#41

I don’t know if this will be helpful to you, but here is Olivier Gillet of Mutable Instruments’ recipe for designing panels to be made by PCB manufacturers: http://mutable-instruments.net/forum/discussion/comment/124015#Comment_124015

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#42

brainstorming out loud here:

for the sake of simplicity, perhaps you could combine the two panels into one? get rid of the parameter knobs and add 4 more cv inputs? in the end the parameter knob is just a hand operated cv input…

now i personally like hand-operating, but swapping the param for cv-in allows folks more flexibility in how they hand operate. joystick, fsr, sliders, etc.

#43

I am so in on ordering a set of these! I can’t believe how rad these look. Great job man

2 Likes
#44

You can definitely fit 4 knobs and 4 inputs on a 4HP panel:

image.jpeg1936×2592 2.46 MB

image.jpeg1152×1548 1.26 MB

with that I would absolutely stick to the 4HP max for each expander (as opposed to 6HP etc.)

also agree that the idea of keepingthese two as separate units makes more sense to me in terms of allowing people to customize their setup based on their needs.

I will %100 buy the TELEX_1 and %99 buy TELEX_2 :smile: when they are ready!

#45

These both look fantastic! I will definitely buy Telex 1 and probably 2 later. Keep them 4hp

#46

Thanks to everyone for the feedback; definitely a lot to think about.

As far as @shellfritsch’s thoughts about ditching the knobs and simply adding more CV inputs, this is what it prompts in my noggin:

  1. I’ve been thinking of using the knobs as either standalone (with no CV plugged in) or as attenuverters for the incoming CV. I’m not wedded to it - it is just what I was thinking initially.

  2. Another option would be to make the knobs independent (as values could be attenuated in your Teletype scripts). That would double the number of values we could poll for (4 knobs and 4 CV inputs).

  3. Finally, we could ditch the knobs altogether and up the number of CV inputs to 8.

Keep in mind, we are polling for CV at a clocked/triggered interval. These values won’t be flowing into the Teletype each time they change. There also will be some (small) latency when polling depending on what else is going on. This fact makes me feel like the smaller number of inputs and knobs makes the most sense (option 1 or 2) - but I’m open.

I’m in agreement with @laborcamp that the modules should remain, er, modular; in fact, I’m considering putting some jumpers on each unit that would modify its address space so that more than one could coexist on the same II bus. This would allow you to add more than one of each type - should that kind of thing interest you.

This got me dreading trying to load this stuff into my rack. I have all of the current Monome modules (and a dedicated ORCA). It was a small nightmare to get everything wired in my shallow rack. In thinking of how to make this sane, I’m leaning towards this idea:

telex-v.13c.png1200×1200 34 KB

I added a 2HP module called simply Telex for an optional II hub that would allow you to plug each module into this little guy instead of having to daisy chain them. Should be able to get a bunch of connectors on the back of that thing - but I’ve not planned the board yet. I’ll also have to look into @tehn’s implementation if I2C as to how to go about making this happen; it should be possible.

Also, notice the 3.5mm stereo jack on the front of the Telex for connecting the Aleph’s II output. This will either take over the host responsibilities or, if the Monome implementation of I2C supports multiple hosts, they could both share the bus. The front II jack will need to be delivered plugged for those that don’t have the Aleph so that there isn’t an accidental patching of the digital signal.

Note, the Aleph will need a serious update to get current with the latest version of II and implement some meaningful functionality with the various modules in the family. But, it would be great to be able to use it to play in the ecosystem. (That little box is awesome!)

Finally, I also renamed the Telex-1 to Telex-O for Output and the Telex-2 to Telex-I for Input.

Let me know what you think!

b

4 Likes
#47

I thought about having duplicates (or triplicates). If that feature is included AND aleph can be linked via i2c???

Put me down for the whole set and depending on cost/availability i’d take a second telex-1 as well.

#48

excellent regarding fitting two jacks side by side!

for the 3.5mm jack with II on it, be sure there’s tons of protection (diodes) as it’ll be very common to accidentally plug 10v into that (and poof).

how does a teensy mount to a 4hp board? is it slim enough? (sorry, i could get out the calipers, but i trust you’ve checked)

#49

Here is a shot of the aforementioned Music Thing Modular “Radio Music”. Board is 19.5mm wide and the Teensy is 17.75mm wide.

Teensy on Radio Music.jpg3120×1755 1.08 MB

Depending on desired depth, it can be soldered directly to the board or put into removable headers.

It’s a cute little dude.

b

2 Likes
#50

The idea of being able to add multiples of each module is really smart! Totally convinced that that would be useful and important to include.

BUT
I am not so sure of the extra 2HP strip as a necessary piece to facilitate that. I think having this as the Aleph interface makes sense, but the TELEX expanders, in my opinion, would be best daisy-chained in the back. To me adding the 2HP just for connections is no different from making the expander 6HP in the first place.

I agree that chaining the Trinity to Teletype is a bit tedious, but only because the chain cable is so short/tightly spaced. If that ribbon had more wiggle room, it would work just fine.

Just want to reiterate though, that the whole prospect of the expanders being built makes me super happy! So glad this idea is taking off!

oh, and the names as TELEX-I and TELEX-O makes perfect sense!

1 Like
#51

Thanks for the great feedback.

Consider the Telex hub module completely optional.

I have an Aleph and would love to have a way to get it in on the fun. Also, for me, moving modules in and out is common and I don’t want to have to take out all of my II modules just to swap out one. Also, this will give folks the option of spreading them around a bit if they wish.

Cheers!

b

3 Likes
#52

This is obviously very premature, but have you given any though to a MIDI expander? (i.e. 2x MIDI DIN sockets for input and output).

There are some interesting things that could be done with that…

  • Trigger scripts 1-8 with MIDI
  • Output MIDI
  • Input variables… e.g. have X mapped to CC1
  • We could add 2 more scripts NOTEON and NOTEOFF that are run when notes are recieved along with a variable indicating what the note was (you’d need to be careful with regards to legato… but that’s not an insurmountable problem). Possibly even a note list / queue to deal with polyphony.
3 Likes
#53

FWIW, just this morning I’ve given this thing a closer look and it might almost do what you want:

It features a teensy 3 and a 16 bit TI DAC, with output buffers suitable for precision CV. It also has 4 ADC inputs and 4 trigger inputs. I don’t know what kind of signals this “II” expander sends, but the linked github mentions some header:

“the 8-pin header (OLED header) brings out MISO (teensy pin #12), too, so with some hardware hacking other/any SPI device(s) might be used (ie other than the OLED): ADCs, port expanders etc; as happened, for example, here, using an atmega328 as spi slave. a variation of this uses two MCP23S17s and illuminated tact switches. or pots be used instead of the encoders (more details re available pins below). the board could also be mounted vertically, as a 4-6HP module: there’s two mounting holes.”

edit. Well, I see the TT wants i2c not SPI.

1 Like
#54

yes i’ve considered midi out for a rev2 or standalone tt box. an expander would be a good option for this!

1 Like
#55

I love MIDI. MIDI from monome hardware would make me very happy indeed.

1 Like
#56

TELEX_M

and the family e x p a n d s :smiley:

2 Likes
#58

love the idea!

both Telex-I and Telex-O look great. for the input my vote would be to have 4 knobs + 4 inputs with the knobs attenuating the inputs, and the inputs normalled to 5v when nothing is plugged in. you can attenuate in code, true, but it would work better from a performance point of view to have dedicated attenuators. another option is to maybe have 2 versions of Telex-I, one with knobs and one with inputs only?

also, being able to connect multiple input or output modules would be incredibly useful, especially if there was a way to poll how many are connected - this would allow creating firmware that would adjust automatically based on how many inputs/outputs you have. and instead of re-using II for these i’d go with a new command.

#59

i’ve also been thinking outputs with a -5v to 5v range would be great.

4 Likes
#60

this ++

bi-polar outputs would be my biggest request. i’m guessing it’s not possible to change the teletype firmware to support bi-polar outs with the current hardware?

#61

no-- the hardware is hard-wired for 0-10v, which is why an expander is a perfect opportunity