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on May 16
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #37Finally, A Light At The End Of The Tunnel
The Factory Isn't Always Perfect
On Monday, I received a second batch of 12 early production units from the factory. These had some problems with them. Firstly, they wouldn't turn on or do anything. That's a big problem, eh? I went through and checked every component on the board by hand and found that three of the resistors had the wrong values from what I had spec'ed in the BOM (Bill of Materials).
One resistor was kind of close (well, 30% off, so not so close), and it was a crucial resistor for the functioning of the DSP chip. It won't boot without this value being right. The other two resistors are used to set the bias-voltage for the microphone, and the values for those were crazy high (should have been 4.7k-ohm, they were 470k-ohm). This won't prevent the board from working, but was causing the bias-voltage to the mic to be very low, and subsequently the volume of the mic to be very low.
I was also unhappy with the brightness of the power LED, so I adjusted the resistor here for that one. Much brighter now, and I'm having the factory update the units with that change too.
Pro Tip: The factory is far from perfect. Test every unit.
New EEPROM Programmer!
The engineer I've been working with at the DSP manufacturer actually was cool enough to send me his personal programmer board to see if it will work for me. It did! It's perfect! Of course, I'll probably have to send that back to him at some point, but for now I've got a working EEPROM programmer and development of the Thumper software is continuing (and sounds great!).
Timeline Update
So where are we now? The factory has to order the replacement resistors and then finish all the boards. My guess is that this should be complete by the end of next week (June 25). A ship date of around June 1st seems likely, right now.
Thanks again for sticking with me!
--> freddie
(below: Le Dork)
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on May 6
Freddie Feldman
backed a project
HICKIES - TURN YOUR KICKS INTO SLIP-ONS by Mariquel & Gaston
LACES OUT, HICKIES IN! Never tie or untie your shoes again. Turn your kicks into slip-ons. Ditch the bows and customize your kicks.
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439% funded $109,926 pledged
- 2,387 backers
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on May 3
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #36The Waiting Game
Post CommentSo May 1st has come and gone…where are we?
The Waiting Continues
Last week, we worked out the regulator issues pretty quickly and I got the new information about changes and fixes back to the factory. Although, I have not heard anything back from them as to when the new parts will be in and when the boards will be completed. I have contacted them a couple times, so I'm just waiting on them…not fun.
The EEPROM Programmer
The manufacturer of the EEPROM programmer board sent me another unit last week to try out and that one also did not work (although different problem this time). I then sent both programmers back to Analog Devices so they can see what is going on with them. Again, no word back from them yet. Waiting, waiting...
New T-Shirt Design
I had been waiting for a couple months on final pricing for the T-shirts. The shirts are now being redesigned by our partner, Understood Clothing NYC, after we found out they would cost me $20/each to make. That's way over budget and I'm already out of money as it is…so back to the drawing board. [Please no suggestions that I go with your T-shirt company or CafePress or whatever. Thanks.]
New Office Space
Earlier this week, I secured some new temporary office space in the office right down the hall from my recording studio (in the "Historic Bronx Building"). This extra space will allow me to get all the Thumper mics, parts, enclosures, bags, shirts, boards, programmers, testing rigs, prototypes, failed prototypes (sadness), tools, etc all laid out and organized well. Some assembly is required by me for each unit before it goes out, so there's workspace for that too. I had been keeping all of this stuff in the studio and then stashing it in the closet or storage when clients came by, but that's not a great way to have to work. Hopefully, once the mics are shipping, I'll no longer neeeeeed this extra space. I will tell you, it is nice to have the office for working on new designs and a couple new products I've got in the works. Lots of dry erase boards! I'm in heaven!
Testing The Mics
I asked this on Facebook a couple weeks ago, but it's probably good to ask here too: Does anyone have a gig in the next week or two in the Chicago area? I would like to have someone beta test at least the programming on my prototype unit in a live performance situation. You'll be a guinea pig, so I can't promise it will be flawless. Please let me know if anyone's got anything coming up soon in the midwest (can probably go up as far as Milwaukee or even downstate IL).
Thanks everyone!! Love to all of you.
--> freddie
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on April 21
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #35We Can't Have Nice Things!
First Units Are In…Just Not Right
The first dozen units (out of 100) arrived yesterday from the factory. There are a few things wrong with them, which is why it's a good idea to get a few units first before they go ahead and make all 100. Not sure why they chose to make 12 of them...I would've done like 4, personally. The problems with these units were pretty small, though, so that's pretty cool. They had one capacitor on each board flipped the wrong direction and the solder mask was the wrong color (was supposed to be red, not green). Below is a shot of those boards ("The Dirty Dozen"), assembled but missing the DSP chips and a couple other components that I will solder on by hand.
The factory is currently waiting on me for an answer about the voltage regulator. The one they have used on these board is rated at a maximum input voltage of 6V, but the Thumper uses a 9V battery for power…not going to work. I've got a message in to my PCB engineer about what to do. I've already spec'ed out a new regulator, but I'm awaiting his response to know whether it will work for sure. I'm also not thrilled with the brightness of the Power LED, it's pretty dim right now, even though on the prototype it's very bright. I'm looking into that.
Dead EEPROM Programmer
Each Thumper has a little memory chip (EEPROM) inside that stores the "program" for the DSP. This chip is programmed by me here using a special USB chip programmer board. A couple days ago, that programmer stopped working properly. I've been in communications with the manufacturer about getting a replacement but not sure when that will arrive (you can't just buy one of these things at Radio Shack).
Coming Into Focus
We're getting so close to shipping the Thumpers, I can taste it!! The throat mics, ear-mics, DSP chips, memory chips, carrier boards, enclosures, carrying cases, and even the stickers are all here waiting to fulfill their destinies. Once the corrected, assembled boards arrive, I just have to put all the large pieces together, program the chips, and get things shipped out. Right now, the plan is to replace the programmer and get the rest of the corrected boards from the factory this week. Then I should be able to assemble the packages for everyone and ship close to May 1st.
Thanks for being so patient, everyone! I know there are a lot of people waiting on these, including many who have not yet placed their orders officially because they're waiting for the TH100 to be shipping. I actually got an order from Disney World last week, an artist has put a requirement of 2 Thumpers in the rider of their contract! Pretty sweet. Once these babies are shipping, expect to see some new promo/demo videos, endorsements, and we'll be sponsoring a big event coming up too.
Strap It On and Keep On Thumpin'!
--> freddie
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GatorALLin on April 22
...thanks for the updates.... and sorry to hear the bad news on the EEprom programmer going out....ouch.
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on April 16
Freddie Feldman
backed a project
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD MAKES ORIGINALS by The Executive Board
We are out to make an EP full of original vocal music, written organically and collaboratively by the members of the group.
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111% funded $3,331 pledged
- 73 backers
- Funded May 15, 2012
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on April 13
Freddie Feldman
backed a project
Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android by Pebble Technology
Pebble is a customizable watch. Download new watchfaces, use sports and fitness apps, get notifications from your phone.
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10,266% funded $10,266,845 pledged
- 68,929 backers
- Funded May 18, 2012
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on March 26
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #34Sometimes Things Just Work The First Time
Post CommentI had a great weekend at the SingStrong a cappella festival this weekend in Reston, VA. I did get a chance to meet up with several of the Kickstarter backers and also some existing Thumper owners. Marty Gasper did an amazing job performing with Blue Jupiter, wearing his Thumper as always.
When I returned to the studio this morning, I found some packages that had been quietly waiting for me over the weekend. Check out this video to see what arrived!
--> freddie
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on March 12
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #33Some Neat Images While You Wait...
Post CommentI had an older Thumper TH75 in here this week for repair, which is actually a pretty rare occurrence. Marty Gasper is the beatboxer for the NYC a cappella band Blue Jupiter and had broken the input jack on his TH75 belt-pack. While I had the unit opened up for repair, it was sitting on my desk next to the TH100 prototype. The two of them looked so cool next to each other, I had to take a picture! Looking at the pic, I started thinking about all the improvements in the new TH100, so I listed the changes beneath the photo…and here it is!
I also worked a lot with the belt-pack enclosure manufacturer this past week to finalize the custom modifications they're machining for the TH100. I've attached a mechanical drawing of the enclosure, which also shows the logo that will be silkscreened on the side. I got a lot done on the programming-side of things too, making sure the DIP switches properly control some of the settings, adjusting the signal-flow within the DSP, and trying to optimize things in memory even more to be sure we have room to do everything we want.
Everything else is still moving along fairly smoothly! Almost there!
--> freddie
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on February 25
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #32We Are Officially "In Production"!!
Post CommentWait, What?? Really??
Earlier this week I was able to successfully test our new prototype. It's sounding pretty great and I can see no reason why we should not be starting production! I've lined everything up this week to get moving on making the first 100 units. A few things are happening in parallel, so we can make best use of the time. The PCB fabrication has been ordered. All of the components/parts have been ordered. The manufacturer of the belt-pack enclosures in Ohio now has a prototype of the PCB, so they can get exact measurements to have the faceplate machined with openings for the jacks and mute button. They will also silkscreen the logo onto the belt-packs.
Once the PCBs are made, they will arrive at the assembly shop in Sandy, UT. The shop will solder the parts on and do quick tests to make sure they power up. Then they will ship the assembled PCBs to me. I will do final assembly of several parts (ex, all the DSP chips will be hand done by me), and I will need to program everyone's EEPROMs with the standard program I will ship. Then I will install each PCB into an enclosure, close it up, test each unit, pack it in your embossed carry bag, and ship it off to you! Easy! HA!
Custom Programming
If you have paid extra for custom programming, I will email with you regarding specifics. If you have ordered custom programming and will be attending the SingStrong A Cappella Festival, LET ME KNOW NOW. We can discuss it there and even work on your customized program at the event!
Battery Life
You might be wondering what kind of battery life your new TH100 is going to get. Batteries have a power capacity rating in milliampere-hours (mAh). Alkaline 9V batteries range from 400-600 mAh. That means, for example, if our circuit consumes 100mA, you can get 4 hours of life on a 400mAh battery. There are batteries with more capacity than this, like lithium 9V which typically have 1200mAh, but they can cost more. I have found some good Li-Poly rechargeable 9V's that I can recommend too, and I'll probably start selling those as an accessory to the Thumpers.
My PCB engineer and I have done some estimates based on the expected current consumption of the circuit and what we know about typical alkaline 9V batteries on the market. Earlier this week, we even made a modification to the circuit to ensure we get another ~20% efficiency increase. Right now, we're expecting approximately 3-4 hours of good thumpin' on a single 9V battery. I'll be doing some "real world" tests next week (put a fresh 9V battery in a Thumper and play audio on a loop through it until the sucker just plain dies) and I'll report back what I find.
It's Great To Have Partners
A couple days ago, I got to meet up again with one of our Kickstarter backers, Chris, when he was in Chicago for a convention. Chris is the owner of a company that has asked me to develop a very special version of the Thumper just for them. They're in the dental/periodontal field, so it's pretty interesting and different kind of stuff for me. The mic I'm designing for them, based on my Thumper circuit design, is just one of several I'm now designing for non-music use. Pretty cool stuff! More details about all that as I'm able to say.
The Survey
You will all be receiving an email survey from Kickstarter soon, asking you for your shipping address and some other info. Please put in the address you will be at in April. That is when I am expecting the "goods" to be arriving to everyone. You will also be asked for your T-shirt size. As soon as I get everyone's sizes, we'll order all the shirts for you too! Please fill out the surveys quickly or it will hold up the T-shirts and actually...everything.
Thanks again for sticking with me and following along at home. Strap it on and keep on thumpin'!
--> freddie
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on February 15
Freddie Feldman
Posted project update #31Finally Some Very Good News.
Post CommentSuccess.
Today is a really big day here in Skokie! After almost a year of development issues, design problems, assembly errors, modifications, testing, more modifications, cursing, testing, modifications, even more cursing...we have a working prototype! It is completely redesigned from what we had been messing with for many months and it really is beautiful. Below are a couple shots of the working prototype. One pic shows it outputting a 137Hz sine wave (no simple feat, actually).
So, what's next for the Thumper TH100?
We're not completely out of the woods yet. The prototype is being shipping to me and should be here in a couple days. Once I get it, there are a couple tests I need to perform and things I need to try with the board. Barring any real issues (hooks crossed! *cling cling*), I'll go ahead and order 100 PCBs to be manufactured. That usually takes two weeks. At the same time, I'll have the assembly plant order all the components and we'll get the board assembly scheduled with them. The enclosures still need to be modified to my specifications, and it's hard to say how long that process will take. It could be two weeks, it could be four. But I'm working hard to get it all put together so we can ship these in March. That would be one year from when the Kickstarter project funded (and right around my birthday!).
Either way, I will have at least one prototype with me at the SingStrong A Cappella Festival in Reston, VA from March 23rd to 25th. If you are able to attend, you should. I'm the Director of Technology for the event and it's awesome...plus, we raise thousands of dollars for Alzheimer's research each year.
Good Things Up Ahead
Over the past few months, I've been making progress with some other applications/uses of the Thumper throat mic in non-music related areas. This is pretty exciting for me and it's been very tough to keep from sharing this info with you all. I've hesitated about posting about it, since I know people have been grumbling a bit about not having their Thumpers yet. I didn't want you all asking, "Why are you messing around with xxxxx when I still don't have the Thumper I paid for." But it's all happened in parallel, at the same time, so no worries. More info will be coming, but I just wanted to give you all a heads-up that not only did you help make a microphone for beatboxers & vocal percussionists, but together we are going to help a lot of people with this microphone.
Thanks for sticking with me, I can see the finish line up ahead!!
--> freddie
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Freddie Feldman
Chicago, IL
Freddie Feldman is a world-renowned a cappella record producer and inventor. In 1998, he created the first microphone specifically for beatboxers called the Thumper Throat Microphone. He is doing a Kickstarter project to get his new model, the Thumper... view more
Work hard! Fully support you! Will keep waiting here until the new product come :)