Gamma radiometer (Lowtide)

pi.cast

Active member
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.

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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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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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?
 
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?
 
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.
 
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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Problems with this pedal continue as today I've realized it isn't working properly (after boxing it :censored:).
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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