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Kilombo
Joined: Jul 03, 2017 Posts: 8 Location: Leipzig, Germany
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Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 8:39 am Post subject:
Populated the PCB, now what? |
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Hey everybody,
I started a VCO project a while ago. Didn't know anything about electricity before but with the great help from extraordinary nice people at a local hackerspace I managed to get to a fully populated PCB by now.
However, due to some trouble at the space (it is closing down) and lack of time on my side, I couldn't manage to find out how exactly to test this thing, which I want to do before soldering all the jacks and potis and continuing with the front panel.
From what I gather I need to hook the thing up to a power supply and an oscilloscope and adjust the trim-potis to fit, according to the explanation on the Yusynth page (great one, by the way, thanks a lot Yves!).
What I don't know is how to correctly plug things together. I simply added wires to the board where I think it is absolutely necessary (everywhere where there is supposed to be current, ground and the sine output). Then I thought to connect the wires via alligator clips to the power supply or the oscilloscope, respectively.
Is my basic assumption right? Which type of power supply is usable here? Which type of oscilloscope? The last time I had access to the appropriate gear I was very lost and couldn't get people to help me with something this basic.
I just need to know the vocabulary and how to use the gear in order to be able to determine my next steps. (Like where to find the gear to provide +15/-15V and the right type of oscilloscope). So that when a new space opens up in my city I know what to ask for and how. Or maybe friends already have that gear lying around and I simply don't know that it is appropriate for that.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance! |
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translucent
Joined: Sep 29, 2006 Posts: 8 Location: the Netherlands
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:19 am Post subject:
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While waiting for a new hackerspace, you might want to build one of the following circuits to help you getting things up and running:
Dual power supply and combine this with an AC wall adapter to keep lethal voltages out
A sound card oscilloscope in order to use your computer sound card as a simple means to do some checking (but please be aware that this has its limitations) |
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Kilombo
Joined: Jul 03, 2017 Posts: 8 Location: Leipzig, Germany
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Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 11:54 pm Post subject:
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Thanks a lot, that is some really helpful stuff. Seems like I can do that without any help. Bang good even has free shipping to Germany!
Have a good one. |
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wackelpeter
Joined: May 05, 2013 Posts: 461 Location: germany
Audio files: 10
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Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 6:05 am Post subject:
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translucent wrote: | Dual power supply and combine this with an AC wall adapter to keep lethal voltages out
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That's really a cheap price for a wall wart PSU. Assuming the wall wart AC/AC Adapter provides enough current, how much stable current can this tiny unit handle? Can't find any ratings on that side. _________________ https://soundcloud.com/bastian-j |
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Aottens
Joined: Mar 14, 2010 Posts: 33 Location: The Netherlands
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:39 am Post subject:
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Sorry for hijacking this thread, but that little power supply seems really useful! Does anyone know how to power this? I've read it can be done with both AC and DC, but what kind of an adapter do I need to get +15 and -15 VDC from it? For me it would be sufficient to only power 1 module at once so I can use this on my workbench for testing and troubleshooting my modules. |
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PHOBoS
Joined: Jan 14, 2010 Posts: 5591 Location: Moon Base
Audio files: 705
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:36 am Post subject:
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It can be powered by both AC and DC BUT it needs a dual supply to begin with. So either an AC transformer with
a center tap (or 2 connected together in series) or a dual DC supply. For a +/-15V supply you would need 2x15V AC or
2x 18V DC.
However, it is probably not very difficult to make a small adjustment so it can work with a single AC supply so you could
use a wallwart. You will end up with a circuit very similar to the one I am using:
The maximum current of the LM317/LM337 is 1.5A but you will probably need to add some bigger heatsinks for that.
oh and a belated welcome to Kilombo.
_________________ "My perf, it's full of holes!"
http://phobos.000space.com/
SoundCloud BandCamp MixCloud Stickney Synthyards Captain Collider Twitch YouTube |
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Kilombo
Joined: Jul 03, 2017 Posts: 8 Location: Leipzig, Germany
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:48 am Post subject:
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Hey, that's a great direction this thread is going, not hijacking at all, since this is exactly the kind of thing i want to dive deeper into. Might have to rename the thread if this continues down that road, though. Thanks everyone and thanks for the warm welcome!
As soon as my kit arrives I will probably have some more questions until then, keep it going. |
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Kilombo
Joined: Jul 03, 2017 Posts: 8 Location: Leipzig, Germany
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blue hell
Site Admin
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24079 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
Audio files: 278
G2 patch files: 320
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:13 am Post subject:
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Not a good idea ... those supplies will have the ground connected trough to the mains ground making it impossible to use it as a dual supply, it will end up as a short circuit when the mains ground is actually connected ... you could ground lift it .. but that's another bad idea for safety reasons .. and then these are switched mode power supplies which may not be a very good idea either.
I'd just use the idea given by PHOBoS and use an AC wall wart. _________________ Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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blue hell
Site Admin
Joined: Apr 03, 2004 Posts: 24079 Location: The Netherlands, Enschede
Audio files: 278
G2 patch files: 320
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