This post may get scrapped at some point in time, but in the meantime...
Here's how to make yourself an easy testing rig! I built a new one for myself recently and decided to take a pair of pictures of the process.
Because the mantra of the tech helpers is "rock it before you box it" (meaning that you should always test your circuit board BEFORE you actually go about wiring your pedal inside an enclosure), a testing rig is one of the best ways to go about ensuring your pedal works properly. There are a number of different ways to do so, but this is the way I prefer. It's simple, it works, and it's incredibly helpful for ensuring things don't get hairy after you've spent 2 hours wiring your pedal together only to find out something doesn't work. If you "rock it before you box it" you will KNOW that it's the not the circuit board that's the problem, it's the wiring. Right?
*BONUS* I built my rig with an BUILT IN SIGNAL PROBE! You do not have to do this as well, it is entirely optional. I built it into mine so it will function in a dual purpose for me, both being my board tester and a debugging too. Any time you see these ** remember that this has to do with the OPTIONAL signal tester.
So first off - what do you need to build one? Well, in the least you will need:
1x enclosure (I used a 125 B, but a 1590B/1590NS/1590BB or any number of enclosures will work)
2x mono jacks (I used open frame mono switchcraft style ones)
1x DC Jack (isolated is important)
2-4x Alligator clip cords (2 if you don't mind having some identical colours, 4 if you need different colours. 4 is much better)
*1x 0.1uF Film Cap (important for an audio probe)*
*1x multimeter test lead (This is your probe)*
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1031/imagehdm.jpg) (http://img227.imageshack.us/i/imagehdm.jpg/)
First off, you'll have to drill your enclosure. I used an enclosure that had a former life as a headphone amp for me. I cannibalized it for my breadboard rig (another upcoming post... I hope), and I had no use for the funny way I had drilled I used it before. Fortunately, I thought up this project. Anyway, as I was saying - you will need to have holes for the DC Jack, and the two 1/4" jacks for sure, and my enclosure has those holes at the 'end' of the enclosure. Next you will need at least one hole for your alligator clips *and audio probe* to come out of the enclosure. You can have them all come out of one hole, or you can have them all come out of individual holes, it's up to you. I already had two holes to use, so I used them.
After that, you need to cut all your alligator clip cords. I cut mine in half, and it gave me lots of cord to work with. This is where colour options come in. Obviously, you should use the colours that make the most sense to you, but if you need to, you can use all of one colour and then find a way to label all the alligator clips so you know which one is which. You will ultimately end up with 4 alligator clips: power, ground, input and output.
Next up you will need to begin to work on the wiring (Refer to the picture below for stuff in brackets). The DC Jack ground connects to one of the jack's sleeves (green wire). The DC Jack's power out connects to an alligator clip (Red wire). Now attach another alligator clip to ground (white wire). Next, you will need to attach another alligator clip to the input jack's tip (yellow wire) and then finally, you'll need to attach another alligator clip to the output jack tip (black wire). *To include an Audio Probe, you will also need to attach your Film Cap to the output jack tip also. Then you will attach your probe cord to the other end of the film cap.* Check out this picture for my finished version! Note that the zipties are for anchoring my cords. You do not have to do this, but I did it to prevent the soldered ends of the cords from becoming weakened by my yanking on them.
(http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/2883/imageki.jpg) (http://img813.imageshack.us/i/imageki.jpg/)
And here's the finished product! When I want to use this, I hook up the yellow wire to the input of my circuit board, the red to the board's +9v in, the black to the board's output, and the white to the board's ground. *To use the probe, I would leave the output alligator clip attached to the board, but I can now use the probe to 'preempt' the output alligator clip. Now the probe will allow you to find where there is active signal. This is especially helpful for both debugging a non working circuit, and for calibrating some circuits like delays. I recommend everyone have some sort of probe to use, whether or not it's built into a testing rig like this is up to you!*
(http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1439/imageuyk.jpg) (http://img214.imageshack.us/i/imageuyk.jpg/)
^Please note, I'm hoping Brian will find the spare time to make up a 'madbean approved' wiring diagram for this, stay tuned if the description and picture isn't enough!^
Jacob
Here's a Demo for you guys to check out on how to use the Testing Rig! This demo outlines how I would use my rig to test a PCB *and shows how to use an audio probe in short format as well (not a full debugging tutorial, just a basic example of how it could be useful).*
Here's the link - it's a private video, so you can only access it through the link - not searchable on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYS2bpR9o6Q (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYS2bpR9o6Q)
And here it is embedded.
Enjoy!
Jacob
Well, this is just above and beyond. Thank you Jacob! Everyone needs to read this post!
Jacob wins the post of the day!
Quote from: jkokura on February 14, 2011, 05:06:29 AM
Here's the link - it's a private video, so you can only access it through the link - not searchable on Youtube
Err . . . and not accessible through the link either (unless your a friend) oh well I guess I can only imagine what it is like then eh ::)
i need to build me one of these, but put a bypass switch on it as well.
Fixed! You should be able to see the video now.
Jacob
Great video Jacob! Great contribution!
this is a great topic to talk about! Extremely necessary if your interested in building any type of DIY circuits ie vero, perf, p-t-p, or even madbean pcbs ;D. now what can i put it in to save money on the enclosure for more madbean boards!!! ???
You can use anything really, anything you feel will hold up to the strain of having the jack holes drilled in them. I thought about using this great tin my wife gave me that used to have travel candies in them. It's about 2 inches tall, and maybe 3 across, and it would look aweseome! I could have drilled the three holes for the jacks, and then left all the cords inside, and then popped the lid off everytime I wanted to use it, it would have kept the alligator clips safe and inside when not in use and might have been easy to store. Now it's kinda like a floppy octopus with the alligator clips all hanging out.
But I chose to use an old enclosure. Lots of us end up with unused or misdrilled enclosures from failed projects or rehouses. It's pretty common to see actually.
I have a cool project coming up soon where I'm taking a non working Boss PH-3 and I'm going to strip the paint off, shine up the enclosure, and put a four knob overdrive in it. It may not happen till the end of the year, but reusing cool or old enclosures is part of the whole DIY thing. Anything can be an enclosure really. I saw a guy used a stuffed toy once, a firbee or something like that. Another guy used an old shoe, and I've seen enough crazy electrical boxes and former pots and pans to know that you can pretty much be as creative as you want.
Jacob
Thats what I'm thinking. Something creative and different, but hopefully compact!! I have some metal boxes that don't have boxes on the back i think would be perfect for this!!
Now I'm glad i didn't spend $100+ on a beavis board! especially since i can build one for under 10 dollars it seems!!! I found an easy layout for a voltage sag knob to add into this so i can morph my muffs into sagging beasts. >:(
As i mentioned before... ESSENTIAL!
Ah. I want to clarify. This basic testing rig is NOT a replacement for a beavis board. A tutorial on that will be coming.
Jacob
yes! can't wait for that!!
great vid Jacob thanks for fixing the link :D
Stellar work, Jacob.
Hi there, this is all great, cheers Jakob! Just for another version here's my little test rig on a piece of plywood. An aluminum bracket with slots to hold pots (which I find very handy when giving it a test drive), input / output jacks on rear, battery power and ground all to hook up with alligator leads. Could be easily modifyied to have a bypass switch too so you can compare effect/bypass signal.
Just as another idea and inspiration and yes, testing before boxing makes things a looooot less painful....!
Cheers
Andy
[attachment deleted by admin]
ooops not too sure how to attach pics here yet, there's more to get the idea.
Cheers
[attachment deleted by admin]
Quote from: gobstopper on March 16, 2011, 08:38:05 PM
ooops not too sure how to attach pics here yet, there's more to get the idea.
Cheers
Nice job! Great way to keep it simple!
Quote from: bigmufffuzzwizz on March 17, 2011, 04:26:14 PM
Quote from: gobstopper on March 16, 2011, 08:38:05 PM
ooops not too sure how to attach pics here yet, there's more to get the idea.
Cheers
Nice job! Great way to keep it simple!
Agreed! This looks very cool man, great job!
-Kaleb
Awesome video, every beginner should watch this (glad I did). I am going to build one and try and incorporate some sort of breadboard testingness for diode clipping.
any thoughts on these?
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062236 (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062236)
can i use prebonded wire from small bear for the test leads, or should i use some radioshack hookup wire since they'll be bending around a lot?
And just to clarify, the audio probe/film cap are in parallel with the board output?
That's the way I do it, the parallel allows you to use both without having to use two different output jacks. Alternatively, you could put it on a switch. The cap keeps the signal from heading that direction anyway, so it doesn't give you any 'tone loss.'
Also, if you're ordering from smallbear anyway: Http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=986 (Http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=986)
There's also a way to buy the alligator clips individually. That pack from Radio Shack would do fine if you needed something, but it's for a pack of ten. If you just need 3 or 4, buy them individually from Smallbear for .39 each. I advocate getting the pack of wired clips personally. The wire's already attached, it's durable, and now you have a bunch of extra wired alligator clips you can use for connecting other things together. Handy for testing random LED's that may or may not be burnt out, or attaching a Battery to something in a pinch, or making sure your jacks are grounding when outside of the enclosure without having to solder a wire in there.
I don't recommend the prebonded wire, especially if it's only 24 gauge. It's probably not flexible or durable enough because it's thin and prebonded. I recommend at least a 20 or 18 gauge stranded wire, and you should reinforce the connection with some heat shrink so it stays strong. Your weakest link will be the connection to the jacks and to the alligator clips if you do it yourself.
Jacob
Thank you for the input Jacob. I ended up buying the 10 pack of alligator clips with leads. i think these http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062660 (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062660). i figured the extra 4 dollars was probably worth it. im pretty sure i have an extra probe at home, and if not its probably cheaper to buy a cheap DMM from harbor freight than to buy the $10 leads from radioshack.
Now, if the outputs are in parallel, would there be a load issue on the output if say i started getting full signal all of a sudden + some intermittent signal taken before the output combined? or will it actually be lower since its in parallel. i forgot all my circuits knowlege back in college. im a civil engineer so all those mesh circuits and bla bla bla were the least of my worries. Plus that class was curved so much I only ever needed like a 12/20 to get an A on any of the quizzes and a 30/50 to ace a test. lol.
I have no idea if there's any load, but frankly I don't think it matters. This isn't a hifi device, it just to test the pcb to make sure it works and to debug one that doesn't. The audio fidelity doesn't much matter to me. If it does to you, I recommend buildig a separate testing rig and audio probe.
Hope that helps!
Jacob
Oh, I'm not concerned about the fidelity, I was more worried about overloading the input on my amplifier. But now that I think about, I'm sure it'll be fine considering how many amplifying circuits I normally run in front of it.
Got sick and tired of waiting for futurlec to ship me my plastic project enclosure i was gonna use to make my test box. Just wired it all up to each other and wa-lah, got something here. Having some grounding issues but if i play with the wires and leave it alone once it works it's all good. So with that I can confirm my first working vero build which would be the dragonfly layout one knob colorsound overdriver. It is nice and beefy!! Lots of fizzle and fuzzle! I'll test it with my Les Paul tomorrow as that will get some serious tone with this circuit!
Now in retrospec I waited wayyy too long. Should have put this thing together months ago as it took about 15 mins and felt like big accomplishment! 2 Jacks, 1 ground wire, 1 battery snap and 4 alligator clips :)
I'm showing all my noobie glory here...won't the board shock you if you have it all wired up and handle it?
I've never experienced that... I imagine it could if you handled the battery lead, but if you think about it, if you touch both poles of a 9V battery do you get shocked? Even touching it to your tongue gives you barely any kind of reaction.
Jacob
No shock at all. In fact since my test rig is not boxed up I have to fiddle all the pieces almost everytime I try to use it. I finally realized that the screwdriver I was using to hold the test unit from slipping off my desk onto the floor was creating continuity from two points!! No mo screwdriver, no more fuss!! And still no shock!!
I don't understand how that can be. In the video, didn't he hook it up to DC? I assumed that if the PCB is receiving DC then it's charged.
Quote from: jkokura on April 01, 2011, 06:06:34 PM
I've never experienced that... I imagine it could if you handled the battery lead, but if you think about it, if you touch both poles of a 9V battery do you get shocked? Even touching it to your tongue gives you barely any kind of reaction.
Jacob
We're talking about 9 volts which is pretty safe. It's not like a tube amp having 500-600 volts on the plate of a power tubes.
What voltage cap did you use for the probe. I'm needing to, atleast, make a test probe.
I just used a topmay box cap. 10-100nf, 100v works just fine.
Jacob
I have a breadboard/box thing I used for this purpose this time out. The only problem I had was that I couldn't tell if the static I was hearing was from the unprotected board and pots sitting on the desk or from a problem with the build. I guess the mounting strip for the pots and the insulation provided by the plywood version might work the best?
here is a pic of mine. Its from a failed drilling layout ::) but it still served a purpose ;) Use it just about every day.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-aSRELhNRue0/ThJNbhYRiyI/AAAAAAAABWU/Bwp9Pm5ILwk/s400/photo.JPG)
I'm building a test rig today. I went to harbor freight yesterday and picked up some cheap storage containers for stocking components and hardware. I thought I'd post a link to some cheap test leads for others who might want to build a testing rig. Harbor Freight sells tons of cheap stuff handy to a DIY'er.
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-inch-low-voltage-multi-colored-test-leads-66717.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/18-inch-low-voltage-multi-colored-test-leads-66717.html)
About using the testing rig with an audio probe I came up with something that might be helpful (probably some of you already do it/thought of it) instead of strumming my guitar I plugged my Ipod to the input so I don't need to move around and strum every 30 secs...probing became real easy and quicker...
Bruno
Great idea! A looper pedal or a oscillation generator works well too,
Jacob
I just finished mine and I don't know how I lived without it. I looks similar yo JimmyBJJ's. I ended up with about 20 1/4" jacks when I took them off of everything I had laying around!
Just for grins I wanted to boost a distortion project with a Klone and I noticed that even when the Klone was off that most of the hum and squeal of my laid out distortion build went away. When building hi-gain pedals, you may want to run a buffer of some sort to tame some of the kaos. Of course it's good to have the kaos when you are done experimenting and get ready to box so you can identify noise and shield or route properly.
I built a testrig/probe like jkokura described.
Is it supposed to be noisy?
Is there any point in making the probe/out switchable?
Quote from: Loztboy on December 21, 2011, 07:49:44 AM
I built a testrig/probe like jkokura described.
Is it supposed to be noisy?
Is there any point in making the probe/out switchable?
mine also, some sort noisy, but I try to shield the ground and the Input jack (all tip), reduce a little bit but still have a noisy sound
I used acrylic boxing (I made one for testing).
also try to put the ground alligator jack to the DC 9VDC Ground, it will reduce a lil bit the noisy sound too..
:D :D
Has anyone got a wiring diagram for this (ideally including the audio probe) that they would like to share? I'm still pretty unconfident when it comes to wiring up so a diagram would really help. Also is there any way of including a 3pdt so you can test if the circuit will work in bypass. I guess an LED would be useful too to see when the test rig is 'on'.
Thanks.
You can build a pedal using the standard wiring diagram :
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/tutorials/downloads/StandardWiring_MBP.pdf
In place of the PCB replace the IN OUT 9v and GND of the board by a connector or a crocodile clip.
When you finish a project, connect the wires to the connectors and plug the jacks on your test box and then you can test your circuit and use the bypass.
For building an audio probe : in your test box, you can solder a wire on the tip of the output jack. At the end of the wire you just soldered, add a small non polarized cap (this is a filter to remove eventual DC).
Move the lug of the cap along your pcb to hear what's in.
Hope that helps ;) ;)
Thanks Night-B that's simplified things for me! I'll get building in the morning.
In terms of the audio probe, I'm guessing (as in jkokura's original post) I can attach a multi meter probe (or just a piece of wire) to the cap to make it a bit easier to use?
Thanks again!
I finally got round to making my test rig and it works like a charm. I pinched a bit of an extendable aerial from an old radio I have and attached a croc clip to hold whatever board I'm testing. Works really well! Here it is:
(http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/6493/20120617232112.jpg)(http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/2917/20120621203604.jpg)
Thanks to everyone who helped me out with this.
Awesome Man!!!! I just built mine yesterday but I'm embarrassed to post it after seeing yours ;D Great job!
wow, nice rig!
What a nice job! Your testing rig makes mine look like a total toy.. :)
Are the little metal pins on the outside just for holding the clips in place?
Yeah, I saw that this morning and was like, "Mmhmm."
Great execution, well thought out. Super implementation of all the elements. I bet that thing will be the standard for rig testers.
Jacob
That testing rig looks better than most of my pedals...
Aww shucks guys. Thank you very much. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's a lot prettier on the outside than on the inside though! The pins on the front are plastic pcb stand-offs and yeah they're just there to keep the crock clips tidy. Thanks to Jacob for the great tutorial and to Night-B for the advice.
I have a question: I built one of these as per the instructions and it works great, but is there any possible way I could wire a battery clip in a manner that would allow me to test positive ground circuits via battery?
For example, could I wire the battery clip as usual but in reverse?
Please excuse my lack of know-how; I'm hoping to understand this better even if this isn't possible.
I'm fairly certain there is, just that you won't be able to use an LED when you do so. The backwards power may burn it out.
Jacob
Good thing I don't test with LEDs then (I always wire 'em offboard anyways), thanks for the response!
I'll see if I can't find where someone has done this. If not, I'll just go trial and error with it.
You can wire a DPDT switch to switch polarity.
Jacob
Hmm, now there's an idea. That would be ideal, as the enclosure I'm using already has extra holes drilled. I'm not sure how to wire it up, but it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out or find. Do you know of any diagrams for this application, perchance?
I used this thread a lot to help me build my first testing/debugging rig- thanks.
(my test rig troubleshooting thread: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6471.msg55745#msg55745)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aI2LTG-0TGk/UHHlf51TjAI/AAAAAAAAh7o/2jpH0r-dX2E/s760/TEST-RIG-W-PROBE.jpg)
that ^^^ is awesome ! a true pedal builders build. love the look.
even with custom cap calculating on the workbench !
Thanks Jacob! This thread is very helpful. I have been building for a couple years now and I finally decided to start rocking before boxing. In still need to add the audio probe, but I haven't had the chance to pick one up yet. Check it out...
(http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/5231/photoddzw.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/photoddzw.jpg/)
The circuit in the pic is actually my first eagle layout (Linear Power Boost) and it actually works! I'm not sure why it took me so long to build a tester. In the past I have always boxed em up asap so I could hear the circuit and then I would take it apart and work on the enclosure. Not too efficient! This will save a lot of wasted time and allow me to debug if necessary. Next up: the Beavis board! ;D
Nice,I sed the alligator clips and for an audio probe,I just grab typically a small screwdriver and clip it to the audio out.dual purpose and it works well.is that a volume pot? I'd love a way add the pots without soldering them until I'm ready to box it.
Thanks man!
C
Quote from: jeffaroo on January 15, 2013, 08:48:58 AM
that ^^^ is awesome ! a true pedal builders build. love the look.
even with custom cap calculating on the workbench !
Quote from: jimilee on February 07, 2013, 04:37:02 AM
Nice,I sed the alligator clips and for an audio probe,I just grab typically a small screwdriver and clip it to the audio out.dual purpose and it works well.is that a volume pot? I'd love a way add the pots without soldering them until I'm ready to box it.
Good Idea! And yes that's a volume pot. I just made the wires extra long so I can remove it later and cut down to the length I need for the enclosure. I would love to have a bank of pots that I could wire up to terminal strips so I could avoid soldering the pot on for testing. Maybe a test rig in a larger enclosure with lots of pots, an led and true bypass wiring!
Following Jacob's guide I went and built a testing rig. Man this thing is handy! Added a toggle for the probe / output gator clip.
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/agm013/Boost%20Build/BoostPics02_20_13010_zps11587d88.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/agm013/Boost%20Build/BoostPics02_20_13011_zps40717876.jpg)
And of course my quality control supervisor had to sign off on the build...
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i75/agm013/Boost%20Build/BoostPics02_20_13019_zps319d4a20.jpg)
AllenM
That looks awesome Allen. Curious what you got those black hole things for the clips...
Jacob
I found those at a local mom and pop electronics shop and use them to plug "extra" holes in enclosures. I did a quick google search "plastic hole plug" and found this
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/catalogusd/645/2667.pdf
The type B look to be similar. I also have some that are metal for larger holes.
For the above project I drilled a hole in the plug big enough to run the wire thru.
AllenM
Ok. I'm onto this project. I drew up my own (crummy) little diagram for this so I can build it. Am I correct that the enclosure provides the ground connection from one jack to the other so I need a conductive enclosure to make that happen? I have an old cigar box laying around I was going to use but I don't think that will work. Or can I just add a wire somewhere to fill in the missing link?
yes, you're right- the metal enclosure automatically grounds the other jack.
my test box is pvc or some other plastic. I just ran a wire from the grounded sleeve to the other jack's sleeve and that worked fine.
EXCELLENT! I knew something!
Hi everyone, this is a very interesting post!!!
I'm planning to build my own testing rig, along with an audio probe, and I was wondering if I could use a RCA plug as a probe, since I don't have any spare multimeter tip. I have an old RCA connector, with a 3-pin end on one side (red, black and yellow) and 1-pin on the other end. Maybe I could use one of those wires (along with the connector) for my audio probe, what do you think?
Ciao,
M.
It seems to me those plugs would be awfully difficult to probe a PCB accurately. You'd probably have better luck making a probe from a piece of solid core wire thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to get into the tight spots, maybe 20g-24g.
I thought I'd share my test rig that I built using an old cigar box and a lot of helpful tips from this thread. You may notice I have not installed a test probe. I haven't needed one yet (knock on wood) but I'll solder one in if the time comes that I need to troubleshoot something with it.
(http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/194/opttestbox.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/194/opttestbox.jpg/)
Those pictures are tiny, got a better one?
click on it ;)
Quote from: jimilee on May 20, 2013, 02:44:54 AM
Those pictures are tiny, got a better one?
That's weird. I took the picture on my phone and uploaded it just like I did with the pfannkuchen pictures and those were fine. I'll see what I can do to fix it.
This is better. You can see it's got plenty of room to tuck away the leads inside the box for storage. And the enclosure cost me zero dollars. That's a good price.
(http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/6976/testbox.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/testbox.jpg/)
Hey, I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction here--I've been using one of these basic rigs for more than a year now. However, for the first time I've tried hooking a PNP fuzz up to it, and one powered by a battery no less. Can someone tell me what would be the right way to do this? I had gone with the reversed power and ground leads method before. It worked but the circuit didn't sound its best. So now, I have only the in and out leads from the box attached and have the battery taking care of power and ground duties. Is that incorrect? I'm only getting clean signal through. As this won't be the last PNP fuzz I build, I thought it'd be good to nail down a good methodology now.
Hey Jacob thanks for the post.....just one question. Can one use a plastic enclosure for a test rig?
In theory, you can, you just need to make sure that everything that needs to be grounded gets all connected up. It won't be shielded, but in reality, the circuit is outside the enclosure anyway, so it doesn't need to be metal.
Jacob
I built mine in a wooden cigar box and it works fine. Just had to add a jumper wire to complete the ground connection.
Quote from: das234 on December 13, 2013, 07:20:32 PM
I built mine in a wooden cigar box and it works fine. Just had to add a jumper wire to complete the ground connection.
From sleeve to sleeve right?
Correct
(http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/500x/44088536.jpg)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/tVIRzcxvRZRncL97gr2LW-fDOqCuaiiqM0z1__hP_OU=w1598-h898-no)
How have I ever lived without one is beyond me.
It should be a pre-requisit for joining the forum I think hehe.
I see your problem, your test rig isn't plugged in to the ac!
I had some time waiting on parts to arrive and paint to dry, so, threw together a test rig of my own. I used a DOD enclosure from a pedal that is basically trash. Bondoed up the holes and made a few new ones and bam!
Quote from: Cortexturizer on December 28, 2013, 10:47:02 PM
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/tVIRzcxvRZRncL97gr2LW-fDOqCuaiiqM0z1__hP_OU=w1598-h898-no)
That's a pretty sweet testing rig. I really need to build one for myself.
For some reason I had to figure out what that image was. It's Mr. Spray. Nice one!
(http://www.pedersenprojects.com/images/obey/mrspray.gif)
For signal for probing.....could a guy wire a headphone plug to a 1/4" guitar plug and use that on the input while connecting headphone one to smartphone, iPod, cd player or whatever plays music that has a headphone jack....hit play and probe away?
In theory, yes. However, you will probably do better with some sort of amplifier on your output to properly amp the signal to audible levels.
Could it work in a jam? Yes. Is it best practice? Most definitely not.
Jacob
Quote from: jkokura on January 24, 2014, 01:06:38 AM
In theory, yes. However, you will probably do better with some sort of amplifier on your output to properly amp the signal to audible levels.
Could it work in a jam? Yes. Is it best practice? Most definitely not.
Jacob
I should have been a little more clear on my post.....I meant use the homemade headphone patch cord for the input instead of the guitar and my amp as the output(like normal)
Ah yes, I see what you mean now. I misunderstood earlier.
So if you're saying...
ipod > headphone out > effect in
then
audio probe > Amplifier
Then yes, that should work. Is it best practice? Not really. Should be a guitar level signal hitting the effect to get the best result.
Jacob
I've always boxed up before testing and it's always been with great trepidation and much delay before i'd fire it up and give it a try, fail, fail, fail... Already have lots of junk for breadboarding and testing, bypass boxes etc. but no easy way to integrate an unboxed project to that stuff for auditioning. Taking off on Jacob's ideas and not needing another box (and being cheap) put this together so i can use bits i already have and give things a try before boxing.
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc305/davent/IMG_5980_zps43ce43ac.jpg)
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc305/davent/IMG_5979_zpsb5a52f90.jpg)
dave
I have been using something like this beavis layout and I cannot live without it 8)
(http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r233/jimijam_photos/Beavis_bboard_Wiring_new.gif~original)
I used a scrapped pedal enclosure that I screwed up but thought I would post this layout for the beavis board's enclosure
Quote from: jalmonsalmon on June 25, 2014, 05:10:46 PM
I have been using something like this beavis layout and I cannot live without it 8)
(http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r233/jimijam_photos/Beavis_bboard_Wiring_new.gif~original)
I used a scrapped pedal enclosure that I screwed up but thought I would post this layout for the beavis board's enclosure
This is exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks so much!!!
I bought a 163-MJ21-EX DC Jack from Mouser (it's all metal) to use with this, and I'm getting a clicking sound (every second or so) when I plug in the DC cable to use it. Is it because of this kind of jack? Or do I have something wired wrong? Here's a pic.
The power will have been wired Centre Negative so the sleeve of the DC jack will be positive. The enclosure conducts that's why you have a problem.
You're going to need to either insulate the metal DC jack you have, use a plastic DC jack or reverse your positive and negative wires and have to get used to powering pedals Centre Positive.
I wouldn't recommend the 3rd option really, go get yourself a plastic DC jack.
That clicking sounds is a very bad sound. Due to the short described above, it is the re-settable protection on your PS tripping over and over.
Well now you've all done it! Instead of just wanting to get cracking on my 4 builds I've got lined up, I now also really want to build a proper test rig.
THANKS A LOT GUYS
Finished my test rig today. Can't wait to test it out. I plan on adding the test probe once I have a need for it.
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j118/plitewka/64CB5270-E850-4DC1-9F0A-B69219FF2F72_zpszagahbya.jpg) (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/plitewka/media/64CB5270-E850-4DC1-9F0A-B69219FF2F72_zpszagahbya.jpg.html)
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j118/plitewka/06FBF0EA-9364-4D1B-8399-2F64C828678D_zpshuimskys.jpg) (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/plitewka/media/06FBF0EA-9364-4D1B-8399-2F64C828678D_zpshuimskys.jpg.html)
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j118/plitewka/7AA127AE-9145-46BD-9DC9-185F6FE455C9_zpscmvvjrb6.jpg) (http://s78.photobucket.com/user/plitewka/media/7AA127AE-9145-46BD-9DC9-185F6FE455C9_zpscmvvjrb6.jpg.html)
I built one of these last night.
Red and Black are power and ground.
Yellow is input.
Green is output.
and the testing probe.
I repurposed an old 'confidence booster' pedal. One of the first I made.
Only thing I messed up was putting the input on the left side of the pedal and the output on the right.
I thought it wasn't working at first until I figured that out.
Once I had it plugged in correctly it works great.
I just finished building the Zero Point DD. I had tried to test it on a bread board but was getting weird static noises if I turned my guitar down from full volume. Once I tested it with this rig I have no problems at all. Sounds great.
I have a few questions about the DD but I'll make some recordings and start another post about that. (I've already seen there are some other mods people suggest that are not in the build specs.)
(http://unitedsound.us/images/rig_test1.jpg)
(http://unitedsound.us/images/rig_test2.jpg)
Where do you guys get your probe tips? Cut off of an old multimeter, or can you buy them? Or make them?
Quote from: thesameage on December 22, 2014, 03:18:19 AM
Where do you guys get your probe tips? Cut off of an old multimeter, or can you buy them? Or make them?
i used a lead from an old DMM. I snagged a male end from Tayda so I could plug it in as needed. Works great.
I put some heatshrink around the end of the shielded cable, so only 2mm of core wire was poking through, then reinforced that by tinning it.
So any wire would basically work?
This audio probe was made years ago, junked pen with 14awg wire for the conducting element. The inline jack has the cap in it.
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc305/davent/IMG_3282.jpg)
Power question: So I built my rig and it works well-- thanks again! And a great use for an old sparkle blue enclosure that I loved but was unusable due to some drill-related butchering of my own doing.
Anyway, if I wanted to test two circuits at the same time to see how they play together, how would I do it and how would I power them? Can I just clip wires from both 9V pads to my 1 9V alligator clip?
I'm guessing that as far as connecting the two circuits, I just clip out of circuit 1 to in of circuit 2.
Yep, that would work.
Quote from: Bret608 on December 11, 2013, 04:43:05 PM
Hey, I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction here--I've been using one of these basic rigs for more than a year now. However, for the first time I've tried hooking a PNP fuzz up to it, and one powered by a battery no less. Can someone tell me what would be the right way to do this? I had gone with the reversed power and ground leads method before. It worked but the circuit didn't sound its best. So now, I have only the in and out leads from the box attached and have the battery taking care of power and ground duties. Is that incorrect? I'm only getting clean signal through. As this won't be the last PNP fuzz I build, I thought it'd be good to nail down a good methodology now.
I didn't see anyone respond to this... I am in the same situation. I built the testing rig... but need to use it for a PNP effect (the Bumblebee).... problem is, I forgot about this and went ahead trying test it with the rig anyway... hope I did not mess anything up!
All I got was a somewhat dirty signal.
Depending on what circuit it was, if it uses -9V power you could essentially swap the power and ground from the testing rig. Otherwise, I would recommend hooking your effect up to a 9V battery instead of the testing rig.
Jacob
This is a very simple, basic "Bypass Box" I built 5 or 6 years ago:
Alligator clips for Input, Output, +V, Ground, with an LED and a bypass switch.
Easy to go from guitar > bypass box - breadboard > amp.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/CodeMonk/Workshop/Tools/Bypass_Box_001_zpsdcj4bd8s.gif) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/CodeMonk/media/Workshop/Tools/Bypass_Box_001_zpsdcj4bd8s.gif.html)
From this picture you should be able to see that the alligator clips are soldered onto a board I etched with 4 straight and wide traces.
2 screws, some solder, and a lot of hot glue hold it all together.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/CodeMonk/Workshop/Tools/Bypass_Box_002_zpsrzs3rmhu.gif) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/CodeMonk/media/Workshop/Tools/Bypass_Box_002_zpsrzs3rmhu.gif.html)
And now I can't seem to find my "Audio Probe 2.0" I built a few days ago >:(
Did find the crappy "Audio Probe 1.0" I built awhile back though.
And I have a board I need to trace tonight :(
Those look like morse code tapping switch things :)
Protip: when testing a new circuit for the first time, make sure you turn up its volume knob before freaking out about not getting any sound.
Quote from: lincolnic on April 19, 2015, 04:22:11 AM
Protip: when testing a new circuit for the first time, make sure you turn up its volume knob before freaking out about not getting any sound.
Turn the effect knob up but turn your amp all the way down so there's no ear splitting surprises, then crack the amp open a bit.
dave
Sorry for the bump on this ancient thread, but does someone have the pictures that were uploaded in the first post? They aren't there anymore.
I know this is a old thread but I want to build this, the pics no longer show up and I have a question. Ill make a enclosure like i'm making a pedal, The in/out jacks will be grounded to the enclosure like normal via the sleeve. I am to solder the negative of DC jacks sleeve solder lug and then a grounding alligator wire there as well. That will be used to ground pcb board. I have almost everything and a small LCD meter panel coming
All the grounds have to be connected in some way. If you wire your DC to the board, and a ground wire to one of the jacks from the PCB, that will mean that the DC and PCB are grounded to the enclosure. If your jacks ground via contact that is. If you have isolated jacks you'll have to find an alternate way.
Hopefully that makes sense. PM me or email me if you have more questions.
Jacob
I got it up and running and its so much easy. I added a LED Voltage display to display what I'm sending to pcb after the "Beavis Dying battery simulator" Using a B10K pot I can vary whats coming out of the wall wart.
Hey Jacob, do you still have the images for this? I was telling someone who is just getting started about it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quote from: jimilee on September 07, 2021, 01:06:09 PM
Hey Jacob, do you still have the images for this? I was telling someone who is just getting started about it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Which images do you mean? The build docs are found here: http://jmkpcbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/The-Testing-Rig.pdf (http://jmkpcbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/The-Testing-Rig.pdf)
Oh, is that what the images in the first post was? I was thinking it was the more basic one which basically included 2 input jacks, a DC jack and some alligator clips with wires in them. I tried to explain how to build it and included pictures, but it didn't translate very well apparently.
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Quote from: jimilee on September 07, 2021, 08:07:02 PM
Oh, is that what the images in the first post was? I was thinking it was the more basic one which basically included 2 input jacks, a DC jack and some alligator clips with wires in them. I tried to explain how to build it and included pictures, but it didn't translate very well apparently.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
there's a video in the 2nd post. It used to be imbedded. I'll see what's up with it.
Jacob