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 Forum index » DIY Hardware and Software » MusicFromOuterSpace.com designs by Ray Wilson
Ultimate Expandotron MFOS + hint of Buchla Photo Build Blog
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the architech



Joined: Oct 29, 2010
Posts: 55
Location: Philadelphia

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Loyd, I'm confused. did you use FPD to cut those panels? They look like the stock ones from the site except for the 16-Step Sequencer, which looks like the Thomas White one he showcases. I'm planning out a 16-Step Sequencer myself and have never used FPD before. Interface seems rather clunky. How did you import an illustrator dxf file into it? I emailed them asking if I could import an AutoCAD dxf in, since I have my panel all layed out in that. They told me I had to plot the drill holes via coordinates... Confused
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ashleym



Joined: Aug 20, 2009
Posts: 181
Location: uk

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Architect,
Yes you do use FPD via co-ordinates. The interface is what it is but it works. I have uploaded a couple of variations to Thomas White's design that he has so kindly shared.

If you have a design, print it out and measure. In FPD you choose where you want to measure from, my designs measure from the bottom left as is normal. Look at my designs for the Ultimate and you will see I have tried to position the pots and sockets on a grid. I made a couple of variations on Ray's layout to work to this grid. I printed out his panel designs and measured the positions and used these as the start points for my layout.

Once you have a grid to work to you can position the holes but directly entering the co-ordinates. For example

horizontal x= 60mm, vertical y= 30mm
next hole is the same height but the next grid slot along, 30mm further along
horizontal x= 90mm, vertical y= 30mm
next
horizontal x= 120mm, vertical y= 30mm etc

Sorry if you understand all this already I was just showing you that FPD isnt so hard to use.
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the architech



Joined: Oct 29, 2010
Posts: 55
Location: Philadelphia

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

yeah ok, that's what I suspected. Was hoping there might be an easier way. I measured my layout and printed out an excel spreadsheet. Will try to lay it out tonight and see how it goes. Thanks for the help!
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

These panels are all stock (MFOS and Bridechamber). The one for my mini-controller was Front Panel Express, and I'll be filling up the 'blank' space in this build with a custom FPE panel as well.

Export your file from Illustrator as a DXF.

In FPD, File -> New

Change the 'Basic Shape' dropdown to DXF.

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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Sigh. No progress on this. Cedar season has struck here in the allergy capital of the world -- I've been having a hard enough time breathing without adding woodworking dust to the mix.

I'm going to try and get back on this, the PCB is just sitting here mocking me.

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RF



Joined: Mar 23, 2007
Posts: 1502
Location: Northern Minnesota, USA
Audio files: 28

PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

loydb wrote:
the PCB is just sitting here mocking me.


Yeah - they'll do that. Words have seldom shamed me as much as a stack of half finished PCB's.

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"I want to make these sounds that go wooo-wooo-ah-woo-woo.”
(Herb Deutsch to Bob Moog ~1963)
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Ok, I unpacked a bunch of Mouser boxes that had accumulated for the last couple of months and finished adding the hardware to the Ultimate and Expander. I started in on the 16-step, but realized that I'm going to have to do some drilling for the 12-step switch, and stopped.

When I started planning out some mults and 1/4" to banana jacks (I want to keep the 16-step 1/4"), I decided just to stick an MOTM 940 in there. That cuts down on the space I have for other stuff, so I'm probably just going to stick the stereo panner in the blank spot and call it a day.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Finished off with the capacitors. One last board washing, then switching to no-clean solder for the trimpots and transitors, then on to the next one!

edit: spotted a cap I missed when looking at this pic! Embarassed

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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MFOS Ultimate Expand-o-tron Build Log: http://www.electro-music.com/forum/post-308797.html#308797
MFOS Mini-Controller Build Log [FINISHED!]: http://www.electro-music.com/forum/topic-42968.html

Last edited by loydb on Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
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RF



Joined: Mar 23, 2007
Posts: 1502
Location: Northern Minnesota, USA
Audio files: 28

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Awesome!
Those resistors were really a pain, weren't they. I hate stuffing resistors.
Smile

bruce

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"I want to make these sounds that go wooo-wooo-ah-woo-woo.”
(Herb Deutsch to Bob Moog ~1963)
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I like stuffing. It's wiring I hate... Look at all of those damn wires I have to run.

After 30 minutes of searching, I found my thermal adhesive, and stuck the 2k Tempcos onto the SSM2210 chips. One of the first things I did with the PCB was put red ink on the resistor labels that are omitted in favor of Tempcos.

1) Clean the top of the chip and the resistor body with a little bit of iso alcohol.
2) (For Arctic Silver) Mix 1:1 of the two part epoxy. You now have 5 minutes.
3) Hang the edge of the board over the lip of the table.
4) Put a dab of the paste. It's not conductive, but you really don't want to glue the chip into the socket, so be careful.
5) Slide the resistor leads through the holes, reach under the board, and pull the leads down, nestling the resistor into the paste.
6) Bend the leads under the board to hold in place.
7) Put some more paste over the top of the resistor. Don't go crazy.
Cool Let cure. I let it go 24 hours before I solder, even though that's probably overkill.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

...aaaaand that's a wrap on the Ultimate PCB. And my new dado blade showed up, so I can actually work on the case...

Just in time to leave for California for a week on Saturday.

Sigh.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Taking into account the reduced panel space, I'm going to have to give up on the 292s, removing the 'hint of Buchla' alluded to in the threat title. Sad I'll be keeping the 4/8-phase shifter and stereo autopan, making this a 100% MFOS build.

The labels are, obviously, not correct, they're just to show spacing.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Finished up stuffing the auto-pan PCB, except for one trimpot (have to do a Mouser order). Next up is the phaser.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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ashleym



Joined: Aug 20, 2009
Posts: 181
Location: uk

PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

This all looks great.

Did you think of an overdrive or distortion unit? I find a little roughening up of the sound can work a treat on a synth.
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I've got a tube pre I can run it through, but usually I go with Guitar Rig 4 if I want to grunge things up a bit. Some of the bass amp models sound really great with a synth.
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

More PCB madness. Everything is socketed now, except the two big 24-pin chips on the sequencer -- the sockets I got were too narrow, I'll order the right ones when I've got another Mouser order together, or when I'm ready to start wiring, whichever comes first. On the up side, the 100K trimpot I needed to finish the autopan showed up, so it's done now.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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diablojoy



Joined: Sep 07, 2008
Posts: 809
Location: melbourne australia
Audio files: 11

PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

loyd with the tempco placement I recently changed from doing it similar to way you describe to using sil pins and placing the tempco under the chip
i figured that way the chip can be changed very easily if needed and the tempco is actually in a better position regarding heat transfer being enclosed somewhat by the sil pins and the chip. just a thought for the future Smile
cheers
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jordroid



Joined: Jan 17, 2010
Posts: 193
Location: ithaca, new york

PostPosted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I accidentally ended up with narrow 24 pin sockets as well, i chopped them in half and installed them as two rows, it works quite fine if you're in a pinch and not too fussy. Nice projects as well, i like all the photo documentation. Is your mini controller in use yet? That one came out beautifully!
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I'm fortunate to have a Mouser close enough that plain old UPS ground == overnight, so I'm just going to wait and get the proper 24-pin sockets whenever I'm ready.

The minicontroller works, but I have nothing really to play it with. I've got an MFOS VCO that I need to calibrate (the impetus behind the whole project) -- it's waiting on my new Protek 6506 oscilloscope to show up on Wednesday.

Interesting idea about burying the tempco. I'd be worried about difficulty of removing the chip if it needed to be replaced (if it's glued to the PCB, that's going to be tricky...

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RF



Joined: Mar 23, 2007
Posts: 1502
Location: Northern Minnesota, USA
Audio files: 28

PostPosted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

loydb wrote:
... the tempco...


I just used some regular heat sink compound on top of the IC and pulled the tempco tight on top of it. Tracking and stability are great, and it stays in tune with normal variations in the room temp.

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"I want to make these sounds that go wooo-wooo-ah-woo-woo.”
(Herb Deutsch to Bob Moog ~1963)
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 6:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Made some good progress on the 8-stage phaser, I just need to solder in the electrolytics, and it will be done. The 16-step shoudn't take too long (it's the wiring that sucks, the PCBs are pretty simple). I'm saving the Expander for last, just because it will be motivational to get 'er done.
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
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Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Wife on phone with mother == finished phaser.

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

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blue hell
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Joined: Apr 03, 2004
Posts: 24075
Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

loydb wrote:
Wife on phone with mother == finished phaser.


Shocked Laughing Cool

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Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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iopop3



Joined: May 28, 2010
Posts: 94
Location: Malmö, Sweden

PostPosted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Any trouble drilling on the panel? I'd really like to use CLB300 led lenses but they are too big and the 3mm variant are too small. so I have to drill..

Why is the hardest part of SDIY the metal drilling?!
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loydb



Joined: Feb 04, 2010
Posts: 393
Location: Providence, RI

PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

For drilling, just clamp it down onto a wood backing board, use a centerpunch to get a small bit centered, drill a pilot hole, then use a stepped bit to get the size you need. If you're enlarging an existing hole, you just need the step bit (all of this is assuming a drillpress).

Oak pollen is so bad right now I'm scared to compound it with working in the shop Sad

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