[i]"having just watched it, please, please Fred, when you eventually come to promote your instrument, get someone who can actually play the damn thing, preferably in tune" - GordonC[/i]
OMG! That was awful! Are they trying to kill any serious interest in the Theremin..?
Dont worry Gordon - I certainly intend to "get someone who can actually play the damn thing, preferably in tune" - There are some good musicians on my list for the first 5 units, I am hoping (a real race - but it is starting to look possible) to have my first unit ready to transport + play on the 20th of this month, and get a lesson from Lydia on playing it (regardless of whether my Theremin is ready, I am still attending the workshop to get a lesson), and then there is "Hands off 2009" for which it will definately be up and running - and there will be some good Theremin players there - yourself included.
[i]"What about the kit market?
There is a 'thirst' there--- With the impending doom that the surface mount technology presents" - teslatheremin [/i]
The SM "doom" hangs over me as well - whilst I can get the components I need in conventional packaging at the moment, some (particularly the larger complex IC's)are likely to be available as SM only, quite soon.. My production PCB's are being designed with standard and SMD footprints for these parts.
Component-level kits are not realistic for this Theremin .. It is too complex (take a Theremax board, multiply its build complexity by about 4, multiply its testing / setup complexity [and equipment required] by about 5, and you get close to the complexity of my core unit).
I may supply pre-assembled / tested / calibrated boards for people to put in their own cabinets.. This would be quite easy-
One of the advantages of my design is that it is intended for enclosure in a screened box .. Any cabinet will work, provided it is completely lined on the inside with grounded aluminium foil / tape and particularly critical, the boards are mounted on 5mm spacers above a grounded conductor (foil or bare PCB copper) - Also, leads to the antennas are screened (length is quite critical - total length per lead is 30cm, which gives a loading of 25pf) so placement of these leads is not critical.
The antenna leads go to multi-pin screw locking sockets, to which the antennas are attached - One can change from left handed to right handed playing simply by swapping the antennas over - but one could as easily hard-wire the polarity, making it possible to have 60cm cable reach to the sockets (oscillator board in centre of cabinet, sockets 30cm away, one on the left, one on the right - enough to cater for most cabinets..
Because everything is at ground, metalwork (screws, hinges etc) in the cabinet will not affect performance..
Getting the cabinets made is a major headache, so I do intend to produce 'kit form' units.. But my inclination was to have these as "no soldering required" kits.. simply a set of boards mounted on a blank PCB panel, some pre-wired antenna sockets, wires going to screw terminal PCB connectors, and pre-wired control and socket panels with PCB (IDC) connectors ready to plug into the boards.. All ready to put into ones cabinet and start playing - auto-calibration taking care of any changes that have occurred since the unit was packed for shipping.
But - first - got to get MY one fully up and singing ... Ohhh - cant wait to play her! ;-))
Some pictures of the prototype (incomplete 'core') can be seen Here (http://www.therasynth.com/html/neon.html) - Particularly the antenna swapping principle. Also, the pitch antenna is directional - the effect of everything behind it is attenuated greatly.
This is a crude prototype - new, robust connectors are on order, and the plastic boxes used to couple the antennas to the sockets are a temporary prototype measure - Also, there is one biggish board required for the 'core' which is not shown here
OMG! That was awful! Are they trying to kill any serious interest in the Theremin..?
Dont worry Gordon - I certainly intend to "get someone who can actually play the damn thing, preferably in tune" - There are some good musicians on my list for the first 5 units, I am hoping (a real race - but it is starting to look possible) to have my first unit ready to transport + play on the 20th of this month, and get a lesson from Lydia on playing it (regardless of whether my Theremin is ready, I am still attending the workshop to get a lesson), and then there is "Hands off 2009" for which it will definately be up and running - and there will be some good Theremin players there - yourself included.
[i]"What about the kit market?
There is a 'thirst' there--- With the impending doom that the surface mount technology presents" - teslatheremin [/i]
The SM "doom" hangs over me as well - whilst I can get the components I need in conventional packaging at the moment, some (particularly the larger complex IC's)are likely to be available as SM only, quite soon.. My production PCB's are being designed with standard and SMD footprints for these parts.
Component-level kits are not realistic for this Theremin .. It is too complex (take a Theremax board, multiply its build complexity by about 4, multiply its testing / setup complexity [and equipment required] by about 5, and you get close to the complexity of my core unit).
I may supply pre-assembled / tested / calibrated boards for people to put in their own cabinets.. This would be quite easy-
One of the advantages of my design is that it is intended for enclosure in a screened box .. Any cabinet will work, provided it is completely lined on the inside with grounded aluminium foil / tape and particularly critical, the boards are mounted on 5mm spacers above a grounded conductor (foil or bare PCB copper) - Also, leads to the antennas are screened (length is quite critical - total length per lead is 30cm, which gives a loading of 25pf) so placement of these leads is not critical.
The antenna leads go to multi-pin screw locking sockets, to which the antennas are attached - One can change from left handed to right handed playing simply by swapping the antennas over - but one could as easily hard-wire the polarity, making it possible to have 60cm cable reach to the sockets (oscillator board in centre of cabinet, sockets 30cm away, one on the left, one on the right - enough to cater for most cabinets..
Because everything is at ground, metalwork (screws, hinges etc) in the cabinet will not affect performance..
Getting the cabinets made is a major headache, so I do intend to produce 'kit form' units.. But my inclination was to have these as "no soldering required" kits.. simply a set of boards mounted on a blank PCB panel, some pre-wired antenna sockets, wires going to screw terminal PCB connectors, and pre-wired control and socket panels with PCB (IDC) connectors ready to plug into the boards.. All ready to put into ones cabinet and start playing - auto-calibration taking care of any changes that have occurred since the unit was packed for shipping.
But - first - got to get MY one fully up and singing ... Ohhh - cant wait to play her! ;-))
Some pictures of the prototype (incomplete 'core') can be seen Here (http://www.therasynth.com/html/neon.html) - Particularly the antenna swapping principle. Also, the pitch antenna is directional - the effect of everything behind it is attenuated greatly.
This is a crude prototype - new, robust connectors are on order, and the plastic boxes used to couple the antennas to the sockets are a temporary prototype measure - Also, there is one biggish board required for the 'core' which is not shown here
