CHA/V goodies for workshop participants
Some basic patching:
Some more “advanced” patching and extended technique.
Note: If you want to mess with touch points and copper scrubby shenanigans, please stick with battery power unless you’re reasonably confident with electronics. You can potentially get a shock, start a fire, and/or blow something up. Also, the chips are durable, but not indestructible.
Bill of Materials (BOM):
*Error: Eleven 3-pin headers are needed, not nine.
Everything you wanted to know about a VGA Test Signal Generator:
Note: The wire trimming/tinning recommendations are only to connect wires to the VGA pins. When wiring to the board, strip away as much insulation as you like, and do not tin the wires before connecting them to the board.
The oscillator schematic (friendly version):
How to connect 3.5mm (1/8″) jacks to the VGA test board for audio in/out. Video and photos below:
(note: this was an optional hack for v1.0, but it’s been built-in to the v3.0 and beyond boards — much easier)
Capacitor Stuff:
Links for things/people mentioned in the Workshop:
http://videocircuits.blogspot.com
https://github.com/ohss/RGBNDR
https://news.umbc.edu/timothy-nohe-exhibits-at-washington-college/
https://github.com/Ttreintaysiete/chaves
http://criticalartware.net/DistributionReligion/DistributionReligion.pdf
http://www.experimentaltvcenter.org
http://synth-punk.blogspot.com/2010/08/vco-schematic.html
https://www.lzxindustries.net//
VIDEOS:
Useful links for sourcing your own parts:
Note: the part descriptions from the Bill of Materials can be used as search terms on electronics websites.
Tayda is a good place for beginners to shop for parts. The website probably the easiest component supplier site to navigate. The prices are cheap, and the quality is acceptable. Most of the parts we used for the workshop came from Tayda.
https://www.taydaelectronics.com
Mouser is what you want to use when you get a little more serious. It’s daunting to navigate for beginners, but worth the challenge. They have pretty much anything you could possibly need, and shipping is to the US is FAST. There are also import tools for spreadsheets and BOMs. More expensive than Tayda, many higher quality alternatives available. I do most of my shopping here.
All Electronics has an amazing retail location in North Hollywood, CA. Some of the parts for the workshop at Coaxial were actually purchased here! These places are endangered species — support them whenever you can.
https://www.allelectronics.com
Sparkfun is a good place to buy things like little LED add-on boards and they also have good tutorials for the basics.
Ali Express is where our VGA test boards came from. Shipping is unpredictable, and they can be infuriating to deal with, but they’re probably the cheapest place to buy them. If you hate them (like I sometimes do) you can also search eBay for the boards and look for US distributors.
SEEED Studio is where I had the Chaves boards manufactured. You can copy the Gerber files from the Github link and have your own boards made. They’re 10 for $2, but thanks to our idiotic president, the shipping from China is now roughly $35.
Here’s another great link for taking the oscillator circuit further: http://milkcrate.com.au/_other/sea-moss/
jonasbers.com 