SynthModules

Future PSIM Owners -

I am glad to hear that delivery is nearing!  While your frustration is
understandable, temper it with the fact that the PSIM is worth the wait.
 Having had mine for 11 months now, I would hand mine over for a year if
I had to... as long as I knew it was coming back!

I will miss seeing Brice at AHMW.  It's hard to "know" people online,
and he's a warm, down-to-earth person.  A true synth-geek too :)

If you are in the midwest and can make it to AHMW, I will be doing a
little "PSIM Introductory" workshop.  Afterwards, I will Web-O-Tize (tm)
as much of it as possible and post a link.

http://www.ph.k12.in.us/~drew/ahmw

Andrew

>>> synthmodules@synthmodules.com 03/10/05 9:23 AM >>>


Larry (and everyone else),

Sorry for the delay in replying.  I missed the message and haven't had
time to weed through all the emails (yes, I get over 1,000 spam
messages a day to my primary email address).  Anyway, "Super Sunday"
has actually been three (3) super Sundays so far.  All of the boards
are about 80% populated with only a few components remaining to be
stuffed.  This last Sunday we made the most progress so far.  The
prior two Sundays I was "out" with both the flu and a sinus infection.
 I was on some pretty strong antibiotics but finally kicked it.  I
missed work for a week... but there was no way I could build anything
during that time.  (I work with computers every day and if any of you
know what an Intel Prescot is... I now know what they feel like.  With
a temp of 104 deg. F... I needed a larger heatsink!  hehe)  But, like
I said, last Sunday we made a lot more progress and I hope to be
firing up the soldering iron shortly.  I'm making a little progress
every night, but by the time I get home around 8 PM, I'm already
exhausted and can not afford to make mistakes because I'm tired.

Again, I'll be shipping all the partials as soon as they are ready. I
*will not* compromise anything as far as testing goes to get them
shipped faster.  Each module takes at least one full hour of testing
before I'll let it go out the door.  If I wouldn't want it in my
system... it's not going out the door until it's 100% perfect.  I know
I want to get them shipped as quickly as possible (just as everyone
who has waited so patiently wants to get them as soon as possible),
but I'm not going to take shortcuts when it comes to the final
testing.  The fully assembled modules will then be finished... again,
all at once.  All the panels are already populated with jacks and
switches.  It shouldn't take more than a couple days to get them
wired, tested, and ready to ship.  We are nearing the end of this
batch and I'm really getting excited.  I *never* intended for it to
take this long.  For that, I am sorry.  I've learned a LOT of
important lessons here and won't be making the same mistakes twice. 
Yes, I plan on offering another batch of PSIM-1 modules... but they
will be going through a slight redesign to make manufacturing easier
(more details on that later once all these have shipped).  I haven't
given up on the plans for a MIDI interface and a SpeakJet module...
but these remaining PSIM-1 modules have to be finished and shipped
before I will even think about the add-on modules.  Also, I ran across
an article in a recent issues of "Circuit Cellar" magazine that
outlines interfacing a microcontroller to flash storage devices (as in
SD cards).  No promises... but we may have a way to *store* programs
on flash cards (or possibly a USB drive) if I can come up with a way
to interface a bootloader to the Hitachi H8.  I know one PSIM-1 can
program another PSIM-1 (yes, it really can)... so a new module that
stores hundreds of programs for the PSIM-1 isn't out of the question.
 That's about all the thought I've put into it so far... but there is
a glance at the future of where SynthModules is headed.  I'm also
sitting here with 150 LCD displays... and need to figure out something
to do with them.  Anyone have a suggestion?  :)

By the way, I have two completed PSIM-1 modules here already that I'm
using as "templates"... so two of you out there will be getting
modules dated much earlier than these.  Consider those special modules
as they have been through extensive testing and used as templates for
a lot of these modules.

Another update, I will not be able to attend the AHMW 2005 gathering
on March 26th, 2005 due to my work schedule.  I can only get one
Saturday off each month (if that... as I haven't had a Saturday off in
four months) and this Saturday I have to attend my wife's
grandmother's funeral.  So, while you are all enjoying the greatest
gathering of the best bunch of people with the most incredible analog
synth gear in the world... I'll be working.  :(  If someone could
please take lots of photos and maybe record some live sounds for me
I'd appreciate it.  I've looked forward to this for the last twelve
months... and then at the last minute, had to change my plans.

More details about AHMW 2005 can be found here:
http://www.ph.k12.in.us/~drew/ahmw/

Take care everyone... I'll keep in touch with more regular updates. 
Right now, I'm still finishing up stuffing parts.  I'll let you all
know when that's done and I'm onto soldering, cleaning, testing, etc.
 I plan on uploading a photo of all the completed boards together. 
It's already quite a site.

Again... thank you *ALL* for your patience with me on this.  As I'm
sure anyone who already has a PSIM-1 can/will tell you... it's worth
the wait.  I just really wish I could have gotten them out faster.

Best regards,
Brice
http://www.SynthModules.com 


--- In SynthModules@yahoogroups.com, Larry Hendry <hendrysr@y...> wrote:
> Brice, Can you bring us up-to-date on progress since and including
> "Super Sunday."
> 
> Thanks
> Larry Hendry







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