KIT AVAILABLE !!! All In One PCB Kit to sell !!!

[dmitri]

Actually the value of the inductor according to Atmega specs should be 10uH. So it is safe to use any inductor between 10uH and 1000uH(1mH).

[Juze]

Finally I can find parts for megadrum. I have many parts at home, and I took the IDE/ATA-connector out of broken DVD-drive, so I got the 32 inputs connector. Yes, I know I'm cheap'o. BUT I call this recycling

[dcho]

hahahaha! It's understandable though. I'm going to try to recycle some parts too. Soldering is new to me and I'm going to try to desolder some parts from some old motherboards (pentium and pentium 3 boards). best of luck on building your Megadrum!

[Juze]

Motherboards are good if you need High Quality capacitors. But they are often high values, so they're not suitable for MegaDrum. I de-soldered components from my old velleman-kits, that I don't use anymore (haven't for a Loooooong time )

[Beamtreetaker]

Today I finished soldering everything (btw thank you Synthex for the lightning-fast shipping) and connected lcd, usb and keys to do my first test run. Unfortunately it didn't run 100% properly : When I connected the board to my computer a message lit up saying that new hardware ("megadrum") was found (which made me very happy of course =) ) but the lcd display stayed dark. I then started the MDControl application and changed some values, applied and saved them, shut down application and started it again, hit 'load settings', but nothing changed. When I disconnect the usb plug and put it in again, the new hardware message won't show up anymore...

I'm now going to check if I made some mistakes with the soldering, although a first check with my multimeter before the first test showed that everything seemed to okay. Maybe you've got some ideas what points I could check to find a possible mistake quickly.

I also got two questions: I didn't yet connect any inputs to the board. But that shouldn't affect the working of the display, right? And : What exactly is the meaning of the square region on the board with the minus symbol in it (between lcd and atmega)? I left this one empty.

I hope with a little of your help I'm capable to get the module running soon... I'm so excited.

[Synthex]

btw thank you Synthex for the lightning-fast shipping

Thanks !

I didn't yet connect any inputs to the board. But that shouldn't affect the working of the display, right?

Yes.

What exactly is the meaning of the square region on the board with the minus symbol in it (between lcd and atmega)? I left this one empty.

You need to put a trimpot (about 10k) on it ! ... That's why your lcd display stayed dark
This 10k pot is for adjust the LCD contrast.

[Cladinshadows]

When I connected the board to my computer a message lit up saying that new hardware ("megadrum") was found but the lcd display stayed dark.

Did you give the trimpot enough turns clockwise?
What happened to mine was that I had to turn the screw on that pot about 30 times clockwise before I could see the characters appear on the screen.
Hope this helps.

[dcho]

This info should probably be stuck in the FAQs thread! dmitri! Also, if you have problems with Megadrum, perhaps you should start a new thread with the issues that you are having. I didn't bother to do that around page 5 and sort of made a mess on this thread.

[Beamtreetaker]

Yeah you're right, this thread really bursts at the seams.

So, let me just announce:
My module now works!!

I did not yet get the lcd to work because i need to buy a new pot tomorrow, but the usb midi functionality works just nice! I connected one piezo fixed on a plastic cymbal to the board, and when I hit it the led lits up as well as midi notes are sent. 'Did a little finger drumming with a snare sound in my s/w synthie and the triggering seems to be pretty accurate even without any parameter tuning.
Thank you, Dmitri and Synthex!! I can hardly pronounce how great this is to me (I was very close to spening some more or less large amount of $ into a r0land, al€sis or yam@ha module) - MegaDrum is exactly what I need. I'm so proud also of having it soldered myself....

Next I'll build a nice case for my megadrum and finish building my diy drumkit....I'll keep you guys informed.

[Synthex]

Thank you, Dmitri and Synthex!! I can hardly pronounce how great this is to me (I was very close to spening some more or less large amount of $ into a r0land, al€sis or yam@ha module) - MegaDrum is exactly what I need. I'm so proud also of having it soldered myself....

Thanks a lot !!
Long life to MegaDrum !!