Electronics hobbyist resources

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Here is a list of some resources for electronics related to music/synth diy:

Feel free to add your own into the thread, I thought it would be a handy resource since a few forum members seem to be interested. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but with enough participation it could be a nice repository for reference.

Parts suppliers: (mostly UK based, but not all)
https://www.thonk.co.uk/
https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/
https://www.taydaelectronics.com/
https://www.rapidonline.com/
https://cpc.farnell.com/
https://www.aliexpress.com/
https://www.profusionplc.com/index.html
https://buydisplay.com/

Resources/projects
https://hackaday.com/tag/logic-noise/
http://www.fluxmonkey.com/
http://musicfromouterspace.com/


https://syntherjack.net/category/project/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V9qerry_PsXTZqt_UDx7C-wcuMe_6_gyy6M_MyAgQoA/mobilebasic#h.0c5d2e1624d4
https://electricdruid.net/

Thatā€™s it for now, Iā€™ll probably update this post as I remember more and find new stuff.

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#2

Great idea! I was gonna suggest MFOS but itā€™s in there. Ray Wilson started my DIY synth hobby and Iā€™ll forever be indebted. RIP Ray. Electric Druid is another very good site. Tom is a great guy.

Another site I used to visit more on the audio side was ESP

https://sound-au.com/

Donā€™t overlook Small Bear too. Really good for some hard to find bits and bobs. Good for knobs and hardware too

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com

RS have got a lot more competitive on price too. Used to be extortionate.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/

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#3

https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=17

Muffā€™s Music Tech DIY

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#4

I was just going to say the same thing. Between the DIY forum on Muffā€™s (which is one of the most friendly forums around (the DIY sub-forum I mean)) and Electro-Musicā€™s DIY forums, thereā€™s not much one canā€™t find or learn. There are some REALLY advanced, and pioneering people in there that like to help out from time to time too. (people that have worked on some serious gear or at famous companies etc. too in some cases) If I didnā€™t have those as supplementary resources while learning, Iā€™d probably never have designed any of the circuits that Iā€™ve put out there. Highly recommended.

Also, this YouTube channel is incredible for more general knowledge.

My own personal knowledge is highly skewed toward analog modular circuits, but Iā€™m also happy to help if/when I can if questions come up. (or at least direct to other resources when I canā€™t help)

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#5

+1 for electro-music. Iā€™ve been a member for years. Mainly lurkingšŸ™‚

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#6

Nice thread :slight_smile:

Iā€™m thinking of burrowing down this path at the moment and considering a book or two, but specifically Iā€™m thinking of building some FX pedal kits to get started. Googling brings up a lot of stuff, so if anyone has some recommendations on well put together kits that would suit a beginner, that also sound nice, please recommend.

Iā€™m thinking of picking up the Make book on Electronics, not sure if thats a good place to start. Picked up Pedal Crush recently and its really piqued my interestā€¦

https://www.amazon.com.au/Make-Electronics-2e-Charles-Platt/dp/1680450263

Are these good? https://www.modkitsdiy.com/products

I also note a tonne of cheap stuff on eBay : https://www.amazon.com/Build-ownTremolo-Effects-Pedal-1590B/dp/B01J3950GW?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_4

I guess in the end I want to understand electronics a bit more.

Iā€™ve watched a few video on line where people seem to be desiging PCBā€™s with software, itā€™s really a black art to me. I guess they make stuff there, then order it someplace, and they get shipped the finished/proto circuits?

Would love to know where I can find out more about that manufacturing process

#7

Get stuck in!
I started out a while ago with some educational kits. And a book. Thats it. Built three of those. Then I made a multi meter( ballsed that up)
Last night I finished repairing and modifying my old SH101. So now it has midi and a kick arse sequencer and accent!

Basically electronics isnt that hard. Soldering is just a matter of practice. If you can read instructions and follow them, and pay attention to detail, its all fairly straight forward.

Enjoy!

1 Like
#8

For manufacturing PCBs there are tons of options, PCBway, DirtyPCBs, JLpcb, OSH park, itead, and plenty more, just google pcb manufacturing.

For designing PCBs there are also plenty of options, the most popular used to be eagle, but it has a steeper learning curve, I didnā€™t like it, there is fritzing, kicad, sprint layout, and a bunch of others, they all work slightly different some are free, some paid. I quite like fritzing (free) and sprint (paid).
Again google pcb design and try a few out, to order PCBs the software will need to have gerber export, most do.

I think some PCB houses even have their own design software that you can use, some will design the PCB for you too, for a price and a schematic.

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#9

This is a very noob question, but, home diy is basically the soldering iron, putting things together yourself, but with the software, you are basically laying out virtual circuits and transistors and chips and what not, and then sending elsewhere to be built and sent back to you? Obviously much cleaner and probably built by robots I take it.

How does one learn what all those components would be etc? Does the software kindve lead u through that, or it must be learnt elsewhere

Iā€™d imagine there are things manufacturing can do that home diy canā€™t?

#10

I think youā€™d normally build a real world prototype of anything you want to draw with the software first.
That establishes that it works and youā€™re using the right components and then you draw the circuit for the pcb.

edit - having said that there are packages that let you test circuits from just a layout, but I dunnoā€¦ my experience of electronics is definitely that you want to build a thing before assuming it will work as you expect.

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#11

I found this article just now which cleared a few things up for me.

https://www.wellpcb.com/pcb-prototypes.html

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#12

love these. better than boutique.

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#13

thanks!

looks cool too: https://www.electrosmash.com/

edit: i notice the shop at this link appears to be totally sold out, not sure if these guys are still active. which is a shame, the Pedal Pi looks great, as do their other projects

#14

Cool thread, didnā€™t notice before!

Letā€™s add my ā€œpusherā€ Phil.
Got the chance to build my modulars through him in 2016, when I tought that SMD was impossible!

https://pushermanproductions.com/

#15

Good advice. Unless youā€™re cloning a circuit that is known to work you should prototype your design first. TBH even then Iā€™d prototype and tweak before committing to CAD. This can be on a breadboard (that would be my first choice) or by using stripboard/matrixboard. Thoroughly test your circuit at this stage and make the tweaks that you need to design/layout wise. You should do all that before you thing about starting to do a layout in software. I use Diptrace, canā€™t complain with the results Iā€™ve had. I mentioned layout, donā€™t overlook this, especially if youā€™re thinking about guitar pedal sized circuits etc. Pick up a few books covering the practical side of PCB design and layout. You donā€™t need to go mad in depth, just be aware of the obvious pitfalls (crosstalk, ground loops, isolating HF circuits etc) most of its common sense once youā€™ve read and understood it.

DIY electronics is huge fun and it doesnā€™t have to be expensive. A half decent soldering iron, second hand CRT Oscilloscope, a multimeter and some hand tools and you should be good not only to go but to start to understand why your circuit wonā€™t go!

Prototyping in action!

image
image2592Ɨ1936 1.89 MB

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#16

or why it is on fire.

:wink:

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#17

They call it ā€˜magic smokeā€™ when that happensšŸ˜‚