MOTM

Stock Update MOTM style kits:

We have 4 TM kits left.

We are out of StonZ kits, but we will honor the sale price until Oct 
31st at midnight PT (spooky!). And, we will kit up and ship those the 
first week or so of November.

A note on pot values for both kits: you may receive 100K pots vs the 50K 
called out. This is OK.

John Blacet

I have just completed the MOTM style StonZ.  I also have a TM 
with the Stooge panel, and a MW with the Stooge panel, Hylander
expansion, and the Hendry CV board. I just bought a Mathew Davidson
Morphine rom from Hylander and am quite pleased with it.  Some
photos if interested at
http://www.modularsynthesis.com/modules/blacet/blacet.htm

Dave
--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, John Blacet <blacet@b...> wrote:
>
> Stock Update MOTM style kits:
> 
> We have 4 TM kits left.
> 
> We are out of StonZ kits, but we will honor the sale price until 
Oct 
> 31st at midnight PT (spooky!). And, we will kit up and ship those 
the 
> first week or so of November.
> 
> A note on pot values for both kits: you may receive 100K pots vs 
the 
50K 

> called out. This is OK.
> 
> John Blacet

Hi all,

I just finished building my first kit, a '410, and it sounds great... 
mostly. Sadly the third filter doesn't seem want to play ball.

It passes audio, but it's stuck at the highest setting, up around 30k, 
rendering it useless. No cv or knob twiddling makes it budge.

Also - and maybe this is related - the second LFO doesn't produce an 
effect on the second or third filter. So basically the LFO switch does 
nothing. The first LFO works fine.

I pulled the '410 out of the rack and detached the pcb from the bracket 
(sigh) to have a good look, but the soldering looks fine. There don't 
appear to be any shorts, unless they are a case of solder from the via 
holes (which are all filled) touching the underneath one of the mounted 
items, if that's even a concern. Also, I checked the resistors in the 
"filter 3 section" of the pcb (so R8, R10, R42, R58, R59) and 
everything is in the right spot.

Given that this is the first time I've done soldering work of this 
scale since high school, I'm sure it's something I've done wrong, for 
example that one of the connections isn't soldered well enough, but I'm 
hesitant to just pull everything off the pcb and start again. Do these 
problems sound like they can be traced back to specific 
resistors/capacitors/etc?

If anyone has any suggestions they would get my infinite gratitude. I'm 
really happy with the sound of the unit thus far, now if I can just get 
it 100%...

Matthew

My first guess is that something is wrong with LFO #2 and the output 
is stuck near the positive rail. Have a look at U5 pin 14 to see if 
LFO #2 is oscillating. If that looks good then trace the LFO signal 
through U7B and then into the driver for D3 (U4B, VR4, Q9, and Q6). 
That's where I'd start looking.

>I just finished building my first kit, a '410, and it sounds great...
>mostly. Sadly the third filter doesn't seem want to play ball.
>
>It passes audio, but it's stuck at the highest setting, up around 30k,
>rendering it useless. No cv or knob twiddling makes it budge.
>
>Also - and maybe this is related - the second LFO doesn't produce an
>effect on the second or third filter. So basically the LFO switch does
>nothing. The first LFO works fine.
>
>I pulled the '410 out of the rack and detached the pcb from the bracket
>(sigh) to have a good look, but the soldering looks fine. There don't
>appear to be any shorts, unless they are a case of solder from the via
>holes (which are all filled) touching the underneath one of the mounted
>items, if that's even a concern. Also, I checked the resistors in the
>"filter 3 section" of the pcb (so R8, R10, R42, R58, R59) and
>everything is in the right spot.
>
>Given that this is the first time I've done soldering work of this
>scale since high school, I'm sure it's something I've done wrong, for
>example that one of the connections isn't soldered well enough, but I'm
>hesitant to just pull everything off the pcb and start again. Do these
>problems sound like they can be traced back to specific
>resistors/capacitors/etc?
>
>If anyone has any suggestions they would get my infinite gratitude. I'm
>really happy with the sound of the unit thus far, now if I can just get
>it 100%...

You also might check if the vactrol for filter 3 is in correctly.  Not
that I would have any experience with that or anything...

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Scott Juskiw <scott@t...> wrote:

>
> My first guess is that something is wrong with LFO #2 and the output 
> is stuck near the positive rail. Have a look at U5 pin 14 to see if 
> LFO #2 is oscillating. If that looks good then trace the LFO signal 
> through U7B and then into the driver for D3 (U4B, VR4, Q9, and Q6). 
> That's where I'd start looking.
> 
> >I just finished building my first kit, a '410, and it sounds great...
> >mostly. Sadly the third filter doesn't seem want to play ball.
> >
> >It passes audio, but it's stuck at the highest setting, up around 30k,
> >rendering it useless. No cv or knob twiddling makes it budge.
> >
> >Also - and maybe this is related - the second LFO doesn't produce an
> >effect on the second or third filter. So basically the LFO switch does
> >nothing. The first LFO works fine.
> >
> >I pulled the '410 out of the rack and detached the pcb from the bracket
> >(sigh) to have a good look, but the soldering looks fine. There don't
> >appear to be any shorts, unless they are a case of solder from the via
> >holes (which are all filled) touching the underneath one of the mounted
> >items, if that's even a concern. Also, I checked the resistors in the
> >"filter 3 section" of the pcb (so R8, R10, R42, R58, R59) and
> >everything is in the right spot.
> >
> >Given that this is the first time I've done soldering work of this
> >scale since high school, I'm sure it's something I've done wrong, for
> >example that one of the connections isn't soldered well enough, but I'm
> >hesitant to just pull everything off the pcb and start again. Do these
> >problems sound like they can be traced back to specific
> >resistors/capacitors/etc?
> >
> >If anyone has any suggestions they would get my infinite gratitude. I'm
> >really happy with the sound of the unit thus far, now if I can just get
> >it 100%...
>

A vactrol was my problem back when I built my 410.  I held the iron to a leg
for too long and killed it.  I promptly tossed the iron and went out and
bought a Weller WSD80 station. :)

-George

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Mike Marsh" <michael_marsh@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 8:06 PM
Subject: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....


> You also might check if the vactrol for filter 3 is in correctly.  Not
> that I would have any experience with that or anything...
>
> --- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Scott Juskiw <scott@t...> wrote:
> >
> > My first guess is that something is wrong with LFO #2 and the output
> > is stuck near the positive rail. Have a look at U5 pin 14 to see if
> > LFO #2 is oscillating. If that looks good then trace the LFO signal
> > through U7B and then into the driver for D3 (U4B, VR4, Q9, and Q6).
> > That's where I'd start looking.
> >
> > >I just finished building my first kit, a '410, and it sounds great...
> > >mostly. Sadly the third filter doesn't seem want to play ball.
> > >
> > >It passes audio, but it's stuck at the highest setting, up around 30k,
> > >rendering it useless. No cv or knob twiddling makes it budge.
> > >
> > >Also - and maybe this is related - the second LFO doesn't produce an
> > >effect on the second or third filter. So basically the LFO switch does
> > >nothing. The first LFO works fine.
> > >
> > >I pulled the '410 out of the rack and detached the pcb from the bracket
> > >(sigh) to have a good look, but the soldering looks fine. There don't
> > >appear to be any shorts, unless they are a case of solder from the via
> > >holes (which are all filled) touching the underneath one of the mounted
> > >items, if that's even a concern. Also, I checked the resistors in the
> > >"filter 3 section" of the pcb (so R8, R10, R42, R58, R59) and
> > >everything is in the right spot.
> > >
> > >Given that this is the first time I've done soldering work of this
> > >scale since high school, I'm sure it's something I've done wrong, for
> > >example that one of the connections isn't soldered well enough, but I'm
> > >hesitant to just pull everything off the pcb and start again. Do these
> > >problems sound like they can be traced back to specific
> > >resistors/capacitors/etc?
> > >
> > >If anyone has any suggestions they would get my infinite gratitude. I'm
> > >really happy with the sound of the unit thus far, now if I can just get
> > >it 100%...

I killed vactrol #3 when I built my second 410, and I was using a
temp-control Weller station at the time. Paul told me that the things can
sometimes be damaged by static electricity. I assembled mine in a very dry
climate in a room with a carpeted floor, so draw your own conclusions. :-)

The symptom in that case was that filter #3 passed audio only very faintly.

I was having a run of bad luck then, I think. I assembled my third 300 VCO
at around the same time, and I managed to wire its output jacks wrong. These
mistakes were made after I'd assembled ~25 MOTM kits over the past few years
with zero problems.

--Adam

> -----Original Message-----
> From: groovyshaman [mailto:groovyshaman@...]
> Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 6:43 PM
> To: motm@yahoogroups.com; Mike Marsh
> Subject: Re: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....
> 
> A vactrol was my problem back when I built my 410.  I held the iron to a
> leg
> for too long and killed it.  I promptly tossed the iron and went out and
> bought a Weller WSD80 station. :)
> 
> -George

Hmmm... It's not a dry climate here in Montreal at all, and I have no 
carpeting, but that certainly sounds like my problem.

I was using a 35w Weller and my only complaint was that the tip seems 
*enormous* for pcb work, but its possible that I could have fried it.

I guess I could swap the vactrol for 3 with the vactrol for one of the 
others and see what happens.  To the workshop I go!

Thanks to all for the info - I don't feel as inept now. :)

On 28-Oct-05, at 8:52 PM, Adam Schabtach wrote:

> I killed vactrol #3 when I built my second 410, and I was using a
> temp-control Weller station at the time. Paul told me that the things 
> can
> sometimes be damaged by static electricity. I assembled mine in a very 
> dry
> climate in a room with a carpeted floor, so draw your own conclusions. 
> :-)
>
> The symptom in that case was that filter #3 passed audio only very 
> faintly.
>
> I was having a run of bad luck then, I think. I assembled my third 300 
> VCO
> at around the same time, and I managed to wire its output jacks wrong. 
> These
> mistakes were made after I'd assembled ~25 MOTM kits over the past few 
> years
> with zero problems.
>
> --Adam
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: groovyshaman [mailto:groovyshaman@...]
>> Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 6:43 PM
>> To: motm@yahoogroups.com; Mike Marsh
>> Subject: Re: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....
>>
>> A vactrol was my problem back when I built my 410.  I held the iron 
>> to a
>> leg
>> for too long and killed it.  I promptly tossed the iron and went out 
>> and
>> bought a Weller WSD80 station. :)
>>
>> -George
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
___________________________________________
+ Bootleg Sounds/Bodega: www.bootlegsounds.com +

One of my fondest memories of Stooge Larry was how diplomatic and
polite he was when he pointed out the *23* cold solder joints on my
JLH-822.  This was laso after many modules w/o errors.  *Sigh*.

--- In motm@...m, "Adam Schabtach" <adam@s...> wrote:
>
> I killed vactrol #3 when I built my second 410, and I was using a
> temp-control Weller station at the time. Paul told me that the
things can
> sometimes be damaged by static electricity. I assembled mine in a
very dry
> climate in a room with a carpeted floor, so draw your own
conclusions. :-)
> 
> The symptom in that case was that filter #3 passed audio only very
faintly.
> 
> I was having a run of bad luck then, I think. I assembled my third
300 VCO
> at around the same time, and I managed to wire its output jacks
wrong. These
> mistakes were made after I'd assembled ~25 MOTM kits over the past
few years
> with zero problems.
> 
> --Adam
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: groovyshaman [mailto:groovyshaman@s...]
> > Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 6:43 PM
> > To: motm@yahoogroups.com; Mike Marsh
> > Subject: Re: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....
> > 
> > A vactrol was my problem back when I built my 410.  I held the
iron to a
> > leg
> > for too long and killed it.  I promptly tossed the iron and went
out and

> > bought a Weller WSD80 station. :)
> > 
> > -George
>

----- Original Message -----

From: Matthew Hiscock

To: MOTM-list

Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 9:15 PM

Subject: Re: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....

Hmmm... It's not a dry climate here in Montreal at all, and I have no carpeting, but that certainly sounds like my problem.

I was using a 35w Weller and my only complaint was that the tip seems *enormous* for pcb work, but its possible that I could have fried it.

I guess I could swap the vactrol for 3 with the vactrol for one of the others and see what happens. To the workshop I go!

Thanks to all for the info - I don't feel as inept now. :)

Adam I remember looking at your web site a few years back and seeing a cat.
Now I've heard some horror stories about synths and cats.  Maybe it was the
cat's fault?? :)

-George

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Adam Schabtach" <adam@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 8:52 PM
Subject: RE: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....


> I killed vactrol #3 when I built my second 410, and I was using a
> temp-control Weller station at the time. Paul told me that the things can
> sometimes be damaged by static electricity. I assembled mine in a very dry
> climate in a room with a carpeted floor, so draw your own conclusions. :-)
>
> The symptom in that case was that filter #3 passed audio only very
faintly.
>
> I was having a run of bad luck then, I think. I assembled my third 300 VCO
> at around the same time, and I managed to wire its output jacks wrong.
These
> mistakes were made after I'd assembled ~25 MOTM kits over the past few
years

> with zero problems.
>
> --Adam
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: groovyshaman [mailto:groovyshaman@...]
> > Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 6:43 PM
> > To: motm@yahoogroups.com; Mike Marsh
> > Subject: Re: [motm] Re: To those that have built a '410....
> >
> > A vactrol was my problem back when I built my 410.  I held the iron to a
> > leg
> > for too long and killed it.  I promptly tossed the iron and went out and
> > bought a Weller WSD80 station. :)
> >
> > -George
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

> Adam I remember looking at your web site a few years back and seeing a
> cat.
> Now I've heard some horror stories about synths and cats.  Maybe it was
> the
> cat's fault?? :)

Heh. I blame a lot of things on the cats, but no, I don't think that either
of them (there are two here) can be blamed for my dead vactrol.

My poor neglected web site is way overdue for an update. I've added a third
tier to my cabinet and 3-4 new modules since the last update. Given the
amount of time I spend in front of computers while I'm working, it's sort of
hard to summon much enthusiasm to work on my web site in my spare time. I'd
rather build new modules, and/or use the ones I've got...

--Adam

--
Adam Schabtach
www.studionebula.com
www.audiodamage.com

I can relate to the website development problem.  Well, I have finally 
taken the plunge.  I am finishing off my website devoted to my synth and 
hope to publish it this weekend.  I have to go out and buy a tripod this 
morning so I can take more photos.  Look for my announcement.

-Richard Brewster

Adam Schabtach wrote:

>My poor neglected web site is way overdue for an update. I've added a third
>tier to my cabinet and 3-4 new modules since the last update. Given the
>amount of time I spend in front of computers while I'm working, it's sort of
>hard to summon much enthusiasm to work on my web site in my spare time. I'd
>rather build new modules, and/or use the ones I've got...
>
>--Adam
>
>--
>Adam Schabtach
>www.studionebula.com
>www.audiodamage.com
>
>
>  
>