G'day to all, Matt here. I've decided to jump in and give eagle a go, with the help of Jakob's great tutorial. I have been looking at various places for schematics, but would like to hear from those in the know, the best places to find verified schematics, because alot of the one's i've come across are not the originals. Big learning curve for me, time to stop painting by numbers, and any advice appreciated, thanks, Matt.
This may (or may not) sound a bit silly, but the schematics found in project files are a good source of verified schematics, especially if your main focus is learning. So check out Madbean's discontinued files or General Guitar Gadgets project files, stuff like that.
I just do a web search each time. I try to find a couple of versions of the schematic I'm looking for if I can. After that, if I have questions about the accuracy, I tried to find photos of the internals to see if I can match up the parts in question.
Quote from: hoodoo on June 24, 2013, 08:03:42 AMthe best places to find verified schematics, because alot of the one's i've come across are not the originals.
For classic effects (808, Muff...) it's quite easy to find reliable sources for the original schematic. Just in case, I often get schematics from two or three different places to check them against each other, and compare them to the Madbean version as well. If I find any discrepancy, I search again to understand why it's been done this way, etc. It's a good way to learn more about popular mods and pedal electronics in general.
For less common effects, I usually search for build reports of pedals based on the schematic(s) I found, if possible with a video demo. It's not a big deal if it's not
the original, in this case it's much more important to be certain that it works and to know how it sounds.
Google.
Jacob
Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.
Quote from: madbean on June 24, 2013, 03:51:16 PM
Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.
Awesome tip is awesome.
Jacob
Quote from: RobA on June 24, 2013, 12:17:11 PM
I just do a web search each time. I try to find a couple of versions of the schematic I'm looking for if I can. After that, if I have questions about the accuracy, I tried to find photos of the internals to see if I can match up the parts in question.
This! If you find schematics from different sources that match up, and then compare them to some gut shots to verify, you're pretty much good to go.
Paul
I think this is kind of a weird question on some level. For the most part, it's possible to tell just by looking at a schematic if it 'works' on some level. If you're asking whether a schematic of a well-known effect is reliable, then your best source is the designer when possible or the tracer. Most of the time this makes a handful of forums the place to head. If it's a traced design, there will be plenty of discussion about the circuit, and some guys who trace a lot of pedals (Dirk Hendrik, for example) post a lot of schematics on their page.
I guess the main point of my post is ... Trust the source and your own common sense. Most people aren't going to release a bogus schematic, or claim something is verified when they haven't built it. (And -- guilty as charged -- some of us admittedly shouldn't use 'verified' if SOMEONE ELSE hasn't built it.)
Quote from: madbean on June 24, 2013, 03:51:16 PM
Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.
Was I the only person who did NOT know THIS?!?!
Quote from: atreidesheir on June 25, 2013, 12:33:26 AM
Quote from: madbean on June 24, 2013, 03:51:16 PM
Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.
Was I the only person who did NOT know THIS?!?!
Nope, didn't even know it was an option!
Quote from: Scruffie on June 25, 2013, 01:48:32 AM
Quote from: atreidesheir on June 25, 2013, 12:33:26 AM
Quote from: madbean on June 24, 2013, 03:51:16 PM
Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.
Was I the only person who did NOT know THIS?!?!
Nope, didn't even know it was an option!
I'm even worse. I kinda knew it was there because I've done filtering by image size before and I can remember seeing it. I just wasn't smart enough to think of using it.
Thanks very much for the advice, google images is a great tip and the kind of guidance i was looking for, thanks Brian. Jon, i appreciate your response and advice, and i'm sure that you can look at a schematic and tell if a circuit will work, however, i'm at the dumber end of electronics knowledge at present and schematics are like a foreign language to me, which is the reason for this post. However, i'm keen to learn. I have perused the various forums and they are a wealth of information, but i thought that it wouldn't hurt to ask the question and see what others had to say. Thanks again, Matt.
Quote from: atreidesheir on June 25, 2013, 12:33:26 AM
Quote from: madbean on June 24, 2013, 03:51:16 PM
Google image search and then filter the results by "Black and White" images only! Works pretty well.
Was I the only person who did NOT know THIS?!?!
Someone mentioned this option on DIYSB. I wish I could remember who it was.
^For one, Joe Gagan did.
Schematics are like road maps. They have direction and routing, but aren't totally simple, linear things like those old pencil mazes on the back of your breakfast cereal box. Just like maps show major cities that are connected by a mess of roads, highways and railroads, schematics have major components (ICs, transistors) connected by a mess of conductors (wire), resistors, and capacitors. When you look at a schematic, try to determine what's a city and what's a highway. Don't get bogged down by component values, style (infinite ways to draw the same schematic), nationality/era (component symbols and value numbering styles can change). Don't let the myriad ways to show 'ground' or 'earth' or off-board wiring fool you. When you get used to that, you'll be doing what Jon is talking about, and most schematics will start to make sense, even if you don't know the specifics. Also, good ol' text books help. You can build a million Mad Bean boards and never learn a thing about electronics outside of soldering, and shopping for parts ;)
Try searching for "from schematic to breadboard".
Quote from: garcho on June 25, 2013, 04:15:07 PM
Try searching for "from schematic to breadboard".
Also has a cheat sheet for schematic symbols!
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/SchematicToReality/