Motorized POT

[The Dark force of dance]

Y-ellow and thanks to all.
	I think this is sounding less feasible all the time. Just that some
surplus place down here was offering rotary motorized volume pots for 10
bux and it got my mind a-wonderin'.

I went back and took a look and although they didn't specify it, the
emphasis is on "VOLUME POT". IE: Log tracks. Basically it's a servo on the
end of a dual gang pot. Designed for stereo systems I guess. I'd also guess
that this would work from a remote control with an up/down button. Hit the
up button and the motor would rotate the pot clockwise etc. What this means
is that it would be a non-linear track and therefore make the feedback most
difficult. IE: not worth the bother.

I wasn't thinking in terms of filling an entire desk with them I was just
going to put 1 on the front panel. Since I want 1 single volume pot on
there anyway. I thought it might be cool to have it motorized. Then if the
incoming MIDI channel matched the front panel channel (try saying that
fast) you would see the pot on the front turn. Would be cool but...

The problem is that this pot needs to be linear because it also has to
represent PAN as well as VOLUME. I guess with the judicious use of look-up
tables I could change it's response but since I've only got about 400 bytes
of code left I don't think this is going to happen.

But out of interest, the whole system is digital so the feedback woudl be
read by an A-D converter and then in turn, controlled by the micro. In
either case the pot is simply a data entry mechanism. It has no direct
relationship to the audio. Eventually, when the A-D chip finally arrives,
it will also be used to select things such as MIDI channel and the actual
mixer channel to be operated on at any given time. What ever function is
selected from the front panel, the pot will control. Or you can use up/down
buttons as well. I've also provided for an instant centre-pan button
because we all know what a bitch it is to try and centre a pan pot when
it's digital and has a reduced radix.

The nice thing about using a motorized pot though is that it could
automatically find the correct position for that function. therefore it
reduces the need for the software to constantly compare the pot with a
stored value to see if it had moved. The user then can simply shift the pot
from the current position. Instant tactile and visual feedback. Which is
the whole reason for putting motorized pots on mixing desks I guess. But I
think this is a case of "Pass too hard." All things considered.

Thanks for all your help. Most appreciated.

Be absolutely Icebox.

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