[net.music] MIDI to 8251 interface?

ee163ahq@sdccs7.UUCP (Doug Salot) (06/10/84)

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My roommate is in the process of acquiring a Yamaha DX-7 Synth.  He
is interested in interfacing to a microcomputer via the DX-7's MIDI
ports so that the micro may act as a sequencer and other fun things.
I suggested that he look into the Sanyo MBC-550 for the micro end
(primarily because I have one I'd like to sell), and we're interested
in anybody's thoughts on the feasiblity of this project.  My main
concern revolves around the fact that the MIDI goes at 31.25 Kbaud,
asynch at TTL levels.  The Sanyo has a serial port which uses 
Intel's 8251.  The 8251 gets its timing signals from one of the
programmable timers on the Sanyo.  My plan was to bypass the voltage
level shifters on the RS-232 card and program the 8251 to go at
a sufficiently swift rate.  Theoretically, I can program the 8251
to go at 111.9 / N Kbaud for N = 1..some_large_number.  This leaves
me with 27.9 Kbaud and 37.3 Kbaud as the closest I can come to
the 31.25 Kbaud that I need.

My question is two-fold:  can the 8251 actually go at these higher
baud rates (19.2 Kbaud is the highest I've seen for RS-232), and
is a 10% error in baud rate tollerable for the MIDI?

Please respond by mail to sdccs7!ee163ahq or sdcarl!rb

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ThankSalot	Doug Salot
		..sdcsvax!sdccs7!ee163ahq