DIY: norns shield

[okyeron]

yes.

This is a side effect of the pi itself still having power and supplying it to the OLED, but the PI has shut down.

Investing in a usb power switch adapter like this (search around for others) - or a pi power supply with a switch built into the cable is pretty handy.

[stay_spooky]

Thanks! I do have a few of those cables with the switch built-in lying around, they just weren’t handy last night. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to corrupt the SD card.

[wblamkin]

just finished building my shield kit and thankfully got it working first try!! a lot more confident of my soldering now (oooor it’s beginner’s luck ) took a vid to share but this is my first post so no attachments yet, oh well. either way, can’t wait to dive into and i’m excited to join the community!

[Clashley1]

Got mine all soldered together in the middle of the night last night! Powered up without problems. I had time for just a smidgen of exploring this morning.
My mind is racing. So many possibilities.

[mattlowery]

Post CoVid OKC norns jam needs to happen!

[faneuil]

Ok to use a Rasp Pi 4?

Eric

To answer my own question: NOPE!
Just placed order for RP 3B+

[Hlp]

So sadly i am back to this issue, with 2 preamp stages even softly used, the beeeep gets too much. If you say data lines of the oled you dont refer to the oled header but something pcb internal? There must be some kind of filtering possible at the output? But then again this might alter the signal…still worth a try. Others dont have this issue? Any ideas?

Btw its unlikely to be a ground issue since i use isolation transformers afterwards wired trs.
Would it be possible to implement a fix software side within norns?

[cliffemu]

just to confirm for you, I don’t have this problem. I’m using a 5.1V/3A power supply.
I wish you luck trying to find the root cause.

[Hlp]

Thank you. The amper is the last thing i can think of trying since i am at 2A with different methods

[tehn]

i have seen noise problems (in the past, not with shield particularly) with bad solder joints— ie a partial connection. a might suggest reheating the joints on all the headers and oled.

also is your power supply 2 prong?

and no, this is not a normal issue for shields.any screen noise bleed should be very minor.

[Hlp]

I used 2,1a usb wall plug and 2a powerbank, since the pi asks 3a i will try that first and if still i ll reheat, thanks

[wblamkin]

does anyone have a favorite stereo splitter cable? i’m looking at a Hosa 3.5mm TRS to Dual 1/4" TS. i can use the headphone out on my laptop with the shield right now but would love to get it talking my guitar and eurorack as well!

[CarlosUnch]

I’d suggest getting a splitter with female sockets for mono ins. This way you can use any other cable length without worrying about the distance from the split itself. The guys at LOM made this for me.
I can get stereo in from the modular easily. I have a regular stereo splitter on the output to speak with the interface.

[wblamkin]

makes total sense!! just ordered something like that, can’t wait to start using the norns with more of my stuff!

[SimonKirby]

I’ve just got a knob farm ferry module, which works well for putting Norns into the signal chain in my Eurorack. It’s a stereo send and return module with mini jack outs and ins, and handles the step down and step up in levels needed to move from Eurorack to line-level gear like norns.

(I realise this wasn’t what you asked for exactly, but what’s the internet for if not to tell people stuff they didn’t exactly ask for )

[stay_spooky]

I tested my Hosa 3.5 TRS breakout cable and it worked fine for the stereo in on the Shield! It just treated each side as a mono channel. Had the outs coming from a Quadratt in my Palette case with two Mangroves doing their thing.

[wblamkin]

no this is great thank you! i hadn’t heard of this module before and it looks really useful! i’ll do some more research on send/return modules

[dborowik]

@tehn thank you for this beauty, it sounds as good as it looks!

I have slightly customised and 3D printed these knurled knobs to fit nicely in place, let me know in case any of you would like the STL file : )

[Freeways]

Hello lines community. I started perusing this forum a few weeks ago with a very vague understanding of the monome Norns, and while I’m still barely scratching the surface of what it does, it’s pretty clear in my mind that I want one. That’s partially because of all the quality music being produced with it, but also because I really appreciate this community and the level of knowledge that so many clearly possess. Before I make any big purchasing decisions though, I have a quick question. Someone has probably already asked this before, but how difficult would it be for me to build a Norns shield if I have no prior knowledge of soldering? I realize there’s no objective answer to this, but in someone’s opinion, is it worth it for me to go down this route, or should I just save up to buy a regular Norns?

[Jonlin]

It’s a pretty easy build in my opinion, I think it took me 30 minutes or less to put it together. I do have quite a lot of DIY experience though, but am far, far from a pro. I would suggest getting a couple of cheap Velleman kits (or similar) and build those first though, just to get some basic experience with a soldering iron and handling components.