The Eagle has landed! Here's a bit of fun for all fans of space missions from the previous century. This module is designed to re-create the ground to space and space to ground transissions from the Apollo era in Eurorack format. Feed in samples or connect a mic and create your own authentic sounding lunar mission communications.
To emulate "Mission Control Houston" the Quindar PTT (push to talk) button adds a short 2,525Hz Qindar tone to the start of the transmission, then at the end of the message the PTT button or switch is released and a short 2,475Hz Quindar tone is added to the audio. The bandwidth is slightly reduced in this mode.
For "Astronaut Comms" we use the Capsule PTT switch, which can add coloured noise, distortion, bandwidth reduction and either hum or LGM (Little green men space tone) tuned noise in controlled amounts to the audio signal. The Mic socket is designed to be used with electret or dynamic microphones, alternatively samples can be fed into the higher headroom Synth input.
True to its roots all of the signal path circuitry, including the distortion and bandwidth filtering, is built around 1960's vintage style discrete transistor circuitry and the sine wave Quindar tones are generated by a historically accurate Hartley LC (dual inductor and capacitor based) discrete transistor oscillator core.
Obviously the Lunar Module can also be used to add noise, hum, distortion, bandwidth reduction and LGM noise tone to any modular level audio too, and if the mic is left attached theremin like sounds can be added too with careful loudspeaker feedback.
The Lunar Module has been designed so that we can re-create 1960's and 70's style ground to space and space to ground communications from a Eurorack module, with either live speech and audio from an electret or dynamic microphone to the MIC input or samples / recorded audio to the synth INPUT. It is used as follows:
Ground to Space (Houston) mode:
Set the Capsule and Quindar toggle switches to off (up position). Press and hold in the grey Quindar PTT (push to talk) button. A short (250mS long 2525Hz Quindar on) tone will be heard, then talk into the microphone or trigger an audio sample. When the message is complete release the Qindar PTT button, a short (250mS long2475Hz Quindar off) tone will then be heard. The level of the Quindar tones is controlled by the QUIN LEV control, and the mic or sample level is controlled by the MIC LEV and INPUT controls respectively.
Space to Ground (Capsule Mode)
The following controls become active in Capsule mode - Distortion, Noise addition, HUM / LGM tone addition and Bandwidth Limitation.
Press and hold the grey Capsule PTT switch and talk into the microphone or trigger an audio sample. Adjust the Distortion control to add distortion to the audio stream, adjust the NOISE control and associated COLOUR control to add coloured noise to the audio stream and finally we can also add 50 or 60Hz mains hum or LGM tone using the LGM-H LEV control and its associated FREQ control. The signal is also bandwidth limited (LF and HF cut) to simulate transmission over phone lines - back in the day the received signal from ground stations was relayed back to Houston over phone lines.
We have added toggle switches for the Quindar and Capsule functions, so that these can be latched on if required, and we have also included Quindar and Capsule Gate inputs, so that they can also be controlled remotely with +5V modular gate signals - the toggle switches need to be off (up) in order for the Gate and PTT buttons to function correctly.. There are staus LED's for Quindar and Capsule which indicate when they are active.
Module Width: 14hp
Module Depth: 26mm (Including power lead)
Current Usage: 35mA Positive, 10mA Negative
Product Overview
The Eagle has landed! Here's a bit of fun for all fans of space missions from the previous century. This module is designed to re-create the ground to space and space to ground transissions from the Apollo era in Eurorack format. Feed in samples or connect a mic and create your own authentic sounding lunar mission communications.
To emulate "Mission Control Houston" the Quindar PTT (push to talk) button adds a short 2,525Hz Qindar tone to the start of the transmission, then at the end of the message the PTT button or switch is released and a short 2,475Hz Quindar tone is added to the audio. The bandwidth is slightly reduced in this mode.
For "Astronaut Comms" we use the Capsule PTT switch, which can add coloured noise, distortion, bandwidth reduction and either hum or LGM (Little green men space tone) tuned noise in controlled amounts to the audio signal. The Mic socket is designed to be used with electret or dynamic microphones, alternatively samples can be fed into the higher headroom Synth input.
True to its roots all of the signal path circuitry, including the distortion and bandwidth filtering, is built around 1960's vintage style discrete transistor circuitry and the sine wave Quindar tones are generated by a historically accurate Hartley LC (dual inductor and capacitor based) discrete transistor oscillator core.
Obviously the Lunar Module can also be used to add noise, hum, distortion, bandwidth reduction and LGM noise tone to any modular level audio too, and if the mic is left attached theremin like sounds can be added too with careful loudspeaker feedback.
The Lunar Module has been designed so that we can re-create 1960's and 70's style ground to space and space to ground communications from a Eurorack module, with either live speech and audio from an electret or dynamic microphone to the MIC input or samples / recorded audio to the synth INPUT. It is used as follows:
Ground to Space (Houston) mode:
Set the Capsule and Quindar toggle switches to off (up position). Press and hold in the grey Quindar PTT (push to talk) button. A short (250mS long 2525Hz Quindar on) tone will be heard, then talk into the microphone or trigger an audio sample. When the message is complete release the Qindar PTT button, a short (250mS long2475Hz Quindar off) tone will then be heard. The level of the Quindar tones is controlled by the QUIN LEV control, and the mic or sample level is controlled by the MIC LEV and INPUT controls respectively.
Space to Ground (Capsule Mode)
The following controls become active in Capsule mode - Distortion, Noise addition, HUM / LGM tone addition and Bandwidth Limitation.
Press and hold the grey Capsule PTT switch and talk into the microphone or trigger an audio sample. Adjust the Distortion control to add distortion to the audio stream, adjust the NOISE control and associated COLOUR control to add coloured noise to the audio stream and finally we can also add 50 or 60Hz mains hum or LGM tone using the LGM-H LEV control and its associated FREQ control. The signal is also bandwidth limited (LF and HF cut) to simulate transmission over phone lines - back in the day the received signal from ground stations was relayed back to Houston over phone lines.
We have added toggle switches for the Quindar and Capsule functions, so that these can be latched on if required, and we have also included Quindar and Capsule Gate inputs, so that they can also be controlled remotely with +5V modular gate signals - the toggle switches need to be off (up) in order for the Gate and PTT buttons to function correctly.. There are staus LED's for Quindar and Capsule which indicate when they are active.
