Control Surface Step A & a Half!

[Jaicen]

Ladies and Gents (are there any ladies here?  ??? )!

I just thought I'd share the fruits of my labours so far with regards to my MBSid design.

I wanted to have a cut-down control surface with access to the most important features, but without the options I don't need to tweak that often. I considered adding a matrix, but it would have meant another Din module so I left it out.

Basically, this surface can be realised with just a single DINX4 module and two DOUT chips. The control surface PCB which holds all the encoders and switches (no mess of wires!) also houses a 74HC595 which handles all but two of the onboard LED's. There's another 74HC595 on a smaller board to go on the right side of the case which will also house the SID 1/2 selectors and the Voice selector and associated LED's.

I'd originally planned to put all the DIN and DOUT circuitry on the PCB, but it would have meant using a double sided board, so I decided against it. At least this way, it can be added as an option by anyone with an existing StepA/B SID.

All the wiring connectors are compatible with the DINX4 modules sold by Smash (as far as I'm aware), so it can be a true modular system.

Still to come is a layout to hold the LCD and buttons, and another for the SID 1/2 etc. I'll also be writing some documentation to explain how the MBSID code is modified to accommodate the custom CS.

Let me know what you think guys.

[Therezin]

CS layout looks pretty good to me - although I tend to prefer a full CS, the designer in me likes the idea of stripping it back to only what you need. As for the board layout, the image doesn't appear to show the whole board. Is this for a reason, or just some sort of bug with putfile?

[Jaicen]

it's not a bug, I just didn't feel the inclination to export out the image and make it presentable.

It's not really finished yet, still a couple of bugs to iron out but otherwise I think it should be fine. I won't release anything till i've finished it and (hopefully) prototyped everything.

I wouldn't mind a full control surface eventually, but the amount of extra effort that entails is just a little too daunting for me. This design is more or less compatible with the full CS anyway should I upgrade, but I think that's unlikely. I may decide to add the LED Matrix as well, as it looks useful and ergonomic but we'll have to see.

By the way, the panel layout I uploaded is just to give an idea of where everything is, it's not how I plan to have the CS look!

[Jaicen]

Since i've now had a response to this thread I figured I may as well get the designs finished and uploaded. I've not checked them thoroughly, but i'm fairly sure that it's all correct now.

As you may be able to see, there are two boards, one large to hold all the encoders and associated buttons, and another smaller board which holds another DOUT shift register and a couple of buttons & LED's to show which SID (1/2) and which voice (1,2,3, EXT) is active.

DOUT J1 should be connected together on both boards, as should FUNCTION BOARD J1, DOUT CORE connects to the core module (well DUH!). The DINX4 numbered jumpers all connect to a DINX4 module, which is itself connected to the core. I've not made a PCB for the LCD as I'm not sure on the dimensions etc, and it's easy enough to do anyway. Therefore DINX4 J7 & J8 are reserved for the LCD.

[Jaicen]

It occured to me that my explanation of the layouts was not exactly clear, so I've done a little demo to show how I plan to have the PCB's mounted beneath the control surface.

I think I may have to modify the spacing on the encoder pins, but it should work just fine. As you can see, on the right hand side, I intend to have two buttons and five LED's. The CS will take up half the keyboard space on the case, the other half being taken up by the LCD and menu encoder. There should also be a little room to add stuff in the future, so it's pretty flexible in terms of layout.