Electronic Circuits: building, experimenting..

[bryan]

I thought we could discuss some circuit building projects and tips, etc. I'm stumbling through my first project, it's on this page: preamp for contact mic. I screwed it up, but realized that I misread something hopefully it'll get fixed later tonight.

Passive circuits are kinda nice, simple filters like the type in stereo tone controls. Also, using diodes and LEDs for passive clipping/fuzzing (bridge them across the signal and ground).. a couple I tried out give an octave effect.

The main thing I've done so far is salvaging components from obsolete and broken electronics. It can be meditative, as long as you don't breathe the rosin flux fumes for too long..

It's been frustrating not knowing how to get the (unmarked) power ratings of components. And just needing different sets of info: volts, watts, amps, henries, farads.. for the different types of components. In any case, electronics has intimidated me but I'm hell bent on making some preamps from scratch at the least.

Experiences?

[Stephen]

As yet only preamps, tiny power amps (both from Nicolas Collins' Handmade Electronic Music) and 555/relay circuits for switching mechanical stuff on and off.

[flies]

i built this: http://www.smallbearelec.com/Projects/TweakO/TweakO.htm" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
it's a great project for a beginner as it goes through everything in great detail.

my latest prject is a bee-baa clone, using a PCB i bought from general guitar gadgets. I've got the boost part of the circuit working, but the fuzz circuit isn't. need to figure that out at some point.





i had the power reversed for a little while so i think i might have broken some of the components. the transistors are all fine so i'm guessing it's one of the caps. Still am not sure that i've gotten all the solder joints properly...

[howsthatsound]

i've built loads of stuff. mostly circuit-bending. then gradually more building. i pretty much start out with what i want to do and then google/annoy people on electronics forums until i can figure out how to make it work. electronics is hard without proper knowledge, and in my experience, a huge hassle. now i mostly make simple things, b/c the complex stuff never seems to actually work when i'm done.

i'm in the midst of building a soudlab mini synth right now. not exactly simple, but pretty straightforward.

[bryan]

Doing a PCB kit or a detailed how-to does look more inviting. My preamp hasn't gone so well. In the meantime completing some modifications to my synth has been good. I'm getting good enough with soldering to where I'll order a kit for a module soon. Finally using more functions than just voltage and resistance on the multimeter.

Stuff that's been helping me:

DIY forum on electro-music - LOADS of great info
RC filter calculator
Identifying electronic components - useful when salvaging components

[Chromosome]

Is soldering as toxic as my hypochondriacal self thinks it is?

[bryan]

line, i'm vaguely hypo- as well. what i found was this: breathing solder vapor, which is basically burning tree sap because the lead doesn't get hot enough to become gas, is the #1 cause of workplace-related asthma.

i figure as a hobby with minimal hours it's not nearly as bad as my pollen allergies. just allow some air circulation.

[sound.out.light]

i've been doing a bit of bending. nothing too ambitious but i got some great sounds out of a yamaha pss-170. only 3 switches and a body contact but lots of nice glitchy random stuff...im still discovering new sounds in it a few months after building.

also, i built an Atari Punk Console which is i guess a square wave oscillator..heres a "schematic" : http://www.pitsch.de/stuff/apc/apc_layout_b.gif" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;"
i built two of them in one box with two separate outputs...ended up using breadboard after two failed attempts on circuit board...found out i just missed grounding one of the pins on the IC Chip so my next time around ill do it the real way. its a fun starter piece though! and ive learned never to shop at radio shack again!

id like to get more involved in these things but much of it is just way over my head. i still don't know how to read a proper schematic and as far as any modifications are concerned, they would have to be trial and error because i have no idea how these things work. someone recommended me a book by Forrest Mimms that apparently explains a bit about IC Chips...maybe that and Electronics for Dummies might do me some good..

[Stephen]

So today I discovered that your average two-a-penny ADSL filter is just an analogue low-pass

wired a pick-up through one of these unassuming little white boxes and it's now noiseless - magic.

now I'm wondering if it's possible to stick a pot in there and make it sweepable

[A Consumer]

So today I discovered that your average two-a-penny ADSL filter is just an analogue low-pass

wired a pick-up through one of these unassuming little white boxes and it's now noiseless - magic.

now I'm wondering if it's possible to stick a pot in there and make it sweepable

Interesting to say the least.
I just joined a group of friends who are learning the most basic circuits in hopes of moving on to a big project in the coming months. Best part is one of the guys has some experience with circuit building and has 2 Oscilloscopes and a grip of multimeters. My barrier to building has always been 1. these two devices (I know multimeters are cheap) and 2. having the space.

[orangettecoleman]

I gutted a bad distortion pedal I have and turned it into a kill switch pedal and monitor out for my oscillator, so I can hear what note I've got going before I send it to the mixer/effects. It's basically got a 1/8in headphone jack wired directly to the input so I can listen to the clean signal, followed by a kill switch and a volume pot, then to the output. The volume pot doesn't work right though, there's nothing at all and then a huge volume jump when the pot is about 90 percent open. Doesn't make sense, I've triplechecked the wiring and grounding and tried linear pots, audio pots, from 50k to 1meg. It would be easy to just buy a cheap mixer or volume pedal to put after the kill switch pedal but I'm stubborn. I also want to learn to circuit bend random stuff from the thrift shop, been listening to a lot of Voice Crack lately and I'm inspired by the results they get from that stuff. Plus it's fun to do and show people....

[Sugartime]

I gutted a bad distortion pedal I have and turned it into a kill switch pedal and monitor out for my oscillator, so I can hear what note I've got going before I send it to the mixer/effects. It's basically got a 1/8in headphone jack wired directly to the input so I can listen to the clean signal, followed by a kill switch and a volume pot, then to the output. The volume pot doesn't work right though, there's nothing at all and then a huge volume jump when the pot is about 90 percent open. Doesn't make sense, I've triplechecked the wiring and grounding and tried linear pots, audio pots, from 50k to 1meg. It would be easy to just buy a cheap mixer or volume pedal to put after the kill switch pedal but I'm stubborn. I also want to learn to circuit bend random stuff from the thrift shop, been listening to a lot of Voice Crack lately and I'm inspired by the results they get from that stuff. Plus it's fun to do and show people....

Have you been wiring it as a voltage divider (i.e., using all three terminals) or as a variable resistor (i.e., using two of the terminals)?

[orangettecoleman]

I gutted a bad distortion pedal I have and turned it into a kill switch pedal and monitor out for my oscillator, so I can hear what note I've got going before I send it to the mixer/effects. It's basically got a 1/8in headphone jack wired directly to the input so I can listen to the clean signal, followed by a kill switch and a volume pot, then to the output. The volume pot doesn't work right though, there's nothing at all and then a huge volume jump when the pot is about 90 percent open. Doesn't make sense, I've triplechecked the wiring and grounding and tried linear pots, audio pots, from 50k to 1meg. It would be easy to just buy a cheap mixer or volume pedal to put after the kill switch pedal but I'm stubborn. I also want to learn to circuit bend random stuff from the thrift shop, been listening to a lot of Voice Crack lately and I'm inspired by the results they get from that stuff. Plus it's fun to do and show people....

Have you been wiring it as a voltage divider (i.e., using all three terminals) or as a variable resistor (i.e., using two of the terminals)?

I've got the first terminal going to the output, the second to the input, and the third to the pot casing and grounded. It's the exact same wiring as my volume pedal, so I can't figure out why it wouldn't be working...

[p_ano]

if any of you folks live near a frys, they have a lot of fun learning kits... i'm still a total n00b, but these have helped me immensely.

http://www.frys.com/catreq/5202

certainly there are cooler alternatives available online, but there's something to be said for picking up toys right down the street. instant gratification.

[Stephen]

Thought this post might interest some folk here:

DIY Audio Art Kits

[A Consumer]

I'm aware of all those. If I had the money (or ANY) they would all be mine. The lil loud objects toy makes some great sounds. Saw Baseck do a solo on one of those (basically hitting the two buttons and cycling through it's random sequences). It was great.