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Tom,
You are correct, if the wave shape is set to square the signal should be completely off on part of the wave cycle. But since this is a harmonic tremolo, you need to make sure the mix knob is exactly at 12:00 so both sides (hi and low) are working equally. Keep the depth knob at max when testing this. Also, in testing this, make sure the phase switch is set to “in” so both sides are working together, otherwise one side will be on while the other is off, making it hard to tell if either side is completely turning off.
The best test you can do to ensure the pedal is working correctly in this way is to put the pedal in calibration mode to test each side individually to ensure it is fully turning off.
This is most likely an issue with the analog side of the circuit, so re-flashing the pedal won’t help.The volume knob issue sounds like a bad solder joint somewhere in the signal path. Consider re-flowing all the joints in the signal path. Make sure to use enough solder on each joint and make sure you are using enough heat to get the solder to flow properly.
Let me know what you find after you test it in calibration mode.
-BrachThat is really cool!!!
Thank you so much for sharing! That’s a very good use of this new type of instrument. As a product designer/manufacturer, when developing something brand new, you often times have to show people what a product is good for and what it can do for them…to inspire them to try it themselves. I know the Altura has great potential, but we haven’t been very good at inspiring people with what it can do. So thank you for this video! I’d like to have our social media people post it, if it’s ok with you…?
I’m really looking forward to seeing your next video of your preferred methods for using it! Thanks again for your inspiration!
Take care.
-BrachThis issue has to do with the capacitive keyboard ground scheme and can be triggered by several things including the humidity of your environment. Often placing a finger on the edge of the circuit board can help stabilize this effect.
Make sure all the keyboard resistors are the correct values and soldered properly. Too much or too little solder can actually cause these types of issues. Proper soldering is important for stability.
This type of issue is commonly related to the type of power supply you are using. You can experiment with a different power supply. …Or try a (brand new) battery if you are using a plug-in wall wart or try a wall wart if you are using a battery.
-BrachCoffeepal,
Thanks for the suggestions and kind words about the Altura.
I don’t think it ever crossed my mind that anyone would use the Altura the way you are using it, by waving it around. I can understand that it is too heavy now with the metal case for that type of use. I think we might still have some acrylic case parts for the MkII, if you are interested in building an acrylic case for it. It would be much lighter than metal, but it may not be as light as cardboard.
Adding a sustain pedal would be a pretty intensive mod to the Altura, mostly because I believe all the microcontroller pins are currently being used for other things. Besides that, it would take re-designing the chassis and PCB to add an extra jack for the footswitch. But that’s maybe something we can try if we do another version of this product later. Thank you for the suggestion.
To answer your question about turning off each sensor…it is possible to put a switch on the power rail of each sensor. That would give you the ability to turn each sensor on and off as you’d like. On the 4-wire cable going to each sensor, pin 1 on the PCB (the square pad) is connected to the 5V power rail. If you add a series switch on that wire, I think that should work. You may need to add a small capacitor to ground on the sensor side of the switch, depending on how the sensors respond to being instantly turned off. But you can experiment to see if you need it.
Thanks again for your suggestions and comments.
Take care.
-BrachIF THAT DOESN’T WORK, you can test to see if the relay is working by very quickly connecting the round pad of one of the diodes (D2 or D3) to ground. This has to be done when the pedal in powered on. You can temporarily solder a wire to one of the ground points on the pedal and use the other end of the wire to quickly touch the round pad of D2 or D3. One diode pin flips the relay one direction, and the other diode pin flips it in the other direction. You should hear the relay clicking.
You can also check to see if there is continuity between all the components that are supposed to be connected (you might even want to do this before testing the relay)…As shown in the schematic:
Check to see that pins 13 and 14 of the microcontroller are connected to R32 and R31, respectively.
Check to see that the other pins of R32 and R31 are connected to the center pins of Q5 and Q4 respectively.
Check to see that the pins closest to the relay of Q5 and Q4 are connected to the round pads of D3 and D2 respectively.
When you check the continuity of these pins, put your meter probes on the pins AS CLOSE TO THE COMPONENT BODY AS POSSIBLE. Do not probe/test the pins at their solder joints. This is very important to ensure you are testing to see if the components are actually connected, not just the traces on the board that the solder joints are soldered to. This also makes it easier because you can do all these tests from the component side of the board.
Good luck.
-BrachYou are apparently getting power to the board (you are testing the wrong pins coming out of the 9V female power jack…use the 3rd pin on the bottom of the board). Are you getting 5 volts on the 5 volt test points?
Do any of the other LEDs turn on? If so, then the power LED is probably backwards. Have you tested it yet?
-Brach(I’m sorry about my spam filter!)
That’s great to hear! I’m so glad it’s up and working now.
I hope you enjoy your Quaverato for years to come!
Take care.
-BrachI agree that the problem is in the relay circuitry. The fact that you aren’t hearing a click means the relay either isn’t getting a control voltage to cause it to switch or it just isn’t responding when it does receive the control voltage.
Seeing that it used to work and now it stopped working, the problem is most likely a cold solder joint (I’m about 80% sure that this is the problem based on my experience helping people with this same type of issue). It’s very rare for relays to break and seeing that the other features of the microcontroller are working, that’s probably not the problem. It could be the transistors, but that would be much less likely than a solder joint going cold over time.
That’s all I can say for now.
Good luck!
-BrachWhat voltage do you get on the diodes…and on the microcontroller, according to the voltage chart?
-BrachIs the relay working? Work through step 5 of the troubleshooting manual. I hope that helps.
Good luck!
-BrachI’m sorry about your VPM-1 troubles.
Are you saying you’re measuring 4.15 and 8.80 thousand volts?! Are you sure you are using your multimeter correctly?
I don’t want to insult you, but you may not have the experience to successfully build this type of project. Unfortunately, the VPM-1 isn’t a very beginner friendly kit (as explained in the assembly manual)….the reason I’m bringing it up is because it may be difficult to help you in this forum if you don’t have the correct tools or much experience using them. You may need to take this kit to an electronics technician to get some live face-to-face help.
I’m sorry about this.
-BrachI’m sorry, I don’t think it got to us…could you please try to send it again: info”at”zeppelindesignlabs.com (change the “at” to the @ symbol).
Thanks.
-BrachSorry for the bad news. Static electricity is very sneaky. Over the years I’ve damaged several microcontrollers by what I can only assume is static electricity. These IC’s can only handle at most 13 volts on a pin, but a static discharge isn’t even detectable by our senses until it is over 1000 volts…so they are really easy to damage without knowing it. And most of the time it doesn’t completely kill the chip, it only damages part of its functionality.
Unfortunately, these flashed uCs are only available from us directly, not any of our distributors.
But yes, please contact me via email and we’ll discuss this.
-Brach
