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Behringer FCB1010 mods and more!

Behringer FCB1010 LCD update

11 Comments Posted by on June 24, 2012

FCB1010 on a breadboard with LCD (click for larger image)

A little big update on the Behringer FCB1010 LCD project. I wanted to show you guys and gals that I’m progressing quite nicely. As you can see from the picture i took out all the internals of the fcb and hooked them all up to a Teensy++ on my breadboard. Im using a MAX7219 IC to control all indicator leds and led digits with just three pins on the Teensy board. Midi in/out is also done.

Theoretically you could internally just hook the original Midi OUT to the Midi in on my breadboard Midi In and use the Midi Out from the breadboard as new Midi Out. That way you could leave the entire FCB in tact, only redirect two wires from the Midi In/Out PCB to and from the Teensy and you’re all done. Using that little change one should be able to show AxeFX patch names and tuner info on the LCD. Adding two buttons for tuner enable/disable and tap tempo should be peanuts then. Once my AxeFX arrives and I get to test everything i will make sure to post the source code for the Teensyduino / Arduino IDE.

As i have announced i would probably let the Teensy handle all the IO. I have decided to take that road, so that’s why the setup in the picture looks a little more complicated, as it already has the FCB1010’s button and led PCB’s connected. I plan on adding a RGB led, three push buttons and a button under the expression pedals, so they can be switched on/off by pushing the pedal down a little further. The RGB-led will be an indicator on which stompbutton bank is selected (more info about this in a future post). As seen in the picture on the LCD: FCB-Infinity is alive! 😛

Next up: designing the custom PCB to replace the breadboard. This thing needs to withstand life on the road, so no shortcuts there.

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11 responses to “Behringer FCB1010 LCD update”

  1. ian April 9, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    In the case of your power supply/1 cable mod, would the transformer supply enough power to run some FX pedals if a “Boss” sized connector was added to the rear of the FCB to connect the piggy back cable to?

    Reply
    • mackatackcom April 9, 2015 at 7:51 pm

      I dont think so, it’s 10 volt ac. I think the pedals need 9 dc. But you could just add another boss adapter in the box and hook that up to the two spare connectors on the utp bus. On the fcb you could then make an output connector for your pedals.

      Reply
      • ian April 10, 2015 at 11:00 pm

        That’s annoying as I was hoping to use a 9pin connector to carry all power, midi in/out, ground and analogue switching in one cable to my Rack rear panel and split/distribute it all as required from there……it would have been marvellous to run my wah, boost and FX pedals with the same cable.
        There are varying comments that indicate that the FCB will accept a 9V dc supply that will get changed as required by components on the boards (Diode Rectifiers?). see example comments below- does this make sense/seem correct to you? If it is correcct then should I be able to run the FCB and FX pedals from my existing 9V pedal board supply and bypass the original FCB unit?
        ——————————
        “The way the main boards does it, the 10 volts or so from the transformer goes through a diode rectifier, made from 4 diodes, then is goes in parallel with a condenser for filtering and finally through a 7805 5volt voltage controller integrated circuit. The final voltage that feeds ALL the electronics on the fcb1010 is 5 volts DC.
        Reply

        Nicolas says:
        2012/11/05 at 19:38

        Hi , does it has to be 9V AC or DC power?…ddoes it matter since it is going through the rectifyers anyway?…thanks!
        Reply
        rt says:
        2012/11/07 at 09:04

        The rectifier will accept AC or DC. The 7805 will easily process 7-12 volts DC. I think the specs are 7 to 20 volts, but they get really hot above 12. You need a heat sink above 12 volts, depending on current. So, the external power of pretty much any musical instrument setup are acceptable. Most of the time, it’s 9 volts, anyway.”
        —————————–

        I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for your reply, I’m just hoping to explore all possibilities in order to minimize the ridiculous amount of cables that I have to plug in/ take out and dance around each time I gig.

        Cheers

        Ian

      • mackatackcom April 11, 2015 at 9:17 am

        Ian, now you mention it, yes! You can just power the original fcb circuitry using a dc adapter. Just take out the original adapter (or leave it in place so you still have that option as well) and hook up a 9v dc adapter to the yellow wires and see what happens. My apologies, i didn’t think of it that way. Could be an awesome setup, yes. What 9 pins cable are you thinking about. I’ve used the standard upt network cable because it’s cheap and easy to replace, but thats 8 pins.

      • mackatackcom April 11, 2015 at 9:19 am

        You could use the shield on an sftp computer network cable as the negative for your dc power. So then you also have 9 pins basically.

  2. ian April 12, 2015 at 11:09 am

    I had thought of these connectors
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-Pins-Chassis-Sockets-Plugs-Microphone-Mic-Plug/121597386784?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D30111%26meid%3Daaf7e64fd0254c67b71b229065c35f0a%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D231359930831&rt=nc

    as these lock into each other. I found a listing for some heavier duty 8 core cable but not found 9 yet.
    If one of the MiDI pins in just providing 5V (as I think I understood from your other projects) then could the 5V pin for in and out be connected together?

    Reply
  3. ian April 12, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    On the FCBInfinity you built, would it be possible to display patch names created in the FCBUno editor? The patches could then be named in the FX unit patch settings (I have 2 rack units controlled by MIDI). Or would most FX units transmit patch name info within the MIDI info (or is this something the Fractal unit does that is not common to all)?

    Reply
    • mackatackcom April 13, 2015 at 11:16 am

      The FCBInfinity is not configurable using the UNO editors. It’s just a totally different machine after the modification. You can program it yourself but then you’ll need C++ programming skills. The FCBInfinity modification is not the the faint of heart 😀

      Reply
      • ian April 13, 2015 at 7:04 pm

        DOH!! It was quite a bit later and far from my laptop when it dawned on me that the Infinity was a FCB in case only. I think I may have had a head full of ideas but getting ahead of myself – will stick with the “one Lead” thang for now but am going to add a 9v out for FX pedals and maybe a switch to retain the mains power if required. The Teensy thing looks like it could be utilised for many fun things though-once you speako da lingo as it were.

        i had come o the conclusion that you had already pcked the best connectors for the job so some of my hard earned will be winging its way in an Ebay direction soon.

        thanks again for your help (and patience).

        Ian

  4. Mike Winterhalt April 23, 2015 at 1:42 am

    I can’t figure out how you got the LCD to fit. I bought a New Haven Display with the same dimensions as the one you used but it doesn’t fit in the cavity from the back. maybe with a little filing. btw I love this thing. I got everything working with a Teensy 3.1 but only at the breadboard stage so far. I don’t really need the LCD so I making a single sided PCB without it.

    Reply

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