Happy to report the updated SquishBoxes and kits are available in the Tindie store! The new update uses a custom PCB with SMT components, which means no need for a separate break-out board for the DAC, and an on-board switching voltage regulator that provides much steadier and more reliable power for your Raspberry Pi from a standard 9V effects pedal power supply! I also moved the contrast trimmer for easier access, and added a breakout for the Pi’s serial port to allow connection via a USB-TTL serial console cable, or even a possible future expansion to add 5-pin MIDI ports. There are a bunch of software updates on the way as well – stay tuned!
Tag: store
-
New PCB Work
The Tindie store has been out of stock for a bit as I work on updating the PCB and making some adjustments to the code to improve performance (more on the code in a later post). I tried a new version of the PCB that moves the contrast potentiometer to the opposite side, where it can be accessed more easily than sticking a screwdriver between the USB ports. I was also trying to do board-to-board soldering with the audio card so that it would be stacked under the LCD instead of pressed against the Pi, but unfortunately the headphone jack is just too tall to fit under there. I had to chop the jack off with flush cutters. I have wrecked an audio card more than once in the past by doing this, so I won’t sell this board as a kit, I’ll just build 2-3 complete boxes and sell them in the store.
In further PCB development news, I finally learned KiCad so I could design a proper SMD board. This means I don’t have to buy the separate audio cards – I can just put the audio codec chip and supporting components directly on the board. I also added an AP63205 switching voltage regulator, which should make it possible to use a 5V or 9V power supply, and provide a more stable and safe 5V to the Pi. The prototypes should arrive this week, and if all goes well I’ll have these as kits and full builds in the store very soon!
-
Update and Coming in 2023
Here’s where things are at the moment. I made a batch of SquishBox kits and units available in the store, after a short delay waiting for parts and making some (I think) helpful modifications to the enclosure layout and updating instructions to match. They sold so quickly I think I might need to order a new batch of the current PCBs to keep the store stocked while I work on the next hardware update. I also released a new version of FluidPatcher today. This includes some bugfixes and QoL updates to SquishBox, and will probably be the last release before the next major update.
The next thing I’m working on is a big update to FluidPatcher which involves porting the code to Cython. The main reason for this is speed. The custom MIDI event router that makes all the magic happen is plain old Python, and it’s not hard to max out the CPU on a Pi with notes, especially if you have some MIDI files and/or sequences playing at the same time. I’ll also take the opportunity to reorganize the repository into a proper Python package which I can upload to PyPI, which should make installing and updating easier for users.
After that, I want to make an update to the PCB that will use surface-mount components and put the sound hardware (PCM5102) directly on the board, rather than require a third-party external board. I’m also hoping to add a switching voltage regulator to make 9V powering viable, circuitry for optional 5-pin MIDI jacks, and an option to use an OLED screen instead of the 16×2 character LCD.
Looking forward to working on these projects, hopefully I make fast progress – wish me luck and see you in 2023.
-
International Shipping
I did some research online for international shipping rates lower than the $50-$100 range, and decided to go with Pirate Ship. It’s still not cheap, but at least it’s reasonable. So, if you’re outside the US and have been hoping to get your hands on something from the Tindie store – check it out now!
