Moog Etherwave problems: constant pitch and very quiet

So I just finished building my Moog Etherwave and I am happy that it does in fact make noise, but I am having a few problems:

Problem 1: Is the theremin supposed to just constantly make noise even when I'm nowhere near it? My theremin makes a constant pitch as soon as I turn it on and only stops making noise if I turn it off or put my hand near the volume antenna. Is that normal?

Problem 2: My theremin is very quiet. I turn the volume knob all the way up and can barely hear it.

Problem 3: I'm using headphones and sound only comes out of one side. I figure this must have something to do with the audio output jack.

Suggestions?

The tech guys will be here soon to tell you what's what, but...

1. It will always produce a note, you need to tune the instrument.

2. The volume knob doesn't contol the volume. That's for setting the responce from the loop or volume antenna.

3.Your head phones are probably stereo, the theremin output is mono.

That will get you started. Ok gang, explain in detail...

andy

a) The output level of the Etherwave is mono and too low for driving a headphone. You must connect an amplifier.

b) If the Etherwave produces a sound even when you are far away and this sound becomes lower and re-raises the nearer you come to the pitch antenna, that means that either it is not correctly tuned (turn the pitch knob counterclockwise in order to see if that helps) or you didn't put the cover on it which is essential.

okay hey thank you guys for your replies. everything is working perfectly now actually. after i plugged it into an amplifier, i found that there really was nothing wrong with it at all! i guess i did build it correctly. sorry for wasting forum space! :/

btw: holy crap, i LOVE this thing! i can't wait to learn how to play it well.

Hello to everyone! I've just bought a new Etherwave standard (I am a new player so please forgive me not understanding any difficult terminology), however I am faced with a problem, so I would appreciate if you could help me!! First of all, I connected the theremin to my headphones and I hear a constant sound. The volume antenna seems to be fine, however the pitch antenna does not correspond to my hand movements at all (I did the same with a sound system and I had the same result). I don't know what to do. To exchange the product or it can be fixed easily? Thank you in advance!!

"Hello to everyone! I've just bought a new Etherwave standard (I am a new player so please forgive me not understanding any difficult terminology), however I am faced with a problem, so I would appreciate if you could help me!! First of all, I connected the theremin to my headphones and I hear a constant sound. The volume antenna seems to be fine, however the pitch antenna does not correspond to my hand movements at all (I did the same with a sound system and I had the same result). I don't know what to do. To exchange the product or it can be fixed easily? Thank you in advance!!" - LeGrandNoir

That doesn't sound healthy and I can't think of anything that you could be doing wrong that would cause this.  If you bought this new and you are in the US try giving Moog a call to see if they can offer any advice.  If you are getting a constant pitch that doesn't respond to anything that you do with the antenna, including touching it, then something is probably open/shorted in the variable oscillator or its antenna inductors.  Even if you have to return it to the dealer it's a good idea to have talked with Moog first, if only to avoid the "you're doing something wrong" conversation that often comes when requesting the return.

If you bought this second-hand (I know you said it was new) and you are on your own then you may want to take a more diagnostic approach.  Either way, it probably wouldn't hurt to take a peek inside to make sure that it isn't just the antenna lead disconnected from the pitch-side plumbing fitting.  If the constant pitch that you are getting is extremely high and is at its lowest when the pitch knob is fully clockwise, there's a chance that this could be it. But that's a pretty sturdy connection, so maybe this is unlikely.

In any event it probably doesn't hurt to look inside if you are interested.  Moog supplies a tuning tool (don't use it yet!) and pretty much expects/assumes/encourages you to get in there sooner or later, so I don't think that pulling the cover on a brand new but non-working theremin to look for obvious shipping damage is going to void anything.  But still, talk to or email Moog if you can.