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PROJECT NAME
HELIOS
BASED ON
Pro Co RAT Distortion
EFFECT TYPE
Distortion
PROJECT SUMMARY
A distortion pedal with a very distinctive and tight mid-to-high-gain character that made it a staple in the
rigs of 1980s hard rock bands.
This documentation is for the kit version of the project. If you purchased the PCB by itself, please
use the
PCB-only version
are completely different due to the specialized parts and assembly methods used in the kit.
HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION
LEVEL
FILTER
VINTAGE DISTORTION
IMPORTANT NOTE
of the documentation instead. The circuit is the same, but the instructions
BUILD DIFFICULTY
Easy
DOCUMENT VERSION
1.0.1 (2024-08-08)
9V
CLIP
DISTORTION
SWEEP
1
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Table of Contents
Related Manuals for aion HELIOS
Summary of Contents for aion HELIOS
- Page 1 This documentation is for the kit version of the project. If you purchased the PCB by itself, please use the PCB-only version of the documentation instead. The circuit is the same, but the instructions are completely different due to the specialized parts and assembly methods used in the kit. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
21 Enclosure Layout: Main & Footswitch PCBs 22 Enclosure Layout: Input/Output PCB 23 Final Testing & Assembly 24 Schematic 25 Full Parts List 26 Troubleshooting Information 27 Support & Resale Terms 28 Legal Information & Document Revisions HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 3: Introduction
INTRODUCTION If this is your first pedal, welcome to the hobby and thank you for choosing Aion FX. You’ve just joined a community of over 100,000 people around the world with a passion for building homemade noise machines using obsolete electronics technology, and we’re glad to have you! If you’ve done this before, it’s great to see you again and we’re confident you’ll find this build experience... - Page 4 1n (0.001) 3n3 (0.0033) 560R 22n (0.022) Electrolytic Capacitors 100k NAME 2.2uF 4.7uF 47uF 100uF NAME MLCC Capacitors OP07 8-pin socket NAME 100pF (marked “101”) Transistors 100n (marked “104”) NAME Diodes PN4303 NAME 1N5817 1N914 LED, red HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION...
- Page 5 4-strand wire assembly, 108mm DC jack 3-pin wire assembly header Input/output jack 4-pin wire assembly header Mounting nut, jack, 0.54" Outer washer, jack, 0.6" Lock washer, jack, 0.5" (thin) Enclosure Enclosure screws PCB, main circuit PCB, footswitch PCB, input/output/DC HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION...
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Page 6: Tools Needed
The tip should used to tighten the dress nut to avoid lot of pedals! be no more than 0.1” (2.5mm) wide. scratching or denting it (which can happen with metal tools). HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 7: Component Identification
Some voltage regulators It’s recommended to use a also look like this. They may also look like this. razor blade to separate have more than 8 legs. these cleanly. WIRE ASSEMBLY WIRE ASSEMBLY HEADER DC JACK LED BEZEL HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 8: Hardware Identification
MOUNTING NUT DRESS NUT LOCK WASHER DIAMETER: 0.36” / 9.1mm DIAMETER: 0.375” / 9.5mm DIAMETER: 0.4” / 10.1mm FOOTSWITCH MOUNTING NUT DRESS NUT LOCK WASHER DIAMETER: 0.6” / 15.2mm DIAMETER: 0.77” / 19.6mm DIAMETER: 0.6” / 15.2mm HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 9: Pcb Assembly Overview
PCB is upside-down, everything is making contact with the work surface and is held in place. So, you will start by populating the resistors (the lowest-profile components), followed by the diodes, sockets, film capacitors, and finally the electrolytic capacitors. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 10: Resistors
15 to 20 resistors at a time or the bottom of the board will get too crowded. If this is your first time soldering, watch tutorial videos on YouTube and make sure you get it down before you begin. You don’t want to practice or experiment on this board! HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 11: Diodes
For LEDs, the flat edge indicates the cathode. Line this up with the PCB footprint on the top side of the PCB and solder them flush with the PCB. (These LEDs are used as clipping diodes. The indicator LED will be done in a later step.) HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... - Page 12 ICs may have two different orientation marks: either a dot in the upper-left or a half-circle notch in the middle of the top side. Some ICs have both marks. This shows which way the IC should be rotated when inserting it into a socket (the socket also has a half-circle notch). HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION...
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Page 13: Transistors
Since this is just used as a simple gain recovery stage, the JFET doesn’t need to be audited for any particular characteristics, so sockets are not necessary. You can just solder them directly to the board. Bend the outer leads to hold it in place on the board. Then, solder them and clip the leads. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 14: Capacitors (Non-Polarized)
Usually the red ones have it printed on the side while the blue or gray ones have it on the top. The 100pF MLCC is blue and taped to cardboard. C11 (100n MLCC) is always yellow. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 15: Wire Headers
They do fit pretty tightly in the holes, though, so press firmly. There’s also a 4-pin header on the I/O board that we will do in a later step. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 16: Capacitors (Polarized)
The longer leg is positive and fits in the square pad. These are the last of the on-board components. Now is the time to go back to page 12 and insert the IC into the socket. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 17: Footswitch Pcb
BLUE MARKING Once all three wire assemblies are soldered, set the footswitch PCB aside. We’ll solder the actual footswitch and LED in a later step. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 18: Input/Output Pcb
Red is positive (+), black is negative (-). After soldering, pull it tight. For even more strain relief, you can thread the snap through the loop to form a knot. (not shown) HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 19: Enclosure Layout: Panel Mounts
You’ll need to hold the bezel in place when OUTER WASHER tightening the nut. The top of the bezel is fairly MOUNTING NUT sharp, so try using a rubber band for grip instead of pressing your finger against it. HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 20: Enclosure Layout: Panel Mounts (Cont.)
MOUNTING NUT LOCK WASHER BEZEL MOUNTING NUT & LED The dress nut acts as a mounting nut, unlike the footswitch dress nut. Use flat- nose pliers on the flat sides of the nut to tighten securely. FOOTSWITCH 125B HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 21: Enclosure Layout: Main & Footswitch Pcbs
However, Aion FX projects are designed to be extremely easy to remove from the enclosure for troubleshooting, with no desoldering required—so with these kits, it’s actually much easier to “box it before you rock it”. -
Page 22: Enclosure Layout: Input/Output Pcb
Note the use of two mounting nuts on each of the jacks, one inside and one outside. The inner nut acts as a spacer to set the DC jack flush with the outside of the enclosure. The inner nuts should be threaded as far down as they can go. MOUNTING NUT OUTER WASHER LOCK WASHER MOUNTING NUT 125B HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 23: Final Testing & Assembly
Be careful not to over-tighten or you may damage the set screw. But if it’s not tight enough, the knob will be more likely to fall off or lose its alignment with the markings on the enclosure. Last, just close the panel on the back using the four screws. That’s it! HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 24: Schematic
SCHEMATIC 100k 1N5817 100uF 47uF MLCC 2N5457 FILTER 100kA OP07 OMIT 100pF DISTORTION 2.2uF 4.7uF 100kA HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 25: Full Parts List
100uF electro 1N914 3mm LED 4.7uF electro 47uF electro 1N914 4.7uF electro 3n3 (0.0033) Transistors Potentiometers Switches PART VALUE PART VALUE PART VALUE PART PN4303 OP07 Volume 100kA SPDT on-off-on Drive 100kA 3PDT stomp Tone 100kA Sweep HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... -
Page 26: Troubleshooting Information
Note that IC pins are labeled counter-clockwise from the upper-left, as shown in the diagram to the right. For JFETs, the legs will be marked on the PCB. VOLTAGE VOLTAGE 9.29 9.35 4.68 1.65 4.25 no connection 4.68 9.39 9.29 HELIOS VINTAGE DISTORTION... - Page 27 “goop” the PCB or otherwise obscure the source. In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use Aion FX kits, but please don’t go out of your way to hide it.
- Page 28 These kits are intended to be built by the customer. Aion FX is not responsible for language that may be used by the customer in the marketing or resale of the finished product.
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