spectrasymbol softpots group buy - membrane strip potentiometers

[phineus]

spectrasymbol offered me a good deal on softpots if I order more than 100. They would be $7.67 ea. for 170mm softpots - not including shipping. 100 sounds like a lot but @ that price people might be interested in a few for their own projects.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7158996@N05/sets/72157603397361028/

This is a sticker, essentially, that holds a touch sensor (the silver part down the middle). You send in 5V to one pin, ground the other, and read the middle one which outputs a voltage 0-5V to play with in Max or whatever via an Arduino or similar's analog inputs.

I'm using these for my Arduino-MINI-based touch-controller project: http://www.soundwidgets.com/stribe/

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EDIT: This order is now CLOSED - thanks everyone!

[cimo]

8 for mister pink

[bugfight]

looks pretty cool.

shoulda linked the vid:

can they be configured to stay put, like a fader?

[Kartoshka]

i believe a code can handle it to stay fixed

[SLP]

I want 3

edit: with connectors

[phineus]

When you let go the voltage drops to 0 - you will need to account for this in your firmware/software.

I like this video better:

[DragonMaster]

Interest in : 16 20

Realistically (Money wise) : 8 12

EDIT:

I put 4 more in both cases, Wilba's 20 units got me to realize I forgot to put four "master faders" (They'd be used in a MB-based mixer -> they're much cheaper than motor faders)

Note : Phineus, I'm in for 12, but ask me before ordering if I'll take more (It may be 12, 16, 20, 24, I'm not sure. I'll see how much money and what idea I'll have at that moment.)

[Wilba]

Put me down for 20.

[jaywar]

I'd be interested in 8.

[phineus]

I'm glad there's interest.  For 1$ more per unit they can crimp on a Crimpflex 3-hole female housing that accepts a standard square pin .010 header.  I think it would be worth it given how much easier to assemble/dis-assemble I've found this.

[TheAncientOne]

I'd like 4 for a start, and would pay the extra for the crimps, (having worked with flexi PCB I know how hard it can be to connect).

Cool idea

[DragonMaster]

For 1$ more per unit they can crimp on a Crimpflex 3-hole female housing that accepts a standard square pin .010 header.

Nice! Yep, it definitely looks like there's interest in here, already 56 units in less than 12 hours. (Without counting the possible 8 more units I might buy) If the list continues to grow at that speed you'll probably be able to buy much more than 100 and the price will be even lower!  ;D

[dstamand]

I want 4.

Depend how much is the shipping cost. I'm located in Quebec, Canada.

Paying via Paypal.

Thanks.

[stryd_one]

I'd take at least 10 with connectors.

[bugfight]

i'm interested, but would be more interested if leds and drivers were also in the deal...

[Echopraxia]

Could someone please inform some of us what are some of the uses these could have with midibox?

I would be interested if I know what I could try with this. Would it be possible to use this on any parameter in mbfm or mbsid and be able to select differnt parameters if needed (from control surface).

I would imagine control the osc or filter with this and be able to change between them on the fly for live jamming.

[phineus]

This is my first group-buy so I wanted to keep it simple.  I will be doing future buys for MAX7221 led drivers and other parts related to the Stribe project very soon, so stay tuned!

As far as led bargraph arrays, I haven't researched a volume discount, yet.  For my prototypes I've been using super-cheap arrays from futurlec.com - they aren't made as nicely as the big-brand ones, and have spindly thin (ouchy) legs, but they work and are 1/4 the price of the big-name brands - though sometimes the shape of the array packages don't always exactly match up (slightly different form-factor even if the same color sometimes).

[cimo]

mr pink is also interested in 3-hole female housing  :P

[bugfight]

Could someone please inform some of us what are some of the uses these could have with midibox?

I would be interested if I know what I could try with this. Would it be possible to use this on any parameter in mbfm or mbsid and be able to select differnt parameters if needed (from control surface).

I would imagine control the osc or filter with this and be able to change between them on the fly for live jamming.

the possibilities are nearly endless.

anywhere an analog pot or fader is used, it could be replaced by these, except that when you let go of these, they go to 0 whereas a pot or fader stays where it was.  so existing code would have to be modified, for example in the sid app.  off the top of my head, reserving the bottom few values to mean "don't change" and scaling the remaining to your output range (7 bit for cc) might cover it...

for mixer faders, i suspect these might not be very good because tactile feedback and positional accuracy are more important.  but these would be great for a mod wheel or pitch bend or effect send, etc etc...

[phineus]

> reserving the bottom few values to mean "don't change" and scaling

> the remaining to your output range (7 bit for cc) might cover it...

that is a great idea!

> for mixer faders, i suspect these might not be very good because

> tactile feedback and positional accuracy are more important.

with accurately aligned led indicators behind them, though, it's possible to be quite accurate with the _visual_ feeback -> 64-leds of resolution in a ~165mm throw on the stribe design.  But the actual resolution of the strips is much much higher  (and the leds I'm using are large compared to some I've seen in rotary encoder designs - I think an SMD version could fit tripdouble the leds in the same space).

With the 10 bit ADC on the Arduino the input resolution is 0-1023, I scale that down for the display, but can retain the resolution in my audio apps.  This resolution could go even higher I think, but I haven't tried the strip with with a different ADC.

Tactile feedback can be achieved by putting different textures in the overlay material.  The strips are very sensitive, even through a relatively thick piece of plastic, so your translucent overlay could have a graduated texture that changes from top to bottom to indicate relative scale, along with a printed visual scale like a typical fader has.  Then swap on a different overlay for something else.  :)

I like to think that maybe just the right combination of a texture and a light and a sound could fool the brain into feeling a handle that isn't there.

[SLP]

...or just use it for controlling the ribbon-controller of your CS-80V ;)

[phineus]

One thing I've thought of adding to the "yr circuit here" part of the stribe design (besides a midi interface) is 8 Voltage triggers, like for a modular or analog synth/seq.  What kind of circuit would I need and could I power it from bus power? (5V 0.5A).  I am already kinda at the edge of power consumption as it is.

whoops - I'm hijacking my own group-buy thread ;)

[phineus]

Okay!  Since there appears to be enough interest, I'm going ahead with a 100-unit group order. :)

170mm softpots with crimped-on 3-hole female Crimpflex connectors (for $1 extra), unit cost: $8.67 per strip.

Plus shipping to you, plus the PayPal fee, plus a portion of the shipping spectraSymbol charges to send them to me. They are very light so if you order just a few they will fit into a padded envelope. Larger orders may need a small box.

HOW TO ORDER:

Send me an e-mail w/ "Softpot Order" in the subject, and include your PayPal e-mail address, your Confirmed physical address, and quantity desired. I will send you a PayPal invoice for the costs mentioned above.

Once I have reached 100 units worth of PAID invoices I will let everyone know to stop paying, unless I get to 200 orders or something in which case I may or may not get a further discount [tbd].

This is my first time doing this so suggestions/advice appreciated.

[Jack]

Hi,

OK.

Best Regards

Jack

[phineus]

see above for ordering info  :)