New to MegaDrum - beginner questions

[jamdat]

I am interested in building my own electronic drum set in order to learn several things (such as how to play, and how they work). I have no previous experience in this field, but learning is the exact reason why I have decided to do this (plus, I'm a DIY addict! ). As part of the learning experience, I want to build a megadrum controller. Now, as with the drumming itself, I have no experience – but again, it’s for learning. I do have basic electronics knowledge in the sense that I know what resistors, capacitors, and inductors are, how they function, what IC’s are, and I know how to read a basic schematic. I have also done some very basic soldering. I have several questions before I launch into this.

I plan on making a board by following the v2.5 schematics provided by Synthex. By reading this forum, I see that several people have compiled detailed component lists. There is an electronics store close to where I live and it would be nice if I could buy many things from there. I see several items on the component list (such as resistors and capacitors) which seem very generic. Might I be able to walk into this store, look for “4.47 kohm resistor”, and choose the one that is there? Or do I have to get the exact resistor that is listed in the forums? What sort of parts can be bought in this way? I plan on buying everything I can from this store and then getting the specialized parts (such as the Atmega chip) from Digikey since they have pricing in Canadian dollars.

Thanks for your help. There will probably be many more questions as I figure this out.

Jamdat

[dmitri]

You can use pretty much any resistors which are of a size suitable for you. Same goes for capacitors but you should choose ceramic type variants.

[jamdat]

I must say, this is all very confusing ! I have decided to buy the resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, and crystals at my local store (on the web at sayal.com). I hope they have both crystals.

I am going to bring a list of components and try to find somebody helpful at the store so I may be able to buy some additional components.

I realize that I may not be able to buy everything at this store, in particular, the IC's, sockets, and connectors. I am trying to look for these on digikey.ca. The list of options is outrageous ! What are DIL Socket-IC with tulip contact?

I looked for the headers ("1* HE-10 2*20 pin male and female" on Synthex list). Is the 10 the pin spacing? Pitch?

How do you source out parts for these kinds of projects - there's just so much to choose from!

[jamalpiper]

How do you source out parts for these kinds of projects - there's just so much to choose from!

I narrow down the options till i get about what i need and then pick the cheapest in stock item...

[Synthex]

What are DIL Socket-IC with tulip contact?

This is :

ICtulip.jpg

But this works too :

IClowCost.jpg

I looked for the headers ("1* HE-10 2*20 pin male and female" on Synthex list). Is the 10 the pin spacing? Pitch?

HE-10 is the type of the header.

[jamdat]

I have almost finished buying all the supplies. The capacitors were the hardest part so far actually since I didn't know what to get. My store had labels like micro, lyt, BP... I asked somebody for help since there were very few boxes with CER which I assumed was ceramic. The ones that were there were about 1$/capacitor. I think this was because they were labeled high voltage. The store person said I could get any capacitor, so I looked for the cheaper, non high voltage ones.

I ended up getting mostly tantalum and some ceramic. My big question is that there was only one box with 25V on it, so all the capacitors I have are for 35V, 50V and one for 100V. The store person said the only difference was the physical size, and if I could fit it onto the board anything 25V+ would work for me.

Am I going to destroy my project by ruining an IC or something because I got a 100V capacitor?

[Synthex]

Am I going to destroy my project by ruining an IC or something because I got a 100V capacitor?

As you say, the only difference was the physical size, anything 15V+ would work.

[jamdat]

As you say, the only difference was the physical size, anything 15V+ would work.

Thanks! Getting closer and closer!

Another question. Do I have to include all 32 inputs? There are 17 jacks listed in the component list. I'm never going to expand my set to that many, and if I do, I can easily add them at a later date. I am going for:
1 snare -> 2 trigger
3 toms -> 3 trigger (one per tom)
1 kick -> 1 trigger
1 hihat -> 2 trigger (open-close and hit)
2 cymbals -> 2 trigger (one per cymbal)

Can I get 8 jacks? The jacks at digikey are pricey (almost 3$) and i'd like to get only what I need.

[Synthex]

Can I get 8 jacks? The jacks at digikey are pricey (almost 3$) and i'd like to get only what I need.

Yes, you can mount only what you need.

[dmitri]

Another question. Do I have to include all 32 inputs? There are 17 jacks listed in the component list. I'm never going to expand my set to that many, and if I do, I can easily add them at a later date. I am going for:
1 snare -> 2 trigger
3 toms -> 3 trigger (one per tom)
1 kick -> 1 trigger
1 hihat -> 2 trigger (open-close and hit)
2 cymbals -> 2 trigger (one per cymbal)

Can I get 8 jacks? The jacks at digikey are pricey (almost 3$) and i'd like to get only what I need.

Of course you can use/connect just as many jacks as you want. Nothing forces you to populate all the jacks.