Another quick one. A favorite among beginners - originally by Forrest Mims
I got an email this morning asking to check over a layout he'd found and also how to add a volume pot so I just did a new layout, built it and made some stupid noises for half an hour and now I'm posting it here.
this is obviously the version that is adapted to use 2 single 555 timers rather than 1 dual 556 timer but it's the same.
have fun.
Excellent! I've wanted to build one of these for years. Maybe I will now, with a clean new layout, too.
ReplyDeleteit's nice an compact too - I've put mine in a cassette box.
DeleteThanks Paul! I was the one who requested it by email. Thanks to you I didn't build the one with the errors!
ReplyDeletecheers for the idea to relive my youth haha
Deletethis was one of those occasions where it was quicker just to do a new layout than to
go through someone elses!
Ok so I just finished my first stripboard project! [Fist pump fist pump] I hooked up a linear, rather than a log (audio), pot for the volume pot and a puff of acrid magic smoke escaped from it! That was scary! I then bypassed the volume pot and made some cool tunes. In fact, this sounds far, far better than the Jameco kit which comes with a PCB and is made with a LM556 timer that I made a couple of weeks ago. That one was quite disappointing compared to this one. Now that I can hear the sounds as they are supposed to sound, I understand why it was given the moniker ATARI Punk Console.
ReplyDeletecheck that the cut next to C3 doesn't have any whiskers of copper left. there's not enough power to burn out a 470K pot on the output.
DeleteI did make it before I posted to make sure that the volume pot works (I used a linear one myself too)
however I'm glad your first stripboard project went well other than the volume pot issue - you'll have to build this one next http://www.paulinthelab.com/2013/09/devils-drone-sequencer-veroboard.html :)
the reason this sounded better than the jameco one is because stripboard is superior ! haha
Experience is everything! You were right about there being a short near that very cut which I detected with the continuity function on my DMM. The amazing thing was that even under a lighted magnifying lamp, I was unable to visually detect any spurious connection. I just kept carefully running the cut under a spinning drill bit until the continuity was finally broken. I still don't know if it was some solder or some leftover microscopic part of the copper trace causing the short. Regardless, since I have a whole bag of 555's I got off of eBay, I can now make some APC's for my nephew and cousins and maybe get them interested in electronics as well.
ReplyDeletecheck this for future projects - http://www.paulinthelab.com/p/tips-and-troubleshooting.html
DeleteI got a big bulk lot of 555s (5000 I think) from a grey market seller in china on eBay too - usually you can't go wrong for standard ICs and china bulk sellers. in all of my time buying grey market ICs (op-amps, 555s, CMOS 4000 series/74 series, DCtoDC converters ets) I've never had a bad chip - usually the bad ICs are the ones you have to program.
once you're a bit more confident you should try this project http://www.paulinthelab.com/2012/10/devils-triangle-drone-synth-stripboard.html (check the sound samples too) people love this one - they love it so much they've even ripped it off !
Hi paul, how do i connect the pots VR1 and VR2 ? Are they just used as variable resistors? only to lugs need wiring?
ReplyDeleteHi I've just finished this but it's not working and I think it's because I don't really understand the Variable resistor wiring. Should lugs 2 AND 3 of Variable Resistor 1 be connected to the row b, the same question goes for VR2? Or am I misunderstanding the terminology?
ReplyDeleteI would guess it should only be lug 2, but I'm probably just misunderstanding your schematic style!
Also! I have found several other schematics where the polarized capacitor at C3 has the polarities reversed compared to your schematic. I don't doubt that both works but it would be interesting to understand why, because I didn't think a polarized cap would work like that.
DeleteIt dont working .
ReplyDeleteWhy don't work . I solding samp pic strip . I cry
Is each pot 470k
ReplyDeleteSe pueden utilizar potenciómetros de 500k???
ReplyDelete