C18Q1 Learn electronics and build a pedal

Adam_MD

I’ve ordered some stuff from these guys before

https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/ca3080/

aord43

Philtre said:

@aord43 Forgot to mention that the 15% codes are only announced on their FB page -  https://www.facebook.com/TaydaElectronics

I was thinking of having a go at that Keeley 4-knob - are you using a LM3080 chip? If so, where did you get it from?

No, as I think I mentioned, they seem to be hard-to-impossible to get hold of, cheaply at least. And I don't trust the ebay ones! I am going to use an LM13700 with an adaptor board.  I saw a comment somewhere that someone used one successfully in a Keeley 4-knob.

aord43

Adam_MD said:

I’ve ordered some stuff from these guys before

https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/ca3080/

Thanks @Adam_MD Interesting, I might try some of them, save faffing around with a daughterboard.  Or perhaps try both and compare!

aord43

@Philtre the challenge you originally posted was to build "A Pedal".  I think you've blown it out of the water!

Philtre

aord43 said:

@Philtre the challenge you originally posted was to build "A Pedal".  I think you've blown it out of the water!

Haha! Still need to work on the "learn electronics" part of the challenge a bit more, although it's way better than when I started and had only a basic understanding.

BigMonka

Hi @Philtre I've enjoyed reading through your thread - your progress has been amazing.
I'm looking to start making a few pedals and love your idea of having a load of standard parts so just being able to build on stripboard almost on demand! I know that you went through a few different types of things like caps, so have you got a final shopping list of useful parts that you bought that you wouldn't mind sharing please? (or @Adam_MD have you?)

Philtre

@BigMonka - yes! I learnt the hard way. ;-)

Knobs, Pots and Enclosures - from Tayda. Cheap and good quality. I've bought a shed load of these recently.

Alpha 3PDT switches - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alpha-Taiwan-3PDT-Footswitch-with-Solder-Lugs-/253111548438?hash=item3aee9fba16

Resistors - I bought a pack like this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2600pcs-130-Values-1-4W-Metal-Film-Resistors-Resistance-Assortment-Kit-Set-1-/263532240889?hash=item3d5bbedff9 - and now I top up with 50 packs of the common values like 1k, 10k, 22k etc from CPC.

Electrolytic Caps - I bought 50 or 100 multi-packs from CPC in values of 1uF, 3.3uF, 4.7uF, 10uF, 22uF, 33uF, 47uF, 100uF

Poly box film Caps - I get these from Bitsbox or eBay. Values range from 1nF to 0.1uF.

NP0/C0G MLCC Caps from RS Online - 220pF, 470pF, 100pF, 150pF, 47pF, 22pF, 10pF

Chips, Transistors, Diodes usually from Bitsbox or whoever has them. But I buy these only when I know what pedals I'm going to build.

I compare prices between Bitsbox, CPC, RS Online, Tayda, Mouser. And whoever does the best postage deals.

Philtre

Today was more progress. I worked out how to layout my own vero from a schematic. I wanted to build the Tea Philter pedal here https://www.modkitsdiy.com/pedal/tea_philter - but they didn't have a vero layout only the schematic. So I downloaded "DIY Layout Creator" (http://diy-fever.com/software/diylc/) and came up with this layout:



Maybe not the best layout, but my first!

*** EDIT!!! - The first vero layout was wrong! It had two MPSA13 transistors when, in fact, there is only one. The schematic shows the single MPSA13 as a Darlington pair. ***

Currently building:

Catalinbread Katzenkonig (themed to Custard the Cat from Roobarb and Custard)
Earthquaker Disaster Transport Jr
Fuzz Factory mark II (photos to follow, still waiting for knobs)

aord43

Nice one @Philtre ; There is a guide to making layouts on the stripboard effects site too. 

Philtre

aord43 said:

Nice one @Philtre ; There is a guide to making layouts on the stripboard effects site too. 

Yes, I read that one. It was helpful.

BigMonka

Philtre said:

@BigMonka - yes! I learnt the hard way. ;-)

Knobs, Pots and Enclosures - from Tayda. Cheap and good quality. I've bought a shed load of these recently.

Alpha 3PDT switches - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alpha-Taiwan-3PDT-Footswitch-with-Solder-Lugs-/253111548438?hash=item3aee9fba16

Resistors - I bought a pack like this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2600pcs-130-Values-1-4W-Metal-Film-Resistors-Resistance-Assortment-Kit-Set-1-/263532240889?hash=item3d5bbedff9 - and now I top up with 50 packs of the common values like 1k, 10k, 22k etc from CPC.

Electrolytic Caps - I bought 50 or 100 multi-packs from CPC in values of 1uF, 3.3uF, 4.7uF, 10uF, 22uF, 33uF, 47uF, 100uF

Poly box film Caps - I get these from Bitsbox or eBay. Values range from 1nF to 0.1uF.

NP0/C0G MLCC Caps from RS Online - 220pF, 470pF, 100pF, 150pF, 47pF, 22pF, 10pF

Chips, Transistors, Diodes usually from Bitsbox or whoever has them. But I buy these only when I know what pedals I'm going to build.

I compare prices between Bitsbox, CPC, RS Online, Tayda, Mouser. And whoever does the best postage deals.

That's fantastic, thanks so much @Philtre - think I'll do some shopping next week :-)

aord43

I found that some of the packs of assorted resistors don't always have some of the less common values, so I filled in the gaps with some cheap 10-packs from "led essential" and "DM Components" on Ebay.

Philtre

One piece of advice I would want to pass on as my top tip for people new to this is to be careful about the the size of capacitors. I bought some big "chiclet" types like these - https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_76_79&products_id=3124 - and they're just too big too fit on a vero, and too tall. Also, radial electrolytics can be tall and you might need to bend them down.

Philtre

Here's a new build. It's a clone of the Catalinbread Katzenkönig (http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/catalinbread-katzenkonig.html). I call this the KatzenCüstard.

Decided to use up my orange Hammond 1590B and Posca Pen on Custard the cat (http://www.roobarbandcustard.tv/  for those too young to remember).

You can see a small bubble in the epoxy Envirotex coating just to the right of the eyes. This bloody bubble appeared out of nowhere about 6 hours after pouring the resin, just as it was almost set so I couldn't burst it with a lighter. Ho hum. ;-)

I always test a new circuit first before boxing it, and this entails connecting all the wires to a breadboard that I have set up with input/output jacks and trimpots for the controls. Then if it doesn't work I can simply work on the circuit board. This pedal was buzzing like a buzzy thing when I first tested it and I spent several hours double-checking and swapping out some components. It turned out that it needed a grounded shield around the circuit and the input wire, so once it was in the box it was fine.

Philtre

New Tayda delivery today! Here's the thing - this order was despatched on 3rd March. So only 5 days to get here. A new record?

Philtre

Here's my Fuzz Factory:

Philtre

Here's some pots and knobs from Tayda. Thought I'd stock up.

aord43

Wow, you have big plans!
Another nice couple of pedals.  My Tayda delivery took just under 2 weeks I think.  I am still thinking about making the pedal, meanwhile you have made 2 more

Philtre

aord43 said:

Wow, you have big plans!
Another nice couple of pedals.  My Tayda delivery took just under 2 weeks I think.  I am still thinking about making the pedal, meanwhile you have made 2 more

Start a new thread so we can monitor your progress!

aord43

Philtre said:

aord43 said:

Wow, you have big plans!
Another nice couple of pedals.  My Tayda delivery took just under 2 weeks I think.  I am still thinking about making the pedal, meanwhile you have made 2 more

Start a new thread so we can monitor your progress!

I am more likely to wait until it is done.  You will get bored waiting for progress otherwise!