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Zeppelin Design Labs NOISETTE Assembly And Owner's Manual

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Summary of Contents for Zeppelin Design Labs NOISETTE

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    SCHEMATIC ......................29 © 2023 ZEPPELIN DESIGN LABS. NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR. ZEPPELIN DESIGN LABS TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE OR HARM THAT MAY COME TO ANYONE OR ANYTHING THROUGH USING OR BUILDING THEIR PRODUCTS.

  • Page 3: Introduction

    This passion for the Theremin has earned it a legendary status in the electronic music community around the world. We here at Zeppelin Design Labs are very proud to be part of this legacy by bringing you our modern take on this classic instrument. We sincerely hope you have as much fun building and...

  • Page 4: How It Works

    (or volume) of the audio signal that was generated by the VCO. The Noisette circuit topology is basically the same as the original Theremin circuit. We are just using a few modern components to obtain the same result. One of the main differences is instead of vacuum tubes like in the original circuit, we are using integrated circuits (ICs, aka microchips) in the VCO and VCA circuits.

  • Page 5: What You Will Need

    WHAT YOU WILL NEED Here’s everything you will need to build your Noisette Optical Theremin kit as shown below: TOOLS 1. #2 Phillips screwdriver 2. Tiny (precision) flathead screwdriver for adjusting the trimmer potentiometers 3. Soldering iron (not a soldering gun, or a cold heat iron), good quality, 15-50 watt, with a good medium or small-sized tip, conical or chisel shape.

  • Page 6: What's In The Box

    WHAT’S IN THE BOX Table 1: The Noisette Optical Theremin Bill of Materials (BOM) is a complete parts list of everything that should be present in your kit, followed by photos of each part. Carefully go through the kit, identifying every part. Please read about the proper handling of integrated circuits (ICs) in paragraph 7 on page 18 before removing the circuit board from the silver static-protective bag.
  • Page 7 Table 1: The Noisette Optical Theremin Bill of Materials (BOM) Part # Description Notes CA-30-20 Speaker Grille Cover ST-50-20 LDR Shield PC-78-01 Noisette Circuit Board ST-60-20 Nylon LED Standoff DI-30-52 Green 5mm LED SW-50-30 Pushbutton DPDT Switch HD-40-40 1/8” TRS Audio Jack...

  • Page 8: Populating The Printed Circuit Board

    EVERY USE. Your Noisette Optical Theremin contains one printed circuit board (PCB). All of the components will be installed on the component side of the board, which is the side that has the part labels on it. The other side of the board is called the solder side, which, as the name implies, is the side on which the legs of the components are soldered.
  • Page 9 At the very least you should touch a large conductive object like a metal desk or a filing cabinet. With this information in mind, please proceed carefully. Figure 3: Component Values and Locations ZEPPELIN DESIGN LABS NOISETTE OPTICAL THEREMIN V1.2...
  • Page 10 Let’s begin! 1. 220uF Electrolytic Capacitors (C1, C2, C3): The first thing we’ll install on your Noisette PCB are the capacitors. There are three electrolytic capacitors (aka “caps”) in the Noisette. This type of capacitor IS POLARIZED: there is a right direction and a wrong direction to install them. If you get it wrong, they might burst.
  • Page 11 2. Headers: Your kit includes one 3-pin header. The process we use to solder these headers is to hold it in place with one finger, apply some solder to the tip of your iron, and then quickly tack in one lead on the bottom of the board (7). Make sure you don’t hold down the pin that you are trying to tack down because the pin will heat up and it might burn you.
  • Page 12 The LED is installed on the PCB in the spot marked LED, and it IS POLARIZED and must be installed in the correct orientation. If you get it backwards, the light won’t work. The long lead goes into the hole with the square pad, the short lead goes into the round pad (12).
  • Page 13 5. Power Jack: Press it snug to the board. Double check that it is sitting square to the front edge of the board and flush to the top of the board before you solder it. Tack one pin of the jack into place on the board while you hold it in (19).
  • Page 14 Your Noisette kit contains three LDRs. They have each been hand selected to have the correct resistance range needed for their particular use in the Noisette. You will notice that one of these LDRs has black dot on its backside. Set aside this LDR with the dot because it will be used for the optocoupler, which we will assemble later.
  • Page 15 9. Potentiometers: Install the potentiometers (aka “pots”). Make sure they are all seated securely and flush against the PCB; otherwise the completed board won’t fit properly into your Noisette’s case. Double check that the shafts of the pots are all standing at 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the board.
  • Page 16 10. Optocoupler: The optocoupler is part of the VCA circuit that controls the volume of the Noisette. It consists of a light dependent resistor (LDR) and a light emitting diode (LED), both of which are sealed inside a length of heat-shrink tubing. In a previous step we set aside the LDR with the black dot on its backside.
  • Page 17 b. As you hold the LED in this position from the outside of the tube, carefully heat up the end of the tube with your soldering iron until it closes around the LED leads (39,40). Once it has stopped shrinking but while it is still very hot, use your pliers to pinch the shrunken tubing closed around the leads to help seal the opening (41,42).
  • Page 18 d. As you hold the LDR from the outside of the heat-shrink, carefully heat this side of the tube until it closes around the LDR leads (45,46). While it is still very hot, use your pliers to pinch the end closed around the LDR leads (47). Now that we’ve made the optocoupler, we can install it.
  • Page 19 e. Carefully install the optocoupler on the PCB. Double check to make sure the long LED lead is in its correct hole -- with the square pad (51). Bend the leads out on the back, solder all four leads and snip them (52). 11.
  • Page 20 12. Battery Snap: Before we install the battery snap we need to cut the leads to the correct length. The leads need to be 72mm from the plastic snap. Measure with your ruler and cut them that length (56). Then use your wire strippers to strip about 3mm (1/8”) of insulation off leads. (57) Gently twist the tiny strands of copper wire together.
  • Page 21 13. Hex Standoffs: Use a #2 Phillips screwdriver and the M3x6 screws to screw the hex standoffs to the two lower holes on the board (62-64). Slide the circuit board into the box by lining up the jacks and power switch to their holes in the box (65).
  • Page 22 You’ll eventually need to adjust them to your own liking, depending on how you want to play your Noisette. Power on the Noisette by either using a 9 volt battery or a 9 volt wall adapter (available from Zeppelin Design Labs) (68). Make sure you tuck the battery snap wires down between the edge of the case and the trim pots to keep them out of the way when we install the lid in a later step (69).
  • Page 23 Now the volume control sensor should be calibrated. When you cover the sensor with your hand, the Noisette’s LED should be dark and when you move your hand to let the light shine on the sensor, the LED should be bright.
  • Page 24 One other note to be mindful of is that you may need to readjust these settings to accommodate how the LDRs fit in the LDR shields once the lid is in place on the Noisette. The LDR shields tend to block more light when they are installed in the lid, as opposed to just being placed over the LDRs when you calibrate them.
  • Page 25 In fact, it is a good idea to leave the open Noisette case in an area with lots of air circulation (like in front of a fan) to keep the glue vapors from settling on the black case and PCB. How quick the glue dries depends on how much was used.

  • Page 26: Using Your Noisette

    USING YOUR NOISETTE Figure 4: Noisette Features and Parts 1. DC POWER JACK: An option for applying power to your Noisette is to use a 9 volt, center negative power supply. A typical guitar pedal power supply will work. 50mA minimum.
  • Page 27 See VOLUME SENSOR for more information. 8. CASE LID: The Noisette case lid can be removed by inserting a flat head screwdriver in the inset at the end of the case and gently twisting until the end of the cover snaps up. Then place the screwdriver on the edge of the case (between the lid and the base) and gently twist until one side of the top lifts.

  • Page 28: Playing Your Noisette

    PLAYING YOUR NOISETTE Apply power to your Noisette either by attaching a 9 volt battery to the battery snap or by using a 9 volt (center negative) power adapter (the same type of power supply a typical guitar pedal uses).

  • Page 29: Schematic

    SCHEMATIC...

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