Bill and Will's Synth
Tellun 861 "Dunsel" Construction
Page 2 - MUUB Construction

November 2009 -

This is Page 2 of our Dunsel construction documentation.

You can download a .pdf copy of the  1.0.1 User Guide we used by clicking here (apx 143K). The module has no PCB specifically designed for it. Rather, it uses some of the Multi-Use Universal Buffer (MUUB) PCBs designed by Richard Brewster, Larry Hendry, and Scott Juskiw and available through Scott.

The build described in the Users Guide above, uses four MUUB4 and three MUUB2 circuit boards and is what we used to do our build. 

Will and I found an omission in the Guide - a jumper - required on PCBs 1A and 2A at JA6.  This jumper should be listed as "jumper | JA6" in the tables of components in sections "5.1 Building Board 1A (MUUB4)" and "5.2 Building Board 1 B (MUUB4)." of the Guide.  Our diagrams include this jumper and our build also shows it - although we discovered it in process.

Table of Contents

This process has become so long that we've broken it into three separate pages and sections within them.  Here's a table of contents that we hope will make it easier to traverse them:

Beginning and End

Background - presents an explanation and Scott Juskiw's initial description of the module with a photo

Parts - presents a Bill of Materials and notes about it

Panel - presents the MOTM format panel

Mounting Brackets - our use of two "Stooge" 3-pot brackets

Snack

Set up / Testing

Use notes

MUUB Construction Page (this Page)

Construction PCB 1A&B - MUUB4

Construction PCB 2A&B - MUUB4

Construction PCB 3A&B - MUUB2

Construction PCB 4 - MUUB2

Connection Wiring

Connections Page

PCB Connections - wiring the PCBs together

Panel Wiring - connecting the PCBs to the panel

Construction - PCB1 A & B

PCB1 A & B are built using MUUB4s and are described in Scott's 861 User's guide section 5.1. and 5.2.   For detailed drawings of the MUUB4, click here.

Please note again that during our build of these boards we discovered the omission of the JA6 jumper from the User Guide. That jumper is included in our diagrams, noted where relevant, and, after we discovered it, shown in our build photos.

The two boards are identical except for the power elements so we're going to build them together.

Here's Scott's picture of Board A finished:

image from Scott Juskiw

And his picture of Board B finished:

images from Scott Juskiw

Phase 1

All the stuff in Phase 1 gets soldered using "Organic" Solder.  At every break in the action, we wash the board off to get rid of the flux.

Jumpers

here's where they go - (click on image for larger one)

we hadn't noticed the missing jumper at JA6 on both PCB1 A & B - we didn't until much later... when we did, we put it into both PCBs.

Resistors

we missed the 100K resistor in RC10 - put it in with the caps

Capacitors

Misc

Misc stuff for PCB 1 A

caps and IC jacks are in - and the 100K at RC10

Misc stuff for PCB 1 B

We're going to wash off the PCB at this point and let it dry.

caps, IC jacks, ferrite beads, and power header are in - and the 100K at RC10

We're going to wash off the PCB at this point and let it dry.

Phase 2

The stuff in Phase 2 gets soldered using "No-Clean" Solder and the PCB doesn't get washed off from here on.

Wire jumpers

Here's where they go.  So - remember we missed that JA6 jumper?  Except for that, this is a picture of all the components.

Construction - PCB2 A & B

PCB 2 A & B are built using MUUB4s and are described in Scott's 861 User's guide section 5.3. and 5.3.

The two boards are identical so we're going to build them together.

Here's Scott's picture of Board A finished:

image from Scott Juskiw

Phase 1

Again, all the stuff in Phase 1 gets soldered using "Organic" Solder.  At every break in the action, we wash the board off to get rid of the flux.

Jumpers

here's where they go

Resistors

OK - in one of the PCBs, we missed the 100K resistor in RB1 - put it in just before the wire jumpers

Capacitors

caps are in

Misc

We're going to wash off the PCB at this point and let it dry.

Phase 2

The stuff in Phase 2 gets soldered using "No-Clean" Solder and the PCB doesn't get washed off from here on.

Wire jumpers

Here's where they go

PCB2 all done

Construction - PCB3 A & B

PCB3 A & B are built using MUUB2s and are described in Scott's 861 User's guide section 5.5. and 5.6.   For detailed drawings of the MUUB2, click here.

The two boards are identical so we're going to build them together.

Here's Scott's picture of Board A finished:

Phase 1

All the stuff in Phase 1 gets soldered using "Organic" Solder.  At every break in the action, we wash the board off to get rid of the flux.

Jumpers

here's where they go

Resistors

Capacitors

caps are in

Misc

Misc stuff for PCB3 A & B

We're going to wash off the PCB at this point and let it dry.

Phase 2

The stuff in Phase 2 gets soldered using "No-Clean" Solder and the PCB doesn't get washed off from here on.

Wire jumpers

Here's where it goes

You're supposed to strip one end of the wire long - the end that goes in to the signal (round) pad at JA2 - so it can be folded down behind JA1. This way when you're connecting the wires later on, it will be there (so this wire jumper and RA1 will be joined). We didn't do this so we had to add a jumper later... much less elegant, but it worked.

PCB3 all done

Construction - PCB4

PCB4 is built using an MUUB2 and is described in Scott's 861 User's guide section 5.7.   For detailed drawings of the MUUB2, click here.

Here's Scott's picture of Board 4 finished:

Phase 1

All the stuff in Phase 1 gets soldered using "Organic" Solder.  At every break in the action, we wash the board off to get rid of the flux.

Jumpers

here's where they go

jumpers done

Resistors

resistors done

Capacitors

caps are in

Misc

Misc stuff for PCB 4

caps are in

Phase 2

The stuff in Phase 2 gets soldered using "No-Clean" Solder and the PCB doesn't get washed off from here on.

Wire jumpers

Here's where it goes

Similarly to PCBs 3, you're supposed to strip one end of the wire long - but here, it's the end that goes in to the signal (round) pad at JA3 - so it can be folded down behind JA2 and JA1. This way when you're connecting the wires later on, it will be there (so this wire jumper, RA2, and RA1 will be joined). We didn't do this so we had to add a jumper later... much less elegant, but it worked.

PCB4 all done

ICs

We put the TL072s into their sockets.

Connection Wiring

OK - the next step is to install the wiring that will make the connections between the PCBs and to the panel jacks.  This is described in Scott's 861 User's guide section 5.9 "Board to Board Wiring" and section 5.10 "Board to Panel Wiring."

All of these wires are coax.  The wires that go PCB-to-PCB solder in such that the shield is only soldered at one end.  These will be prepared with a bit of heat-shrink at one end.

Here's Scott's illustration of how to prepare the PCB-to-PCB coax:

Of the jack-wires, double-check your anticipated position of the PCBs relative to the panel. You'll have to add length to the wires as required.

We actually added an inch to the lengths described by Scott (and listed on this page).

From this point on, all the PCBs are specifically different from each other.

PCB1 A Bottom Wires

OK, now - here are the wires that need to be soldered into the bottom of PBC1 A.  All of these wires are Coax prepared so that the shield attaches at one end, and just the signal wire at the other end.

We cut the wires and carefully labeled them.

Soldered them in.

PCB1 A Top Wires

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB1 A.  Again - all of them are coax - but here, three of them go to jacks.

Again, we cut the wires, labeled them,

and soldered them in.

The Missing Jumper at JA6

This is when we discovered our omission of the JA6 jumper on both PCB1 A & B. So we went back and soldered them into both PCBs using no-clean solder.  You can see it in the photo of PCB1A, above - and we soldered it into PCB1B as well:

PCB1 B Bottom Wires

OK - here are the wires that need to be soldered into the bottom of PBC1 B.  All of these wires are Coax prepared so that the shield attaches at one end, and just the signal wire at the other end.

Same routine - measure, label, solder.

PCB1 B Top Wires

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB1 B.  Again - all of them are coax - but here, three of them go to jacks.

PCB2 A

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB2 A.  Four of the wires come from other PCBs but for now, we're just going to wire up the two jacks.

PCB 2 B

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB2 B.  Four of the wires come from other PCBs but for now, we're just going to wire up the two jacks.

PCB 3 A

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB3 A.  One of the wires come from another PCB but for now, we're just going to wire up the two jacks.

PCB3 B

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB3 B.  One of the wires come from another PCB but for now, we're just going to wire up the two jacks.

PCB 4

Here are the wires that need to be soldered into the top of PCB4.  Three of the wires come from other PCBs but for now, we're just going to wire up the two jacks.

Same routine - measure, label, solder.

Go on to Page Three - connections

Go back to Page One - beginning and end