Ah, I finally got around to writing an entry on nuxx.net about the PAiA FatMan Plus. That is, the PAiA FatMan which I rebuilt (and added to) earlier in the year.
Now, just a few more articles to write… the iSight Tripod Adapter, moving the dingleberrypie.com info about Honda electronics in, and a few other things…
Last night I ordered the first round of parts for the PCBs for the TR-9090 I mentioned yesterday. After ordering just the resistors, sockets, diodes, on-board pin headers, and transistors there are 852 parts to be installed, totaling 2546 solder points. This does not count any caps, nor any of the bits from the front panel, MIDI, audio out, etc.
And strangely, Mouser bumped the shipping up to UPS next-day air. I’m not sure why… I think they are dragging their feet a bit on the shipping (overloaded?) so that’s being done to ensure there isn’t a huge delay. No bother, I’ve got other things to do in the mean time.
It seems that Comcast is blocking DreamHost’s outgoing MTA:
This is the Postfix program at host spunkymail-a8.dreamhost.com.
I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be
be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.For further assistance, please send mail to
If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
delete your own text from the attached returned message.The Postfix program
<xxxxxxxx@comcast.net>: host gateway-r.comcast.net[204.127.198.26] said: 550
208.97.132.60 blocked by ldap:ou=rblmx,dc=comcast,dc=net -> BL004 Blocked
for spam. Please see
http://www.comcast.net/help/faq/index.jsp?faq=SecurityMail_Policy18628 (in
reply to MAIL FROM command)
Reporting-MTA: dns; spunkymail-a8.dreamhost.com
X-Postfix-Queue-ID: 4AFED10AA74
X-Postfix-Sender: rfc822; c0nsumer@nuxx.net
Arrival-Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 19:03:22 -0700 (PDT)Final-Recipient: rfc822; xxxxxxxx@comcast.net
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0
Diagnostic-Code: X-Postfix; host gateway-r.comcast.net[204.127.198.26] said:
550 208.97.132.60 blocked by ldap:ou=rblmx,dc=comcast,dc=net -> BL004
Blocked for spam. Please see
http://www.comcast.net/help/faq/index.jsp?faq=SecurityMail_Policy18628 (in
reply to MAIL FROM command)
UPDATE: A bit more info. The Comcast page in the link above directs users to Symantec (yes, SYMANTEC) to report misidentified messages. It seems that Comcast now uses Brightmail for filtering.
I ssh’d to DreamHost and manually sent a message to a Comcast address (you know, the old ‘telnet mailhost 25’ thing) without problem. This was from jawbreaker.dreamhost.com, indicating that it’s not nuxx.net nor all of DreamHost which is blocked, just (at least one of) the MXs.
I filled out a trouble ticket with DreamHost, because they are the ones who will need to resolve this.
Hrm, I just tried to mail
UPDATE 2: Now I’m not seeing any problems at all.
TR-9090 Main PCBs (Click for large versions…)
Now that the Sequentix P3 is done I’ve begun thinking about the next project. A few months back I purchased a PCB set for Trevor Page’s 9090, which is a clone of the synth part of the classic Roland TR-909.
As you can see from the PCBs above, it’s not going to be very simple to build. Additionally, the kit came with just the PCBs, ROMs, and microcontroller. All the other parts need to be sourced myself, and the only thing I have to work from is this PDF parts list. That is, no part numbers, no sums of numbers of parts needed, etc. Designing the case will probably be the most interesting part. I’m hoping to put it in a sloped-front metal enclosure something like one of these, but I’m still not sure yet. For now I’m going to build the boards, figure out the clearances I need, then work from there.
Well, actually, for now I’m going to keep building the part lists…
There are around 92 discreet transistors. And more than 50 IC sockets are needed. This isn’t going to be cheap, either.
Also, any band which uses MySpace as their primary online presence will not get any visits from me. That site is too damned annoying to use.
With web space as cheap as it is and basic design as simple as it is, there’s no reason not to have at least a standard website with some info, tracklists, and other such things on it.
Earlier today I had to go to the ER because my foot was hurting. It was amazing. The result was that this mass of stuff was cut out of the bottom of my big toe. I can’t really walk right now, but… this is a lie. ;)
Actually, that photo is part of the result of a rather interesting experiment. About a month ago I purchased some tomatoes. To give you some idea of how long ago, I don’t really remember when they were purchased.
Anyway, I had two leftover tomatoes sitting on the counter and after a week they both formed some small bumps on them, almost like something was pushing out from under the surface. Cutting the first one open I found that some of the seeds had begun to sprout, so I decided to let the other be. I’d regularly set it in a place where sun through the skylight would shine on it, and generally just let it sit. About a week and a half ago the one of the shoots had finally punctured the skin of the fruit and it all was beginning dramatically soften.
Still, it hadn’t rotted. Taste tests during dissection showed that the pulp of the tomato was still very tomato-like, only lacking a bit of the normal sweetness and flavor which generally comes with a tomato. I figure that this was because a bunch of the sugars and such were used up by the germinating seeds.
At this point I decided it would be best to dissect the tomato, and that one above is part of what I found. The rest of the photos can be found here, in an album entitled The Tomato Which Wouldn’t Rot (photo gallery retired). These include:
· The tomato before I went poking around in it.
· Upon initially breaking the tomato open.
· A bunch of the sprouted bits on a paper towel.
· The leftover tomato-y remains. This is the part I tasted.
· The base of the stem, where something which looks like roots had begun to appear.
· Detail of the root-like mass at the base of the stem.
So, yeah. Definitely check out the whole gallery for The Tomato Which Wouldn’t Rot (photo gallery retired) if you’d like to see more photos. And yes, it’s now in the trash. Not that it was beginning to smell or anything, I just wanted it gone.
Irradiation or something is likely to blame for the lack of rotting, I think. Or maybe my house is just especially clean.
I doubt the latter.
Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Testarossa, despite it’s HORRIBLE vocals and awful samples, has one of the best FM synth-based rythem parts ever recorded. It just simply sounds wonderful.
Then again, lots of this cheesey 80s/90s rap has some wonderful backing music.
When at Guitar Center earlier today I got to play with a real DX7. That was nifty. I still wish I had purchased a TX816 on eBay a few years ago when I had a chance. It would have been only about $150.
Well, it’s done. After thinking about how to solve the problem and (restlessly) sleeping on it, I ended up realizing that if I bent one of the PCBs back towards the rear of the pots that things would fit into the case properly. (The bend can be seen here.) After that I was able to finish assembling the P3 and get everything up and running.
I had figured that if I bend the board back, either it’ll work or I’ll break some of the pots. If the pots break, I’m back to the worst-case scenario of having to replace all the pots. Clearly they didn’t, so all is good.
Interestingly, after I walked back upstairs to my desk I found that Colin, the guy who runs Sequentix (and a rather nice guy, from what I can tell) had seen my rather frustrated previous post regarding the pots and clearance in the enclosure and wrote to tell me that due to some slight changes he has to bend the top pot board back on production P3s. It was rather reassuring to read that note and know that the problem I ran into wasn’t unique and that the solution of bending the board back is the ‘right’ one.
So, yes. It’s all done. I’ve got a few more photos of everything up online. Here’s the more notable ones:
In Progress Album: (photo gallery retired)
· Main board and a pile of ICs and such for installation.
· Wholly populated Sequentix P3 main board.
· All cables for connecting the P3 boards, except for the short jumper between the main board and the I/O board.
· Top pot board, bent back so that the enclosure fits together properly.
· Sequentix P3 front panel fitted with cables, ready to connect to the bottom of the enclosure and the main board.
· Inside the bottom of the P3 enclosure, looking at the power connectors, mainboard, I/O board, and jumper.
· All cables inside the P3 enclosure connected, everything ready to close up.
Done! Album: (photo gallery retired)
· The P3 triggering the x0xb0x, since it’s a good synth to learn with. I think.
· Front view of the P3.
· Angle view of the P3 booting, as seen above.
· View of the Sequentix P3 showing the rear panel.
· Sequentix P3 while receiving firmware update as SYSEX data via MIDI.
· Firmware update complete, time to boot up with 3.1.006C.
For fuck’s sake. I can’t close the case on the P3.
It turns out that the pots which are recommended for those in the US are sized in a particular way which causes a particular circuit board to stick out far enough that the case won’t close. :\
The other pot option is US$1.35/ea. That’s not bad, except when you figure that I already purcahsed $32 worth of pots and they are now useless. And I can’t finish it this weekend.
I’m going to have to figure out what to do about this tomorrow.
Top of the Sequentix P3 front panel with all modules installed. Knobs are still missing, and the protective film is still over the PLED/OLED.
Ah, the Sequentix P3 which I am building (photo gallery retired) is coming along quite nicely. Last night I made a wood and tape jig for aligning the keys on the number pad while soldering them. I think the alignment came out pretty well.
I also spent a lot of time cleaning the remaining flux off of the board and assembled everything in the front panel. It’s all fitting nicely. I can’t believe how nice the Cherry keyswitches and laser etched caps look and feel. They are just perfect, just like an old, quality computer keyboard.
Now I just need to wait for a few ICs to come in from Digi-Key, plug in the chips, and make the cables to connect the boards. :D
I’m getting excited about it.
I just hope it works…
UPDATE: It turns out that the Digi-Key order is being delivered today. I might be able to finish it tonight! (Hrm, I don’t have a mixer… so I can play a bunch of stuff at once, but not listen to it / record it. Oops.)
