Clansman Remote Control - Arduino Basics

After formatting and re-installing Windows on the laptop last night, I now have a working driver for the COM ports that works with the Arduino IDE, and am able to crack on and start learning to make these amazingly useful little controllers do what I want them to, which is, at this stage, to read switches.

The example sketch code provided by members of the Arduino forum is working perfectly. This has given me a great boost and got me off the ground. Bits of previous programming experience are starting to surface from the depths of my addled Tyke memory, so im now making slight changes to this code and seeing how it responds. I started with the example, set up for a 5-bit input. Im now modifying it to handle 2x 4-bit inputs, which is the equivalent to reading the 1MHz and 1kHz switches on the RT-320 (the 10MHz is 2-bit, 100kHz, 10kHz and 100Hz are 5-bit).

The results from the code are the decimal equivalent to the binary inputs on the pins. But the switches themselves seem to follow absolutely no sensible code, its cerainly not normal binary or BCD, doesnt even seem to be any form of Grey Code!. So the next step will be to find a way of carrying out a conversion step.

5-bit test example on Arduino Mega2560

A further problem that needs solving with the Clansman control system is that the Clansman logic is 3v but the Arduinos are 5v. To this end, I have some MOSFET based level changers on order. These use SMT 2N7000's and are a rather simple affair

This is interesting, as one of these could easily be repurposed (and theres four on each module) to be the control switch for the 3v line to the frequency selection switches, which will disconnect them when the controller is in 'remote' mode and controlling the synthesiser.