My Midibox Sid Begins today!

MIDIbox SID
1

Greetings all!  An avid do-it-yourself musician here, and I’m about to embark on an adventure.

Today, in the mail, I recieved my Commodore 64, from which I just removed the lovely

MOS 6581 Sid chip.  I’ve decided to document my trials and tribulations via this thread, and

also on my website, which i will post once into my signature once i get time.

Any advice before I get started?  Where to buy?  I’ve got a 30w iron from Radioshack, but

after reading the forum I’ve seen the suggestion for a 10-20w gun..  is this nessecary?

Just checking.  Also, i’m a begginer when it comes to soldering and homemade electronics, so

will i be able to surrvive this project without a gudie, maybe someone who live near me who’s

much better at soldering/electronics?  I have fixed all my microphones on my own and have

made one simple circuit.  will i be ok?

well here goes nothing!  hope to get some feedback soon :)  thanks all and stay tuned!

2

You will get all the guidance you will need from this forum… But if you don’t take lots of time to read and maybe print out all the relevant documentation, or if you are not very patient, you stand no chance… So long as you are willing to stick with it, and be nice, you’ll be fine :slight_smile: Good luck with the box. I’ll enjoy watching your progress.

3

I’m glad you all will be there to help me.  I’m getting paid this friday and will (hopefully) be ordering

all module kit’s and other parts i’ll need that night.

My plans for this project -

Titled - Midibox Sidhonar (for shane)

It will feature a 2x20 LCD display and simple CS,

One Sid Module w/ the 6581 and of course the core module.

It’s going into a custom case, probably either built into my 66 key casio or into it’s own case.

I’ve had the idea of dropping it into a see through case made of rigid plexiglass.

Not super fancy, but (hopefully) functional and i know with everyone’s help here, it’ll sound rad!

I record my own cd’s, i write my own music, now i’ll build my own synth :slight_smile:

ta ta for now, Oblivion is calling my name

stay tuned.

4

Any advice before I get started?  Where to buy?  I’ve got a 30w iron from Radioshack, but

after reading the forum I’ve seen the suggestion for a 10-20w gun..  is this nessecary?

NO, no gun.. soldering guns are not usefull.. and 30 watts is too much aswell in my opinion

15 watts is more than enough for pcb soldering.

and my tip for buying the module kits, get them at smash.. they look nicer and are more

suitable for beginners..(allthough i dont know if that is true for the most recent boards)

5

my bad, i meant a 10-20w soldering iron.

I’m gonna pick up a 15w iron this weekend.

stay tuned!

6

UPDATE _ _ _

Ordered my core module and the sid module this weekend from smash…

And i’ve decided on the design.

I’m going to use my powerbook to save/load the patches onto the sid,

since that will be the simpler setup.  eventually i’d like to add a bankstick

and maybe an LCD, but being a broke college guy with 3 jobs, the simpler

for now, the better.

an update when I recieve my parts WITH PICS :smiley:

7

AH HAAA!!! Bless smash TV!!!  it begins tonight!!

My core and my sid module did indeed arrive and I’m stoked!!  i’m off to the Radioshack to get

my 15 watt iron and some solder.  I’ll probably start working on it right off the bat.  where should i start?

is there really an easy way to start my first project like this?  :slight_smile:

wish me luck everyone, and any advice would be nice.

8

where should i start?

With the core module of course :slight_smile:

See also http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_sid_walkthrough.html

Best Regards, Thorsten.

9

just finished my core… i know i made one mistake, so i’m gonna

take a picture and hopefully I didn’t make any other mistakes :slight_smile:

that will have to wait to the morning… er… when i wake up that is..

10

ok so i realized that I completely messed up and need some guidence.

i’m 100% n00b when it comes to electronics, and am having trouble with the

core module.  mainly, which resistors are which and how they are mounted.

everything else i can tell just by looking at the images on smash’s site.

i’m really excited about getting this finished and those pieces are all that

remain for me to power and test this bad boy.

HELP :frowning:

11

well.. you can test them with a multimeter, thats the easiest way.. thats how i do it.. or you could look up the color codes..all i had to do was type resistor in google, and press the “i’m feeling lucky” button and the website i visited gave me all the info i needed.. if i didnt know how resistors work and/or cant distinguish between the different values..

good luck dude!

12

the main thing that sucks is the fact that I have no clue what type of resistors go under

the PIC bracket. it just labels them 1,2,3 etc.

13

ok, so i’m desoldering the bracket for the PIC as well as every single resitor on the core board…  i’m to the point where i just wanna order another one and just start a new…

i might just have to do that.

this removing thing isn’t going so well.

14

ok, so i’m desoldering the bracket for the PIC as well as every single resitor on the core board…  i’m to the point where i just wanna order another one and just start a new…

i might just have to do that.

this removing thing isn’t going so well.

oof I hate to hear that…even after so many years of desoldering, there are still some that give me problems, even with the right tools…

I -think- you have seen my Core page already and my resistor ID page is here: http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/res.html

I’m thinking you are probably way past that info, so let’s talk desoldering…

The bulb type desoldering tools are not that great for double sided boards with plated through holes, and only the really high price solder suckers do anything but frustrate.

The workable alternative is “Desoldering Braid”, from your local radio shack. 

Look for this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062744

The secret to this stuff is all in the technique, and you will want to practice a few times on a throw away board.

Lay the braid as flat as possible on the solder that you want to remove, put your iron on top of the braid, and count to 5 or so then remove the iron (otherwise the pads/traces will try to lift off the board due to overheating). 

The idea is to get as much of the braid’s surface in contact with the solder, and as much of the beveled tip of your iron in contact with the braid…a little practice will show you what I mean.  This stuff works like an oil lamp wick, and for it to do it’s thing you want just the braid touching your target solder, not the iron as much as possible.

In all the years wrenching games out in on location there were always at least two rolls of this stuff in my toolkit…and an extra set of forceps just to hold the braid since it gets very hot as you go.  I tried every brand I could find and quickly realized that the radio shack brand for this stuff is as good as it gets.

Let us know how it goes, if the braid gives you problems I’ll try to do better at explaining it (maybe with a 15 second video clip)

Best

Smash

15

i’ve actually already ordered another core kit from ya smash.

It’s not a big deal, anyhow.  I am, however, done with the

the sid module,  save for one piece, the 1nf that fits in C7

seemed to be missing from my sid kit.  pretty sure i could

pick it up at radioshack, or, charge me a buck and throw me

a few in my newest order and i’ll smile.

one thing though, the core module page only shows the view

with the pic mounted, not without it, hence the problem with

the resistors.  now that id page you have is handy!!  it is now

bookmarked :D.  can someone take/draw a pic  of their core module

without the pic but with the resistors mounted as they should be?

then when my new kit arrives i’ll be set :slight_smile:

this is terribly fun, i might add.  i am excited to make my own

instrument.

16

Well since you manage to build a mame cabinet i know you will surely succeed in building this instrument.

17

A picture would be useful.

I’m in the same boat, having got my kit today.

The sid board seems straight forward, though i’m not sure if there is any specific way to mounnt the caps in c1 and c2.

The resistors under the PIC may cause me a problem …

we’ll see.

18

Follow the schematics, it’s the best photo you could ask for :slight_smile:

19

well ok :)  now i’ve made a choice…  i’m going to make a dual sid unit :slight_smile:

EVENTUALLY!!  not right off the bat.  I’m going to buy the spare resistors and

the socket that’s messed up on the core at radio shack and if it works ok still,

i’m going to use the new core board i ordered as the brain of another sid.

wish me luck, everyone. 

20

Luck!