MOTM

Hello all, just a few questions about the 300 VCO. Exactly how difficult
is this module? I worked for 2 years in robotics R&D so I know a good
amount. Is the difficulty in assembly or calibration?  I don't have an
o-scope, is there any way i can get around getting one? (in a pinch I'll
borrow one) What is the difference between the 300 and the Micro VCO
expected later this year? Now that I've asked way too many questions, I
have one good thing to say, After reading through the 320 LFO manual, I
was expecting to see this incredibly dim LED, I was delightfully
surprised to see it is as bright as it is, more than bright enough for
my needs. -Nate (sitting under 2 feet of snow)


[This message contained attachments]

In a message dated 1/25/2000 8:44:05 PM, nate@... writes:

>Hello all, just a few questions about the 300 VCO. Exactly how difficult
>is this module? I worked for 2 years in robotics R&D so I know a good
>amount. Is the difficulty in assembly or calibration?  

I believe Paul rated this his most difficult module to date more due to the 
parts count (something like 100 resistors) and the time it takes to assemble 
it, than due to it being "hard to assemble" in some unspecified way. Also 
there are a few sensitive (and specialized -- i.e., not available at Radio 
Shack) components -- like matched JFET and matched transistor pairs -- which 
might be harmed under Stooge-like assembly conditions. 

As long as you are careful in the assembly process and take a reasonable 
amount of time (making sure all of your components are correct) you'll have a 
great instrument! Of course the main reason Paul wants you to take your time 
and double check everything, is because he's going to be the poor sap on the 
phone that tries to troubleshoot your problems.


I don't have an
>o-scope, is there any way i can get around getting one? (in a pinch I'll
>borrow one) 


I found calibration to be much easier than most VCOs, but a scope would be a 
great help for getting a good sine shape. Borrow one to get a good sine shape!


What is the difference between the 300 and the Micro VCO
>expected later this year?

The 310 micro VCO will be a 1U (X 5U) stripped down (in terms of features, 
not quality) without sine out  or PWM (hey Larry! Do you remember the 
specifics?).

Wondering where Bradley is to give you the five page DoMoaS lecture.
JB

If you built a 320, you will do fine with a 300 in my opinion.  The
tracking takes a while to adjust.  No scope required for that.  A good ear
to hear beating, something to compare it to, and patience will be your best
tools.  I found it was easier to do two at once that one at a time. 
However, I am now building my third, so I expect I might need to go back
and tweak # 1 and 2 while adjusting # 3.  I found that nothing I own is
perfectly in tune when tracking up and down the keyboard.  Not even the
digital stuff.

I agree with you 100% on the 320 LED.  I was too pleasantly surprised.  The
extra dollars for that puppy on the LFO was worth every penny.  Too cool.
Larry H

----------

> From: Nathan Hunsicker <nate@...>
> To: MOTM Newsgroup <motm@onelist.com>
> Subject: [motm] MOTM-300 Question
> Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 9:42 PM
> 
> From: Nathan Hunsicker <nate@...>
> 
> Hello all, just a few questions about the 300 VCO. Exactly how difficult
> is this module? I worked for 2 years in robotics R&D so I know a good
> amount. Is the difficulty in assembly or calibration?  I don't have an
> o-scope, is there any way i can get around getting one? (in a pinch I'll
> borrow one) What is the difference between the 300 and the Micro VCO
> expected later this year? Now that I've asked way too many questions, I
> have one good thing to say, After reading through the 320 LFO manual, I
> was expecting to see this incredibly dim LED, I was delightfully
> surprised to see it is as bright as it is, more than bright enough for
> my needs. -Nate (sitting under 2 feet of snow)
>

Hi Nate!

The 300 VCO is only slightly more complicated than the 320 LFO. I am still 
new to the list and MOTM but I just finished building a 300 VCO, 320 LFO, 
420 VCF, 110 Ring/VCA and 940 Power. The main difference is the amount of 
pot/switch wiring and tighter board layout. I don't have scope either. You 
can calibrate the VCO by a DVM and with your ear. There are only two 
adjustments to calibrate. One is sine shape and the other is the V/Oct 
accuracy. Very easy even for beginners.

Hope this helps-

Thomas White


>From: Nathan Hunsicker <nate@...>
>Reply-To: motm@onelist.com
>To: MOTM Newsgroup <motm@onelist.com>
>Subject: [motm] MOTM-300 Question
>Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 22:42:49 -0500
>
>Hello all, just a few questions about the 300 VCO. Exactly how difficult
>is this module? I worked for 2 years in robotics R&D so I know a good
>amount. Is the difficulty in assembly or calibration?  I don't have an
>o-scope, is there any way i can get around getting one? (in a pinch I'll
>borrow one) What is the difference between the 300 and the Micro VCO
>expected later this year? Now that I've asked way too many questions, I
>have one good thing to say, After reading through the 320 LFO manual, I
>was expecting to see this incredibly dim LED, I was delightfully
>surprised to see it is as bright as it is, more than bright enough for
>my needs. -Nate (sitting under 2 feet of snow)
><< nate.vcf >>

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I would also like to chime in on the LED issue. I am all for spending the 
extra dollars to make my new unit all blinky on stage and it helps you to 
remember the power is on at the end of those late night synth binges! I have 
some gear with tri-color LED's (M**ger Foogers) to indicate overload I think 
is pretty damn cool. Green-Yellow-Red style would be as great overload 
indicator for the mixer or VCA. Just my opinion!

This list is great for a lone synth junkie like me. I'm sure you all know 
what it's like to try and talk modular or cv/gate with a friend who stares 
back with patiently blank eye's like you're talking in greek ocasionally 
going uh huh, uh huh while nodding. I am a proud to be one of the first 100 
MOTM owners in the world and like the rest of you, I am more than anxious to 
see the future come into focus with new high quality modules and 
technologies from Paul and MOTM. I've got modular fever and I don't ever 
want to be cured! Enjoy friends

Thomas White

PS. Spoke to aliens last night with my MOTM. They should be placing an order 
next week for their own "space communicator" from Paul!!! (And I only have 4 
modules, Yikes man what can you guys with over 20 modules be doing?!!!Who 
has the most modules so far???)

From: "J. Larry Hendry" <jlarryh@...>
>Reply-To: motm@onelist.com
>To: <motm@onelist.com>
>Subject: Re: [motm] MOTM-300 Question
>Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 23:20:07 -0600
>
>If you built a 320, you will do fine with a 300 in my opinion.  The
>tracking takes a while to adjust.  No scope required for that.  A good ear
>to hear beating, something to compare it to, and patience will be your best
>tools.  I found it was easier to do two at once that one at a time.
>However, I am now building my third, so I expect I might need to go back
>and tweak # 1 and 2 while adjusting # 3.  I found that nothing I own is
>perfectly in tune when tracking up and down the keyboard.  Not even the
>digital stuff.
>
>I agree with you 100% on the 320 LED.  I was too pleasantly surprised.  The
>extra dollars for that puppy on the LFO was worth every penny.  Too cool.
>Larry H
>
>----------
> > From: Nathan Hunsicker <nate@...>
> > To: MOTM Newsgroup <motm@onelist.com>
> > Subject: [motm] MOTM-300 Question
> > Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 9:42 PM
> >
> > From: Nathan Hunsicker <nate@...>
> >
> > Hello all, just a few questions about the 300 VCO. Exactly how difficult
> > is this module? I worked for 2 years in robotics R&D so I know a good
> > amount. Is the difficulty in assembly or calibration?  I don't have an
> > o-scope, is there any way i can get around getting one? (in a pinch I'll
> > borrow one) What is the difference between the 300 and the Micro VCO
> > expected later this year? Now that I've asked way too many questions, I
> > have one good thing to say, After reading through the 320 LFO manual, I
> > was expecting to see this incredibly dim LED, I was delightfully
> > surprised to see it is as bright as it is, more than bright enough for
> > my needs. -Nate (sitting under 2 feet of snow)
> >
>

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Amen, brother.

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	thomas white [mailto:djthomaswhite@...]
		Sent:	Wednesday, January 26, 2000 1:59 AM
		To:	motm@onelist.com
		Subject:	Re: [motm] MOTM-300 Question

		From: "thomas white" <djthomaswhite@...>


		This list is great for a lone synth junkie like me. I'm sure
you all know 
		what it's like to try and talk modular or cv/gate with a
friend who stares 
		back with patiently blank eye's like you're talking in greek
ocasionally 
		going uh huh, uh huh while nodding. I am a proud to be one
of the first 100 
		MOTM owners in the world and like the rest of you, I am more
than anxious to 
		see the future come into focus with new high quality modules
and 
		technologies from Paul and MOTM. I've got modular fever and
I don't ever 
		want to be cured! Enjoy friends

> What is the difference between the 300 and the Micro VCO
> expected later this year?

300 - 2 units wide, 4 simultaneous output waveforms, hard sync and soft
sync, pulse width modulation, super accurate tracking and pitch stability,
linear and exp. fm.

310 micro vco - 1 unit wide, less expensive, not quite as accurate tracking
but still great, 2 waveform outputs, a triangle and a variable which can be
voltage controlled from a sawtooth to a square.

Attached is a panel mockup image I made at the time, as a result of the
discussion on this list.

Dave Bradley
Principal Software Engineer
Engineering Animation, Inc.
daveb@...


[This message contained attachments]

> Wondering where Bradley is to give you the five page DoMoaS lecture.
> JB

Harrumph. The life of a mystic and seer is a thankless one. I don't have all
the DOMOAS discussion thread handy, so I'll keep it to 5 lines or less so
the natives don't get grumpy.

Last we heard, DOMOAS is a pattern based performance sequencer, 10 units
wide. It uses a PIC microcontroller and will have open source code so that
determined users can change the software personality. It will have 2 rows of
8 pots, an alpha wheel, and a vacuum fluorescent display as the main user
interface, store up to 99 patterns of variable length, and have lots of
flexibility in setting up pattern chains for playback, with programmable
repeats, and panel inputs for gates to control jumping to new patterns, etc.
OK, so maybe I took 6 or 7 lines - sue me<g>.

Moe

Stooge Larry quietly snipping and pasting on the "list."

> From: "Dave Bradley" <daveb@...>
> Last we heard, DOMOAS is a pattern based performance sequencer, 10 units
> wide. It uses a PIC microcontroller and will have open source code so
that
> determined users can change the software personality. It will have 2 rows
of
> 8 pots, an alpha wheel, and a vacuum fluorescent display as the main user
> interface, store up to 99 patterns of variable length, and have lots of
> flexibility in setting up pattern chains for playback, with programmable
> repeats, and panel inputs for gates to control jumping to new patterns,
etc.