[sdiy] Crackle Box PCBs

Fri Jul 8 21:03:08 CEST 2005

Hi,
My tendency is to leave off the line out and leave off the touchpads from
the PCB and leave the extras to individual modders.  For the sake of money
and simplicity, I will probably just do it as small as possible.

As Bruce said, the telephone taps are a great way to get sound from a built
in speaker to a Line level and they are quite cheap ($2 at Jameco I think).
If someone else wants to do a touchpad PCB as a separate board it would be
very quick to design and order or probably also very quick to etch, if you
have the necessary equipment/chemicals.  I have also included in the design
a resistor and pads for an on off indicator LED.  I have NOT included the
*optional* parts on the schematic page I mentioned.

Since a bunch of people have asked:  yes, PayPal is fine.
I will let you all know on-list in a couple of weeks when I have decided
where I am going to order from.  It will definitely be under $10 per board
since it is quite a low parts count.  Feel free to keep shooting me
suggestions, though re: other mods.  If nothing else, it makes me think
harder about the design.

Best,
Rafael

              bruce tovsky                                                                                                             
              <bruce at skeletonhome.com>                    To:                                         Rafael_Cohen at prusec.com          
                                                          cc:                                                                          
                                                          Subject:   Re: [sdiy] Crackle Box PCBs                                       
              Friday July 8, 2005 01:35 PM                                                                                             

a couple thoughts from a cracklebox fan:
first, i believe (not being any kind of expert with pcbs) that the
"dual" means double-sided pcb. if you go to the cracklebox
webpage - http://www.crackle.org/CrackleBox.htm - you'll see
what that means: the back side of the pcb has traces that are
used to play the box. from my experience playing mine, you can
get a lot more variation in sound over point contacts.
second, relating to the line-out issue: there was quite a bit of
discussion about this issue recently on the list (check the archives)
and the upshot was that adding the line out affected the sound.
i've been using an old radio shack telephone pickup (the suction
pad type) by holding it against the bottom of the cracklebox right
below the speaker and it works great.
have fun
bruce

On Jul 8, 2005, at 1:08 PM, Rafael_Cohen at prusec.com wrote:

>
> Hi,
>
> The design so far is not dual, just single.  I have not seen an
> original
> CrackleBox, I was just going off the schematic on the page I
> mentioned.  I
> did not know that there were dual boxes.  That schematic has no line
> out,
> so I did not design that into it.  If someone has a convenient idea
> for a
> way to work that in I am interested and excited to hear about it.  I
> have
> been using the built in speaker method.
>
> Also, I have heard that in the original Crackle Boxes the touch pads
> were
> on the circuit board itself, but the boards I have designed do not have
> that either.  Just a wirepad on the board for the wire to the contact
> poin
> t on the enclosure.  Plus, I wanted to save space (much cheaper
> boards) and
> I prefer to use other objects to conduct anyhow, such as my current
> favorite stainless steel shiny thing (did I mention I was a magpie
> yet?)
> Acorn Nuts.
>
> I don't want it to get too complicated but like I said, if someone has
> a
> simple way that they know works to give it a line out, then I will
> design
> it into the board.  Actually, the regular, speaker output tends to
> work OK
> as a line out, except it picks up a little more radio perhaps than
> usual.
>
> I am trying to climb the learning curve with Eagle right now, because
> it
> seems there are places that have better prices but take only Eagle and
> BRD
> files.  If anyone wants to see my previous design in the ExpressPCB
> software, let me know and I can forward it to you off list.
>
> Rafael
>
>
>
>
>               Fernando de Izuzquiza <fdi at ran.es>
>                                                           To:
>                                Rafael_Cohen at prusec.com
>                                                           cc:
> synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>               Friday July 8, 2005 12:52 PM                Subject:
> Re: [sdiy] Crackle Box PCBs
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi Rafael,
>
> I love it. Count on me for some boards.
> Great for sessions with other musicians or for children!
> Or even some animals may play it (well it might be annoying for some of
> them... let's see =:)
>
> A line out would be great too (instrument, line or synth level?) to
> integrate it with the synth.
>
> Are your boards going to be dual as in the STEIM unit showed?
>
> I'd like to build at least 6 (3 if dual), maybe more depending on
> price.
> So 6 for shure. PayPal OK? Tell me/us about please.
>
> Thanks for the work!
>
> Fernando
>
>
>> De: Rafael_Cohen at prusec.com
>> Fecha: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 10:55:13 -0400
>> Para: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>> Asunto: [sdiy] Crackle Box PCBs
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>> I just got a couple of requests yesterday about the boards I am
> designing.
>> Is there anyone else that would be interested in sharing the price of
> some
>> boards from the schematic here:
>>
>> http://www.eam.se/kraakdoos/
>>
>> Just figured, why not... cheaper for everyone, the more the merrier.
>> Email me if interested or questions.
>>
>> Rafael
>>
>
>
> Hi Rafael,
>
> I love it. Count on me for some boards.
> Great for sessions with other musicians or for children!
> Or even some animals may play it (well it might be annoying for some of
> them... let's see =:)
>
> A line out would be great too (instrument, line or synth level?) to
> integrate it with the synth.
>
> Are your boards going to be dual as in the STEIM unit showed?
>
> I'd like to build at least 6 (3 if dual), maybe more depending on
> price.
> So 6 for shure. PayPal OK? Tell me/us about please.
>
> Thanks for the work!
>
> Fernando
>
>
>> De: Rafael_Cohen at prusec.com
>> Fecha: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 10:55:13 -0400
>> Para: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>> Asunto: [sdiy] Crackle Box PCBs
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>> I just got a couple of requests yesterday about the boards I am
> designing.
>> Is there anyone else that would be interested in sharing the price of
> some
>> boards from the schematic here:
>>
>> http://www.eam.se/kraakdoos/
>>
>> Just figured, why not... cheaper for everyone, the more the merrier.
>> Email me if interested or questions.
>>
>> Rafael
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
bruce tovsky
www.skeletonhome.com

"To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything."
 Albert Einstein