Building my own Midibox Sid Synth. Outa Time? Just want to start this. Now.

MIDIbox SID
,
1

Ok, i’m late. But i want to build and/or have this one: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/wilba_mb_6582

I do not have very good soldering skills and i only have 2 MOS 8580s this far. But i’m dreaming of this machine all this years. So, i think it is time. 

Another Problem is the documentation. Most of the links are dead, parts are no longer available, etc. So, i need help, i think. 

Maybe someone does have part lists, documentations, an unfinished one or a finished one or parts?

Maybe … i hope … 

THX for thinking about that
Greetings Phil 

2

I built my MB-6582 last year, so relatively recently…

In the process I pieced together a few handy references that helped me with my build…

 

Good luck with yours…

 

 

Planning the cost of a build, based on various component options:

< base_url >/topic/21537-cost-of-building-a-mb-6582-today-with-either-premium-or-economic-components/?do=embed&comment=187610&embedComment=187610&embedDo=findComment

 

 

PCB Sets are still available here:

https://modularaddict.com/shop-by-brand/midibox-ucapps-de

 

Nice pre-made Aluminum panel sets available here:

http://thebeast.co.uk/?product_cat=midibox

 

As a bargain basement alternative to aluminum, you could have panels fabricated as if they were PCBs, which saves a ton:

< base_url >/topic/21320-mb-6582-panel-check/?do=embed&comment=188548&embedComment=188548&embedDo=findComment

 

 

If real SIDs are too difficult to find and/or too expensive, take a look at the best clone options:

< base_url >/topic/21331-sid-clones-listsourcesexperiences/?do=embed&comment=189129&embedComment=189129&embedDo=findComment

 

 

How to program your Microcontrollers:

< base_url >/topic/18680-solved-debugging-my-mb-6582-part-2-software-upload-issue/?do=embed&comment=186262&embedComment=186262&embedDo=findComment

 

 

…Or just buy some pre-programmed chips:

< base_url >/topic/21079-pre-programmed-pic-18f4685-for-sale/?do=embed&comment=188306&embedComment=188306&embedDo=findComment

 

Where to get the “Just Right” power switch:

< base_url >/topic/21375-new-supplies-of-c64-power-switches-on-ebay/?do=embed

 

 

Which SID filter capacitors to use:

 

 

 

A useful voltage testing guide:

<___base_url___>/gallery/image/3676-08jpeg/?do=embed

 

 

There are many power supply options available, but this one is by far the easiest:

< base_url >/topic/20376-one-mb-6582-one-power-supply-a-tutorial/?do=embed

 

 

THE definitive guide for making the control surface:

< base_url >/topic/14564-building-the-mb-6582-control-surface-photo-tutorial/?do=embed

 

 

A nice little PCB that simplifies Char LCD Wiring:

< base_url >/topic/20525-16pin-sil-to-16pin-dil-adapter/?do=embed

 

A useful way to join the boards together:

< base_url >/topic/21498-connecting-mb-6582-pcbs-with-jst-xh/?do=embed&comment=187459&embedComment=187459&embedDo=findComment

 

 

Optional Encoder Backlighting:

< base_url >/topic/21463-rotary-encoder-backlighting-made-easy/?do=embed&comment=187704&embedComment=187704&embedDo=findComment

 

2 Likes
3

Thx a lot, this is a good start! 

4

Great help by @, thanks

For SID I bought an ARM2SID pair as SID replacement

1 Like
5

Yeah this is a brilliant summary.  No, it isn’t too late to build, so long as the PCBs are still available which is the main thing.  Everything is still available and the MOS chips are getting harder to find, so I turned to ARMSIDs. (it took me 2.5 years to build, in spurts, on-and-off).

 

Be warned it is a big project with lots of soldering to do - not that hard, just tedious, but other way to look at it is that it’s all practice, practice, practice!

@dwestbury, do you have a link to a complete schematic?  I’m in need of one since today I finally finished the last bits of this, but no ekyboard input and nothing on LCD.  But power sound and the dancing LED matrix all work fine.  Almost there.

 

Which brings me finally to my next point - this is a fairly big project to assemble so take your time with it and don’t be frightened or discouraged.  Some times things don’t wor 100% but there’s help here.

1 Like
6

3 hours ago, sbm said:

Yeah this is a brilliant summary.  No, it isn’t too late to build, so long as the PCBs are still available which is the main thing.  Everything is still available and the MOS chips are getting harder to find, so I turned to ARMSIDs. (it took me 2.5 years to build, in spurts, on-and-off).

 

Be warned it is a big project with lots of soldering to do - not that hard, just tedious, but other way to look at it is that it’s all practice, practice, practice!

@dwestbury, do you have a link to a complete schematic?  I’m in need of one since today I finally finished the last bits of this, but no ekyboard input and nothing on LCD.  But power sound and the dancing LED matrix all work fine.  Almost there.

 

Which brings me finally to my next point - this is a fairly big project to assemble so take your time with it and don’t be frightened or discouraged.  Some times things don’t wor 100% but there’s help here.

I just got another mos so, i think, its time to start ;). 

7

15 hours ago, sbm said:

@dwestbury, do you have a link to a complete schematic?  I’m in need of one since today I finally finished the last bits of this, but no ekyboard input and nothing on LCD.  But power sound and the dancing LED matrix all work fine.  Almost there.

I don’t think complete schematics were ever published for the MB6582 variant of the MIDIBox SID v2, but all of the schematics for the individual modules are available here: http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid_manual.html

The MB6582 is a pretty faithfully merged combination of the original modules, so I was always able to refer to them when I ran into issues…

8

On 8/17/2021 at 9:34 PM, dwestbury said:

http://discourse.midibox.org/t/topic/20920

Thx @dwestbury since i’m reading through your posts i’m realizing what i am up to do …

9

For reference:

 

< base_url >/topic/21404-mb-6582-checkerboard-led-pattern-no-buttons-or-encoders-work/?do=embed

 

This might be related to my problem, but I’ll note it here in case others need to look at it and hopefully it wasn’t a defect from fabrication.

10

 looks like a firmware issue…

Is this roughly the procedure you followed?
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AtmSvwylfFJagkHu1thc87cmaTWz?e=vWlQRc

 

 

11

Hey thanks for that.  I’m still forging ahead with building this, but life and this annoying thing that brings home the bread got in the way…

I did follow it and also happened to verify that my 4 PICs were working OK before and after flashing and loading the software - but, can’t hurt to follow this guide as a double-check…for the holidays.