PCBs and FR4 front panel (only) for a voltage controlled oscillator synth module. This module is in LMNC's Kosmo format (20 cm high) and is just 5 cm wide. Depth is 8.5 cm.

The Hero is built around a 3340 VCO chip. There are separate output jacks for each waveform: The standard triangle, ramp, and pulse, and also sine. V/oct input, PWM CV input, and linear FM CV input. Pulse width can go from near zero to near 100%. There is a switch to select hard, soft, or no sync. There’s a fine tuning knob and an octave switch with five positions.

Also on the front panel there are holes for access to four trimmers, for adjusting tracking, high frequency tracking compensation, center frequency, and pulse width range.

Under the hood there are fixes for the 3340’s less welcome attributes. There’s regulated -5 V power which eliminates the infamous pulse width frequency shift, and an added resistor that gets rid of the ringing on the falling edge of the pulse wave at low frequencies. All the waveforms are scaled and shifted to make them ±5 V.

But the Sidekick's most unique feature is that it can help a Hero. A header on the PCB allows one or more Sidekicks to be connected a Hero VCO. This is a larger, full featured VCO also available on this site. The Hero sends summed pitch, pulse width, and linear FM control voltages to the Sidekicks; it also sends its ramp waveform which the Sidekicks can sync to. This allows easy creation and maintenance of multi-oscillator synth voices; it's a variant on the idea pioneered by the Moog 921a and 921b modules.

The user needs to source parts and assemble them. (Photo of my own assembled module for illustrative purposes only.) Easy through-hole construction.

Available as PCB and panel sets with choice of white or black panel.

Be sure to see the Github repository (linked below) for BOM, build notes, and other information.