Hello everybody!

I'm Joris from Belgium and i'm working on my first (PAiA) modular. I'm fairly new to electronics (i've never really studied it) but i'm learning more and more every day:-)

Because i'm a student (in electronic music) i carefully had to pick the modules according to my (rather small) budget... the vco and the vca from the 9700s series seemed to be a good start for me (and my budget!). but at the time, i wasn't aware of the +15-15 powering (again i'm new to this and tought i could power it up in another way... Stupid thing to think, i know!

My second problem is one that concerns the housing of my whole project.. My intention was to build a modular with several different modules (i've allready etched some pcb's) and make my own housing for it. Again, i wasn't properly thinking on how to power up all my modules:-S

Last week a friend of mine told me about this second-hand eurorack (just thehousing with power supply), but i've noticed that those cases come with a +-12v powering... i guess that won't be an option, right?

So now i'm stuck with my 2 (finished) modules, eager to test them out but i can't power them up, nor can i order a supply at PAiA because the shipping to belgium costs as much as the whole +-15v power supply-kit (wich makes it to expensive for me). is there an alternetive for this power supply?

As u can see, i'm a little bit confused and i would really appreciate some help on this cos i just can't wait to make music with my paia modules!

Thanks in advance,
Joris

The various circuit sections of the 9700 series modules are designed to operate on dual-polarity 12VDC supplies.

To use the modules with a supply like this that is not a 9700 series type, just omit the voltage regulator ICs 1 and 2 and insert the positive and negative DC supplies on the board where the third, output pin, of ICs 1 and 2.
Run separate wires from G and SG back to the power supply's Ground or 0vdc.

Hi Scott

Is this also possible with the new 9700 modules? Do they have the regulators already soldered? If so, can you just bypass them?

Thanks, Peter

There are power supply test points on the newer 9700 series modules where external supplies can be wired in, but it would be best to isolate the output of the 7812/7912 twelve volt regulators already in place on these boards. Either heat the third, output, pin on these as a thin knife blade works to create a gap between it and the board, or, cut the printed-circuit-trace.

That said, power can be connected with them in place, but there will be some current flow through resistances internal to the parts. Then, it's best to have the input and output shorted so the potential on the output doesn't exceed that of the input. If you aren't worried about maybe, possibly compromising the part, then don't worry about the input to output jumpering either.

Hi Scott

Thanks for confirming that. It makes it easier than having to maintain separate 12 and 15 volt supplies for my MFOS modules and teh extra Paia modules I would like to add.