MOTM

yesterday i received my first motm shipment, as well as completly 
building my first module.  i am now officially part of the family.  
i must say the directions were easy to follow, and the building 
process was a pleasure.  thanks to paul for making things so well 
laid out, and easy to work with...

i guess i should admit that i have only built the power source.  
anyways, i am sure i will be cursing paul eventually when i get lost 
in a pile of resistors.  as this was my first soldering project 
ever, i must say that this was a great way to start out a new 
venture in kit building, and i am itching to crack open the next 
kit, and to begin getting my hands a little bit dirtier.

thanks.
kyle.

> i guess i should admit that i have only built the power source.  
> anyways, i am sure i will be cursing paul eventually when i get lost 
> in a pile of resistors.

FWIW before any assembly I cut small strips of masking tape, label the
non-sticky side with the resistor values, and then 'stick' the wire ends
of all of the corresponding resistors to the sticky side of the tape.
That way I can concentrate on assembly and not on identifying resistors at
the same time.  (Same for some cap's).
Jeff

I hang on to the little pieces of styrofoam that the ICs come in.  Then, when I start a new project, I group the resistors by value and stick them in the styrofoam by group in the order they are put in the PCB.  This way, I can check that I have the right amount before I get too far into the project.  And it's easier to find the next set of resistors to plug in.  (Of course, it's always a good idea to double check your groups as they are pulled from the styrofoam.)

BTW, welcome home, tuckerror.

--PBr

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeffrey Pontius [mailto:jpont@...]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 11:41 AM
To: tuckerror
Cc: motm@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [motm] part of the family.


> i guess i should admit that i have only built the power source.  
> anyways, i am sure i will be cursing paul eventually when i get lost 
> in a pile of resistors.

FWIW before any assembly I cut small strips of masking tape, label the
non-sticky side with the resistor values, and then 'stick' the wire ends
of all of the corresponding resistors to the sticky side of the tape.
That way I can concentrate on assembly and not on identifying resistors at
the same time.  (Same for some cap's).
Jeff

Heck yea!  I watched-- er, listened to-- three Kevin Smith commentary tracks (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy) while doing some assembly not too long ago.  It's great not to have to watch a movie to enjoy it.

--PBr

-----Original Message-----
From: Tkacs, Ken [mailto:ken.tkacs@...]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 11:53 AM
To: MOTM Forum All
Subject: FW: [motm] part of the family.



I find that sorting & soldering in front of the TV is great as long as you
are concentrating on the assembly, not the tube. But for me, it's good for
playing all those "commentary tracks" on laserdiscs & DVDs, where you can
listen to the sound but don't really need to see the picture.

I kind-of do the same thing, except I sort them into a partitioned 
plastic box.  Sorting is the second ritual of MOTM.  The first is 
reading the instructions through.  I turn my iron on as I'm sorting, 
and the smell let's me know that I am performing the ritual correctly.

Mike

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeffrey Pontius <jpont@k...> wrote:
> > i guess i should admit that i have only built the power source.  
> > anyways, i am sure i will be cursing paul eventually when i get 
lost 
> > in a pile of resistors.
> 
> FWIW before any assembly I cut small strips of masking tape, label 
the
> non-sticky side with the resistor values, and then 'stick' the wire 
ends
> of all of the corresponding resistors to the sticky side of the 
tape.
> That way I can concentrate on assembly and not on identifying 
resistors at
> the same time.  (Same for some cap's).
> Jeff

Kyle

Start with the easiest modules, like the envelope generators, and 
then proceed onto the harder ones. 

Go to Larry's site, www.wiseguysynth.com, and check out the assembly 
photos of the projects that he's done. He's got large digital photos 
of many of the boards in process. Print out the picture that shows 
the PCB with organic soldering completed. It will provide you a 
good reference for how your solder joints should look and also part 
orientation. Make sure you understand the orientation of each IC, 
diode, etc. Paul's instructions mention any parts that need to be 
specifically oriented, but the photos will help.

Here's an example:
http://www.wiseguysynth.com/larry/motm/830/830_05.jpg

Here are a few more tips:
Take breaks when Paul's instructions say to. It will help you avoid 
simple mistakes that are hard to correct, like putting an IC in 
backwards. I learned the hard way on this, and had to unsolder a 14-
pin IC on a VCO. I was sweating!

Get all the basic tools that Paul recommends, especially a good iron, 
socket wrench, magnifying glass, lead former and heat gun. Good tools 
make a big difference.

I didn't understand VIA holes from Paul's instructions (I'd never 
done any board assembly either). On your boards, there are some 
little holes that no parts go into. You fill these with a little 
solder - it just helps ensure that there is a good connection from 
the front of the board to the back.

Congratulations for getting into MOTM - you picked well!

On Fri, 14 Mar 2003, Mike Marsh wrote:

> I kind-of do the same thing, except I sort them into a partitioned 
> plastic box.  Sorting is the second ritual of MOTM.  The first is 
> reading the instructions through.  I turn my iron on as I'm sorting, 
> and the smell let's me know that I am performing the ritual correctly.
> 
Hmmm, I never thought of the act of assembling motm modules quite like
this - sounds quasi-religious.  Mike, do you hear the "motm-god" emanating
from your modules?
:-)
Jeff (pondering the afterlife of motm - I suppose a motm modular as large
as I could ever want with exactly sized patch cords and no worries about
the amount of power or cabinet construction)

>
>Here's an example:
>http://www.wiseguysynth.com/larry/motm/830/830_05.jpg

Are those OP285 in a DIP package?!  Where can I get those??

Anyway, I use egg cartons to sort parts.

Btw, I'm back, and still catching up on my email :)

OP285s in DIP *no longer exist*. I bought the world's remaining stock last Sept.

Paul S.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: <media.nai@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 4:58 PM
Subject: [motm] Re: part of the family.


> >
> >Here's an example:
> >http://www.wiseguysynth.com/larry/motm/830/830_05.jpg
> 
> Are those OP285 in a DIP package?!  Where can I get those??
> 
> Anyway, I use egg cartons to sort parts.
> 
> Btw, I'm back, and still catching up on my email :)
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> 
>

God speaks to me through MOTM... :>

Yeah, it's a real ritual with me.  I have to have my special 
toothbrush for board washes or the thing won't work right when I 
power up. When you're as skilled as I am, superstition works best!

Alternative rational explanation: since I ritualize the process, it 
means I don't skip a step or get careless.  It's easy with Paul's 
kits, not so easy with, say, Tony's boards because then I don't even 
know if the parts are all correct (since I buy them myself).  I have 
a much spottier track record when I have to do more than my MOTM 
ritual.

Oh, and the last part of the ritual? Turn it on and make it squeak.

Mike

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Jeffrey Pontius <jpont@k...> wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Mar 2003, Mike Marsh wrote:
> 
> > I kind-of do the same thing, except I sort them into a 
partitioned 
> > plastic box.  Sorting is the second ritual of MOTM.  The first is 
> > reading the instructions through.  I turn my iron on as I'm 
sorting, 
> > and the smell let's me know that I am performing the ritual 
correctly.
> > 
> Hmmm, I never thought of the act of assembling motm modules quite 
like
> this - sounds quasi-religious.  Mike, do you hear the "motm-god" 
emanating
> from your modules?
> :-)
> Jeff (pondering the afterlife of motm - I suppose a motm modular as 
large
> as I could ever want with exactly sized patch cords and no worries 
about
> the amount of power or cabinet construction)

Oh, so YOU'RE the one.

At 5:32 PM -0600 2003/03/14, Paul Schreiber wrote:

>OP285s in DIP *no longer exist*. I bought the world's remaining 
>stock last Sept.
>
>Paul S.

All excellent suggestions.  Here are a few more
things:

You will need to buy thermal compound.  This is NOT
documented on the MOTM site to my knowledge.  You will
need it for several kits (most notably the MOTM-300). 
It is documented well within the appropriate kits. 
But it is a bummer to have to encur any more delayed
gratificaiton while you obtain it.  Do to federal
postal regulations, Paul is not able to include it in
the kits--or he would.  So go buy some now....

Lead spacing for most resistors, diodes and ferrite
beads is 0.4".  The lead bending guide works great for
these.  What is not documented is that most of the 
axial capacitors have a lead spacing of 0.3".  So
don't do what many of us have done on our first kit
(or two) and go ahead and bend the axial capacitors at
0.4".  Unfortunately the lead bending guides that most
of us possess do NOT include 0.3".  To compensate for
this, bend your axial capacitors over the butt end of
the guide to get the perfect lead spacing.

I used to always use a PCB holder to do my work.  As I
have progressed, I often use a piece of foam to work
on top of.  This helps keeps all of the parts of a
similar height pushed tightly against the board.  But
it does not add any stability to the board, so you
really have to have a soft touch to utilize this
method.  Jim Patchell's Fancort assembly jig was my
initial inspiration for this
(http://www.silcom.com/~patchell/synthmodules/assemframe.jpg).

Finally, the order that Paul gives for doing things is
not sacred.  It is a great guide for beginners though.
 As you build kits, you will find that it is probably
easier for you to do a few things in a slightly
different order.  So once you feel confortable with
the process, don't be afraid to fine tune it a bit. 
If the order is really important, Paul notes that
clearing in the directions.

Solder Jockeys Unite!

--Shemp

> Start with the easiest modules, like the envelope
> generators, and 
> then proceed onto the harder ones. 

> Here are a few more tips:
> Take breaks when Paul's instructions say to. It will
> help you avoid 
> simple mistakes that are hard to correct, like
> putting an IC in 
> backwards. I learned the hard way on this, and had
> to unsolder a 14-
> pin IC on a VCO. I was sweating!
> 
> Get all the basic tools that Paul recommends,
> especially a good iron, 
> socket wrench, magnifying glass, lead former and
> heat gun. Good tools 
> make a big difference.


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online
http://webhosting.yahoo.com