Mo @mo@nitech.online

Just had an interesting thought about using a Z80 processor to make some sort of Eurorack module.

Holy shit. Ballycastle Harbour is absolutely freezing today.

2022 is the year we bought a house in Ballycastle and get to enjoy views like this whenever we want. I really can’t complain.

I will never not bawl my eyes out when hearing Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová perform Falling Slowly. It’s like raw emotion in a song.

The resistor was fine, but after checking the schematic I was able to work my way back from the non-functioning output/LED to the AND gate where it seems like I didn’t do a great soldering job. A quick touch up on 3 pins and everything is working perfectly now.

Have a Korg SQ-64 arriving in a couple of days. I have enjoyed using the SQ-1 with my #Eurorack gear but found the tiny little pots for the pitch voltage to be too fiddly for an optimal experience. I have a KeyStep Pro that is probably a better sequencer than the SQ-64 overall, but the keyboard gets me too tempted to think in terms of poly synths and lose the modular focus.

Tested it live in production (ie threw it into the rack rather than testing components/traces) and it all seems good except for the “1+2 4+7” jack. No LED or signal even if I’ve manually set all bits on the Turing Machine to on. Need to check the resistor I think.

Still not tested anything yet, but I’ll grab the schematic tomorrow and figure out the best way to test the components.

Feel like I need a double pronged soldering iron tip that I can apply to a blob on both pads at once so that I can put the component down a bit more symmetrically.

First foray into SMD components this evening. I still haven’t quite figured out my preferred technique. Currently using flux pen to prep the pads, then stick a solder blob on one pad and lightly tin the other pad. I then get the component (all resistors in this case) in the tweezers and heat the solder blob so that the component can be plopped into it. Heat still applied I push the other end of the component down onto the tinned pad then add a bit more solder to improve the joint.

For those who don’t celebrate #Christmas, I offer my thanks for your patience in listening to us go on about it. I hope I can be as respectful of your beliefs and/or traditions as you are of mine. Thank you.

Not going to mass. Could this day get any better?!

Okay. Do I do some experimenting with my modular gear this afternoon, or build a new rack case/PSU that I bought games ago as a DIY kit?

Quare fucking stretch in the evenings!

#IStandWithJohnMastodon

It took quite a few evening and weekend sessions in between family commitments, but my first proper @synthdiy build is done. A Music Thing Modular Turing Machine. Had a setback when I had to take the front panel back off in order to calibrate, as I didn’t have a screwdriver slim or long enough to get through the hole to the trimmer. All good in the end though. #eurorack

Support the striking nurses, please. But don’t support them because they’re saints or they fulfil some sort of Florence Nightingale fantasy you might have. Support them because they are workers who deserve to be fairly paid. Like the postal workers, the transport workers, and all the other workers who are striking now for fair wages.

Soldered my fucking hand tonight. My magnifying lens was too close to the PCB so there wasn’t enough space to work in. Think I need a higher strength lens.

Wee bit of DIY #Eurorack today. Finally worked up the courage to get stuck into the Music Thing Modular Turing Machine. I was watching along with a Mylar Melodies livestream from back in March, and it was nice to feel like I was building along with him. https://youtu.be/aiX8HkX2bxg