I suspect Jon simply took some time off for the holidays and being Jon entertained himself on PL while everybody else was asleep...Originally Posted by buffo
Senior Member
I suspect Jon simply took some time off for the holidays and being Jon entertained himself on PL while everybody else was asleep...
"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." Pablo Picasso
Senior Member
Doc- I appreciate your suggestion. BB was eaten by TI, who continued to make the 4214 for a few more years. I've gone over TI's website several times and All I can find is the Dsheet without the diagrams. I'll try calling, who knows.
I did find a copy of BB's catalog in a university library in Arizona (two campuses actually).
I'm hoping to sweetalk the librarian into making a copy for me, or, failing that, maybe I can get an inter-library loan arranged.
If I am successful, I'll make copies available to any forum member who is interested.
The 4214 is still available, but it's pricey, $40-$60 each. Actually found a Chinese chip supplier who has a few hundred in stock.
Jay
On a more positive note... paid for my Z-5 this morning.
May the soldering Gods be with you David!
Senior Member
Possible success! I found 1986 copy of Burr Brown's catalog in the UA Tempe library, and am having it sent here via inter-library loan. Hopefully the 4214 was still in production in '86.
If anyone needs complete data sheets for the 4214, 4206, 4423, or other useful chips from BB, I will happily send .pdf copies.
J
Senior Member
Sounds good. I think I have come across other IC's whose data sheets seem to have less than I remember seeing in lost paper originals. One long-shot: If Maxim ever made a copy of this IC (very doubtful in this case) you might find some good data because they always seemed to be very thorough and forthcoming in their published data. Also, it may be that there is some application note that ended up keeping extra data that got shifted out of the main data sheet.
el gringo loco
Well, as we all-know, these forums are rather 'low-bandwidth', so, I just simply suggest that a) he's anything but a 'has-been' (experience-dig?nor competed in the 'lase-off' using the latest-build of Beyond Digisynth
he's *quite* qualified to discuss the advantages / disadvantages of controls designed for controller-based performance consoles, since.. 'that's how he rolled', week after week, for, what 30+ years, cumulatively?? b) We see - Or what may at least come-across-as - similar 'attitudes' - from time to time - from other-such of our 'Seasoned Elders', ie: Pat Bish, even Mixedgas, etc, and all I'm suggesting is that what may seem like 'elitism', may in fact just be that 'ol' Sea Dog' persona - ya know, like 'Quint'
..Well, you cut Pat Bish (..whom I also practically worship....but, point-being, I think he made it pretty-clear he was not diggin' on the peeps / DZ's efforts, etc.. I dunno, there's certainly no point in arguing this any longer...
..Cuz a) he can't bring the 6B (controller-pic I posted..) and a CSL to S'LEM, whereas b) In St Louie, you can watch him perform spellbinding-shows, live.. all w/o a single label.
..You wanna take the load off my shoulders for that month so I can?
Got sik, so.. had to 'sit this NYE-out', and ya, just haven't been on PL for months... Was nice bein home with the Fam, tho..
ciao ciao
j
PS - Sorry 'bout all the 'bar fights' in yer thread, DZ..
....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...
Member
Doc, I really need to do a show-and-tell with a JPG of the P-4 front panel. One of the things users enjoy, as soon as they discover it, is the ability to frequency-modulate and/or amplitude-modulate the same image. It adds some complexity to the flow chart, but is really easy to use, once you "get it". First easy example: The big three-lobed Lissajous pattern both zooms away and morphs into a small 5-pointed star - and back again into the big Lissajous, both synched to the beat of whichever of the two LFOs you selected. Follow the bass beat.
Member
I show the Analog Devices AD534J (that's the analog multiplier I used in the P4) available from Digikey. Unfortunately, my notes are at least 25 years old. But that's my last-known source.
Member
"You don't have time in a performance to look for much less read labels." Agreed, absolutely.
During a performance, you should be able to keep your eyes on the image and run the machinery by braille. I put a small glow-in-the dark stick-on dot on the VCA gain knob. It's like putting an indent in the C button on an accordion. Once you find Middle C, you can play piano and P-4 in total darkness.
Ash, you're missing the point, just as Laserist did. DZ isn't building these consoles for people to install in Planetariums so they can run commercial shows night after night to a paying audience. While it's very sad, the fact remains that the days of analog laser shows in planetariums are long gone.
The people in this thread who have ordered these units are mostly dedicated hobbyists who just want a cool piece of history to experiment with on their own time, and who have the budget to afford it. There is ONE person here who *might* use his console for commercial shows one day, but even that is highly unlikely.
That being said, there is still value in bringing this art form to the masses, even on the hobbyist level. But to get over the steep learning curve, having labels on the console would definitely help.
Sure, *you* didn't need them, because you designed the thing. And I do agree that once someone is in a production environment where they need to perform for a commercial audience night after night, that person absolutely must be intuitively familiar with all the controls, not the least because in a low-light environment of a planetarium they wouldn't be able to read the labels anyway. But that's not applicable to the people here in this thread.
To get someone started on this console, and to ease the learning curve so they can spend more time figuring out how to create cool patterns and less time learning which knob does what, a set of basic labels would be a huge plus. If someone really gets into the console and at one point decides to start performing shows commercially with it, those labels might become superfluous, but for now they are a welcomed addition.
Adam
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