD's power supply (a 7v AC wall wart..)) the sound of the machinedrum made the speakers power up.. and meanwhile cubase had started.. so i powered it all up.. configured cubase so it would send my mbsid setup the midi it received from my keyboard.. then i heard it.. yes.. YES.. it worked.. a cheezy monophonic sound.. but it worked..

of course i inmediately tried to play something.. im not a good pianist.. let me rephrase that.. i cant play to entertain anyone but myself.. but i recorded it anyway..

http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~ijsbrand/midiboxsid/sounds/mysid1.mp3

then i tried the cubase arpegiator midi filter on top of my notes..

http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~ijsbrand/midiboxsid/sounds/mysid2.mp3

then i tried the vst plugin.. didnt record that though.. as i couldnt get a decent sound out of that.. the arpegiator knob.. what ever it may do.. didnt do anything.. and it all did some weird things.. but thats probably me.. not understanding it all..

ive noticed the steppiness of the filter and the unimpressiveness of the resonance..  ive played with the modulation thing.. wish i could modulate more than only the pwm pitch and the filter..  looking at the machinedrum.. with that i can modulate everything that has a knob..

also tried my second sid chip. worked aswell..

this is how it looks.. its not pretty.. but it works :D

edit: the bass sound is nice..

[kokoon]

that's great man, i'm happy for you. i remember the moment i heard mine for the first time :) joy.

[thefRont]

the only info on how to wire them both together is a PDF with info on how to wire it to a C64 PSU.. and i didnt want to do that just yet (as it would take to much time)

building the optimized circuit to use a C64 PSU as the power supply is not really a big deal. The best thing is, that you can reuse some parts from an old C64 (power-plug power-switch, some capacitors and resisitors). If you consider changing your power supply to a C64 PSU, just don't forget to take the voltage regulator (7805) out of the CORE module and replace the outer holes with a bridge because the PSU already has a regulated 5V Output.

[kokoon]

and your S/N ratio improves a LOT. though yours is already pretty perfect... how'd you do that?

[Wisefire]

hmm.. so the most important thing of the optimized psu.. is the fact that you dont have to buy a power supply.. it does makes sense.. maybe ill do that.. or maybe ill go for a nice 1 amp 12v power supply unit to power both.. a nice modern one..

@ kokoon: thnx, indeed its joy.. even more when you go all kernkraft over it.. its cewl..

(as you can hear in the following mp3'z)

http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~ijsbrand/midiboxsid/sounds/stompme.mp3 full stereo.. left and right are recorded seperately

http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~ijsbrand/midiboxsid/sounds/stompme2.mp3 with a soundforge reverb over it..

but how did i get my snr so nice and low?.. good psu to start with.. ive got a stabilized 1.5 amp psu, which doesnt give me hum.. and ofcourse my soldering is good.. that helps as well.. and luck.. dont forget luck.. oh and good grounding..

[kokoon]

the first mp3 is mono  ???

[Attila]

it sounds amazing... I can't wait to build one, but the money is missing :'(