{"id":1,"date":"2026-07-07T21:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bleepsnbloops.com\/?p=1"},"modified":"2026-08-04T00:57:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T00:57:05","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bleepsnbloops.com\/?p=1","title":{"rendered":"In at the deep end!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So after a lot of prevaricating and trying to decide do I go with the Kosmo format or Eurorack, I decided on the Eurorack format. I live in a condo building and only have so much space! I also decided to build a VCO as I had been following Moritz Kleins DIY VCO<\/a> series. If you’re just starting out yourself I strongly<\/strong> recommend it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also decided that I’d go with old school thru-hole components. I’m aiming to build something that maps to the old systems of the late 70’s early 80’s so this has determined my build approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having watched the MK series I built a copy of the schematic in KiCad, it ended up looking like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The main board design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The control panel design.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this design I made the front panel a separate board and used header pins to connect the boards. I also cribbed the power supply design from the Erica Synths design for this board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To aid really understanding this I got the full EDU DIY Labor<\/a> kit that Moritz Klein designed so I could bread board this to really get my head round what was going on. This a multimeter and a hand held Oscilloscope I got proved to be invaluable to seeing how this all worked. I find the EDU Labor is still a great tool for testing out other circuit designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BCP layout designs main, control and front panel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I then had my first go at designing a PCB, I also used the control panel PCB design to map out a front panel layout, for this I just sized the holes based on the components locations, grouped them then dragged them across and drew a new board around them. Note: I forgot it needed to be bigger to form a Eurorack front panel, but it was good enough for this build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also found it tricky to ensure the pins and headers were in the correct locations and that they were on the back of the board for the front panel, I also had to place the 16-pin power connector on the back of the main PCB. As I was building this manually I had to figure out how to implement vias. What I did (and still do) is made some large vias that are component leg size, I then solder a component leg on both sides and trim it to make an electrical connection from one side to the other. If any one has a better approach I’d love to know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was onto the build itself, I tried using glossy magazine paper and thermal laser jet transfer and just made a mess, it was terrible. In the end I ordered some Heat Toner Transfer paper and I got a used badge laminator and had way better results. For this first build I then used alignment pins and ferric chloride etching to make the board (you can check out the process in my Notebook<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end I ordered an aluminium panel for this and then exported an SVG of the layout. I then used Inkscape to design the look of the panel [90’s vectorcore style]. I then manually drilled the holes, so not the most precise \ud83d\ude41 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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