http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/wilba_mb_6582
I can't solder for shit though and it seems they're a bit down on touting for builders over there.
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hardcore, Australia
I'd ask celsius about this. I know he has an interest in building this kind of stuff for other people.
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WOW MAN!
Only downside to that is there's licences attached to the designs/boards to essentially prevent (discourage) you from buying the stuff with a commercial sale in mind. That's how I read it anyway. If you tout for builders on their forums you run the risk of being banned.
I don't know if that's driven by an ethos or there's some issue with patents/rights.
Seems crazy to me - I'd pay someone good money to build me one like in that link.
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Minneapolis
Wow, that's very very slick Neil. I have never done a project that big, otherwise I'd certainly offer to build it for you. Now, I have worked on machines like that, but never built one. Now, if you want one done extremely well you could ask Low-Gain, he does that kind of thing, but he's never got any time.
But, let me look the whole project over and see. I think if I ordered the PCBs from a design house it would make the whole thing piles easier, and I happen to have a whole bunch of C64s with working SIDs and broken other bits.
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VA
arfink, with the resources at our disposal now, building MBSID is not so hard. It is even accessible to newbies like me. I'm building one. It's kind of at a standstill for monetary reason, but it functions. It's sort of in this stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjqBk8K1Rac
smashTV sells PCBs and part kits. His site, along with ucapps.de has every piece of information you could possibly need, and the forum people are extremely helpful.
http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/
http://www.ucapps.de/index.html?page=midibox_sid.html
edit: When building an MBSID, you have a few options. You can build a regular MBSID v2 using the modular kits from smashTV (or do a true DIY job!), you can build a sammichSID, or you can build a MB6582. The only advantage that the 6582 has over the modular kits is that it provides for a more robust build because it is one big board rather than a bunch of modules. Also, the 6582 is meant to fit into this pactec case:
http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDet … 0TiA%3d%3d
Basically, the legwork and research on the 6582 is done for you, you just have to get the SIDs, work out your PSU, and not fuck it up.
The modular approach is cool if you have monetary limitations (you can do it a little at a time). Also, you learn more from the experience.
Last edited by Cartoon Bomb (Oct 4, 2010 4:57 pm)
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WOW MAN!
arfink wrote:
Wow, that's very very slick Neil. I have never done a project that big, otherwise I'd certainly offer to build it for you. Now, I have worked on machines like that, but never built one. Now, if you want one done extremely well you could ask Low-Gain, he does that kind of thing, but he's never got any time.
But, let me look the whole project over and see. I think if I ordered the PCBs from a design house it would make the whole thing piles easier, and I happen to have a whole bunch of C64s with working SIDs and broken other bits.
That is an exciting offer dude, absolutely amazing!
I'll try not to get too excited just in case.
*muffles girly squealing by biting on knuckles*
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Minneapolis
OK, well I just looked over the whole works quickly, and it doesn't look too bad. And by doesn't look too bad, it looks like a fine build, though because of the unified design I would not be able to afford to build it myself. XD I have all the tools, including a programming device for the PICs.
I also have a plethora of C64 PSUs and also 2 spare SIDs to get started with. So Neil, if you are interested in getting this built by me please PM me and we can discuss details. Obviously this is a big and expensive project and you'll want to talk about things, and I understand if you want to get it done by a more experienced builder too.
EDIT: I also looked at the SmashTV kits, and they look like a very very good deal to me. The baseboard parts kit can come with a pre-programmed PIC, but that's probably not necessary. As for the control surface board, he doesn't offer a kit of that, probably because the encoders / leds / display are all essentially customizable and it would be a big mess. But he does offer the PCB. And for a PCB that complex, $20 is a steal.
Last edited by arfink (Oct 4, 2010 5:07 pm)
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Tokyo, Japan
I am also in the "can't solder for shit" camp and I built a midibox sammich SID in 2 weekends. It was pretty much the first electronics project I ever did and it was a bad ass amount of fun. The build instructions for the midi box SIDS are very thorough. If you can't commission a builder, give it a whirl, you might surprise yourself. It's very very rewarding too. I'm going to builds shruthi1 and a midi box fm. Over the next few months.
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Melbourne, Australia
I'd be happy to talk about building this for you. I love building kits and was looking at this as a potential next build anyway. Send me a PM if you're interested. My work is clean and I'm way OCD about details so I could almost guarantee you'd be pleased with the outcome. I wouldn't want cash, just whatever the cost is. Maybe you could sling me some of your fine wares as an exchange or something *shrug*. Let me know.
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Minneapolis
Well, I can't beat free labor! 
Neil, if you want to have celsius do it then feel free, I just can't afford to do electronics work without a wage right now, being unemployed.
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Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA
Trash80 had my kit that he built up.. he was selling it. not sure if it sold.. you should contact him to see if he still has it.
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Melbourne, Australia
arfink wrote:
Well, I can't beat free labor!
Neil, if you want to have celsius do it then feel free, I just can't afford to do electronics work without a wage right now, being unemployed.
Fuck! Sorry dude, didn't mean to cut your lunch. 
In all seriousness, take arfink up on his offer. The postage alone from Aus might make it less attractive than having someone local do it.
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Los Angeles
low-gain wrote:
Trash80 had my kit that he built up.. he was selling it. not sure if it sold.. you should contact him to see if he still has it.
I sold mine. It was easy to solder. I'd say finding all the parts needed is the biggest issue.
If you ever need help just send me a pm.
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WOW MAN!
@ everyone: thanks for the offers of help and information.
I'm talking with arfink with a view to him building one for me. If it goes ahead then hopefully I can count on you all to help, should we need parts or information.
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Brooklyn, NY
Placing myself on call for advice/parts/labor.
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Cambridge, MA
Dam that looks amazing. About how much do you think getting each part would cost? I've been sorta flipping through pages but I can't quite come up with an estimate. I need to build one now!