Feature Requests on Relay Bypass PCB Project(s)

[aziltz]

hey friends, for anyone who's interested in getting some of these as they come available, I should have a very limited number towards the second half of the september.

I've put up a pre-order for the two 1P6T Boards and the Micro EQ.  I'm going to wait to put up the Relay board until I'm closer to having them ready.

For the pre-order, shipping is again free until I place orders for larger quantities.  Pre-ordered boards will ship as they come available.  If you would like to order buffer PCBs as well, shipping will be charged normally for those, and they will be shipped immediately.

I've also created a forum on my website to provide support for these projects, and also to facilitate conversations like this thread without stepping on Brian's toes here at madbeanpedals.  It's also a forum to support my pedal designs, but feel free to join in if you enjoy the sort of projects I've been up to.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

[jubal81]

I was surfing around tonight and discovered that SmallBear has some new items, including a 'true bypass latching relay driver chip' from Pedal Sync.

Looks like the idea is that all you need is the chip, a latching relay and a way to interface the 5V digital pin.

Here's the data sheet if you wanna take a look  at it:

http://www.pedalsync.com/downloads/DRAFT_-_PedalSync_Relay_Bypass_Datasheet_v0_1.pdf

[aziltz]

thanks for that link, the data sheet is quite helpful.

[aziltz]

i've decided to do a 180 on this...


my discrete drive design works, but I'm not so satisfied with the footprint and parts count for the applications I want.

a friend of mine, Peter Rutter of VFE Effects, has a bypass system that uses a custom chip to drive the same relay.  It does everything that my 4049 and mosfets have been doing, but in a DIP8 form.  He is planning to make them available in the next couple months such that they could be sourced for a few bucks.  Combined with the compactness of the relay, this should make for a better, smaller bypass system.

I have a few test pieces that I am going to start designing around.  First two projects will be the single and dual channel DPDT drivers I have been discussing, though they will have a number of features that will make them quite useful in a variety of applications.

Single Relay Driver:
Effect Bypass
Amp Channel Switching
AB Switch
MUTE Switch

Dual Relay Driver:
Dual Mono Bypass
Stereo Bypass
ABY (Buffered with Micro Buffer PCB)
Clean/Dirty with Master Bypass
Clean/Dirty with Effects Loop

and any others I can come up with.

all applications can be on-board or remotely switched using latching or momentary switches or driven by remote logic signals from other projects (5v).

anyway, that's where this project is at for the moment.  this should allow me to get this going quicker as there is less to prototype.  I'm planning to order this in mid november so I receive them before the December holidays.  I know a lot of people have been waiting on these.

[jubal81]

Super cool.
Fewer parts & smaller footprint without spending big bucks is a win-win. The toughest part now is waiting a few more months.
It might not be practical, but i can imagine using this system to run a few relays at once with a pushbutton to seriously change a sets of mods.
Thanks for working on this, Az.

[aziltz]

Super cool.
Fewer parts & smaller footprint without spending big bucks is a win-win. The toughest part now is waiting a few more months.
It might not be practical, but i can imagine using this system to run a few relays at once with a pushbutton to seriously change a sets of mods.
Thanks for working on this, Az.

Sorry about the wait.  I am hoping to have in my next batch.  It might be overkill for switching mods.  Perhaps a solid state switch would be better for that.

[Jack Deville]

a friend of mine, Peter Rutter of VFE Effects, has a bypass system that uses a custom chip to drive the same relay.  It does everything that my 4049 and mosfets have been doing, but in a DIP8 form.  He is planning to make them available in the next couple months such that they could be sourced for a few bucks.  Combined with the compactness of the relay, this should make for a better, smaller bypass system.

I have a few test pieces that I am going to start designing around.  First two projects will be the single and dual channel DPDT drivers I have been discussing, though they will have a number of features that will make them quite useful in a variety of applications.

FWIW:  I designed the system for VFE.

[aziltz]

FWIW:  I designed that system for VFE.

Yes!  Jack deserves credit for the design.  I've only been talking to Peter at this point, and I assume that his intentions to sell the driver chips from his system is not news to you.  I'm only designing a few projects to use them, and I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due in the literature, etc.

[lloyd17]

I've been kind of hoping Peter would just make his whole daughter board available. VFE guts have gotten so good over the last while.