Category: making things

x0xb0x Sequencer LEDs and Switches
(Click for more In Progress (photo gallery retired) photos…)

Have I mentioned that I love that macro lens? With the 1:1 extender it’s so, so, so much fun to play with… I only wish I had increased the depth of field there so that focus didn’t fall off so quickly. Still, I like it.

Oh, also, my x0xb0x is mostly done. I say mostly because I’m still waiting for Monday’s delivery of a Mouser order containing a bunch of 2SA733P transistors. The reason is detailed here under the section labeled ‘Picking the right transistors’. These need to be fitted, then I need to test everything.

Somewhere in there I also have to order up the front panel overlays (photo gallery retired), too… I just hope other people want to buy them.

The testing stuff brings up something else. First, I’m worried that my x0xb0x will have some sort of problem. Second, I’m still waiting for a new DMM (a Fluke 179/EDA Kit) to get here so that I can test things accurately, and I’m also waiting for a power supply kit (an Elenco XP-720K) so that I can feed power to various bits of the synth while I’m testing it. After I build the power supply, of course.

So, to make a long story short, I’ve gotten things about as far as they can go for now. I’ll do more later…

In case you are interested, here’s some of the somewhat more notable photos that I’ve taken of the my x0xb0x building (photo gallery retired) thus far, generally marked with their captions from my gallery:

In Progress (photo gallery retired):

· When replacing a resistor in the power supply with a 200Ω one, I accidently melted part of the headphone jack. Whoops.
· Another detailed shot of the FT232BM, the first SMT part I ever soldered, with a millimeter ruler for comparison.
· While soldering, flux is left behind on the PCB. This must be cleaned off afterwards. The flux can be seen here as clearish blobs over the solder.
· Ahh, that’s better. This is a part of the board after I removed the flux with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush.
· Main panel with everything but a few 2SA733P’s in it. Note the red LEDs.
· My hacked together panel vise substitute.
· Everything seems to line up with the front panel…

Parts (photo gallery retired):

· A pile of the red diffuse LEDs I ordered from Digi-Key.
· A pile of the water clear red LEDs which came with the x0xb0x.
· Pile of LEDs in 0.22″ standoffs, ready for installation.
· A red keycap on one of the tactile switches.

Well, I think I got the Illustrator problem described here fixed.

I took a bit of a brute force approach to the problem. To fix it, I did the following:

– Export the whole image at 1000dpi to a PNG.
– Open the PNG in Photoshop.
– See how many pixels off the image is.
– Adjust the part which was ‘off’ by an appropriate many thousandths of an inch in Illustrator.

I’m pretty certain it’s now fixed… When exporting the image at both 300 and 600 dpi, a ‘bump’ is no longer visible.

Hopefully this version, v1.2 (photo gallery retired), will be the final one. Once I’m certain of this I’ll convert it to the format which Maverick likes, which is basically certain parts set to particular colors from a rather restrictive palette.

Hmm. Yeah. Go-home time soon.

Yep, there’s v1.1. I cleaned up the keys a little, removed the center detent marks, and changed the logo.

GUR. I just realized that I’ve got some screwed up Illustrator problem…

Could someone help me with this? I’ve got screenshots explaining what I’m seeing, and why I think I shouldn’t be seeing it:

First, as you can see here, the white box I use to mask the key spacing line above the black keys appears to extend up a bit higher than it should.

However, if you look at these two screenshots (1 · 2) you can see the following:

– The white key (selected in image 1) has a .5pt border, set so that it is centered on the outside edge. It’s top edge is at Y:270.459pt.
– The white box I’m using to mask the lines (selected in image 2) has no border, and it’s top edge is set to Y:270.209pt.

As you could see, the white box has it’s top edge set .25pt lower than the white key, which should be the width of the bottom half of the border line. Yet it appears as it does here, with a bump sticking up.

So, can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? The math is right, and it should work, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening. Thank you very much. :)

Well, there’s my first stab at a logo redesign for my new x0xb0x panel. I’m pretty happy with it… The only concern will be if the text at the bottom (the TRANSISTORIZE YOUR WORLD) stuff scales well and will be readable after printing. I think it will…

Anyway, yeah. One more thing on the panel to polish this evening, and it should be ready to go to the printers. As soon as I’ve decided on a print process, that is.

UPDATE: I changed the text at the bottom to be a big larger. It fills out the panel a lot better, and I think it’ll print better. As this whole logo will only be 70 points high, I think the slightly more obvious text is better.

My first SMT!
(Click for more x0xb0x stuff…)

Well, this is the first photo I’ve posted from work on my x0xb0x (photo gallery retired).

In short, it’s coming along nicely, but I just simply don’t feel like writing a lot. Here’s some links for photos, if you’re interested in how it’s going:

· Main x0xb0x Gallery (photo gallery retired)
· 600dpi scans of the PCBs (photo gallery retired)
· The piles of parts for the x0xb0x. Well, all except the seven missing ones. Whoops! (They are on their way…) (photo gallery retired)
· The USB controller actually working!
· The completed (except for one resistor) I/O board.

Uhm… That’s all.

Oh, one thing to note… Except for testing the power supply and the USB stuff, this is all kinda untested. :\ I don’t have my new DMM yet, nor do I have a benchtop power supply. Nor all the parts. So, I can’t see how it’s working out yet…

Tomorrow (today?) I have to order the new LEDs, a few other parts, and find a power supply. In the mean time I might just assemble the rest of it… I think my soldering skills are decent, so hopefully I won’t screw it up too much.

Oh, and I also wish there was an easier way to remove flux. A toothbrush + isopropyl works well, but then there’s a thin residue of flux on the whole board. I may just have to wash the whole of the boards down with isopropyl again once it’s all done. Ah well, at least it’ll look nice.

[This is cross posted from here.]

Pictured up above is v1.0 of my x0xb0x main panel (600dpi version here).

I am going to be having ten of these panel overlays printed, and I will be making eight available to others who have made x0xb0xes as well. I’m not completely certain of the cost yet, but it should be around US$30 – US$40 each for a heavy plastic (5mil Lexan) label with all holes (bolt, switch, button, knob, and LED) cut out.

Current I’m waiting on a second set of samples from the printer to decide exactly which printing process I wish to go with, then I’ll be able to give a more solid price. As soon as I have a solid, final price and the order is placed, I’ll let people know then I’ll be able to accept payment for the labels.

With regards to cost, note that I’m not making a profit on these. The price I charge will be for the printing of the panel, shipping (to me, then out to you), and PayPal fees. I’m not interested in profiting here, just getting my panel design printed up for myself and others at a reasonable price. The per-piece price is going to be a bit high because of both the high printing quality low count of pieces made.

Or, conversely, if you wish to try printing the panel yourself or redesigning it, I’ve got the following files available for your use:

Printable:
– v1.0 @ 300dpi w/ bleed
– v1.0 @ 600dpi w/ bleed

Design:
– Adobe Illustrator CS file I put together for designing panels. (This will be very useful if you wish to design a panel overlay for yourself.)

All of the three aforementioned files plus a 600dpi version of the image up top are available in a bundle: x0xb0x_mainpanel_overlay_v1.0.zip

The Illustrator file requires two fonts, Interstate Bold and Stop. These are not provided in the bundle. The text is placed in the file both as laid-out text and outlines, though, so if you aren’t modifying the current text they won’t be needed.

Additionally, I should note that the all-seeing eye logo was appropriated (and modified) without permission from the side of a box of Steve Jackson Games‘s Illuminati: New World Order. I’m not sure of the legality of this, but hopefully it’s not a problem as no one is profiting from these panels and it’s of very limited use.

So, that’s it. If you are interested in a panel, please reply to this thread saying that you are definitely interested purchasing one. The first 8 replies will get the first 8 panels.

And yes, I’ll be certain to post a photograph of final, printed panel before I even begin accepting payment for them.

-Steve

Hmm, I think I need to build a kit to monitor my heartbeat and plot it on the scope. That’d be nifty.

Hmm, on second thought I may likely have these x0xb0x panels printed by the place which does really-nice-looking-lexan as opposed to the arcade game place. I can probably get 10 printed for about $30/ea, then i can sell them to other x0xb0x peoples…

Well, there it is. Beta 1 of the art for my x0xb0x panel. I think it looks pretty good, and there’s not much left which I can think to change.

Printing of the panel through ClassicArcadeGrafix will run about US$35 for an 18×29 image, so I can probably have the overlay for the PAiA FatMan I’m rebuilding printed on the same sheet, saving a good bit of cost. Even better, there is also likely to be enough room so that I can have an overlay for the rear panel (the one around all the ports and whatnot) printed, making the whole box have a nice, consistent look.

Mmm. I’m happy with this design.