5 into 1 Analogue Systems to Doepfer Bus Adaptor/Expander

The new 5ASM2DB Analogue Systems Module to Doepfer A-100 Bus Adaptor/Expander is now in stock and available to order. 

SchneidersLaden have stock of 5ASM2DB which can be ordered from their website at http://www.schneidersladen.de/en/manufacturer/synovatron.html.

For DIY enthusiasts it is also available as a kit or as a bare PCB direct from Synovatron (please email synovatron@btinternet.com). 

The 5ASM2DB offers five Analogue Systems sockets on one small circuit board with low-current LED indicators to show that ±12V and +5V power is available. It comes with a ribbon cable to connect to the A-100 bus and four self-adhesive nylon PCB mounting pillars (you can of course use screwed in pillars so a drilling template will be provided).

If you have several Analogue Systems modules in a Euro rack then the 5ASM2DB could be a better alternative to using several ASM2DB Adaptors because it expands the bus and frees up A-100 Bus connectors for Euro modules; it costs roughly the same as three ASM2DB Adaptors. ASM2DB and DM2ASB Adaptors are still available.

5ASM2DB Adaptor/Expander

5ASM2DB Adaptor/Expander

5ASM2DB DIY Kit

New product preview

This is a design that has been hanging around for over a year in a 95% complete state but I have now taken the bold step of finishing it and going into production. It is called the 5ASM2DB and is a 5 socket version of the popular ASM2DB Analogue Systems module to Doepfer bus Adaptor. It is fabricated on a small circuit board and has 3 LEDs that indicate the presence of ±12V and +5V. The 5ASM2DB will be supplied with 4 self-adhesive nylon mounting pillars and a short ribbon cable so it can be placed adjacent to a busboard and linked via the ribbon cable (standard Euro rack 16 pin cable). It is not recommended for use with the Analogue Systems RS-370 as this draws a whoppng 680mA from the 5V rail.

It will be priced at roughly that of 3 ASM2DB Adaptors so the aim is you get 5 for the price of 3; which will be of interest to those of you with many Analogue Systems modules to go in a Eurorack case.

Availability is from mid-September and will also be available as a DIY kit and as a bare PCB for the more adventurous DIYers. Here's an image from the CAD package - it will not be red BTW!

Confused by Cwejman ribbon cables?

I received an order to build some Cwejman standard ribbon cables that were 40cm long. Up until then I had no idea they were different to standard Eurorack cables. So here is what I found out and hopefully this takes the mystery out of it for anyone who is lucky enough to own one of these top modules (and it's also a sales plug - no pun intended).

Eurorack DIY Prototyping Cards Rethink

Post updated 3rd July 2018

The Synovatron Eurorack DIY Kits have now been discontinued. Because many of the kit components are easily available from online retailers it made sense that Synovatron just provides the unique (e.g. PCBs) and harder to source parts (e.g. pot brackets). This provided a great opportunity to reassess the PCB designs rather than just reorder more of the same.

What has emerged is a revised and rebranded Eurorack prototyping solution that is more usable and more elegant than before. The revised product revolves around three PCBs in the Synovatron Proto series: ProtoPotz, ProtoJax and ProtoXp. 

The new Proto PCBs' holes line up with each other to allow each board to be stacked one on the other using header plugs and sockets; allowing power and signals to be routed between boards without resorting to linking ribbon cables. Here is an example board stack-up:

ProtoJax, ProtoPotz and ProtoXp boards stacked together

Examples of headers and sockets used to stack the boards

ProtoPotz

ProtoPotz is the direct replacement for DIY1 PCB (as used in DIY Kit 1 and DIY Kit 2). It is designed to hold up to five 16mm P160KN series pots using brackets. What's new about it?

• Plated-through holes for robustness and convenience, essentially it's a double-sided PCB. 
• Better supports the A-100 bus with dedicated positions for 10 or 16-way open or boxed headers, small electrolytic capacitors and protection diodes (to protect against reverse power connection.

ProtoPotz pot breadboard PCB

Here is the range of pots available from Mouser that Synovatron recommends for use with ProtoPotz:-

ProtoJax

ProtoJax is an evolution of DIY2 and DIY3 PCBs. It is designed to hold up to five Cliff CL1384 3.5mm mono jacks. It is almost identical to ProtoPotz except it has footprints for jacks instead of pots and another two rows of breadboard holes. What makes it more advanced than DIY2 and DIY3 pcbs?

• Larger breadboarding area. 
• Supports the A-100 bus similar to ProtoPotz.

ProtoJax jack breadboard PCB

ProtoXp

ProtoXp is a completely new PCB. It is an eXpansion board designed to add more breadboarding area to ProtoPotz or ProtoJax boards. It's features are:-

• It has a cutout that allows the A-100 bus ribbon cable connector to fit without fouling on the ProtoXp board. 
• The same ±12V power bus structure as the ProtoPotz or ProtoJax boards.

ProtoXp expansion breadboard PCB

DIY2 jack breadboard PCB

 

DIY3 jack breadboard PCB

Analogue Systems to Doepfer Reverse Adaptor

Here is the prototype of the Analogue Systems to Doepfer Adaptor variant that I promised a few days back (The production version is now available. Edit Jan 2012) The adaptor uses a 16 way DIL turned-pin IC socket on one side and a PCB mount header socket on the other side; the version shown below is just a prototype using a cut-down header socket, it's a bit rough but demonstrates the principle - which is it allows you to use an Analogue Systems module with its cable in a Doepfer rack.

AS ribbon cable connector - note the red stripe at pin 1 (top) end

Here you can see the pin 1 and TOP markings

Doepfer bus board connector

Adaptor fitted to my AS RS-35 Module - note the red stripe at the top

The order code for the socket-to-socket version (above) is ASM2DB Adaptor (or Analogue Systems Module to Doepfer Bus Adaptor). The code for the plug-to-plug version is DM2ASB Adaptor (or Doepfer Module to Analogue Systems Bus Adaptor). The product page has been updated showing the production versions available for sale. 

Analogue Systems to Doepfer Adaptor

Hi all and a very happy new year to you all, I've been a bit slow with my first 2011 posting but have been busy.

I saw two enquiries on the Analogue Systems/Doepfer forums for adaptors to enable Doepfer modules to be used in old-style AS racks which are those with just 16-way dual in-line IC sockets; the newer types also have a few Doepfer header connectors. It seemed that the usual sources had dried up so I did some checking to see how this had been addressed in the past.  

There were two approaches; the first was to use a very messy ribbon cable adaptor that is not 1:1 which must have been nightmare to assemble, the other was a small PCB which allowed a Doepfer ribbon cable to mate with an Analogue Systems ribbon cable and this, I thought, was a bit awkward especially as it just sits anywhere in the rack with bare contacts that could easily short out on the metalwork.

I set about designing a solution which I think is really neat, onubtrusive and quite versatile. Here it is; this is the first build of a 100 PCBs and already have orders for 12 of them. Note the red stripe - just line up the Doepfer cable's red stripe with it.  The adaptor is also marked with pin 1 and an orientation mark so pin 1 goes to the top (in fact to pin 1) and the red stripe goes at the bottom - SIMPLE!

The above adaptor is barely bigger than the IC socket and allows you to do the following:-

1. Use a Doepfer module and ribbon cable in an AS rack - it plugs into the AS bus board.
2. Use an AS module and Doepfer cable in a Doepfer rack - it plugs into the AS module socket.

Here is the adaptor plugged into an AS module and below a Doepfer cable is fitted to the adaptor.  This is my only AS module and it's the RS-35 External Interface which has two connectors and the top one doesn't really have enough clearance to fit a standard vertical header so it's probably not the best example but never fear.  As far as having two connectors goes it's simple to fit two Doepfer headers at one end of a ribbon cable (which I will gladly supply) and the adaptor can be made with a right-angle header so it doesn't protrude too high (again I will gladly supply those too - this will all be posted up on my Products page in a jiffy).

Not groundbreaking, not rocket-science just a bit of thought and careful design and in case you are wondering yes it does translate the connections so that all the supplies are in the right place.

In a few more days I'll also have a variant that will plug into a Doepfer bus board to give you AS sockets so you can just keep the ribbon cables you have already.

Please note that Doepfer and Analogue Systems are registered trademarks and that Synovatron is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, either company.

Eurorack synth prototyping products now available

Please check out the product and support pages on this blog. 

Kits and cables are also available through eBay; just search "Modular synth prototyping kit" or click here