Lets not forget that in his last message (3625), Dieter Doepfer said
that he would agree to make blank panels available if there was
agreement in the group concerning the front panel and pcb design.

I am not sure what the pcb design could be, but I think a blank 8hp 5
pot/5 jack design would be ideal. If everybody disagrees and has
other ideas, presumably that would mean the market is too small to
make this economically feasible. What do people think of the blank
panel idea Who would buy one I know I would probably buy three or
four.

Dieter Doepfer <hardware@d...> wrote:

> From: "Dieter Doepfer" <hardware@d...>
> To: "Bakis Sirros" <synth_freak_2000@y...>
> Subject: AW: 1 yes to Blank paneRe: The
> most advancedAttenuator yet
> Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 13:11:19 +0200
>
> ----> Please forward to the group

> > But in one of the messages there was another idea
> > that I would approve, i.e. to
> > develop an universal front panel and pc board for
> > DIY applications. The problem
> > is the layout of the front panel (e.g. 8HP, 5 rotary
> > knobs with 5 jack sockets
> > as many of the modules) and the features of the pcb
> > I see a lot of new
> > discussion ....
> > We could offer such a neutral front panel (e.g. only
> > scales for rotary knobs, no
> > DOEPFER logo) and pc board only for DIY applictions.
> > No confusions could occur
> > as we will not offer a ready built module based on
> > this front panel/pcb.
> >
> > If there is an agreement in the group concerning the
> > front panel and pcb design
> > we could offer these parts. The main problem is that
> > to get a acceptable price
> > we have to order at least 100 (better 250 or 500) of
> > these parts. So pre-orders
> > of a minimum of about 50 pcs would be necessary for
> > us. I think the price for
> > the front panel (stamped and printed) and pcb would
> > be approximately in the 25
> > Euro range. We also could publish the pcb layout
> > file (Eagle format) and the
> > front panel file (Corel Draw format) so that
> > customers could do modifications if
> > desired. A basic version of Eagle is available as
> > freeware in the internet
> > (www.cadsoft.de).