and now FCB1010 power and dual midi cable

  • Hi all,


    I would like to modify my fcb1010 (uno4kemper chip) to be powered by the midi cable.
    Moreover, I would have one only cable (a dual midi cable) can someone explain me how I have to proceed?


    Thanks,
    Lorenzo

  • Hi,


    good idea, But........


    First of all the usual 5 pin midi cable uses 2 lines for each direction, which means if you share the ground line you would need 3 lines for midi (everybody correct me if i am wrong). In addition to the floor board modification you need a split box and two usual midi cables which connect the 'multi cable' with the 2 ports of the kpa.


    But the power line for the fcb1010 is fed with 230 volts. For security reasons I really advise you to let the idea go. Midi ports an cables are not made to be used for this! I know stories about midi floor boards that need low voltage like stomp boxes which are modified that way.

  • But the power line for the fcb1010 is fed with 230 volts. For security reasons I really advise you to let the idea go. Midi ports an cables are not made to be used for this! I know stories about midi floor boards that need low voltage like stomp boxes which are modified that way.


    The line voltage is stepped down to 10v DC or something as soon as it hits the FCB, so it's really easy to take out the power supply and wire the DC conductors to 7-pin MIDI. This part is probably more straightforward than rewiring the MIDI jacks.

  • Looks great - the question is if I spend 100 euro on reducing the cables to the FCB which isn't the most fantastic controller in the world......or wait for the Kemper one......?

  • I am an EE, so I don't recommend the things that I am comfortable with to just anyone; however .....


    I have been looking into this as well and my thought was as follows:


    1) The easiest cable to construct which is the least risky would involve 2 MIDI cables, and a DC power cable rolled into a 1/4" plastic conduit.
    2) Moving to more user friendly, but more risky would involve a modified MIDI cable for the MIDI IN and an unmodified MIDI cable for the MIDI out. The MIDI in would have both the MIDI signal pairs AND DC power and ground which would require a mod to the internal powering of the FCB1010. If you did all the mods internal to the rack side and FCB1010 side, you could use standard 5 pin MIDI cables.
    3) A setup like what was linked to in this thread involving a 7 pin arrangement which houses both the send and receive signal pairs as well as power and ground (6 pins total). In this setup you also need to modify the power input in the FCB1010 as well as the modifications needed in the rack to create the signals from the kemper and DC power supply to the 7 pin connector. This setup requires the most work, but results in the most convenient live setup IMHO.


    Keep in mind that it is very possible to break your Kemper and/or the FCB1010 if you mess this up and there are many ways to get it wrong.


    I was able to find schematics for the FCB1010 and a video on how to hard wire the modification.