MOTM

hello all (from sheffield, england)
got the first parts of my system on monday but a rogue earth loop and
attempting to sync a multitrack to cubase vst has caused me a week of abject
terror...
but i digress
i've not had chance to build my system yet (that would be 8:30pm tonight),
but having a good poke around the kits, i've come up with the following
suggestions / mods that i'll be making:
in the power supply module, i'm going to put a folded aluminium shield
around the transformer assembly, just for a little more protection when
poking around the back of the system - the 240v we have is a little more
serious etc etc
racking wise, i encountered a little problem with the 19A rails which are
designed to fit with what we call M5 bolts. UK users will know that quite a
lot of UK racking / caged nuts uses M6 bolts, which don't fit - a solution i
found was that a set of humfrees (M6 bolts with an insulated sleeve) can be
used. strip off the insulation, and you have an M5 bolt with an M6 thread.
(they're \ufffd7 for a pack of 4 from studiospares 0171 482 1692)
I just ordered an \ufffd55 5u rack case from a german company called Thomann,
i'll let you know how it goes, but in the long run i plan to use some spare
neve console chassis parts - the parts i have (for an '82  51 series) are
based on 19" compatable bays - the plan is a series of 11u wide, 10u high
shallow cabinets, power on the back, edac / elco connected audio loom, with
front panel patch points, and a couple of 9v / 12v supply points available
for any pedals i want to use (amperes permitting).
a question - does anyone over label their patch fields with coloured ink to
easily code CVs from audio. i only caught the end of the coloured washer
saga, but thought red & green markers over the white screenprint would
work... (on my korg MS bits i use red cables for cv, green for gates)
finally, hands up all those who'd like to see a series of drum modules some
time in the future..?
cheers
paul b
ps - my headspace can be explained at www.pasc.syol.com it's not been
updated since march - but check out the PG52B modular pulse generator ;-)

> From: "Paul R Bower" <vulture.squadron@...>
> 
> hello all (from sheffield, england)
> got the first parts of my system on monday

Welcome to the wonderful world of MOTM Paul. 

>  i've come up with the following
> suggestions / mods that i'll be making:
> in the power supply module, i'm going to put a
> folded aluminium shield around the transformer
> assembly, just for a little more protection when
> poking around the back of the system - the 240v
> we have is a little more serious etc etc

From a guy that does "mains" work for a living, I say good idea.  Maybe the
inside of the shield should be lined with a non-conductive material to
reduce the possibility that the shield could itself become a short circuit.

> a question - does anyone over label their patch
> fields with coloured ink to easily code CVs from
< audio. i only caught the end of the coloured washer
> saga, but thought red & green markers over the
> white screenprint would work... (on my korg MS
> bits i use red cables for cv, green for gates)

Well, the colored washer idea was generally aimed at helping to identify
multiple connections on custom panels that did not have a silkscreen. 
However, until you get down to, "how am I going to patch this today" I am
not sure that drawing a line (color coding) between audio and control is
such a good idea.  For example, one, one day, I might want to use my 320
LFO (when I get it that is) output for control, and the next day, I might
want to use in the lower audio range.  

Having said all that, I agree that different colors for audio and control
make sense at the time the patch is created.  It makes it a little easier
to see.  So, like your MS idea, I ordered my cables with two different
colored identifiers.  I use one for CV and one for audio.  Some of use have
purchased nice cables from www.wackykovacy.com.  He sells nice cables with
switchcraft jacks and USA-1 cable for not much more than what it would cost
you to make them yourself.  And, his custom color selections are awesome.

> finally, hands up all those who'd like to see a series
> of drum modules some time in the future..?

Midwest Analog has some cheap analog drum kits that you might want to look
at (well , at least until MOTM drums become available).

Larry (wondering if they have "The Three Stooges" in England) Hendry