the story so far: searching for a DIY pad solution

Antonym wrote:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=7607566

listen to the full track "stupid 1000"

hahah listen to this clown

lol nym, ya famous !

lmao this dude got nothing better to do than bitching about a 1000 over a whack beat?

i mean c'mon, i'll own this cat with my mpc 1000 vs his mpc 4000.. what's he gonna do? lol

yo ant that was a diss!

gots to answer to that shit right now

i just realized this was tha sense, who has posted here before. i never had any problem with him.

i dnt really think it was a diss, although they did say "you'd have to be crazy."

more just an issue of people talking shit when they obviously don't know very much abuot the situation - i expected that when i told people that my temporary solution was tin foil. frankly i'm surprised that so many of you were excited and supportive rather than like "you're gonna break your shit"

of course, you all could be saying that to yourselves, thinking "better him than me!" haha

but to answer his question "why tin foil:" because tin foil conducts!

agreed i didnt hear a diss in there either.

some people are just afraid of messing with stuff, and if you dont know what youre doing then fair enough.

i'm sure almost everyone at one point was afraid of popping open their pc or car to begin with.

i'm quite happy to mess about with my mpc when/if my pads go to shit.

only had mine a lil over a month so early days yet, no idea how the other dude **** his up in two weeks, that musta been some serious pad pounding!

some people want to see beef... somethings don't ever change... even out of high school....



there is always a fine line between genius/insanity




which is why we have nuclear weapons.

yo i just cut the FACK out of my thumb working on the spacer grid in between my sensors and what will be the conductive rubber sheet.

while my thumb is pertty goddamn ugly lookin right now, the sensor board is looking great. i used clear silicone mounting squares (scotch stuff from staples) and clear plastic record sleeve.

i cut the silicone mountings into more manageable strips rather than thumbnail sized squares and positioned them around the sensors directly on the sensor board (since i took off the black tape you see in the earlier picture). one by one, i took the non-adhesive liner off one side, mounted it on the board. then i took the non-adhesive liner off the other side and mounted the plastic record sleeve.

then i cut an equal sized square over each sensor with a razor. even and equal. this will provide space for the rubber to be pushed down -- yet stll flexible enough so as not to cause the rubber to break over time. my only worry is that the rubber i got is so thin that it will tear. in this case, i need to order another rubber 6 by 6 inch piece and i will advise you to do the same when the time comes.

the conductive rubber should be arriving tomorrow or so gentlemen...i'm so excited i'm nearly amputating my thumbs twiddlin em

and making beats on my sp404, which is ship in a bottle compared to the 1k on jenius pills. still enjoyable though.

dont forget to take pics while youre at it.

oh and one of your thumb too for posterity

the rubber has arrived. i am about to plug it in and try it...cross ya fingas

no go. this stuff works, but it's simply not conductive enough...it's in the same family as what i'm looking for, but it's not quite there.


here's the problem - with the old conductive rubber, you could apply very little pressure and get a current. with this stuff, you have to apply a lot of pressure before you get a contact - and almost immediately, it's 127...

here's a graphic:

original:
oO
oooO
oooooOO
ooooOOOOO
ooooooooOOOOOO
oooooooOOOOOOOOOOO
oooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOO
oooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
lots of pressure......................little pressure.

what i ordered:

O
OO
OOO
OOOO
OOOOO
OOOOOO
OOOOOOO
lots of pressure......................little pressure.

this is the velocity sensitivity curve...highest point =127, lowest=0

my next step is to make my own pressure-activated polymer....
this is gonna be harder than i had hoped. fukk!

next up:

velostat conductive film.

http://www.blockemf.com/catalog/product ... ts_id=5247

i read about this from here: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4296406.html

The present invention switch comprises a pair of electrodes separated by resilient resistive material which changes resistance several orders of magnitude in response to light pressure. Sensing and amplifying means are provided to detect a predetermined change in resistance. An array of a plurality of such switches may be arranged in a switching matrix to provide any desired form of switch controls or a keyboard for numerous electronic applications.

and later:

The pads 11 and 12, as will be explained hereinafter, may be etched foil printed circuits having a conductive-resistive material which displays a low resistance when little or light pressure is applied and displays a very high resistance when no pressure is applied...Overlying the conductive-resistive material 14 is a layer of conductive material such as copper foil 15 which may be attached to the push-button 16 comprising an insulative material.

The conductive-resistive material is preferrably a plastic which is impregnated with carbon black or a conductive carbon and is non-corrosive to prevent deposits on or oxidation of the copper foil material 11, 12 and 15. Such a material is available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M Company) under trade name of VELOSTAT (TM). VELOSTAT material may be purchased in the form of plastic sheet approximately 4 mils thick designated as VELOSTAT (TM) type 1704 which is an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) modified polyethylene with carbon black filler.

the good news: this stuff is only 1.95!
the bad news: i have to wait another week for it to arrive.

however, this stuff looks promising.

trial and error is a b!tch, but it's good that you're still keepin' at it.
let's hope the new material works out, and keep up the good work.

this thing sound way more close to what we're looking for. i'm glad it's so cheap, too.

weird.

velostat is also used in aluminum foil helmet type thought protectors:



http://www.stopabductions.com/main.htm

no joke

"Since trying Michael Menkin's Helmet, I have not been bothered by alien mind control. Now my thoughts are my own. I have achieved meaningful work and am contributing to society. My life is better than ever before. Thank you Michael for the work you are doing to save all humanity."
- Jon Locke