I'm Building a Fairlight CMI: Episode 10

Cris Blyth is a brave man. He has a dream of taking a Fairlight MFX and upgrading it to a Fairlight CMI Series III. In this episode, Cris works on the caps, SCSI2SD card, rack ears, and gets hinges 3D printed!
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[@sauce_aux]

To see and experience the GUI and waveforms on the screen back when, must have been worthy of soiling yourself. Still impressive to this day.

[@CrisBlyth]

Indeed ! I remember when I first saw the famous FFT screen, but now on the Series 3... so many icons and things to try !

[@PutItAway101]

The madman is back!

[@CrisBlyth]

who ? that guy ? oh yeah.. stay away from him :)

[@CUPUK61]

Well, that's me getting to sleep 52 minutes later than planned. At a time when here in the UK everything is going to hell in a handcart, I can't thank you enough for the welcome distraction your madness provides. Sincerely, thank you so much Chris.

[@CrisBlyth]

This is really wonderful to read !! :) This truly warms my heart. I aim to finish the next episode quicker !

[@ivanlozano2019]

There is no war in BA SING SE

[@6581punk]

Not much better in the US either, they're in recession despite the media and wikipedia trying to redefine recession to let Biden off the hook.

[@annother3350]

Welcome to adulthood -- theres no set bedtime!!

[@CrisBlyth]

@@annother3350 Yeah !!!! I can stay up as long as I want... I just lay here for '5 minutes' to figure out what I'll do next... :)

[@mu_zines]

1) Clicks Like. 2) Presses Play... Cris, you nutter, this whole journey has been utterly bonkers (and fascinating!) and I am HERE FOR IT!!

[@FLH3official]

Yes, my sunday morning show, love it. (it's morning in my time zone)

[@CrisBlyth]

fantastic ! I like that this is a nice Sunday morning show for you ! :) more to come soon !!

[@youbecha64]

I do enjoy the journey...and your delivery cracks me up!

[@CrisBlyth]

why thank you.. :) It is somehow still fun ! :) oh and there’s more to come !

[@ToTheGAMES]

I've been waiting for this one!

[@CrisBlyth]

hehe same here ! phew !! The raw footage for this episode was 15hours.. getting it to 50mins wasn’t easy !

[@geraldbeck8644]

Dude great job...hands down..that is a labor of love...you the man

[@CrisBlyth]

I’m planning out the next episodes.. it feels like when you’re climbing a hill and you think you’re ‘almost there’.. sooo much more to go

[@velonaut303]

love this journey. thank you for sharing it with us.

[@mrflynn01]

Great job!!!

[@Veptis]

It might be a while in-between episodes, but it will also never end. Are you using a Sony camera with skin smoothing or some phone? It's notable and not in a good way.

[@SaccoBelmonte]

Almost there!!

[@CrisBlyth]

I seem to often say that when climbing a hill… :) feels like the same situation !

[@lotus30com]

that was awesome, Cris! I was curious to see where you installed the Spokelight set that was on the desk in the Fairlight.

[@CrisBlyth]

Continue to watch and you might see !!.... wait, that might have to be another channel ! :)

[@dragonheadthing]

I've been quite enjoying this series!

[@CrisBlyth]

I’m very glad that you are ! :) more to come !

[@nachom1971]

Yeeeeeesss! Dang it I am isolated with COVID and needed this badly!

[@CrisBlyth]

wow ! I got isolated with Covid and it allowed me to finish the episode ! :) win win !

[@nachom1971]

@@CrisBlyth 😋😅💪💪💪

[@AndrewAHayes]

I would love to sample the sounds the fairlight HD made when you loaded a voice and booted the machine up, that sound is permently etched into my brain.

[@CrisBlyth]

hehehe.. that could be arranged ! :)

[@spda242]

Cliffhanger on the mouse 😱

[@CrisBlyth]

they’re so difficult to catch ! :)

[@8-bitbitsa821]

Coming along just fine there Cris 👍🏻

[@CrisBlyth]

it’s getting there… there’s fun approaching in the next episodes also :)

[@tekvax01]

YES!!!!! another episode!!! Cris, when are you coming to visit in Toronto??

[@CrisBlyth]

well, this isn’t really a visit but I’m in the Pearson airport typing this RIGHT NOW :)

[@lockdan3688]

Good to have you back Chris-I thought the fairlight had broke you in the end 😂

[@CrisBlyth]

It continues to try !!.. but good progress is being made... it'll have to start trying to electrocu..ZZZZZZZZztt.. thump.

[@triplebeam23]

People ask me what I would do if I ever hit the power ball.. I'd be this guy lol

[@CrisBlyth]

Oh, I need the powerball right about now !!!... Actually multiple power ball wins would be good :)

[@julianskidmore293]

Another great episode and a Tesla Model 3 at 52:33! 🙂

[@CrisBlyth]

There's a Tesla service depot very near to my house. At some times, it's tricky to find the 'not' Tesla. :)

[@delskioffskinov]

I was screaming 'BAWBAG' at the end there for not doing the mouse! You kept me hanging and hanging to then be so cruel and not do the mouse! I feel 'BAWBAG' was warrented lol!

[@CrisBlyth]

I was also screaming Bawbag at myself ! However, rest well, the next episode is already underway and mouse things most definitely most probably will actually might happen.. (they actually have to as I have bigger fish to fry as you’ll see ! )

[@Hykje]

I think I stay with the emulation because it's less insanity-inducing.

[@CrisBlyth]

oh I’m not insane .. see my badger just wrote a poem explaining my sanity - it’s called ‘please send help.. ‘ :)

[@pickholder6189]

This is a great journey - really enjoyed watching it. So happy with what you have achieved.

[@CrisBlyth]

why thank you ! and there’s more goodness coming in the next episodes !

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

Omg he not only builts fairlight computers… he has a red telephone too. He launches cruise missiles too…. 😂😂😂😂

[@MrFixiit]

great stuff been waiting for some progress update on this PS: Been Feeling many badgers rears ? lol

[@CrisBlyth]

This machine is basically made out of badger rears… :)

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

You used +4dbu fairlight into a -10dbv mixer?

[@strixgl503vdxavier9]

tous çà pour çà!!m..la prochaine fois je garderais mon Atari 1040 Stf avec un bon vieux Notator!!plus simple à dépanner avec un gotek!!!!!!

[@danlaskowski]

2 quick questions. What are you referring to when you say "RS" . How much have you spent on this so far? NICE JOB !

[@kuglepen64]

The SCSI2SD cards can be very finicky to work with. I had to get a v5.2 instead of the v6 in my Akai S5000. I just couldn’t get the v6 to work in that Akai.

[@CrisBlyth]

I agree they are fiddly.. and even more so when I don’t want to read the instructions ! but then spend more time fiddling than it would have been to simply read ! :)

[@kuglepen64]

@@CrisBlyth also some combinations of firmware version and settings would work, and others not. If you find some combo that works write it down!

[@johnlacey155]

Hi Cris I'm probably stating something obvious, but are you aware of the cctalk vintage computer mailing list? This list has numerous guys participating it on who are quite remarkable in terms of what they've done with vintage computer restoration. I've got no knowledge/background with the CMI personally, and probably most of these guys don't either, but I wouldn't betting that if you posted whatever you've got in terms of schematics for the keyboard/mouse interfaces on the CMI (maybe even just high-res photos of the relevant cards would be enough) they might even say "oh that chip is a such and such, I used to work with them and if you can get a mouse from a such and such manufacturer, it would be compatible, perhaps with some pinout changes etc". (They might even jump in and help). Same thing with reproducing panels & artwork - this is a common theme on the list also.

[@CrisBlyth]

Hello and thank you !! that’s looks like a wonderful resource !! Also, thank-you for such an in-depth answer, I really appreciate it :)

[@johnlacey155]

@@CrisBlyth My pleasure - it's wonderful to see what you're doing with the CMI! :)

[@6581punk]

Given a mouse is basically a couple of LEDs and phototransitors it shouldn't be too hard to get going. Need to check the datasheets on the logic chips of the mouse and see what it needs in terms of power, 5 volts is most likely. I'd expect mouse buttons in the mouse to have some sort of debouncing circuitry too, a switch actuation is never clean, there's always some phantom clicks after.

[@CrisBlyth]

@@6581punk yes, it turns out it expect exactly and only the very old Microsoft serial mouse… more about that to follow :)

[@zaptronic]

Heh, Chris showed up on my livestream from July 27:th ("Ambient Funk Wednesday") and I made him an "Ode to the Fairlight Building Guy" on the spot, as I do :) Chris shows up in the chat at around 16 minutes in, but the true "Ode to Chris" stuff starts around 24 minutes or so.... (tho there's a demo of all the synhts just before :) ) ENJOY

[@CrisBlyth]

man that was so hilarious ! and your off the cuff lyrics were fantastic ! :)

[@williamroark]

Journey into THE DARK AGES!!!! Have FUN!!!!👍😆😉 (You should KEYMARK when you pull your remaining hair out of your head)😉 Big Breath Buddy!!

[@CrisBlyth]

yeah.. it’s definitely a jump back in time ! I thought if I was dealing with an old machine that somehow my hair would return !

[@lo-firobotboy7112]

If you were to split your printed parts down the middle, you could print them without supports and have a much cleaner final product. I do a lot of 3D printing and treat each part as a puzzle, I like to figure out how to split the part in such a way that they print without supports and snap together to look like a single piece. Otherwise, nice work.

[@CrisBlyth]

that’s a really neat idea! hmm makes me want to rethink things !