Muff's Modules & More

J3RK · Last edited by J3RK on Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:11 am; edited 3 times in total

Hello,

These are finally ready for production. A brief description for those that haven't been following in the other thread:

This board is a simple externally clocked, 8 Step flipflop/counter based sequencer that can count upward, downward, and pingpong. The CV output range is 0-10V. The clock input has a comparator to make clocking a bit more flexible, and there is a Gate output that outputs a 10V gate pulse. There are connections for 8 pots, 8 LEDs, Mode Switch and the CV/CLK/Gate IO jacks. The board is approximately 3"x3.5". It can be clocked into low audio range.

Boards are $20 each, which includes shipping in the US. Outside the US, please add $5 Per Order (not per board.) Please reference "FlopSeq" in the Paypal subject (as there are other boards open for orders right now.)

Paypal address is:

Thanks for the interest in this project!

Note: You can combine your orders for all three of the currently available boards if you like. I'm also going to leave the 258J orders open, and close them all at once.

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:29 pm Post subject:

How do you prefer a person pays for different PCBs? 1 paypal pament or multiple?

Isaiah · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:13 pm Post subject:

Very tempting...

Is there a schematic you could share please?
I'd like to make sure I understand all of the sequencer's functions before I decide.

You mention connections for a CV pot and LED per step, but I can't tell if there is a Gate/Trigger switch per step too... I guess so if there is a Gate output, correct?

Is the Gate output the same pulse width as the Clock signal?

Cheers!

J3RK · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:16 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:18 pm Post subject:

synthnut · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:49 pm Post subject:

Hi,

Could one do something cunning with the LED outputs to make individual gate outputs? Is there any break in these between steps?

TTFN,

Ben

www.resynthesis.co.uk
www.bigbluewave.co.uk

FrankV · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:59 pm Post subject:

I'm feeling sort of dense here, but it's not actually clear to me whether the number of steps is adjustable. The list of controls and I/O doesn't seem to refer to a reset or control for number of steps. 8 steps all the time? Did I miss something obvious (wouldn't be the first time!)?

Frank

J3RK · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:07 pm Post subject:

No, no step count select. This was originally intended as a simple sequencer just for my Easel panel. Then some people expressed an interest in it. I'm working on a complex sequencer that will have step count, gate off/tie, division, 8 or 16 step versions, etc. But this will not be available for quite some time.

I'm uploading videos now, (not great quality, but...)

J3RK · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:07 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:12 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:17 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:23 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:38 am Post subject:

BOM will be up soon.

synthnut · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:09 am Post subject:

Hi,

The gate length needs to be less than 100% duty or you won't get a re-trigger when two consecutive notes have their gates selected. Though it's actually nice to be able to have the notes legato sometimes too! I'd need to AND it with the clock perhaps.
I think I leaning towards some of the complex version...! hyper

TTFN

Ben
www.resynthesis.co.uk
www.bigbluewave.co.uk

Isaiah · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:37 am Post subject:

Yes, I think I may be leaning towards the complex version too, if only for the ability to Reset and turn the Gate On/Off per step.

What I meant about the pulse-width of the Gate output compared to the Clock input is:
Does it produce a pulse of fixed length per step?
Or, is it simply a Clock "through-put"?

They way I would retain the pulse-width of the input is by ANDing the Clock signal and Gate output like Synthnut said.
But when there is no means of selecting Gate On/Off per step, that seems kind of silly, just buffer the Clock input to use as the Gate output.
Unless, the Gate is fixed length.
Not sure if I'm making much sense.

J3RK · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:22 am Post subject:

a.b.o.z. · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:07 pm Post subject:

So those board are the base for more complex sequencer? 16 steps? gate switches?

J3RK · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 3:54 pm Post subject:

glitched01 · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:09 pm Post subject:

When do you expect to have the boards on-hand?

J3RK · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:39 pm Post subject:

I'm keeping all three boards open for orders for two weeks (starting from today more or less,) then will place the orders for the production runs. These usually take between one and two weeks. Then I will be shipping them out in batches until everyone has them. Typically on my previous runs, I've been able to get all out within a couple of weeks. It's just me though, and I have a day job, (and kids) so things occasionally get pushed out slightly where shipping is concerned. I try to keep everyone up to date though, and respond as quickly as possible. I think they would be in my hands by mid December then shipped out as quickly as possible. If things taper off, and orders stop coming in sooner, I may let everyone know, and order the boards sooner. I always find that orders start trickling in again as soon as I do this though, and my "extras" don't hold out for too long. I don't expect quite the same volume as with the original 258 runs though, so this could roll off slightly quicker. I'll be posting in these threads with any news/updates.

J3RK · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:59 am Post subject:

Here's another video. This is the FlopSeq in typical forward mode. It's controlling one VCO, and a digital noise board that I just made (cut down, adapted version of Ken Stone's Digital Noise circuit (with permission.)) Which may be available as well at some point. (this would be a very cheap board compared to the other ones)

Anyway:

boothnavy · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:47 am Post subject:

Is there a picture of the board somewhere? Are/can the pots & LEDs be PCB mounted or did you use flying wires?

iopop · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:11 am Post subject:

Im interested in seeing the board as well.

boothnavy · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:27 pm Post subject:

BOM for this one as well? I hate multiple parts orders...

J3RK · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:30 pm Post subject:

BOM will be available soon. Just haven't had a chance to export it yet. (should only take a few minutes)

As far as board mounted pots go, you'd have to make a second board. The connections are SIL-3 headers, so you could use MTA-100 connectors, or pin-strips that connect a second board (could be perf even.) As far as putting them on this board, I don't think it would fit. The board is 3x3.5" The headers are arranged vertically, with the pins going horizontally. Like this:

...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...

I can check, but I doubt there would be room.

J3RK · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:30 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:46 am Post subject:

Le Pic:

I've since fixed the right-angled trace toward the middle. d'oh!

iopop · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 1:30 am Post subject:

Thanks!

Edit:

Just struck me how much easier the wiring becomes when skipping gate on/off switches.

CW and CCW on all of the pots are wired to + and GND, right? So, in reality you will only need the viper from each pot, if wiring +/gnd on the panel.

Also two of these might make a up Buchla 123ish module, http://www.flickr.com/photos/9828434@N03/1277528606/in/photostream/

mome rath · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:42 am Post subject:

in for 1 board

J3RK · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:42 pm Post subject:

I'm going to try pulling gates from the LED headers tonight. I don't see any reason that it wouldn't work. The LEDs could then connect at the switch. I'll post the results after I give it a try.

synthnut · Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:02 am Post subject:

Hi,
Any joy with using the LED outputs for the step gates?
hyper

Keep wiggling!

Ben

www.bigbluewave.co.uk

boothnavy · Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:25 pm Post subject:

j3rk, where is the mode switch on yours? I dont see one...

hows the BOM?

fivesteppath · Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 11:27 pm Post subject:

Might be in for 1-2 boards. Like stated by others would like to know about BOM & step gate. thumbs up

negativspace · Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 12:40 pm Post subject:

Ok, I'm in for 2. Gotta resist the urge to go overboard...

I owe you for these and the 291s, will pay this weekend. thumbs up

boothnavy · Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:39 pm Post subject:

News on step gates? BOM?

camelneck · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:27 pm Post subject:

J3RK,
Suppose you find that you can extract "step gate outputs" directly from the LEDs. I must ask, "How much trouble would it be to add a reset input?" This way you could wire "step gate outputs 2 thru 8" to each position of a 7-position rotary switch. With the common input of the rotary switch wired to the "reset input" of the sequencer, one could use this rotary switch to select the length of the sequence, which could be varied from 2 steps to 8 steps in length.

Of course, I understand that it may be a little too late to add a "reset input" to the PCB right now. It may even require you to make some major changes to the design. (Maybe this is why you prefer to address this issue in a more ocmplex version of the flop sequencer.)

Perhaps, I should have asked this question instead: Is the addition of a "reset input" a practical and feasible DIY modification? Or does it require you to make some major changes to the sequencer's circuitry as it now exists?

Also, how feasible and practical would it be to add a 2nd row of CV pots (an additional 8 pots) that would support a 2nd, independent CV output buss? Could you also extract the supply voltage for each of these pots from the individual LED outputs, too? (I believe this is how the Baby-10 sequencer got the supply voltage for both rows of pots, which included pots 1 - 10 and pots 11 - 20.)

I know this suppose to be a simple sequencer and I respect this. However, it would be nice to be able to expand on it with some optional DIY mods. (I really feel dumb and helpless without a schematic, but I do understand!)

J3RK · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 2:43 pm Post subject:

I had family in town over the weekend, so I didn't get a chance to try the individual gates as planned. I should be able to do this soon though. I'm not sure on the reset input. If I can find a good way to reset the count, I could do this. I'll need to look into this a bit.

I'm leaving orders open until Friday, so I should have time to see if this will work or not before I order the boards. No guarantees on this functionality though, as it's a little beyond the scope of what I was planning for this board. I'll give it a shot though. I basically just need to check the data sheets for the counters that I'm using, and see if there is an easy way to reset them.

Jarno · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:03 pm Post subject:

Payment sent for three FlopSeqs en two 258J's w00t

J3RK · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:36 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:54 pm Post subject:

Good news on the individual gates. The are VERY easily tapped from the 4028 Bin to Dec outputs. (either at the LED pad, or resistor leads next to them.) I tested it by triggering the input of a dual 281 in AD mode. Works perfectly. I'd still like to take a quick look on the scope, just to see what each individual gate pulse looks like, but yes, this does work.

It looks very doubtful that the reset is going to work without fairly heavy modification. If I can squeeze this in before the end of the week, or find an easier way, I will, otherwise, it will have to wait for the large version sometime in the future.

fivesteppath · Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 9:57 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 12:24 pm Post subject:

Sorry, I should be able to pop the BOM up tonight. It's created, just need to copy/paste it.

Things have been incredibly busy at work for the past couple of weeks, so I've been a little slower than I'd like.

J3RK · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 7:36 pm Post subject:

Ack! I must sincerely apologize, for I'm living up to my forum name. I need to get that BOM up. I'm sending myself a calendar reminder to do this right now. d'oh!

Sorry about that. It'll be up tonight. Orders will stay open through the weekend, and the production run will be ordered Mondayish. Thanks again, and I'll set up us the BOM shortly. hihi

J3RK · Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:32 pm Post subject:

Sorry for the long delay. Here is the BOM. It's fairly simple. Caps are .1" lead spacing for non-electrolytics. The electrolytics are .125"

fivesteppath · Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:24 pm Post subject:

pm'd.

303monkey · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:08 pm Post subject:

I wanted one of these too

fivesteppath · Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:57 pm Post subject:

Before I order a few would this badboy be good for the job?

http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=SR2511F-0303-19R0B-E 9-S-Wvirtualkey14860000virtualkey105-SR2511F-33S

Jarno · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:29 am Post subject:

Dustin, do you have a layout picture of these boards, and a schematic?

I usually mark which components I did and didn't place, and also for remembering to order certain components.
The schematic is useful to determine possible component substitutions.

J3RK · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:24 pm Post subject:

Jarno · Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 2:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Boards look great btw. Like the layout of the 258 boards as well lots of room for different types of components.

FrankV · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:54 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:18 pm Post subject:

I'm putting together a bit more information for these now. In the design/schematic, I'm using a three position rotary switch. Since I've just been using a jumper-wire to select on the bench, I'll have to think about wiring a non-rotary switch. Should be pretty easy. It's in ping-pong mode with nothing wired there by default.

J3RK · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:24 pm Post subject:

Here's the schematic for the FlopSeq Sequencer. I'm linking it, rather than posting the image, as it's pretty large.

http://home.comcast.net/~r3cogniz3r/flopseqschem.jpg

If anyone has any suggestions on using a more standard switch, by all means post! thumbs up

I haven't had much in the way of time to revisit this in a while. (though I'm still planning the larger sequencer for down the road a wee.

FrankV · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:04 am Post subject:

Cool! Thanks for posting.

F

Citisyn · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:28 pm Post subject:

OK, I'm having no luck getting this thing to work. Could somebody help me troubleshoot?

Here is what's happening:

With mode switch in pingpong (or disconnected) the counter counts up to 10 and resets to step 1. With switch in one of the other positions it will skip either step 1 or step 8.

Probing around I've discovered that pin 1 of U5:A is staying high regardless of the states of pins 4 or 6. I'm pretty sure that is the problem, but I can't figure out why it's doing that. I've tested the chip on a breadboard and it seems to work fine.

Any ideas?

J3RK · Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:14 pm Post subject:

Citisyn · Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:47 pm Post subject:

CJ Miller · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:34 pm Post subject:

How crucial is the 470ohm value for those resistors? I am surprised to be short of them. I could replace them in a few days, but also I have others between 390 and 510 ohms. Any idea what sort of behavior I should expect if I increase or decrease this value?

Thanks so much for these great boards! Very much looking forward to the expanded FlopSeq.

Citisyn · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:36 pm Post subject:

CJ Miller · Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:35 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:37 pm Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 12:53 am Post subject:

what goes in BP1-8 on the PCB?

RV1-8 are the 100k pots right?
since there are 3 pads are they just wired up 1,2,3 from the pots?

CV & Gate are outputs?
and CLK is the clock input?

can someone link to the type of rotary switch that works with the 4 pads?

asterisk · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:59 pm Post subject:

bump.

dustin, what goes in BP1-8 on the PCB?

can you link to the type or rotary switch you used and how its wired to the 4 pads?

Citisyn · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:28 am Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:19 am Post subject:

what do the bypass capacitors do? or what are they there for?
are they necessary for this build?

Citisyn · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:21 pm Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:37 pm Post subject:

thanks, thats very helpful. i might just use a regular switch instead of a rotary in the end.

have any of you successfully done the separate gate outputs for the flopSEQ yet? just wondering how that is working for people. it adds a bunch of jacks and will increase panel space but i think it might be worth it.

cleaninglady · Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:03 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 11:50 pm Post subject:

I found a little optimization today that will fix some minor slewing that you may experience between some steps. (usually one and 8 when repeating) The 10nF cap can be reduced quite a bit (down into the 100pF range.) Maybe a little higher. This is actually a little low pass filter for the CV outputs to keep them stable. 10nF is a little big for this. If you notice some slewing, just reduce this cap size.

cleaninglady · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:58 am Post subject:

Is there any word of a Euro Panel for this project ?

negativspace · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 4:46 am Post subject:

I'll share mine, when I get it done. (Which might be a month or two, I'm afraid.)

nangu · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 5:02 am Post subject:

That's awesome! I'll be in for 2 panels- or more if there's going to be another PCB run at some point. Thanks!!

cleaninglady · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 6:12 am Post subject:

negativspace · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 7:01 am Post subject:

I haven't even started thinking about it. Dead Banana

(But I have 2 PCBs and sequencing is the weak spot in my rig, so...)

J3RK · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 10:43 am Post subject:

I would be happy to do another run of these sometime during the summer. I'm a little behind on shipping things right now though, so it will have to be after the Fader boards ship in a couple of weeks.

asterisk · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:03 pm Post subject:

id love to get a euro panel for this too!
im hoping to make a temporary panel for this soon. im curious as to how large your panel would be and how to arrange the 8 steps. im thinking of doing two columns of 4 next to each other instead of a longer row of 8.

---

ive thought about using an ON-OFF-ON switch for the switch needed here.

also, this is useful information that dustin shared with me about the switch wiring.

pin 1 & 4 = forward (1-8)
pin 3 & 4 = backward (8-1)
open = ping pong

so it seems to me that an ON-OFF-ON switch would work. OFF would be open for ping pong and the two ON positions should work for forward and backward. im going to test it out today. ill let you know if it works or not. this is a cool little sequencer and a nice easy build. mine worked straight away.

J3RK · Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:08 pm Post subject:

I'm thinking about doing a little companion board for this. I won't have the time to do the big MCU-based one for some time, so I thought this might be fun. Basically it would be an 8-step sequential switch, so that you could route each stage's CV level to a different place in the modular.

I was thinking this might be nice for doing pseudo drum-machine work, where you could send a certain CV pitch to a digital noise source, send another to the same source at a different pitch, control an oscillator or two for a kick, etc. but all in time. Mix all the sources through a mixer/fader.

I just started thinking about this, and other ways to get a bit more out of this sequencer. It should be terribly difficult, so I'll try to work that out over the next few weeks. (a few other items will need to wrap up first though)

Jarno · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 7:05 am Post subject:

Yet another Flopseq!

Worked on first startup, I did change some small stuff to make wiring simpler. The GND connections of the leds and pots are bussed, as well as v+ on the pots, saves you quite a bit of wiring :-)

The resistors R1-8 are going in the led positions and leds are connection from one of the resistor pads.
I used 220pf for C1, and all bypass caps are 100nf smt, R1-8 are 560r and leds are very bright (high brightness red leds).

Connections for the rotary switch seen from below.
Left is common, then reverse-pingpong-forward.

ringstone · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 7:11 am Post subject:

Jarno · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:24 am Post subject:

By the way, connections to the pots are v+ near the edge of the PCB, GND is furthest inward, wipers are middle pad (of course).
There are surprisingly little builds of the flopseq (imho) are more people working on this?

janvanvolt · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:48 am Post subject:

if negativspace doing panels, count me in for two PCBs of the next run.

asterisk · Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 11:07 am Post subject:

ive built mine. just waiting on some blank panels to panel it up. hopefully soon. ill post some pics and audio. mine works great. i love it!

asterisk · Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 3:43 pm Post subject:

so it seems that its easy to get individual gate outs from each step which is great news.

is it possible to add switches to turn on/off gate output for each step coming out of the master gate output from the PCB?

just wondering how to go about NOT having 8 more jacks for the individual gate outputs for each step. itd be nice to be able to turn on/off each step with a switch and have that gate pattern mix of ons/offs coming out of a single jack output. would it just be a matter of mixing the 8 indvidual gate outs down to 1 jack output with switches for each step to turn it off or on?

does this make any sense? has anyone tried this yet?

im hoping to get my flopSEQ behind a panel soon. looks like itll fit nicely parallel at 16HP.

Jarno · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:58 am Post subject:

In a lot of of sequencers (4017 based) that's what's happing, individual gates which are mixed. Been looking at somehow building this in the existing circuitry but that's not going to be easy. So I built it straight up, and will build something else with switches for the gates.

Memory_Leak · Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 7:56 am Post subject:

Hopeful negativspace will do some panels, put me down for PCB of the next run.

asterisk · Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:24 pm Post subject:

finally finished up building / wiring and putting my flopSEQ behind a panel tonight. i ended up adding individual gate outputs for each of the 8 steps which is really great to have!

here is a little test patch i made with it this evening:
[s]http://soundcloud.com/greg-davis/flopseq-test-052012[/s]

picture of the module coming soon......
have any of you guys built this thing yet? id love to hear / see what you did with it.
its a great little sequencer. thanks dustin!

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 11:11 am Post subject:

asterisk - great sounding patch

Since you found the place to break-out the individual gates, presumably this is the point before they are summed. Wouldn't it be as simple as adding an SPST on-off switch to break this conenction if you wanted to control which gates go to the summed output?

303monkey · Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 11:26 am Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 12:31 pm Post subject:

im not sure about adding switches, i didnt try that. ive been happy with having the individual gate ouputs. its nice to use different steps to trigger other events. in my patch above, i have steps 6 and 8 triggering the two channels on my maths which are going to VCAs...etc etc....

im not sure where the gates get summed for the main gate outputs. someone should try it out though. maybe it is that simple!

for me it was either having switches on each step and having one master gate output jack. or having jacks on each step and being able to send the separate gates from each step to different places in my synth. i obviously decided on the latter and im really enjoying it.

having said all of that, does anyone know of a really simple way to convert gates to triggers? a simple circuit would be helpful. i might want to change my gate outs to trigger outs.

cleaninglady · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:33 pm Post subject:

Just finished mine.

At present , it's a ghetto tech version in a Hammond box.

Haven't worked out powering it but it runs and works 100% when plugged into the modular power.

Looking into CGS60 Stomp Box Adapter today to try and get it going but i'm not sure if thats the right way to go. hmmm.....

Is there a thread that discusses powering 12V modules with a Wall Wart somewhere ?

Thanks to asterisk for the help on the Switch.

I went with the on/off/on switch option.

Can't wait for the panel from negativspace !

Would be great to get this into my system. Guinness ftw!

regularjackson · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:44 pm Post subject:

Does anybody have an extra board/ will there be another run?

Lyncaster · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:36 am Post subject:

Im wondering rhe same

J3RK · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:10 pm Post subject:

I'd be happy to do another run sometime soon. I'm almost done shipping the crossfaders, at which point I'll feel good about starting another run/project. I'm glad people are finding this fun to use! I've got some possible companion designs that might be kind of fun with it too.

Nice demo Greg!

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:59 pm Post subject:

On the subject of companion designs. will these be seperate PCBs or a new updated PCB? The flip-flop sequencer has been a popular request for a buchla style panel. I have that panel design near completion with the current standard features. I am wondering if I should hold off on ordering panels until we know more about the companion features.

J3RK · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:18 pm Post subject:

raisinbag · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:32 pm Post subject:

Hmm missed this one I'd be game to grab a floppy seq if you do a run.

FrankV · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:45 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:37 am Post subject:

I worked up some PCBs last night for something along these lines. I'll have to take a closer look at panel connections/controls to make sure I didn't overdo it on that side of things.

There are two 3"x"5" boards. Between the two of them, they include:

-Dual clock
-Simple /2/3/4 clock divider
-XOR (accepts just about any input, and outputs both bipolar audio, and logic level signals)
-Simple gate to trigger converter
-One loopable AD envelope
-FlopSeq08

These features can be swapped out for others, but they all seemed to fit nicely on the boards, and would work nicely together. seriously, i just don't get it

Any thoughts?

These are more or less ready to get test boards ordered, but I'd love a bit of input on it. I'm not sure if the looping AD is the best choice, but with it in place, this module would only need a sound source and amplifier or gate to get some interesting sounds and rhythms going.

Another idea for that "slot" might be a simple logic AND or OR, or maybe something else entirely.

The previous version can be run again at any time as well for something simpler.

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:53 am Post subject:

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:15 am Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:55 am Post subject:

im interested in an add on board with these features:
-Dual clock
-Simple /2/3/4 clock divider
-XOR (accepts just about any input, and outputs both bipolar audio, and logic level signals)
-Simple gate to trigger converter

and any other cool logic stuff.

i agree with rod serling, for those of us that have already built a FlopSeq, itd be redundant to have the flopseq as an add on board. unless you are still thinking that will be a single board and everything else will go onto the add on boards.

i finally got my panel all wired up and functional and everything last night. its not pretty but its working great now. ill post a pic soon.

J3RK · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:27 pm Post subject:

jbaken · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:59 pm Post subject:

would definitely love one of these new boards

Rod Serling Fan Club · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 3:22 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:01 pm Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:15 pm Post subject:

here's a picture of my final FlopSEQ build with panel.
i used 2x8HP doepfer blanks. the PCB fits nicely parallel to the panel behind 16HP.

this is a really cool little sequencer. simple but musical and fun to use.

p.s. does anyone know of a good way to glue LEDs onto metal so that they hold in place and dont slide out? or are there other adhesives that are better? i tried some super glue but it did not bond the plastic to the metal.

iopop · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:59 am Post subject:

I glue a few stacked washers behind the panel. This gives a bit more space for the LED to glue onto and they won't stick out completely.

Monobass · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:34 am Post subject:

cleaninglady · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:39 am Post subject:

MonobassThey are Gate Outs. (i have been corrected , they are not Trigger Outs , my bad...)

Memory_Leak · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:15 pm Post subject:

@ asterisk

what about these mate ?

LED Bezels Holders

J3RK · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:55 am Post subject:

I ordered test boards for the companion board. I can likely shrink it down about an inch which would make it Euro friendly as well.

It contains two clocks, XOR, clock divider, and simple gate to trigger converter. (I may make the latter a dual G to T.)

I should have the test boards back in a couple of days, and pending the results, could kick off a run shortly after. I'll start an interest check thread for it after I test it a bit.

FrankV · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:08 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:05 pm Post subject:

FrankV · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:26 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:10 am Post subject:

I threw a prototype together tonight (boards just arrived,) and it works great so far. w00t

I need to correct a couple small items (like forgetting pads for one LED,) and I need to scope it to make sure the divider is dividing on the right edges, but it's looking good. Lot's of blinking lights.

I'm going to work on shrinking it slightly, and I think it will be ready to go. I could do a run for this soon, and a simultaneous re-run of the FlopSeq board itself.

I'll grab a quick video of it tomorrow. Taking the bipolar audio output from the XOR, and playing with the clocks is kind of fun. Mr. Green

Ring-mod(ish) squares.

Anyway I think this combo could be a lot of fun.

cleaninglady · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 1:32 am Post subject:

looking forward to it ! w00t

will it complement the original Flop Seq PCB ?

ringstone · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 6:42 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:07 am Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:39 pm Post subject:

ill have to look into bezels, never tried them.
can you get them from mouser in different sizes or something?

J3RK · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:48 pm Post subject:

ringstone · Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 6:22 pm Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 12:45 am Post subject:

Here's a quick video of the companion board running the FlopSeq. It's a simple patch, as I've more or less dismantled my test synth at the moment. d'oh!

The two clocks are run into each input of the XOR circuit. Changing the speeds will tweak the offset, and produce some interesting rhythms. I'm not using the divider here, but you can see the divisions by the LED on the gate-to-trigger circuit. (white light in corner) I'll be giving the divider its own LED, but I accidentally left this off the test board.

When I get a minute, I'll make a quick demo of the audio output from the XOR.

asterisk · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:53 pm Post subject:

ive decided to try and make a FPE panel for my FlopSEQ.
it is 16HP and the PCB would mount parallel to the panel nicely. (i have not included the mounting holes on my design)
check it out and let me know what you all think.
my panel includes separate gate outs for each step.
the mixed gate out on the bottom might be a little unnecessary since the individual gate outs are available. i was thinking of just making that gate out on the bottow a simple clock out (like a mult of the clock in or something)

id be happy to share the FPD file if anyone wants it.....

asterisk · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:55 pm Post subject:

blair,
those bezels look great.
do they just snap in to a standard 3mm hole?
and then the LED snaps in the back?
ill have to try them out.
thanks!

ringstone · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject:

asterisk · Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject:

hi blair, thanks thats good to know.
if anyone knows the proper panel hole size for those bezels, thatd be great.

J3RK · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:33 am Post subject:

Hey! Just noticed your question. I use those Lumex LEDs. The hole size I use is 0.17" The datasheet says 0.174" but I like them to seat a little tighter. This is the size I specify in FPD for a drill-hole, so it should translate perfectly to your panel. The thicker the panel, the better these hold as well. I tend to do 3mm panels for my boxed synths (which are thicker than typical for a modular panel I believe, (though MOTM-style 5U might be close or the same.)

asterisk · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject:

thats .17 for the LED lenses right? i think they show .171 on the datasheet.

the lumex LEDs linked above have a different measurement on the datasheet i think. (looks like .157 or 4mm)

J3RK · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:37 pm Post subject:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Lumex/SSI-LXH312GD250/?qs=zorda86t %205M%2fJViE3qnLixSJ1TZsZ9xgZdOMS2ddps5E%3d

The ones in this link are 3mm LEDs. With the built-in bezel the hole size is listed in the datasheet as .170 to .174" under the mounting hole specification toward the lower left of the page. I use the smaller .170" size for the holes as they stay in tight that way.

I don't have any experience with the lenses in your second link. However, it looks like you're correct based on the data-sheet. .171 for the drill-hole.

asterisk · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:43 pm Post subject:

oh ok i see, i think i might go the lenses route since i already have lots of regular 3mm LEDs around here.

J3RK · Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:48 pm Post subject:

wavehead · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:22 pm Post subject:

Would love to hear the audio coming from the XOR.. one of the things making me want to build this the most as I have no XORs right now.

J3RK · Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:28 pm Post subject:

303monkey · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 5:07 am Post subject:

Is there going to be another run of the FlopSeq & Companion boards.

This might be good timing as there is a run for the Buchlaesque FlopSeq panel.

keninverse · Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:48 am Post subject:

J3RK · Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:29 pm Post subject:

I'm starting to think about this again. I've had quite a few people asking for another run. I plan to do one in January or so.

In the meantime, I've been thinking more about a companion board. I'm thinking less and less along the lines of internal clocks, and more about different features that could be added to make it a bit more fun or unique.

One thought is to have VC inputs for each stage, that can be switched or normalled between the knob and the voltage input. So, instead of a solid knob-controlled tone for a given step, it could be a modulated voltage. Could be fun.

A set of gate to trigger converters that could be tapped from the hacked-in individual gate outputs might be nice, so that the gates didn't completely overlap each other. Pads for switches to turn them on and off would be nice too. I could also add proper pads on the FS08 board for future runs, to make tapping this signal easier.

It's also possible that different seeds could be created to make random(ish) patterns.

And maybe an internal clock, but I don't know how useful that would really be, since you can clock these with anything.

djangosfire · Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:12 pm Post subject:

Microscopial · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:27 am Post subject:

I'm in for new boards please

Pfurmel · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 6:49 am Post subject:

^I'm pretty sure the doepfer a 155/154 had similar capability, that was a super fun sequencer while I had it. Sold it to fund SDIY, now looks like it may come full circle.

djangosfire · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 6:05 pm Post subject:

I working up a "multi-module" - starting with a Flop Seq. I hope to have it finished later this evening. The top half of the module will possibly be for 1x 281, and 1x cvp..... OR a J3RK logic section???

Quick pic of the Buchla format module so far:

cleaninglady · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 6:24 pm Post subject:

Some great Banana action there Adam. SlayerBadger!

valis · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 6:44 pm Post subject:

That would be really cool. In an ideal world maybe we could convince rsfc to do a breakout/utility panel for the flop. If not, one could always use their own blanks. Regardless, sound fun. Thanks!

djangosfire · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:33 pm Post subject:

"The Flop" lives!! Surprising and wonderful little analog sequencer - Thanks Dustin for a GREAT module love

The only thing I'd like to do is cut down the LED brightness...... any recommended values? I know, it depends on the LED's used (I actually grabbed some random bright white that I had in my spare parts bin). . . .

ANY tips appreciated - thanks again Guinness ftw!

J3RK · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 1:59 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Your panel looks great too! Yes, the LEDs can be bright depending on which ones you use. You can swap out those 470R resistors for something like 680R or even 1K would be fine.

hank · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:54 pm Post subject:

djangosfire · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 6:26 pm Post subject:

djangosfire · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 6:35 pm Post subject:

djangosfire · Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:36 am Post subject:

Made vid using/testing/twiddling the FlopSeq as it twists some cacophony out of some 100 modules posted here

Rockin' Banana!

knob_alchemist · Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject:

Hey are there boards available? And what about the run of boards with added features?? ...Please tell me that there is Flopseq boards available???

303monkey · Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:48 am Post subject:

I still be wanting two of those there fliperdy flop sequencer PCB's too.
Boba Fett

J3RK · Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:52 am Post subject:

I would like to do another run of these in the near future. I would like to get the Complex VCO out and about first, but this would be the next thing on my list I think.

I have something that would make an excellent companion for it, but it's not really a Euro friendly board. It's 3"x5". I guess if you were doing a wide/horizontal sequencer module it would work sideways though. I'll think more about this when I get ready to run the boards again though. I have a ton of clocking and logic function blocks that could be added in any combination to a companion board.

Any thoughts on what would be nice to include?

I'm thinking a buffering board with caps to shorten the "gates" that can be pulled from the LED drivers would be nice. This would buffer the outputs, shorten the pulses to be a bit more discrete. Then maybe a clock, divider, and some logic. That's kind of what I was working on before, and then got side-tracked. I already have all of these functions created though, so adding them to a PCB layout is fairly trivial.

Anyway...

jooks · Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 2:14 am Post subject:

I just finished a 2x flopseq and having some strange results.

Everything works as expected when clocked from a 281 and cv into a vco. But when the clock input isnt connected, stages can be changed by turning the pots. This only happens when a banana plug is inserted but unconnected. And if I plug the gate out from the 1st into the trig input of the 2nd the two will clock each other by turning pots in either one seriously, i just don't get it

Its actualy a quite cool random effect but I dont want it to spit out something from the gate input.

I have used 680R for R1-> R8 and Looking at the schem it seems that the value for R1 and R8 can have an effect on reset-set on the 4013. But Is this enough to explain the problem? I also used 1nF instead of 10nF which might have something to do with it also? I will try to change some values when I have time but this will be later this week. Any ideas in the meantime?

I think I will really like this one when finished! Blinking lights and double sequence. Many thanks j3rk we're not worthy

J3RK · Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 11:59 am Post subject:

You will get some odd results with a "flying" cable. Especially if you touch the end of it. This could be one of a few things, but all of the ones I've built do this. I've never had it change when turning pots though. So that's a new one for me.

I'll try this when I get home. I use bananas too, and have one in my synth currently. I know it will do fun things when touching the gate input cable, but I'm almost positive it doesn't change around with the knobs. I'll post back soon.

camelneck · Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:18 pm Post subject: