MIDIbox SID-NUXX
MIDIbox SID-NUXX PCB (In Progress…)
(Click for 300dpi version.)
Ah. It’s finally coming along. I’ve redrawn the schematic (image no longer available) and laid out the board. Now comes the few days of tweaking and polishing and validating that everything seems to be right. Then… The scary part. That is, the day when I plunk down $80 or so to have five of those boards made. And hopefully I’ll have done everything right and they’ll work.
So, yeah. It’s coming along well. I’ve also got all of the basic parts here for the front panel, so I can begin laying that out. That will take a slightly different approach, because I have to fit this LCD, a rotary encoder (or two buttons), six buttons, and two LEDs in the front panel of something about the size of an external hard drive enclosure. Oh, and build a simple board so it can all be connected with a few simple cables.
If you can’t tell, yes, I’m looking forward to it. I really like doing this kind of stuff.
Perhaps a stupid question, but what will the LCD display? Where will it be getting it’s info? Just curious..
It’s very pretty with the backlight on, with the backlight it reminds me of the Virus Indigo when it’s lit up. It’s definatley on my iWant list.
If you take a glance at this page you can see.
Basically, patch editing, patch names, basic setup stuff, things like that.
Hey Steve,
What software are you using now that caused you to have to redraw it? Just courious.
CADsoft EAGLE, and to make a long story short, because I was using illicitly acquired software I wouldn’t have been able to distribute the files for others to download. Since I really want this to be a CC licensed project which anyone can use, I wanted them to be able to get / use the files.
So, I paid the $125 for the software and re-drew it. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, it just took some time.
Oh, also, the $125 version is for up to 160mm x 100mm boards and can only be used for non-profit versions. The commercial version of the same package would cost $400, or $600 with the autorouter (which I don’t use).
Also, this layout of the board may be a bit better. Space is better utalized, fewer vias, some things are cleaner, etc. I’ve got less room for artwork, but that’s probably a good thing.
Cool, So you settled on Eagle. I’ve been toying with the freeware version for a while. I’m impressed with your board layout. Very nice. So the Non-Profit version gives you everything you need? Very cool.
Definitely give it a look. It’s perfect for smaller, double-sided boards. I just couldn’t use it because of my PCB size requirements. The $125 non-profit version I have is like the free version, but with support for up to four layers and larger boards.
Also, there’s no other decent similarly priced software.
Feel free to ask me questions about it if you get to using it… It’s quirky, to say the least. But, it does work. Once you learn it, making pretty complex things is fairly trivial.
Nice. As you might have seen on the forum, I’m having issues even getting my core board up and running…
Oh really? Sorry, but I hadn’t… Got a link to the thread / info about what’s going on?
here
But it’s got to be the pic… nobody’s really coming up with anything I haven’t already checked and found to be OK. I was hoping I was missing something obvious, but I guess not.
Hrm, sorry. It’s a bit confusing… If you have NO ICs fitted in the board except for the LM7805, does the LM7805 still get hot?
Nope.
Even moreso, without the pic in place the 7805 does not get hot. If the pic is in, the 7805 and the pic get very hot, and the 7805 has a heatsink…
It all kind of points to the pic, as voltages all look good around the board with and without the pic, with DC or AC input.
I’d agree. So long as you are getting +5V on the VDD pins only, I’d say that you are right.
Which PIC is it? I’ve got some spare PIC18F452s here which I don’t have much of a use for, mostly because my boards will all take PIC18F4620s.
it’s the 18F452, just like most MB kits… though I’ve got a new one on order from smashtv. I was also going to run to jameco if they’re open on monday and get one and a burner, I figure the convenience of having a burner around will pay for itself in the end.
For what it’s worth, the PICkit2 won’t do that chip. I’ve actually found that the combination of the PIC-Brenner5 one (which TK’s PIC Burner is a workalike of) seems to work quite well. I’ve got one with no power supply on it, and I just use a benchtop supply to feed it. If you were to make one *just* like the PIC-Brenner5, it’d probably be most useful.