Today I have finished a (traditional) BLM 16x4 board and have confirmed it to be working. It uses duo LEDs and the very nice Marquardt 6245 series of buttons. Together with Wilba’s MB-SEQ Control Surface and a TPC / BPM module it will fill the upper half of an abandoned Roland MV-8000 case.
The board holds all necessary components including surface mount shift registers (DOUT and DIN) on the backside and connects via a single 10pin cable to J2 on Wilba’s control surface board. Additional modules (BPM and TPC displays) can be connected to a second 10pin connector that loops through all serial I/O signals from J8/J9 of the Core32 board.
have you made the files available for others to order this PCB?
Not yet, as I have to decide what to make available (the Gerbers or the KICAD sources or both). I have three spare boards that I’d be willing to sell for 30 Euros each - this is what I paid for them as prototype boards. I also have two sets of Marquardt switches, desoldered from some video editing equipment that was hardly ever used. (Same as those you see on my board). PM me if interested.
I was asked whether the buttons would align with Wilba’s MB-SEQ frontpanel design - the answer is no, and the reason you can see below. In my panel, there will a TPC and step display and a BPM display to the left of the button / Duo-LED matrix. A second reason is that the protoboard manufacturer I used has a size limit that I had to follow.
Also, I was asked about how the buttons would sit in the frontpanel. I am using 8mm spacers and 3mm thick front panel, and the caps are flush with the surface, the round part sticking out slightly. It’s perfect for sliding over a complete column of buttons (or row, but that would make less sense I guess).
Wow, pretty impressive. I already have a seq4 using wilba’s board. Could something like this be built into a separate case as an accessory connected via serial cable? I can understand using the BLM to control gates or triggers for drums. How else do you use it? Do you map buttons to internal patterns and sequences? Or is more like a controller for a DAW?
Please note that there is no silkscreen on the back side of the PCB. However, each IC has its reference etched in copper next to its footprint. Also, pin 1 of each IC is clearly marked with a “1” next to the corresponding pad, and all 100nF smd capacitors (C2-C7) sit close to the ICs.
Could something like this be built into a separate case as an accessory connected via serial cable?
Yes, that is feasible, but cable length on the “serial bus” might be an issue. It’s simply a matter of trial and error to see how long a cable you could use. With proper shielding and termination it should become practical, though - there are a few threads about termination in this forum somewhere, use the search. Also, the BLM accessory will most probably be located very close to the SEQ…
However, you might have to switch between two hardware config files then, depending on whether the accessory is connected or not. I am not sure what happens if you have defined the BLM shift registers but don’t physically connect them?
I have one more PCB available, and I can provide a set of buttons if needed for cheap (but you can also just have the PCB if you prefer that). I’ll travel to Germany middle of December, which would make shipping (also international) reasonable, even with tracking/insurance (which I would prefer). PM me if interested.
This is the final bump before I actually travel to Germany and the last chance for anyone interested in cheap registered shipping (shipping this insured from Norway is simply too expensive to be reasonable). Send me PM by Thursday evening CET if interested - I have one more board and buttons and duo LEDs galore!
If my backlog wouldn’t be so big and my first Midibox Seq V4 would be finished [i haven’t even started] or I wouldn’t already have the small normal Heidenreich case I would take it.
Well on my unit it is directly connected to the DIN/DOUT chain, I am not sure how much the 17x17 external BLM can be changed to hold only a subset of buttons/LEDs and how this would be configured? There should be some way, though, I would guess. At least the new NG concept seems to have all that functionality already, so it may arrive in very short time in the SEQ V4 as well if it is not there already?
I guess altitude got here, not sure how I missed this thread. Has it been officially taken?
Yup. Gotta be quicker than that
Well aware about the SRIO chain length though, ran into the length issue with an AOUT module before. Probably a good time to play around with some buffering
For those of you that came too late to get one of my prototype PCBs (or who just discover this thread now), I have documented the board design and everything you need to know to build your own unit over in the Wiki. You’ll find schematics and Gerbers there (so you can order your own boards anywhere you like), as well as the BOM and some other hints.
For those of you that came too late to get one of my prototype PCBs (or who just discover this thread now), I have documented the board design and everything you need to know to build your own unit over in the Wiki. You’ll find schematics and Gerbers there (so you can order your own boards anywhere you like), as well as the BOM and some other hints.
Kind regards, ilmenator
ilmenator,
I’ve converted your AI back to FPD, I’m attaching it if you want to put it to the wiki. It was seated to 3U panel but the whole 16x4 BLM is a single block and can safely be moved around or copied/paste to another panel design.
Nice panel!
