KIT AVAILABLE !!! All In One v2.7 PCB Kit to sell !!!

[Synthex]

Photos to assist in assembling components.

v27_001.jpg

v27_002.jpg

[davidcaudron]

Thank you a lot Synthex !!!!

This will help us a lot

[Itamar_M]

Hay
Is it correct that pin 1 of the keyboard is shorted with both cathodes of 1n4148 near it?
In my schematic both cathodes shorted with pin 4 of rhe keyboard, but my PCB is different.
or i have a problem reading the pins correct...

Thanks

[Synthex]

Hay
Is it correct that pin 1 of the keyboard is shorted with both cathodes of 1n4148 near it?
In my schematic both cathodes shorted with pin 4 of rhe keyboard, but my PCB is different.
or i have a problem reading the pins correct...

Thanks

Yes, pin 1 of the keyboard is shorted with both cathodes of 1N4148 ...

pb002.jpg

KeyBoard.gif

[dcho]

Hey everyone!

I haven't been on for a really, really long time but I'm glad to see that te Megadrum community is still going stong! I've been too busy to work on my electric drums (including my megadrum ), but hopefully I'll be able to get it done now that I have a bit more time. Synthex, love the new kit. I almost wish I held back on my purchase from you several months ago.

[fabodrum]

first to say: i´m quite impressed with this project!
i´m into building edrums for some time now, but only triggers (drums, cymbals, various) so far, never the active electronics. anyway, i´m gonna give this a try, though i have one big request/question:

as i see it, the v2.7 pcb depicited here is the current pcb version, supporting the current schematic and software (seems i overlooked the schematic version number). earlier in this thread it has been suggested to use the v2.4 version of the pcb if one was to etch it at home, but that would mean having to omit certain features that are part of the current schematic and software. please correct me if i´m wrong.

it appears to me, that the v2.7 schematic is a two-layer board, with one layer on top and one on bottom of the board, but no layers inbetween and no vias that couldn´t be impelmented with sticking a length of wire through the board. that would mean that it could be etched at home fairly easily (given one doesn´t have ten thumbs and a bit of experience) - yes, i could do it, i´m sure

i would hate to have to omit features by etching and using pcb older than v2.7, i would also not like to build it on perfboard. and while i have some experience with electronics and microelectronics (i can solder smt boards by hand *veryproud*) i don´t have experience with creating pcbs. and i feel it would be pointless to reinvent the wheel as you allready have created a very good one.

now, what are your reasons to not disclose the pcb layout for the v2.7 pcb? i could allways buy one of you, but i rather do everything myself with my projects, to keep the diy-spirit to the max. (also, i allready have all this etching equiment here and really don´t use it often enough for what it cost me, i think it´s allready half-dead from boredom, the poor thing).

if you don´t wish to give reasons, that´s fine too, btw - just tell me to shut up and never ask again lest the demons of MegaDrum will come and bite my head off in my sleep.

as a conclusion let me repeat that i´m really impressed by your work here, really. i will deffinitely document every step of me building the module and publish the howto (even including the part of etching a twosided pcb, if i´m allowed to do so ).
i could also publish my ideas about my own multizone cymbals and diy-choke and rim switches, although there are no electronics at all involved so that might not fit in this forum.

[Synthex]

Do you have all the necessary equipment to achieve double-layer PCB and especially make through hole ?

[kimouette]

I got riped off by a seller that actually never sent my jack mounts! But thanks to Paypal's refund policy!
Now I really hope this is the last time I have to ask a question about any required components...

I found different jack mounts that have two criterias that might be important :

- With open or closed circuit
- Switched or non-switched (about that I know there are couple of posts here, but in the end, it seems like no one really concludes! I just want the best recommendation for the All-in-One Syntex kit)

[fabodrum]

@kimouette
first: you don´t need switches in your jacks. period. the triggers could also be connected via XLR or cinch connectors, and as far as i know, there are no switched female connectors available for those. the switch is only needed if you need to check for precense of a jack. such a switch would engage even if you plugged in a plastic pen or something of suitable diameter - it only checks for physical precense. usefull for some applications, dead weight in this case.

by jack mount i assume you mean female phone jack. there are basically two types: cased jacks and uncased or "open" jacks. both work fine, the cased version is just more rugged and allows for a more solid mounting of the jack.

here´s a cased female jack made by neutrik:

this one even has lock preventing the jack from falling out on its own. very useful on stage! the main reason why i built all my trigger pads with XLR jacks rather than phone jacks was that XLR has a locking mechanism built in - you have to push a button to unplug them, they can´t fall out due to vibration (on every stage, there´s lots of vibes ) xlr jacks come way cheaper than locking phone jacks, but they are still more expensive than cheap nonlocking phone jacks. (i buy my xlr jacks for 70ct each).

here´s an open female jack (mono) with the male jack plugged in:

the open jack is mounted using a central nut screwed onto the jack itself (you can see the flat nut just left of the brownish pcb carton). those central nuts tend to either losen themselves over time, or need to be screwed on so hard that you barely are able to remove them again. you can allways use loc-tite or a tiny spot of cyanacrylate-glue (superglue, fast-glue or however they may be called). OR you could just screw them on reasonable tight and forget them. in most cases, especially if you don´t take your megadrum on earthquake rock'n'roll tours that should do it.

for comparison, here´s two XLR jacks, left female, right male.

you can clearly see the locking mechanism on top of the female jack (i use female jacks on the triggers and male cables as the female jacks need 20mm holes to be mounted and those are easier to obtain than the 24mm needed for male jack mounts)


@synthex
yep, have. i´m sure now that there are no vias besides the stick-through connections of elements that have to be mounted anyway. (you didn´t answer that question, did you? )
and, after looking at the pictures of the unpopulated boards for some time again, i´d even go and simulate your layout using doublesided dot-matrix boards and enamel wire. there´s not many connections really and your element layout is so nice and tidy. though my plan of mounting it on a wooden plate with a clear acrylic cover doesn´t go well with that spiderweb idea. "Look ma! i created an awesome piece of hardware that even looks like a rat´s nest!" naah, that doesn´t sound right.

anyway, if i dive into eagle again to make my own board layout, i´ll probably make it smt, as i want to make the module as small as possible and have to buy the ics anyway. pads will be connected roland-td9-style or with some other multicore connection to save space. can´t have a tiny device in a large box only to have something to mount 16 xlr jacks.

[fabodrum]

oh, and a big advantage of xlr over phone jacks is that they should not trigger sound when plugged in, as xlr does NOT pull the signal onto ground when plugged, like phone jacks do.