# Gamma radiometer (Lowtide)



## pi.cast (Nov 23, 2021)

I really wanted to try building this circuit as I love the original FC shallow water, however this soon revealed to be more of supply chain than electronic exercise.

I had to search the whole internet to find the components and still ended up with a  dual gang B1M pot instead of A1M, but this will have to suffice for now.

Soldering the two smd ICs with a cheap soldering iron was a lot of fun, but they did turn out half-way decent eventually.












Excuse the rusty hammer but it is my dad’s so I’m attached to it.

Now the fun with drilling and stamping the enclosure begins …

Stay tuned for more


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## pi.cast (Nov 24, 2021)

The enclosure has been drilled:





Now a quick fitment test to make sure everything goes together as supposed:


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## Preverb (Nov 24, 2021)

That looks pretty nice.  Who has those blue film box capacitors?  

This one is probably above my level at this point.  However, I am about to try and source parts for several pedals since I am going to use one of those forwarding services.  (Otherwise shipping individual parts becomes crazy to Aus).  

If you remember where you sourced the non-Tayda parts for this, it would be much appreciated.


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## pi.cast (Nov 24, 2021)

The blue box capacitors are Kemet and have been purchased from Mouser.
Overall the components have been sourced from Tayda, Mouser, Banzai music, a couple of eBay sellers, and believe it or not, a local electronics shop.

I'm based in Europe however, so your mileage may vary depending on your location.


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## Preverb (Nov 24, 2021)

pi.cast said:


> The blue box capacitors are Kemet and have been purchased from Mouser.
> Overall the components have been sourced from Tayda, Mouser, Banzai music, a couple of eBay sellers, and believe it or not, a local electronics shop.
> 
> I'm based in Europe however, so your mileage may vary depending on your location.


Wow, that sounds like a bit of a hassle.  I am in Australia and planning to buy a few things from the US and send to a forwarder to combine everything.  I am hoping if I am using US sources, it might be easier.  I have about 9 pedals I want to have all the parts ready to go for.  I guess the easiest way is to go through the BOMs one by one to create a list of non Tayda parts.


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## pi.cast (Nov 24, 2021)

Preverb said:


> Wow, that sounds like a bit of a hassle.  I am in Australia and planning to buy a few things from the US and send to a forwarder to combine everything.  I am hoping if I am using US sources, it might be easier.  I have about 9 pedals I want to have all the parts ready to go for.  I guess the easiest way is to go through the BOMs one by one to create a list of non Tayda parts.



It is always good to shop for multiple pedals at the same time. Of course, getting together the BOMs for 9 pedals will be quite a time-consuming exercise. Also, make sure you check it multiple times as in every order I do I always discover some wrong components.
When it comes to the low tide, the difficult parts to source are some of the ICs and the A1M dual gang pot.


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## andare (Nov 24, 2021)

pi.cast said:


> It is always good to shop for multiple pedals at the same time. Of course, getting together the BOMs for 9 pedals will be quite a time-consuming exercise. Also, make sure you check it multiple times as in every order I do I always discover some wrong components.
> When it comes to the low tide, the difficult parts to source are some of the ICs and the A1M dual gang pot.


I spent hours putting together parts for 10 pedals. I'm also buying more to build a stash of components. 
How was banzai? I read they have items on the website that they actually don't stock and they take forever to ship


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## pi.cast (Nov 24, 2021)

andare said:


> How was banzai? I read they have items on the website that they actually don't stock and they take forever to ship



It is exactly as they say. I ordered there because they had some components I couldn’t find elsewhere. When I submitted the order everything was showing as in stock. I then received a mail saying some potentiometers were back ordered and that they would have been shipped later on free of charge. It has been three months and I haven’t received those potentiometers yet.


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## Bobblybook (Nov 25, 2021)

I really like this pedal. I decided to get mine UV-printed at Tayda and I swapped in a white LED to resemble a sort of lighthouse 

Just waiting on the knobs. Which did you use for yours?


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## Bobblybook (Nov 25, 2021)

Preverb said:


> That looks pretty nice.  Who has those blue film box capacitors?
> 
> This one is probably above my level at this point.  However, I am about to try and source parts for several pedals since I am going to use one of those forwarding services.  (Otherwise shipping individual parts becomes crazy to Aus).
> 
> If you remember where you sourced the non-Tayda parts for this, it would be much appreciated.


I sourced everything for this build from Tayda & Mouser to Melb, no need for international shipping for anything. Are some of the components out of stock at Mouser now?


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## Preverb (Nov 25, 2021)

Bobblybook said:


> I sourced everything for this build from Tayda & Mouser to Melb, no need for international shipping for anything. Are some of the components out of stock at Mouser now?


V3207D BBD, LM258, 2SK208-Y seem to be the tricky parts.  Also, when I went to order things from Mouser, it shows international shipping.  What is the trick to have it ship locally?  Or was your order over $60 in order to get free shipping?


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## Bobblybook (Nov 25, 2021)

Preverb said:


> V3207D BBD, LM258, 2SK208-Y seem to be the tricky parts.  Also, when I went to order things from Mouser, it shows international shipping.  What is the trick to have it ship locally?  Or was your order over $60 in order to get free shipping?


I'll PM you so we don't de-rail the thread.


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## pi.cast (Nov 25, 2021)

Bobblybook said:


> Just waiting on the knobs. Which did you use for yours?



They are davies imitation knobs from tayda:








						Davies 1400 Clone Black Knob
					

Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping




					www.taydaelectronics.com
				




They are the same used on the original shallow water. I'm doing a like for like clone, with stamped lettering.


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## Bobblybook (Nov 25, 2021)

pi.cast said:


> They are davies imitation knobs from tayda:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you. I've been looking for Davies 1400 clones and there are a few different options. Those look good in your pic so I might pick some up.


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## pi.cast (Feb 1, 2022)

Of course when I was quite close to finish the pedal, I ruined the enclosure by trying to stamp it with metal punches (to copy the looks of the real shallow water).


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## pi.cast (Feb 1, 2022)

Frustrated, I tried to fill the punched letters with putty and paint the enclosure: needless to say, it ended up looking like ass.

I’ve therefore decided to change the looks completely and go for an original design:
A laser etched faceplate on a powder coated enclosure.


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

Problems with this pedal continue as today I've realized it isn't working properly (after boxing it ).
I get guitar signal passing through even with the effect engaged but no modulation at all. Don't have much time to do further investigation now. I'm reading through some troubleshooting threads and will try to measure voltages at the pins of each IC as soon as I can.

Wish me luck!


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## Bio77 (Feb 2, 2022)

Is the PCB grounded anywhere?


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## carlinb17 (Feb 2, 2022)

Are your jacks grounded to the enclosure?


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

Bio77 said:


> Is the PCB grounded anywhere?



You mean the enclosure right? The PCB is grounded through the dc jack.


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

carlinb17 said:


> Are your jacks grounded to the enclosure?



No, but they are grounded through the pcb.


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## benny_profane (Feb 2, 2022)

You're using isolated jacks, so you'll need to provide a ground path to the enclosure via a jack sleeve connection another way. You can run a wire from one of the jack lugs so that it sits between the enclosure and lid when closed. You'll have to remove the paint from the point of contact to ensure a good connection, though.


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

benny_profane said:


> You're using isolated jacks, so you'll need to provide a ground path to the enclosure via a jack sleeve connection another way. You can run a wire from one of the jack lugs so that it sits between the enclosure and lid when closed. You'll have to remove the paint from the point of contact to ensure a good connection, though.



I know I need to ground the enclosure for shielding and I'll do it. However, I don't think this has anything to do with the pedal not working properly. The circuit should work even outside of the enclosure.


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## benny_profane (Feb 2, 2022)

Have you set the gate threshold and the bias via the trimmers?


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

benny_profane said:


> Have you set the gate threshold and the bias via the trimmers?



I've tried to mess with them but since I'm getting no modulation/chorus I cannot say whether or not they are set correctly.
I've eventually set them both at noon while testing


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

I've red my voltages and posted in the troubleshooting forum:




__





						Low tide help?
					

Just boxed. Im getting audio when engaged (also when bypassed) but no noticeable effect. Mix and level knob pots are working, the other pots dont really effect the audio. Any tips on where to go from here? I can post voltages if needed.  Thanks in advance!




					forum.pedalpcb.com


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## benny_profane (Feb 2, 2022)

pi.cast said:


> I've tried to mess with them but since I'm getting no modulation/chorus I cannot say whether or not they are set correctly.
> I've eventually set them both at noon while testing


I would suggest that you take the PCB from the enclosure, inspect your soldering, and ensure that the components are correct. The following thread contains information about the biasing procedure.





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						Setting up the Low Tide Modulator
					

For the two trim pots on the Low Tide Modulator ---  what are the suggested settings for the Bias and the Gate trim pots?




					forum.pedalpcb.com


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## zgrav (Feb 2, 2022)

Your gating should work separately from your modulation.  I would try turning the gate fully clockwise with depth and rate set to minimum to confirm your gating is working and then to dial in the gate trimmer.  for starters, set the BIAS trimmer at mid-point for now and leave it alone.

the further CCW you set the GATE trimmer, them more low frequencies you get, but I think it is easier to set the modulation with the gate trimmer mostly clockwise and set so you can hear it turn on and off with mix set to clockwise, start with gate fully clockwise and then dial it back toward noon.    if your gate is not working you need to get that sorted out before you try to dial in the bias on the BBD.  You could try changing the setting on the BIAS trimmer plus or minus a bit from midpoint to see if that helps you set the gate. 

So -- is your gate working?


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## zgrav (Feb 2, 2022)

Also --  Do you have more than one 3207 chip to try in the board?


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## Diynot (Feb 2, 2022)

Did you try messing with the DIP switches? I feel like I had a similar panic moment when I boxed mine, but then messed with those and it started doin it’s thing


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## pi.cast (Feb 2, 2022)

I think I've got it working now, I think it was mostly due to me not understanding how the controls work. Also going over the trimming settings multiple times with the instructions from @benny_profane and @zgrav did help.

Woah what a weird effect. I like it though

Thanks a lot for the help!

Cheers


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