Muff's Modules & More

[synthetic]

The first step in my Euro modular will be to build a rack. I'm going to start with the Doepfer DIY System 1, which has four HP84 rails. My idea is to build one wide cabinet to start with, two rails on top and two on the bottom. If (when) I fill this, I would build another slanted cabinet, and the two would fit together like a miniature Moog 55.



My question is, will a system that's one 34" wide (852mm) be simple enough to use? It doesn't seem that wide to me, but most systems I see use 19" rack sided widths.

I looked into the Vector T-struts, but the Doepfer DIY-1 system at Haven seems like a good deal for the whole package.

[synthetic]

Another question, how deep does it need to be in the back? I read elsewhere that the Blacet Miniwave is too deep for some cases (Frac, I know). I don't want to wish I'd made it 3" deeper later on.

[felix]

Cool ideas. I'm starting on a case of my own since I'm about to run out of room with my 2 Doepfer A100P cases and it's too expensive to keep buying more.

I'll measure my A100P case when I get home, but I'm pretty sure it's less than 10" deep.

Personally I kinda dislike the ~19" 84HP Euro "standard" size. 84HP seems to narrow for a larger system and 168HP feels a little wide if you like to sit right in front of it. I think the Vector rails are 150HP which might feel just right. I'm not sure what the HP->inches scale is...anyone know?

Personally, I was going to skip the metal rails all together and just use wood. AFAIK, the only reason metal rails are used is so that all the modules share a common ground and that can be easily remedied in a wood case by using some copper tape along the mounting areas. It does mean that you have to screw in new holes to the wood when adding modules, but that isn't that difficult really.

Plus, the real added benefit is that you can make it any size and shape that you want, the only restriction is a minimum depth as you mentioned as well as the hight of each row. I'd really like to make something resembling the Buchla 200e layout.

I really want to finish my joystick project first, but I might get started on the case this weekend. Finishing the case before the joystick controller means I could sell one of my A100P cases and that means more money for modules!

[Muff Wiggler]

Do the Euro modules actually need their rack for common ground?

What about those perspex synthbox cases?

I'm not a euro expert - but a common ground should be on the power connector and not the module panel. If it was you could ground it by touching a panel

I know that blacet modules don't use the rack for ground, they use the power harness. One reason I know this to be true, is that one of the desirable characteristcs of the blacet rack over the Paia one, is that the blacet rack is non-conductive.

[sandyb]

here's a couple of pictures of the case i'm building for my euro system - it's not finished yet -still needs to be painted. i went with 4 x 84hp although i ended up using some alternative rails to the ones that came with the doepfer kit. afaik some Plan B modules are a bit fussy about their faceplate being grounded properly - particularly the model 15 osc.

[Kwote]

nice! and shiny.

[felix]

Very nice!

I like the curved shape...that's kinda what I was thinking of as a buchla like cabinet.

[sandyb]

[J.w.M.]

Wow-- that's a great-looking cabinet. The curved shape rocks.

Maybe (once I get settled down and don't have to worry about moving around something big and heavy), I'll use that as a jumping-off point for designing a case for my system

[synthetic]

Nice cabinet!

[felix]

Rad, thanks for those numbers.

[felix]

[synthetic]

It looks like that case runs a power cable to the mounting rails to ground them. I could just run a wire from the rail to the system ground for the whole case. It's probably a good idea to star ground the whole case anyway.

[tragedybysyntax]

HOlly shit... beautiful case man!!! Astounding!!!

I"m about to start building mine once I get the vector t rails in (diy kit rails dont line up to havestman and some of the livewire stuff)

But I did the DIY 2 kit which is just enough for 1 row of euro. Once I filler up... (eventually) I'll just build a second one and screw it to the first one, lol.

This is of course will be sitting ontop of my monster cabinet which holds 4 frac racks, a mobius, sherman filterbank 2 and a roland re-201 tape echo.

[sandyb]

i'm no expert on grounding. the doepfer power supply that comes with the diy kit has a connector for ground that the manual says you should use to the case if it's metal. i'm intending to connect it to one rail and then just run a wire through the back of the others. i figure it can't do any harm and i do remember there being a post from Peter on the Plan B list stating the importance of rail grounding for some of the modules, particularly if they are in a wooden case. i'll have a look in the archives and post what he said if i can find it.

sandy

edit: here's a posting by Peter on AH - not exactly the one i was thinking of but useful anyway:

"There are three types of grounds which need managing:

Earth Ground (primary side - comes from the wall socket)
System Analog Ground (secondary side - from the output of the PSU that's powering your analog modules)
System Digital Ground (secondary side from the PSU that's powering
any computer systems in the synth)

All should be connected together AT THE POWER SUPPLIES - meaning
separate lines to a central hub, not daisy chained from one to
another. This can make for a very noisy ground line. This hub
should be attached to the chassis if it's made from low resistance
conductive material (metal for instance) and to the faceplates as well.

Connecting to the faceplates is a safety consideration. If you just
happen to be touching your faceplates when your studio gets hit by
lightning, if the faceplates have a discharge path to Earth you'll be
able to tell people about the experience later. If you don't...then
they may be talking about it later without you (if you get my
drift). The lightning is going to find it's way to ground through
the path of least resistance - the ground line you provide, the
chassis, or you. Either way it's gonna get down there. One of those methods can be fatal.

Sometimes there's a problem with grounding faceplates as people make
cabinets in which the modules mount to a high resistance surface -
such as wood. You need to come up with a way to assure your
faceplates are grounded if you go this route. Your shielded
patchcords may indirectly do the job, but it's not the best bet. A
direct ground line is.

The faceplate and chassis grounds can be daisy-chained together to
the hub. All PSU's secondary system grounds should be routed
directly from each PSU to the same hub - each supply to it's own
path. This keep system noise to a minimum. Then that hub should also
connect to Earth Ground.

Hope this helps.

- P"

and there's this from Peter on the Plan B yahoo group - a couple of parts from a thread about tracking problems with some Model 15 oscs:

"Who's rack are you using?

Is it home built?

If so....does it have metal rails in which to mount the modules?

If not, have you provided a means to GROUND the faceplates when they are mounted in the system?

Make sure the ground wire from the PSU on the case is still bolted to it's side. The Model 15 needs a grounded faceplate or everything will be screwey."

[felix]

Sweet. Thanks for digging all that info up!

[felix]

FYI, I've found out that the standard eurorack screws (the ones that come with all Doepfer/Plan B/etc modules) do not fit in the special Vector nuts that slide in the Vector T-Strut rails. The Vector nuts are 4-40 thread, which means the standard eurorack ones are not.

I'm thinking at this point the easiest route is to source a bunch of 4-40 screws; but I'm also looking out for nuts that would work in the Vector rails and are the same thread as the eurorack screws (I emailed Shawn @ AH to see if he knew what size they are).

[Chuck E. Jesus]

i just went to the local Ace Hardware and bought a bunch of bolts that fit...the only drag about the Vector rails is you have to put the screws in from one side, so you can't simply pop a mod in between two existing mods...

[felix]

[Muff Wiggler]

http://www.microfasteners.com

They are great