Hello! Just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Dave! Came here from a livestream and I run Spectrum DIY
I love DIY, music and electronics. I’ve been playing guitar all my life, but I play other instruments as well, been wanting to start making soundscapes a bit for some of my videos, thought what better way to do it, than DIY
So… yeah, pleased to meet you all!
Only thing I’ve got really I can share is the most recent project, which is not finished. Only just finished the VCO module today and I’ve been hesitant to test it in case I blow up the CEM3340 chip XD
EDIT: Figured out how to add pictures XD
Usualy for power up on modules we say to apply power with no IC’s , then with expendable ones like the TLO74’s . And then meter the power on the expensive IC socket power/GND to make sure it’s right… That way you reduce the chance of letting out the magic smoke.
Nice sounding drone box you have built, and a cool video presenting style. Please keep us updated.
Good luck with the 3340, @twinturbo has given good advice, checking the power is all correct to the IC is easy, and a very good frustration saver, but I’m sure most of us have forgotten and regretted not doing this simple check.
Here’s front side as well, not that it really shows much except my messiness XD
EDIT: Turns out, it failed… but that’s okay. I’ve been non-stopping for a while. So that’s probably a sign for a break.
Shall come back to it tomorrow and just build a new board. TBH I don’t see any issues anywhere, but again, tired.
Welcome!
Subtle use of pots and arcade buttons there.
Very impressive.
If you get time can you walk us through the build.
Stick at the vco
My first 3340 failed; forgot to put chip in.
Second attempt failed; forgot to hook up power.
Third failure? No power to my test amp…
And just before my last failure I spotted I’d wired up the power backwards. (Thankfully no smoke)
After that it was plain sailing
(oh I just had to reverse the pots and ground all the jacks properly and … Well, you’ll get there)
I really appreciate your feedback… I am trying not to give up on it
And which build? The halloween synth? I’m in the process of that, but I wanted to try to get what I could done before halloween, so hopefully I can play something for that day
Granted, I will be perfectly content if all I can do is play what I’ve got working (the 20 oscillators).
I just got through playing guitar for a while, thought that might help.
As to the resistor legs, I thought the same, so I checked and nothing is touching there, but it is very close. I’m seriously thinking about redoing the board and sacrificing those small components for later diagnosis
But just in case I can’t get it done on the boards I’ve got on hand, or something else goes astray, I did buy some stripboard, though it’ll be next week probably before it gets here (at the earliest)
I like how you said “we say to”. Whether we actually do is another question.
My latest module has eight TL074s in it, fortunately only two were in place the first time I tried powering it up…
Here’s the usual video link:
To which add:
Something not addressed in that video is: If there are 10R resistors or diodes in series on the power rails, shorts elsewhere in the module will not be found by checking at the power header. Check again at the other sides of the resistors or diodes.
