Creating A Power Supply for Big Briar EtherWave #01622

[sup]Hello Everyone. Thank you for allowing a newbie in the door! [/sup]

[sup]I was lucky and was given a Big Briar Etherwave Theremin, first, just the box, the antennae were buried in a late persons belongings, I did locate the volume antennae, and very luckily after the estate auction, the Pitch antenna was laying in plain sight in a pile of garbage to go out!.  Phew! .[/sup]

[sup]However, the power supply was never found and I was wondering if anyone here could help me. The hook up is a round jack with 3 slits, not the common hookup we see today. And I am electrically inclined to build a supply for it, but I wonder what is needed in voltage on all three of the pins, and in the order from left to right.[/sup]

[sup]I am new to this, but I cannot get my hands on the original supply, so I am going with then next best thing and build one. Ever since first heard Clara, I have always wanted a Theremin, I am guessing this one is going to be a nice one, and any tips are great appreciated.[/sup]

[sup]Thank you all again for having me, and when I get it up and running, I'll be here to figure out what to do with my hands![/sup]

[sup]God Bless, Adam[/sup]

I hope that gibberish of subs and fonts is readable! Boy, Maybe I shouldn't build a power supply after all! LOL!

'sup Adam? ;-)

From this schematic: https://analoguehaven.com/moog-music/etherwave-thermin-black/hotrod.pdf you can see how the 5 pin DIN jack is wired.  The supply is 14VAC @ 200mA.  The voltage is important to get right, the mA can of course be higher without harm.  Note that the AC ground comes in here too, which is critical to proper Theremin operation.

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Experiment: You want to use the lowest voltage you can get away with to not overheat the regulators. This Amazon transformer I always thought might work. Though it say 12 volts AC, unloaded should be around 17 volts. The EWS current I believe is 35 ma which is so low the voltage peak might stay above the 14 volts AC needed, plus it has the important ground connection.

Transformer 12 volts

Transformer 16 volts

5 pin din connector 15ft

Christopher

Note that the AC ground comes in here too, which is critical to proper Theremin operation.

On the EWS, I don't notice any real difference if it's grounded or not.  The Moog 220V power supply is not grounded.  OP should feel free to use an ungrounded power supply.