and right below that it says "IIS Power"
Text on the main PCB.
Anyone know what this means?

While I was changing to a new color faceplate, I was thinking seriously about adding LEDs to the existing switches.
I already have exact replacement switces (with LEDs)
There does not seem to be any voltage on the pads where the LEDs would solder in. Is there a resister I need to stuff somewhere else?
I remember a post on this topic somewhere but could not find it.

I also remember a post where someone said something about making a small batch run of frosted clear plastic buttons to pass the LED light.
I thought I would at least ask before I work on the existing buttons. Now that I have a second unit I want to 'customize' it.
The LED lit buttons along with a wood or aluminium face plate would look awesome.

The Ring-O-Lights is down to the fact that Patrick had some space left over when he laid out the Mk2a PCB.

If you add some surface mount LEDs to the pads around the credits, and program up a PIC to go on the pad nearby, you can get the lights to flash. Hugo hasn't yet written the PIC program.

Hugo, you should be ashamed of yourself. Get on with producing the ROL PIC immediately! Rob, smack his hand

There does not seem to be any voltage on the pads where the LEDs would solder in. Is there a resister I need to stuff somewhere else?

A surface-mount resistor pack specifically, but yes.

I remember a post on this topic somewhere but could not find it.

There are several, but do a full-board search on "backlit buttons" to find Brian Mihulka's thread with pictures of his backlit buttons and knob.

A Picture of My Empeg\RioCar with Backlit buttons.
Well... I could not stand it any longer...
Finished the backlit button mod and I'm pleased how it came out.
I noticed that the anode side of the LED solder pads was 5v in respect to ground and I wanted them lit at all times when the player was on so I opted to add my own current limiting resister pack.

I added in the Green leds... (my theme for this one)
I then drilled out the buttons and taped the surface flat with scotch tape.
Then I filled them with a drop of epoxy, let sit and peeled off the tape.
The buttons still have a smooth feel... can't feel the holes.
The epoxy made for a nice difused lens for the LEDs too.
Some very tiny air bubbles but not a big deal.
I decided not to do anything with the volume knob as I never use it. (I have an EQ\preamp that i use to control the Volume.)

Oh yeah.... It would completly rock if Hugo were to write the PIC code for the Ring 'O' Lights and help some of us get the parts to get that going... seems ashame it's there and i can't see the lights.
I noticed there are three pads for the LEDs in the ROL, does this mean Bi-color? or just a redundant pin?

Your attachment didn't seem to work.

Do it again! Do it again! I wanna see!

Hmm your right... It didn't work again....
I not sure why it's not taking....
any Ideas?

Im guessing the size of your images is the problem. There is like a 100000b limit i think or something like that.

-Greg

Doh! that was it
Ok ... one more

NIIIIIIIICCCCEEE ; ) Makes me want to do it right now.

-Greg

I want one!

Any chance you can list the parts & steps needed for the whole operation?

I'll second that. I might be willing to try if there was a good write up on the steps and parts.

could you please post a picture of it in the dark I would like that

It is fairly involved... you need to have basic Ohms Law knowledge in order to get your current limiting resistor sized up and installed. The LEDs I used required a 60 OHM resistenace to feed about 70ma to all four LEDs in parallel.
You have to desolder the fill solder in the pads of the LEDs in order to get the LED leads through, I did not have to remove my display board.
Once the LED solder pads were empty it was just a matter of fitting the switches with the new LEDs and soldering them in place. (minding polarity)

The hardest part was Drilling out the switches and getting the holes all the same size and centered... the Epoxy part was easy...
Just stick tape on the flat side (front) of the button after the hole is drilled and drop a bit of 5 min epoxy into the button from the back side, (you might need to stir the epoxy in the button a bit as to not leave any gaps or large air bubbles.
let it dry and peel off the tape. you will have to clean the front (polish) of the buttons as they will hang on to the sticky stuff from the tape.

Brian Mihulka has also done this mod...
See his shots here: http://www.hulkster.net/empeg/
His site also has some explanation and will show close up shots of the switches them selves.
I will post some more pics tomorrow....
I'm done for tonight. Off to get some sleep.

Hmm. This gets me thinking.

Does anyone think that, with a little more ingenuity with drilling, dremel, and epoxy, that one could modify the existing buttons so that, instead of having a circular hole in the center, would have "shaped" epoxy-filled holes that were more like the shape of the buttons?

Something like this:



Dunno if that would be easier or harder than just molding buttons.

Most definately.
I would require some paitence and a skilled hand, but I don't see any reason why it would not work.
If I get real brave I may attempt to do that with my blue player and use Blue LEDs as you have shown.
Tricky part is mixing Epoxy with out air bubbles.... Very slow.
And filling the holes completely.
It would look awesome.

I used three 20-Ohm resistors in series.
One lead from the first resistor was soldered across the left four pins of the Sip pack pads which navigate to each LED.
I enclosed the resistors with heat shrink tubing and grounded the whole thing on the ground side of the big electrolytic caps on the back of the display board. Overkill really.

Another resistor pic...

A Macro shot of the Buttons.
Man, I love the Minolta Dimage 7...

In this pic you can see the tiny air bubbles I was talking about.

Tricky part is mixing Epoxy with out air bubbles.... Very slow. And filling the holes completely.

Well, I was thinking of using hot glue from a hot glue gun. The one I own has a consistency similar to epoxy when it dries, and it's kind of milky white in color. Might be just right for this sort of thing. Would have to test it a bit though. The thing is that the hot glue has no bubbles.

Good idea... I also have a hot glue gun... only my glue always ends up a bit sticky (both types) after it cools.
I will look for some that might cure better.
The good thing about hot glue is you can remove it if you mess up, you get one shot with epoxy. but the epoxy feels just like the button.
What are the chances we could get some extra buttons (left over stock) to work with?
Who should I send an E-mail to and ask?
I would happily pay for them.

Patrick,

What resistor pack is needed for the inline resistors to the LEDs? Which PIC did you use for this?

I honestly think you'd be better off making moulds of the buttons whole and then filling those moulds with some sort of plastic or hard-rubber compound. I'd imagine you could get everything you needed to do it at a place like Hobby Lobby. But I'm conjecturing.

It looks as though that's what Brian probably did.

- trs

Dude, you stole my idea ! I thought about doing the exact same thing with the epoxy and tape, but I just never had the time. Well Im glad to see that it worked looks sweet too.