Possible EW Modification board - *continuation part 3*

from part 2 (http://www.thereminworld.com/forum.asp?cmd=p&T=4135&F=3&p=3)

What follows in the posting below is utterly irrelevant waffle...Passing time while a PCB completes its etching..

On the other hand, Gordon.. If we get this box done in the next few of weeks, I could come to HO-2009 with drill soldering iron, and perhaps a couple of prototype boxes...

Aaarrrgggg..
I have no dicipline or focus..

I have - One normal (adapted EPE) theremin wired to an as-yet-not-fully-functional expansion box which takes the oscillator signals and waveshapes these, hen heterodynes them, and feeds them back to the VCA.

I have my true main project as a running prototype spread as multiple boards - and am waiting for reciept of a multi-layer board which should tidy everything up..

I have bunches of audio boards and heterodyning VCO which are a complete almost ready to finalize shambles.

I have a ribbon controller which is revolutionary because it is so cheap and simple - it is a strong flexible belt giving 60cm playing length, 100k resistance end-end, near perfect linearity, and costs under £5 in quantities of >10.. I have a small board which does S+H and trigger generation, and this drives my synth modules..

And suddenly my Theremin Wind instrument (no - not hot air! ;-) has come back to me when I thought I had it being taken care of (company went bancrupt)

I need a good technician who will work at least 30 hours a week for no pay (just shares) and who lives locally... (or, better still, has a BIG house and can spare one room as a design lab, one as a workshop, one as a studio, and one as a bedroom for me - so I can move in.. Rent free, of course)

Or I need to win the lottery - but as I dont buy tickets, I have a slightly less chance of winning than those who do buy tickets... :-(

Fred, I allow to advise you among friends: Concentrate on your theremin in order to have something to show at Hands Off 2009! The Etherwave sound problem exists since 10 years, so another couple of months will not matter, while I hope that when your own theremin will be ready for the market, other things will be easier for you. I was "pregnant" with the Etherwave Pro volume problem during more than 6 months before I even started designing something.

Thanks Thierry! ;-)
I feel like I have been 'pregnant' with my bloody Theremin for the last 18 months - complete with morning sickness!

A part of this is probably psychological..

I am quite frightened of exposing actual product to the market - this despite the fact that everything I have got to market for other people has been a huge sucsess..

I am much happier blabbing ideas and looking clever than I am about actually facing people with something tangible.. My projects always have a slow-down curve.. some of this has no good reason - I seek distraction and avoid doing what I should be doing.. It is a real fight with myself.. In the earlier days when everything is hypothetical I am motivated, and get a real buzz out of overcoming the obsticles..

At this stage, when I am almost there, the biggest obsticle is myself - I stand in my own way - I almost seem to go out of my way to court failure.

It takes a lot of effort to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - But I have done this many times.

I am experiencing the same problem (with) myself on one of my projects. Granted, it's not as cool or complex as a whole new theremin, but what you describe sounds very familier.

For the record, the theremin sounds like it's going to be super-cool.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

Folks, Gordon and Thierry are absolutely right.

I am having a real problem with distractions of my own making, and being hooked to on-line stuff.

My habit has become destructive - first thing I now do when I come to the lab is check TW, this leads to hours of persuing stuff I should be leaving for when I have more time - or not bothering with at all..

Then I check emails + Levnet .. And follow the links, and by the time I have done this and replied to emails and postings, a large chunk of my working time is gone.

When TW went down yesterday, I felt lost - This is not a good psychological indicator. Things at home are quite difficult at present - I think I am compensating a bit by being in this on-line 'pub'.. ;-)

Only one way for me to deal with this.. I must go "cold turkey" for a few weeks.

So I will not be visiting TW again until after HO-2009 - Please carry on discussions about the box / modifications..

I will see you in September!

Fred, Sometimes we just have to unplug. We are all like that at one time or another. When I find myself doing the online thing more than the family thing, I just unplug from it for a while. You'll also find that working on your Theremin... take a break from it.. Answers that you can't come up with, will just fall into your lap....

Hope you are doing much better when you come back and hope your family life is doing well.
I shot you an email, if you have "TIME" shoot me one back...

It's kinda lonely around here without all the crazy posts you do though! ;)

Thanks Eddie -

Things have been a bit rough over the last 6 weeks - severe family medical crisis. I have emailed you and am grateful for your support - I will be back and active on TW, but cannot say when - may be another month or two yet before things settle and I have time (at the moment most of my time is spent looking after my 3 young children).

I missed HO 2009 - Have a working prototype Theremin, and hope to 'expose' this to the public early October .. But, quite honestly, my heart is not in Theremins at the moment.. just had too much stress.

Fred,
No matter what my political views and passions may be, I have already told you that I think you are a genius and that I believe in your ability to create.
Dark, bad times, always seem to make me 'Fate-Defiant', and then I begin to 'Soldier On', and march into the Sun!
Good Luck!
teslatheremin

Fred,
Received your email and shot one back to you... thanks for the reply... looking forward to you rejoining us soon...

Eddie

Hi Folks,
Some of you may have noticed that "Freddies back!" LOL ;-)

Amy (my stepdaugter) has made a full recovery - If I believed in god, i'd say "thank god" - but I dont, so I cant! - She had major surgery (removal of massive tumor) but has been given the "all clear" regarding malignancy. Family dynamics, however, have a long way to go before an "all clear" can be declared.

I will return to this project - but not for a while.. Probably looking at a few months - I have lost a lot of time which I am desperately trying to catch up.

My core Theremin is fully working (which is posing a slight problem - I need to discipline myself and stop spending so much of my time playing it - Also, I have lots of work still to do [changing/testing boards for the production version] and I HATE pulling my musical instrument to pieces, and not being able to play it, while I undertake these operations).

I will be trying to keep my postings here to a few a week.

Thank you all for your support and patience - Thank you Eddie, for dragging me back here!