Hello together!
Here are some pics of my LC. Some Buttons and the case is missing. And still some Problems with the 2 2x24 LCDs.(they only show the <<=== Logic emulation ready ===>>>)
any questions, ask.
greetings
Nice work 
I do have a few questions, as I’m planning to make my own too, as soon as possible
Where did you get the buttons with the leds incorporated ?
Did you get your panel drilled at schaeffer or did you make all those clean cuts yourself, especially the fader slots ?
I see you implemented the meters too, that must look very cool, and I think it’s useful to get a quick glance of what’s in the mix.
Cheers,
Lorcan
Hi
Buttons:
they are made with a microswitch, a LED, and these button-caps http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;LA=4;GROUP=C223;GROUPID=3278;ARTICLE=82190;START=0;SORT=-preis;OFFSET=100;SID=15zBnFxtS4AQ8AABq7PH446099f6e462ae6cbb625a2b642189caa
maybe this picutre will help:
the meters are looking very cool, yes. But, they have a long delay, so, for metering, it’s not very useful.
have fun
Hi,
thanks for the info. So if I understand correctly you bought the microswitch and the leds separately, not the MEC switch with integrated led ?
Is this the switch http://www.reichelt.de/?;ACTION=3;LA=2;GROUPID=3278;ARTICLE=79697;SID=31WeCsUKwQAR8AADAgCkM89538fcad00fb53b6e784dc370194411 ?
The switches with integrated leds are quite expensive (>2€), when looking for a cheaper alternative I have found this: http://fr.farnell.com/multicomp/tll-62bg/interrupteur-tact-vert-led/dp/9472010
Strangely red leds seem more expensive than red atm, it used to be the other way round a few years ago :o
Hi,
I don’t buy those very expensive MEC switches, although they’re very very nice.
I buy this switches:
and then mount a led on it with hot glue(as you can see in the picture) and finally add that cap over it.
hope you understand
Sorry, I can’t see the assembly in detail on your last pic.. or maybe I need glasses 
So you glue the led on the side of the switch ?
As for very nice switch i saw these http://fr.farnell.com/jsp/level5/module.jsp?moduleId=fr/508907.xml too (even more expensive :o)
look
The original post with this and more pictures is here…
sorry that i’ve forgotten to say from where i’ve got this good idea.
no problem
Wow, there are some very inventive minds over here 
cinhcet,
so how did you cut the panel ? With a router, a cutter, schaeffer ??
When you say the meters are too slow, you’re tlaking about the refresh rate and/or the lantency with respect to the audio signal ?
I would have thought even if there is a delay you still get to see if a track is hot or not, if there is signal clipping.
It would be nice for me when I’m tracking as I already have my fingers busy playing the instrument and adjusting gain, so these would save me clicking back and forth to get the meters to show in the sequencer / mixer application.
Thanks for your tips.
As for the panel I plan to do a hybrid one:
- almost horizontal main aluminium panel : faders, vpots + ledrings and switches mounted on custom designed PCB underneath the panel. Holes drilled by me and fader slots cut with a jigsaw (not sure if its the right term)
- slanted plexiglas panel/window, no holes drilled, underneath which i’ll mount one or several pcb holding the LCDs, the meters and the LTC display + rude solo light. I need to find some tinted plexi for this and paint the inside black, otherwise it might look a bit strange
What do you think about this ?
hi,
forgot your question about the panel. It’s made by Schaeffer.
concerning to the meters, dunno how to decribe that, it’s a little bit stagnant. But you will see, whether it’s clipping or not.
I’d make the panel a little bit slant.
Ah .. Schaeffer, nice but a little bit pricey. I wonder how much more it would add to get text legends for all the buttons … I’ll do a sim and check for myself
As for the meters I think it’s a limitation of the Mackie protocol which goes through MIDI, they limited refresh rate in order to leave some bandwidth for the faders and controls. Maybe we’ll see some improvements with MIOS32 and ethernet. Theoretically one could program a Eucon emulation layer, but the problem is Euphonix charge money (not cheap I believe) for a license.
Even a rough indication of level should suffice for my needs anyway.
Thanks !
Hello again,
I need your help.
Today, when i was engaged with the LCD-display, i noticed that if every fader is moving the display will get darker.
Then I’ve detected the voltage of the 12v an 5v during the faders are moving. And, the strange thing is, that the 5v supply gets a higher voltage(about 5.4) when the faders are moving.
What can that be?
And, I’ve still got the problem that the LCD only show that ----====XXXXLogic Emulation ReadyXXXX====----
Any ideas?
Thanks!!
greetings
I assume that your PSU is simply not strong enough.
Your MF-module(s) draws pretty much current when all faders are moving, so I think the voltage will break down.
How much ampere can your PSU deliver?
thanks,
no, the voltage doeen’t brake down. My PSU got 300W. The strange thing is, that the voltage of the 5v output increase about 0.4v
And, I’ve still got the problem that the LCD only show that ----====XXXXLogic Emulation ReadyXXXX====----
The LC must be connected with the host (cubase/nuendo/logic…) to work
The LM317 drops the voltage down when all faders moving because of the current (max.1.5 A)…
get a big heatsink for the LM or build separate adjustable power supplys for each fader
Quote
And, I’ve still got the problem that the LCD only show that ----====XXXXLogic Emulation ReadyXXXX====----
The LC must be connected with the host (cubase/nuendo/logic…) to work
really??? dont know that. Sarcassm mode out. Did you think, I’m that silly?
The power does not drop down!!! Trust me. It increases, but only the 5v. the faders are supplied with the 12v
The LM got a heater and the maximum current is only 1.145(as my multimeter says)
The strange thing is, the 12V and 5V come from seperate PSU(ground are switched together).
The faders need the 12V, but when they move, something is going on with the 5V(voltage increase) and so the rest of the LC(displays, etc.)
But how could that be?
anyway, thanks for helping me. It’s maybe one of the best forums in the world(and maybe the best DIY project)
The separate PSU thing is known to be somewhat dodgy… but it does work for some people. If it’s possible to get a proper PSU for this it would probably help. In the meantime, i have a hunch that this 12V PSU is a PC switchmode PSU? I know they need some current draw to function normally, so perhaps this explains the drop when the faders start to work - it could change the 12V gnd (obviously it drops by ~0.4V), and seeing as it is linked to the 5V, trouble…
I wonder if it would be possible for you to use the one 12V PSU (no 2nd PSU) and use it to power a fully stuffed core module. The components on the board will accept 12V (although a heatsink on the 7805 would be good!) and provide 5V power, and hopefully the components especially the big LCD(s) will provide enough draw to keep the PSU stable after initial power-on. Then you can connect the 12 direct from the PSU, to your MFs.
Before trying this with the 12V connected to the MFs, you could try with them disconnected, to ensure that the firmware is working correctly and communicating with the host as intended.
Not sure it’ll work 100%, but it’s worth a shot I reckon!
Also, in LCD territory, looks like you need to change this line in file: setup_midibox_lc.asm
#define LCD_EMU_COL 55
needs to change to
#define LCD_EMU_COL 48
since you have 2 x 24x2 displays, not 40x2.
This line sets how many columns are emulated, and the current setting of 55 is whay the first photo shows
[tt]xxxx— ===<Lo ]Gap[mulatio n ready . >===[/tt]
Instead of looking more like this:
It is possible, but probably not likely, that this is part of your LCD trouble. The Core is trying to display more columns than the LCD can show.
Probably has nothing to do with the static display, but almost certainly would explain the incomplete display.
