Build Guide - Panel Wiring

Before starting your wiring, you will need to make a decision with regards the operating functionality of your ASM-2 Cougar. The ASM-2 Cougar is designed as a fully patchable system which means that you MUST install at least 1 or 2 patch leads before you will be able to get any sound out of it. If this is how you want your system then skip the following paragraph….

…. APPLIES TO 3.5mm JACKS ONLY!!!!

Although you will not have the supporting labels on the front panel, it is possible to pre-wire at least some ‘common patches’ by utilizing the normalizing (switching) contact on the jacks. This allows you to preselect an input or output signal that can be overridden by inserting a jack plug.

A typical example would be to connect the [GATE] output of the MIDI Interface to the [GATE] inputs of the ADSRs. The ADSRs will then automatically trigger on receipt of a MIDI Note ON message without requiring that you patch this connection. If you need a patch where, for example you wish to trigger, say, ADSR2 from, say, the S&H, then by inserting a patch lead from the [SH&H GATE] output to the [ADSR2 GATE] input, you override (disable) the [MIDI GATE] signal to the ADSR2.

As mentioned before, there is no label to indicate this internal connection so it is something you will need to ‘remember’. However, as many of the internal connections would be ones you would use, this shouldn’t be an issue. And if you are getting an unwanted control from an internal connection, simply insert an unused patch lead in to the relevant jack.

The decision to include internal connections will require additional inter-panel wiring to be added in the next step….

To reduce the amount of panel-to-board wiring you should wire up all the ‘common’ points on the front panel. Tinned copper wire can be sued to wire all the 0V connections, especially to the jacks (only if using 3.5mm jacks). The jacks supplied in our Hardware Kits are PCB-mounting, so you will need to ensure a good solder connection at each point.

When all the inter-panel wiring is complete you can proceed to the main panel-to-board wiring.

Lay the front panel face down in front of the boat. All the panel-to-board wiring will run ‘up’ the panel, up and over the front edge of the enclosure and then ‘around’ the pcbs to their respective points. This approach will keep the component areas of the pcbs free allowing easy access to the trimpots as well as access to the components for testing and servicing etc.

We suggest that you wire the unit connector-by-connector. Most wires in any given connector go either to the same component or go to a nearby component. You can then route the first wire from the connector to its component pin. Crimp and insert the wire in the connector and solder to its mating panel component. You can then use this wire as a guide for the remaining wires in the connector: take the new wire, place one end above its connector pin, run the wire alongside the first wire and up to its respective panel component pin. Add approximately 10mm to the length and cut. Repeat for the other wires in the connector.

Wires in any one connector will usually have similar signal characteristics and so can usually be bundled together. Do not twist wires in the bundles unless otherwise instructed. Having the wires bundled together can greatly ease tracing wiring between the pcb and panel. Also, by defining the main routes from the panel to the boards to the follow the columns of the front panel, will also ease access to the unit by allowing the cables to ‘fold with the panel’.

Now crimp all these wires at the pcb end and insert them in to the connector.

Form the wires out of the connector to ensure there is no stress on the crimps and then run all the new wires along the first wire (keep the wires all snug together).

Where these wires all meet the front panel we suggest tying them together either with a short piece of excess wire or a cable-tie.

This will allow you to release your hold on the wires and to then route and terminate each wire, keeping the route tidy and removing any excess cable before soldering.

The image to the right gives an example of this.

Colour-coding can also be a powerful tool for assisting with servicing your unit should it be needed. There are a few different schemes that can be applied. Unfortunately, unless you have access to a large selection of multi-coloured cables, any colour scheme will involve some compromise.

The recommended approach is to special colours for the power rails and to use standard colours to represent pin numbers of the connectors.

In this scheme we reserve three colours for power rails. The remaining wire colours are assigned a numerical sequence number and these correlate to the pin numbers in the connector. Usiing striped colours for the power rails also allows the plain colours (Red, Black and Blue) to be used as ‘numerical’ colours

RED/WHITE	+Ve power (eg +12V, +9V and +5V)
BLACK/WHITE	0V
BLUE/GREY	-Ve power (eg -12V and -9V)

BROWN	‘1’
RED	‘2’
ORANGE	‘3’
YELLOW	‘4’
GREEN	‘5’
BLUE	‘6’
VIOLET	‘7’
WHITE	‘8’
GREY	‘9’
PINK	‘10’
BLACK	‘11’

If a connector has one or more power pins in it then those pins take on their respective ‘power colour’. For example, J701 on the Expander is a 5-pin connector with 2 pins connected to power. The colour scheme for this connector would then be:-

Pin 1	BROWN	‘1’
Pin 2	RED/WHITE	POWER (+Ve)
Pin 3	ORANGE	‘3’
Pin 4	YELLOW	‘4’
Pin 5	BLACK/WHITE	POWER (0V)

Wiring Charts for the individual sections of the ASM2-Cougar

Power Wiring Overview

Please note that the colours used in these documents are purely to assist with identification of each wire and do not imply any specific colour scheme.