1222 Tuner VCO Module


When you do t have any spare screws for the stability screw

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When I first saw it I thought it was a biscuit (cracker). Good work on using what you have got.

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I think Iā€™ve had the mosfet in backward, but my 1222 has been working well, I think, just realised when building a second one. What happens if itā€™s in backwards??

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Ah looking at the video itā€™s to protect the arduino

Most fets (mosfets and jfets) can be operated symmetrically, that is, you can swap the source and drain and it wonā€™t be a big deal. Some devices are optimised for a specific orientation, but even then theyā€™ll still work when in backwards. As long as the gate is connected correctly everything should still work somewhat normally.

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Oh wow, thanks! I guess Iā€™ll just leave the working one alone

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Is that U5 though? I just had a look at the schematic and if it is itā€™s not a mosfet but an L7805 voltage regulator - and that probably wonā€™t work properly when itā€™s around the wrong way.

EDIT: It looks like the arduino nano vin pin is connected to its own voltage regulator and can handle between 6-20V, but yeah, check the voltage at the vin pinā€¦

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Yeah it is U5, the video says most ā€œrealā€ arduino save their own voltage protection but others might not

Yes, but the arduino is driving a 7segment display, which needs quite some current.
Better drop it on a 7805 with a big metal tab, than on an tiny SMD one.

And you desolder the 7805, replace it with a 7808, because it is connected to Vin, not the 5V pin, which means the onboard regulator is in series with the 780x, and to works outside its specs when powered thru a 7805, but OK thru a 7808.

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I finally got all of my VCOs calibrated with the help of the wonderful guide provided, but I ran into a sort of small problem. When I plug my midi to cv converter into the 1/V input of the VCOs, they go way out of tune, with each octave on the octave switch outputting a random note at a random octave and everything being out of tune. I would even play middle C on the keyboard and bring the center note down to C3 and from there itā€™s all out of tune again. Like I mentioned, I already calibrated the oscillators by using the guide with the octave switch on the VCOs which worked fine for me when getting the 4.000 frequency ratio. However, I have no idea if I have to calibrate them using the alternating 0V and 2V on a keyboard method if I plan to use a midi keyboard or what the work around is when I already calibrated them with the first method then wanting to use a keyboard on them. If I have to recalibrate them, would I have to still aim for the 4.000 frequency ratio with the alternating 0V-2V on a keyboard method? If so, would I need to calibrate them with the octave switch on the lowest position or does the position of the switch not matter? Or is there a work around this? Iā€™m really curious because I am in love with these types of oscillators but I always bump into something I only overcomplicate more

Howdy, Iā€™ve just finished assembling my second 1222 and unfortunately itā€™s not going as smoothly as my first one.
The LED display is jumping all over the place and Iā€™m only getting the slightest, barely audible output.

The reference voltage is set correctly, Iā€™ve refloated all of the solder points, Iā€™ve replaced all of the ICs and the Arduino, Iā€™ve checked to make sure none of the pins under the sockets are bridging, Iā€™ve made sure all of the component values are correct and can confirm that the rotary switch is wired correctly.
Before I spend the next few hours hunting down the culprit with a multimeter I thought Iā€™d ask you lovely people if you can maybe think of an obvious mistake I might have made? Any help would be much appreciated :slight_smile:


Cheers!

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I would check this (@Dud style :sunglasses:)


And your 2k resistors at the top, maybe it is the photo but they seem to have a different color coding.

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Is the 7seg displaying the correct letters? is the polarity in the code corret?

Rob

I dont see any 2k resistors on the rotary switch . what is the green and yelow stried device on pcb?

Thanks mate, Iā€™ve resoldered the points your highlighted but unfortunately no change.
The resistors in the top left are definitely 2K, one just has a stripe worn off.

@twinturbo Slowing down the recording I can see that the display is showing the correct letters, itā€™s cycling through them but not in any particular order. Could you tell me how I might check the code polarity?

Cheers! :slight_smile:

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Itā€™s at the top of the code, but if your seeing the correct letters itā€™s not the problem.

but remember the display is just that, itā€™s not like the arduino is providing any feedback into th etuning. So if thereā€™s garbage in then itā€™s going to be random.

Apologies for the delay. I put electrical tape over the data port to avoid plugging power in there

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Iā€™m having trouble tuning the vco/ octave selecter switch thingy. I bought a tuner, but i cant really make sense of it. My lack of formal music knowledge comes back to bite me i suppose. I think i could do a better job if i can use the 1v/octave principle to tune this thing, but what points to probe to do this? In other words, where do i stick my probes on the 3340 or the pcb to get this voltage to help me tune the octave selector?

I know i could probably find out on my own but please excuse me for using you more knowledgable folks as a shortcut, because im afraid not getting this tuning stuff done will discourage me from this whole synth project wich would be such a shame.

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About all you can do with the multimeter is to get an accurate 4.000 V at the test point.

Beyond that, unless you have a very good ear and a relaxed attitude toward being in tune, you really do need some way of measuring the frequency (pitch). If you have a tuner or frequency counter or oscilloscope that can display frequency in hertz thatā€™s easiest. An octave means twice the frequency, so you adjust until a 1-step change on the octave switch results in a doubling of the frequency, like from 500 Hz to 1000 Hz.

If all you have is a tuner that displays how close you are to a note like C or D or F# then you need to adjust until a 1-step change takes you from some note to the ā€œsameā€ note but an octave higher, and if your ear canā€™t tell if itā€™s one octave or two or what there may be some challenge. Maybe a musically trained friend could help.

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I played around with the tuning for a bit but gave up. Like you I have no formal (or informal) music training. Donā€™t let this discourage you though. I still make some really good noises with my modular. I (you) know what sounds I (you) like. Mess around with the filters and other modules. Mutable Instruments Clouds is a key module in my setup. Push crazy beeps and bops into it spin some knobs and see what happens.

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