ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Day 108 of - Couldn't post this last night, but Mastodon is working again, so here goes.

This is a front panel for a four-channel level meter, with two control buttons per channel. This connects into a larger system that I'm building.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Day 109 of - Here is the spacer panel that fits behind the above front panel.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Day 110 of - The LED board for the above module.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Day 111 of - The button board for the above module.

This plugs into an existing (and already well-tested) controller board, so this is the last board I need for this module.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Day 112 of - A variant of the front panel for the end of the meter bridge, showing the program output level.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Progress!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Buttons and level meters now operating as expected.

Next step is to write the Mackie Control Universal MIDI interface code, then I can hook it up to my DAW/Mixer as a live meter bridge.

A video of a meter bridge showing audio levels, with eight buttons at the bottom, four illuminated, one blinking.

nblr,
@nblr@chaos.social avatar

@ve7fim This looks like it could be one of the exceedingly few meters I’ve seen so far that can be considered an OK replacement for RTW meters - from an aesthetic perspective. Nice one!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@nblr

Thank you. That's high praise.

nblr,
@nblr@chaos.social avatar

@ve7fim It's sincere. Also like the touch of the 80s/90s serious-manufacturing style part numbers :-)
Looking forward to your updates. Sorry I didn't bother to check, but instead ask: do you intend to publish those designs?

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@nblr

Late 80's HP will always have a spot in my heart.

All the designs will (eventually) be released as open source, along with assembly documentation e.g. https://dslik.github.io/protonema/stamps/1031A/1031-8010.pdf

axwax,

@ve7fim

Wow, this looks incredible!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@axwax

Thanks!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Here's a zoomed-in view showing how the LEDs illuminate through the PCB:

aekis_projects,

@ve7fim That looks really nice, probably some of the cleanest PCBs as LED diffusors I've seen!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@aekis_projects

Thank you! It took a lot of tests to get it to this point, but well worth it.

jepyang,
@jepyang@wandering.shop avatar

@ve7fim @jacqueline That looks fantastic! What’s the, uh…resolution? (how many LEDs per column are under there?)

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@jepyang @jacqueline

32 RGB LEDs (plus the overload LED) per column.

I vary the intensity to approximate sub-pixel resolution.

x4nw,

@ve7fim oh shit that's dope

Onymous,

@ve7fim i do love a good vu meter, and this one is particularly lovely!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Day 133 of - Here's the updated rev of the controller board that powers this module (and a few other). This board uses a standard Pi Pico module.

moemoe,
@moemoe@chaos.social avatar

@ve7fim What are U3 to U5? SRV05?

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@moemoe

USBLC6-2SC6

Effectively the same thing, but with a pass-through pinout.

https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/detail/stmicroelectronics/USBLC6-2SC6/1040559

moemoe,
@moemoe@chaos.social avatar

@ve7fim The pinout looks like the part I usually use for USB Data Lines with some strange Würth Part # I can't remember.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@moemoe

I've been using them for both USB protection as well as I2c/serial/SWD protection.

f4grx,
@f4grx@chaos.social avatar

@ve7fim Thats very pretty!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@f4grx

Thank you! It turned out really nice.

They're RGB LEDs too, so that opens up all sorts of useful visualizations.

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

Here's two variants of level meters fully assembled and working.

The one on the left is showing CV and Gate, and the one on the right is showing stereo PPM audio levels.

There aren't too many negative CV signals in my setup, so I'm going to re-do the front panel and calibrations to create a variant that goes from 0 - 5V instead of -5V to 5V.

Video of two Eurorack level meters. There are eight cables plugged into the top. As four notes play, you see the CV and gate signals on the left, and the audio levels on the right.

k5em,
@k5em@mastodon.radio avatar

@ve7fim very well done. Looks awesome 😎

Mike_Parlee,

@ve7fim oooh! Very Star Trek!

ve7fim,
@ve7fim@mastodon.social avatar

@Mike_Parlee

To get the effect where you slide your finger along it and the lights follow your finger, I'd need to add a captive touch slider to the PCB: https://www.ti.com/lit/an/slaa891b/slaa891b.pdf

That would be pretty cool.

But I'm a big fan of tactile controls you can grab and feel and push and slide.

theterg,

@ve7fim @Mike_Parlee

Galaxy brain:
Use the undriven LED lines for captouch ;)

But seriously, this looks gorgeous!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • random
  • DreamBathrooms
  • mdbf
  • ethstaker
  • magazineikmin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • rosin
  • thenastyranch
  • Youngstown
  • osvaldo12
  • slotface
  • khanakhh
  • kavyap
  • InstantRegret
  • Durango
  • provamag3
  • everett
  • cisconetworking
  • Leos
  • normalnudes
  • cubers
  • modclub
  • ngwrru68w68
  • tacticalgear
  • megavids
  • anitta
  • tester
  • JUstTest
  • lostlight
  • All magazines