[sdiy] Trades?

[Brian Willoughby]

On Oct 26, 2020, at 9:34 PM, ColinMuirDorward <colindorward at gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anybody want to trade eurorack or other self-built stuff?
> I'm not worried about dollar value, it just seems crazy to not trade these things since it's only 20% harder to build 2x as many modules.
> I'm open to ideas, offers, or explanations as to why this is a bad idea!
> I'm in Canada, but IMO, shipping worldwide isn't out of the question.
> Cheers,
> Colin

Opinions are free, so I'll say that I think this is a great idea!

I'm not in the market for Eurorack modules, although I made quite a few custom face plates via Front Panel Express. Unfortunately, FPE doesn't really discount for quantity, so there's no advantage to making more than you need when it's just a panel.

I've mostly been building things like 6-channel preamps for synth guitar, or a phono preamp, so not the sort of things to trade. But I totally agree that if each person made multiples of a single project, then a group of people could multiply their efforts greatly by sharing the extras.

Maybe you can share Mouser projects and coordinate PCB orders so that folks still build for themselves, but that might not be as easy as each person literally building multiples for the group. Maybe ship kits if you don't want to solder for someone else?

I've certainly ended up making two or three of each guitar preamp, and I had started trying to get my guitarist friends interested in synth, or at least multi-string recording, so I could find a use for my spares. I ended up with one design that has 6 quarter-inch jacks on it and works fine, but then I realized that I don't like patching 6 separate cables when my other audio interface has a single 8-channel DB-25 connector (TASCAM?). So I immediately revised the PCB and built another three. Yikes.

Before you jump on the preamps, I had some trouble with the power supply. I kept making mistakes because I was in a hurry, so the boards I have barely work unless you tinker with the components or use a separate supply. If I hadn't goofed on that, then I'd have a pile of "other self-built stuff" that would be worthy of trading.

Brian

p.s. My idea was to use AC output wall warts with no center tap, and then design bipolar supplies with a sort of floating ground to simplify around a cheaper connector and circuit. Not fully successful at that just yet...