Rotating Clock Divider - Keyboard 4ms - Free user manual and instructions

Product Type	Eurorack Module
Brand	4ms
Model	Rotating Clock Divider
Width	8 HP
Depth	25 mm
Weight	80 g
Power Supply	+12V: 50 mA, -12V: 10 mA
Power Connector	16-pin Eurorack ribbon cable
Functions	Clock division by 1 to 16, rotation, tap tempo, reset
Outputs	16 individual clock outputs (3.5mm jacks)
Inputs	Clock input, reset input, rotate CV input (3.5mm jacks)
Controls	Rotary encoder for division and rotation, tap button
LED Indicators	16 output LEDs, power LED
Construction	PCB, aluminum panel
Maintenance	Keep dry; clean with a soft, dry cloth
Safety	Disconnect power before installation or removal; handle with care
Spare Parts	Contact 4ms for replacement jacks or encoder
Repairability	Designed for easy repair; user-serviceable components
Warranty	1 year limited warranty
General Information	Manufactured in the USA by 4ms Company

Frequently Asked Questions - Rotating Clock Divider 4ms

What is a rotating clock divider?

A rotating clock divider takes an incoming clock signal and divides it into multiple outputs with rotating phases. The 4ms Rotating Clock Divider provides 16 divisions, each offset by a rotating pattern, creating complex rhythmic variations.

How do I connect the Rotating Clock Divider to my Eurorack system?

Connect a 16-pin ribbon cable from your Eurorack power supply to the module's power header, ensuring the red stripe aligns with the -12V mark. Then patch a clock signal into the Clock input and use the outputs for divisions.

What are the power requirements?

The module requires +12V at 50 mA and -12V at 10 mA. Ensure your power supply can provide sufficient current.

How do I set the division ratio?

Use the rotary encoder to select the division ratio from 1 to 16. The current division is shown by the LEDs and encoder position.

What does the rotate CV input do?

The rotate CV input allows you to shift the phase of all outputs using a control voltage. Applying voltage rotates which output gets which division, enabling dynamic pattern changes.

Can I reset the pattern?

Yes, patch a trigger or gate into the Reset input to reset all outputs to the beginning of their cycle.

How do I use the tap tempo?

Press the Tap button at the desired tempo to set the master clock rate. The module will divide this rate accordingly.

Is the module compatible with all Eurorack cases?

Yes, it is standard Eurorack format (8 HP wide, 25 mm depth) and fits most cases. Ensure your power supply has available headers.

What maintenance is required?

Minimal maintenance is needed. Keep the module dry and clean using a soft cloth. Periodically check connections for dust or corrosion.

How do I troubleshoot if no outputs work?

First verify that the module is receiving power (LEDs should light). Check your clock source and patch cables. Try resetting with a trigger. If still no output, contact 4ms support.

USER MANUAL Rotating Clock Divider 4ms

Rotating Clock Divider

Eurorack Module User Manual (updated Sept 2015)

PCB version 1.2 (released November 2014)

Firmware version 1.1 (released April 2012)

4ms Pedals

Features

• Divide-by-1 to Divide-by-64, on 8 output jacks
  •CV Rotate jack to shift divide-by amount on all jacks
  •CV Reset to reset/re-sync all jacks

- Jumpers or optional break-out panel:

Select auto-reset
- Select "Spread" mode
- Gate or Trigger outputs
- Count-up or Count-down mode

- Select maximum divide-by amount (8/16/32/64)

-ISP header

- Connects to in-circuit programmer such as AVR ISP MKII for reprogramming code

•Maximum input frequency 3kHz

- LED dimmer trimpot allows you to set a custom LED brightness

- Bus Clock support (slave only). Clock can be taken from the Gate pins on the power header.

- 5V Select jumper allows you to power the RCD from either the 12V rail or the 5V rail.

•4 HP Eurorack module

-5VSEL Jumper set to INT:

• 33mA maximum power draw from +12V rail
• 0mA max on the +5V rail
• 4mA maximum power draw on the -12V rail

•5VSEL Jumper set to EXT:

• 19mA maximum power draw on the +12V rail
• 14mA max on the +5V rail
• 4mA maximum power draw on the -12V rail

Jacks

•Clock Input (3.5V to 15V clock, rising edge triggered)
•CV Rotate (0V to +5V input)
•CV Reset (3.5V to 15V trigger)
•Divided Clock Outputs (8 jacks):
•Divide-by (1+R)
•Divide-by (2+R)
- Divide-by (3+R)
- Divide-by (4+R)
•Divide-by (5+R)
- Divide-by (6+R)
•Divide-by (7+R)
•Divide-by (8+R)
•..where R is the CV Rotation (0 to 63)

The breakout header on the back of the PCB has spots for 6 jumper shunts which enable/disable features and change the operation of the RCD. You also can attach an RCD Breakout module, which makes changing settings convenient and accessible.

If you don't have an RCD Breakout, you can set the RCD to operate in a particular mode by installing certain jumpers, and omitting others.

Note: The bottom four pins of the breakout header have been snipped off or have been omitted at the factory.

Counting Up/Down:

Up/Down	Mode
on Down	counting
off Up counting

Trigger/Gate:

Trig/ Gate	Mode
on Gate
off Trigger

Auto-Reset:

Auto-ResetJumper	Auto-reset amountwith Max-Divide-by range of...
	8 16 32 64
on 16	32 64 128
off none	none none	none

Max Divide-by Range and Spread Mode:

Max-Divide Range Jumpers		Total Rotatable Divide-by range	Default Divide-by amount on jacks with no voltage applied to CV Rotate jack (tables 2-5)(Applying CV to Rotate jack makes each output increase by 1)See also Table 5 below
16	32 S	Spread off	Spread on
on	on	1 to 8	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16
on	off	1 to 16	9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16	2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16
off	on	1 to 32	17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24	4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32
off	off	1 to 64	33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40	8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64

Gate/Trigger Mode:

In Trigger mode, the jacks output a pulse width equal to that of the input clock (the pulse width is not multiplied or divided proportionally to the jack's divide-by amount). This is the default method for pcb v1.0 and v1.0.1, unless it has been upgraded to v1.0.2 or later firmware. In Gate mode, the width of the output pulses are 50% of the total wave. For example, the /6 jack will stay ON for 3 clock pulses, and then turn OFF for 3 clock pulses. For even numbered divisions (/2, /4, /6, /8, etc) the transitions happen on the input clock's rising edge. Point of interest: In Gate mode, with odd-numbered divisions, the jack will turn ON on a rising edge of the input clock, and then will turn OFF on a falling edge. For example, the /5 jack ought to stay on for 2.5 clock pulses, meaning it should go OFF somewhere between the rising edge of clock pulses 2 and 3. Right in between these is the falling edge of pulse number 2, so we can safely call it 2.5!

When in Gate mode, the difference between Up and down-counting is that the gates are inverted.

Up-beat/Down-beat counting:

In Up-beat counting, each jack fires after "N" number of pulses are counted on the input jack (where N is the divide-by-number). So, after a Reset pulse, only the /1 jack will fire after a Reset on the first clock pulse. On the next clock pulse, the /1 and the /2 jack will fire, then on the next pulse the /1 and /3 jacks will fire, etc...

In Down-counting, each jack fires when its count is 1. So all the jacks will fire after a Reset pulse, and then count up to "N", and fire again when they start over at 1. This is called "down-beat counting" because all the jacks fire on the down-beat (first clock pulse).

Clock outputs (up-beat counting):

IN:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

1

X

X

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2

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3

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4

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5

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X

X

X

6

X

X

X

X

X

7

X

X

X

X

8

X

X

X

X

32

X

Clock outputs (down-beat counting):

IN:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

1

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

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2

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3

X

X

X

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4

X

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X

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X

X

X

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5

X

X

X

X

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X

X

6

X

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7

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8

X

X

X

X

Spread mode:

Spread mode causes the output to "spread" evenly amongst the entire max division range. See the "Jumper 3, 4, and 5" table on the previous page. For instance, if Max-Div is set to 32, then in spread mode the jacks will output divisions evenly spaced from 1 to 32 (pus whatever rotation is applied). Since there are 8 jacks spread over 32 values, each jacks will always be offset by 4 divisions from its neighbors. See Table 4. For example:

With no CV at the Rotate jack, the jacks will output:

/4, /8, /12, /16, /20, /24, /28, /32

Applying a small amount of CV to the Rotate jack will make each jack increment by 1:

/5, /9, /13, /17, /21, /25, /29, /1

Applying more CV Rotation will shift them further. Note how the difference between each jack is 4.

/6, /10, /14, /18, /22, /26, /30, /2

A different thing happens when Max-Divide-by is set to 8. In this case, the jacks will only output standard "musical" divisions of triplets and sixteenth-notes:

/1, /2, /3, /4, /6, /8, /12, /16

Adding a little bit of CV Rotation will shift the outputs to

Adding more Rotation will shift them more.

/3, /4, /6, /8, /12, /16, /1, /2

In all cases, the outputs will be limited to these "musical" divisions with Spread On and Max-Div at 8

Auto Reset:

Jumper 6 selects the Auto-reset point, which causes the divide counters to reset after a certain number of clock pulses. Note that divide-by amounts which are evenly dividable by the reset amount are not affected: e.g. with an auto-reset of 16, divide-by outputs of 2, 4, 8, 16, etc are not changed.

Also, note that the CV Reset is independent of the Auto-reset. For example, Jack 7+R could be patched into the CV Reset with jumpers 3, 4, and 5 in. This would cause a reset every 7 clocks, plus an additional reset every 16 clocks.

There are too many combinations of Auto-reset and Max divide amounts to show all combinations!

Example: Auto-reset of 16 (Jumper 6 in), with Max Divide-by of 8 (Jumpers 3&4 in)

IN:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32
3 X	X X	X X X	X X	X X
5 X	X X	X X X
7							X							X									X							X

Bus Clock (PCB version 1.2)

The RCD can be clocked by a master clock running on the Gate bus of the power header. If you have a master clock module that supplies a clock to the bus, you can take advantage of this by installing the BUS CLK jumper on the back of the RCD. The bus clock is buffered on the RCD, so there is no loading effect on the clock signal.

With the jumper installed by placing it on both pins, the RCD will be clocked by the bus clock. Patching a cable into the Clock In jack on the RCD will override the bus clock.

With the jumper not installed the Bus Clock will not be used. The jumper can be placed on one pin (either one is fine) so that you don't loose.

Factory setting is Bus clock disabled, jumper installed on only one pin (shown on the left).

5V Select (PCB version 1.2)

Jumping the side marked "INT" will power the RCD from the +12V rail, using an internal regulator chip. Jumping the side marked "EXT" will power the RCD from the +5V rail.

When the RCD is in "EXT" mode, less current is drawn from the +12V rail, but if there is noise on the 5V rail, the RCD may glitch. If you are experiencing problems, try setting the jumper to "INT".

Factory setting is "INT" mode (shown on the left).

LED Dimmer Trimpot (PCB version 1.2)

The LEDs on the RCD can be dimmed or brightened by adjusting a trimpot. Use a very small phillips screwdriver (#00 or #000) to adjust the trimpot. Be careful and gentle as you adjust the trimpot. It's safe to adjust the trimpot while the RCD is powered on, but be careful not to touch any components or solder junctions on the board.

The factory default is about 50%.

Operation

Apply a clock signal to the Clock Input jack. Rising edges of 5V or greater will cause the internal dividing counters to be incremented. Each jack has its own counter that counts from 1 to its divide-by-amount, and then resets back at 1. In up-beat counting, each jack outputs a trigger pulse when its counter reaches the divide-by amount assigned to that jack. In down-beat counting, each jack fires when its counter is 1. Typically, the outputs will patch to trigger-able or gate-able modules (drum modules, ADSR envelope/transient generators, step sequencer clock input, etc.), but the RCD can also operate in the audio frequency range, thus crudely stepping pitch downward.

CV Rotation

By applying a CV signal to the CV Rotate jack, the clock divisions will rotate throughout the output jacks (see table 2). For example, if you apply just over 1.0V, Jack 1+R/Red will go from Divide-by-1 to Divide-by-2, and Jack 2+R/Orange will become Divide-by-3... up to Jack 8+R/White which will wrap ("rotate") around to become Divide-by-1. Applying more CV to the Rotate Jack will continue the rotation: next Jack 1 becomes Divide-by-3, then Divide-by-4, then Divide-by-5, until it's Divide-by-8 at the maximum input CV. Some non-linearities exist in the CV response, especially in the upper extreme. See diagram at end of this manual.

CV Reset

Applying a CV of 3.5V or greater to the CV Reset jack will cause all the divide counters to reset on the next clock pulse. So, applying a reset pulse will not change the tempo, since the RCD will wait for the next clock pulse to actually do anything. Counting will begin back at 1 after a Reset. A low/slow output on the RCD can be patched into Reset, or a second RCD running on the same master clock can be set to run very slow and reset the first RCD after an arbitrary number of beats.

Rotation Tables

Table 1: Spread mode off, max divide-by amount set to 8

Jacks	Spread off: Voltage at CV Rotate Jack
	<0.67V 0.67V - 1.3V 1.3V - 1.9V 1.9V - 2.5V 2.5V - 3.2V 3.2V - 3.8V 3.8V - 4.5V >4.5V
/1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
/2	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	1
/3	3	4	5	6	7	8	1	2
/4	4	5	6	7	8	1	2	3
/5	5	6	7	8	1	2	3	4
/6	6	7	8	1	2	3	4	5
/7	7	8	1	2	3	4	5	6
/8	8	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Table 2: Spread mode on, max divide-by amount set to 8

Jacks	Spread on: Voltage at CV Rotate Jack
	<0.67V 0.67V - 1.3V 1.3V - 1.9V 1.9V - 2.5V 2.5V - 3.2V 3.2V - 3.8V 3.8V - 4.5V >4.5V
/1	1	2	3	4	6	8	12	16
/2	2	3	4	6	8	12	16	1
/3	3	4	6	8	12	16	1	2
/4	4	6	8	12	16	1	2	3
/5	6	8	12	16	1	2	3	4
/6	8	12	16	1	2	3	4	6
/7	12	16	1	2	3	4	6	8
/8	16	1	2	3	4	6	8	12

Table 3: Spread off, max divide-by amount set to 16

Jacks	Spread off: Voltage at CV Rotate Jack
	< 0.35	0.35-0.67	0.67 - 0.99	0.99-1.3V	1.3V-1.6V	1.6V-1.9V	1.9V-2.2V	2.2V-2.5V	2.5V-2.8V	2.8V-3.1V	3.1V-3.4V	3.4V-3.7V	3.7V-4.0V	4.0V-4.3V	4.3V-4.7V	>4.7V
/1 9 10 1	1 12 13	14 15 16	1 2 3 4	5 6 7 8
/2 10 11	12 13 14	15 16 1	2 3 4 5	6 7 8 9
/3 11 12	13 14 15	16 1 2 3	4 5 6 7	8 9 10
/4 12 13	14 15 16	1 2 3 4	5 6 7 8 9	10 11
/5 13 14	15 16 1 2	3 4 5 6	7 8 9 10	11 12
/6 14 15	16 1 2 3	4 5 6 7 8	9 10 11	12 13
/7 15 16	1 2 3 4 5	6 7 8 9	10 11 12	13 14
/8 16 1 2	3 4 5 6 7	8 9 10	11 12 13	14 15

Table 4: Spread on, max divide-by amount set to 16

Jacks	Spread on: Voltage at CV Rotate Jack
	< 0.35	0.35-0.67	0.67 -0.99	0.99-1.3V	1.3V-1.6V	1.6V-1.9V	1.9V-2.2V	2.2V-2.5V	2.5V-2.8V	2.8V-3.1V	3.1V-3.4V	3.4V-3.7V	3.7V-4.0V	4.0V-4.3V	4.3V-4.7V	>4.7V
/1 2 3 4 5	6 7 8 9	10 11 12	13 14	15 16 1
/2 4 5 6 7	8 9 10	11 12 13	14 15	16 1 2 3
/3 6 7 8 9	10 11 12	13 14	15 16 1	2 3 4 5
/4 8 9 10	11 12 13	14 15	16 1 2 3	4 5 6 7
/5 10 11	12 13 14	15 16 1	2 3 4 5	6 7 8 9
/6 12 13	14 15 16	1 2 3 4	5 6 7 8 9	10 11
/7 14 15	16 1 2 3	4 5 6 7 8	9 10 11	12 13
/8 16 1 2	3 4 5 6 7	8 9 10	11 12 13	14 15

Table 5: Spread on and off, max divide-by amount set to 32 and 64

	Max-Div: 32Spread: OFF	Max-Div: 32Spread: ON	Max-Div: 64Spread: OFF	Max-Div: 64Spread: ON
Rotate threshold voltage	0.16V 0.16V 0.07V	0.07V
Range	1-32	1-32	1-64	1-64
Jack:	Divide-by amount with no Rotation (0V):
/1	17, 18, 19,...	4, 5, 6...	33, 34, 35...	8, 9,10...
/2	18	8	34	16
/3	19	12	35	24
/4	20	16	36	32
/5	21	20	37	40
/6	22	24	38	48
/7	23	28	39	56
/8	24	32	40	64

Applying voltage to the Rotate CV jack will increase the Divide-by amount by 1 each time the threshold voltage is added. The threshold voltage is listed in the first line of the table above.

For example, look at the first column in the table (Max-Div 32 and Spread OFF). With no CV (0V) on the Rotate jack, the first output jack will divide the input clock by 17. If you apply 0.16V to the Rotate jack, the output will divide by 18. If you apply 0.32V, you'll get /19. At 0.48V you get /20... etc. Once get to /32, applying more votlage will rotate back around to /1, /2, /3... all the way back to /16.

TRIGGER MODE, UP-BEAT COUNTING

GATE MODE, DOWN-BEAT COUNTING
↓ Indicates falling-edge of clock input (all others are rising-edge)

4ms Rotating Clock Divider How CV Rotate Works

In this metaphorical illustration, applying a voltage to the Rotate jack makes the outer circle of jacks rotate around the inner circle of divided clock signals. For a technical chart of the exact voltages needed to cause exact rotations, see the User Manual.

This page assumes all jumpers are in their factory positions: i.e. only jumpers 3 and 4 are "in"

1V applied to CV Rotate:
(Jacks shifted 1 unit clockwise)
1+R:div by 2
2+R:div by 3
7+R:div by 8
8+R:div by 1
2V applied to CV Rotate: (Jacks shifted 2 units clockwise)
1+R:div by 2
2+R:div by 3
7+R:div by 8
8+R:div by 1

5.1V applied to CV Rotate: (Jacks shifted 7 units clockwise)
1+R:div by 2
2+R:div by 3
7+R:div by 8
8+R:div by 1