Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I have had a 30 key pedalboard awaiting midification in my workshop for a while. In order to get things moving, I ordered reed switches and loom csr32p from Midiboutique. As with all of their products, it is beautifully executed. However there are a couple of unanswered engineering concerns,  how to mount the reed switches and how to mount the magnets, adjustability is key.

There are many ways to activate the reed switch. I chose to move the magnet at 90 degrees to the switch. This minimises the possibility of cross-talk between adjacent magnets and switches.

I decided to replace the supplied magnets with magnets mounted in a plastic casing. These were attached to the lower face of the pedal with some 10mm x 10mm aluminium angle.

In order to mount the switches, I cut some 20mm x 10mm hardwood strip into 25mm lengths. 2 holes were drilled, one into which the reed switch is inserted, and the other to attach the mount to the pedalboard. 

Once I have the reed switch in a suitable position, I'll secure it in the block using silicon. Any future adjustment will be made by slotting the mounting hole.

Picture above shows the magnet in the off position.

As above but in the on position.

The magnet lines up with the switch.

30 reed switch mounts. 

One down, 29 to do!
As can be seen from the above picture, the pedalboard has been midified. I used an mpc32xrs MIDI controller and a csr32 reed switch loom from Midi Gadgets Boutique, their products and service come highly recommended. Over the weekend one of pedals began to stick, probably a weather thing. Fixing the problem was easy but in the process I broke one of the reed switches. Jordan from MGB offered to send an FOC replacement but suggested it would be quicker to obtain a replacement in the UK, MGB are based in Bulgaria. Farnell shipped a replacement next day.

If you look carefully at the picture above, you may notice that the reed switches are held into their wooden blocks with Blu Tack, it just stops them from falling out. This temporary solution has worked quite well! I will of course use a more suitable location method now I'm sure of the switch position.  Next job is to enclose the fragile wiring in a wooden case.