Wireless DMX retro fit of my fixtures!

[Imagine]

Vero board is of course what I meant.

Now here's a poser for those electronic genius' on here. I went into my local Maplin this morning with the shopping list for two of these reducers (so 1 x 7805, 1 x 10uf cap and 1 x 1uf cap as per the instructions on the indestructibles web site). The chap behind the counter scratched his head (as I have to admit did my neighbour who happens to be an electronics graduate and also in charge of something important at ARM).

What in the heck are the capacitors for out of interest? The 7805 should do the job of reducing down to 5v on its own. Just curious

[Nakatomi]

Vero board is of course what I meant.

Now here's a poser for those electronic genius' on here. I went into my local Maplin this morning with the shopping list for two of these reducers (so 1 x 7805, 1 x 10uf cap and 1 x 1uf cap as per the instructions on the indestructibles web site). The chap behind the counter scratched his head (as I have to admit did my neighbour who happens to be an electronics graduate and also in charge of something important at ARM).

What in the heck are the capacitors for out of interest? The 7805 should do the job of reducing down to 5v on its own. Just curious

Oh. You managed to confuzzle a Maplin staffer with something about electronics? Your graduate friend... er.. I'd want to see a copy of his certificate if he's scratching his head at a 7805 regulator circuit. Honestly.

A capacitor is a device which stores electrical charge. Think of it as a little bit like a battery (in so far as it stores charge temporarily). Basically, the capacitors are there to help smooth out any ripples in voltages as current demands increase & decrease - and in some ways to stabilise the inner workings of the regulator chip.

The high value (tens to hundreds of microfarads) capacitor is usually placed on the input of the regulator & the smaller one (generally 100 nanofarads or so) is placed across the output. It's what the manufacturer recommends you do for best results. So do it

[Imagine]

To be fair to my neighbour, I probably didn't explain fully what the circuit was for (it was very late last night).

As for confuzzling a Maplins operative - always good sport (although the frightening bit to mere mortals like myself is that he actually sounded knowledgeable ).

Okey dokey - will find the caps now (Maplins, as you'd probably expect didn't actually have any in stock).

Just like to know the reason for things to help me better understand them myself

[Nakatomi]

To be fair to my neighbour, I probably didn't explain fully what the circuit was for (it was very late last night).

As for confuzzling a Maplins operative - always good sport (although the frightening bit to mere mortals like myself is that he actually sounded knowledgeable ).

Okey dokey - will find the caps now (Maplins, as you'd probably expect didn't actually have any in stock).

Just like to know the reason for things to help me better understand them myself

I can remember the last time I spoke to a Maplins droid very clearly. I was after some cable. The assistant offered to help but had obviously misheard me - badly.. and navigated me to the PC graphics cards section.

Always good to know people are interested in knowing WHY though Wayne. Good on yer

[Imagine]

Ooooohhh....this is becoming sooooo much fun

Today, the second slow boat from China arrived with the DMX512 decoders for my 3ft acrylic LOVE letters (going back in the thread a little bit here).
Good news....they work I've successfully gained control of the letter E tonight and it does exactly what I want it to.

A point of note, I don't hire these out on their own so customers being able to control them isn't an issue. I have several venues where they just look the business set up in front of the booth (these are venues which are completely black so effects are everything) and now that they're under complete control I can do wonderful things as part of the light show. To a great extent....they provide the wash effect needed for my wedding show so I'm happy to put them onto the rig as part of the package (plus, it looks different from what everyone else is doing so I can get away with charging more in the first place). They're also really, REALLY easy to wheel in, plug in and go....my load in is getting shorter by the day. The next cunning plan was to be a booth on wheels with everything already set up and ready to plug a 13a plug into the mains....and then I realised it wouldn't work with stairs

So....I've now got yet more 5v step down boards coming (they're only a couple of quid each pre-made so it made sense to buy that way instead of getting the individual components, fiddling around and building my own). I've also found a UK supplier for yet more of the wireless boards. Because the letters are acrylic, I can mount the whole shooting match internally meaning I just plug a 12v adapter into the back of them and Bob's a close relation

I'm actually starting to enjoy this lighting control business. Who would ever have thought DMX could be so much fun?

***edit****
For those trying hard to visualize the type of set up I'm ranting on about in black wedding venues - here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago

[Nakatomi]

Ah yes. Looks like somewhere I'm playing in August. Very posh for my neck of the woods.

Can you post a link for the UK seller of the wireless boards you found ? From what I've seen they tend to be double the price of the Chinoise. You didn't seem to have to wait as long for yours as I did. About a week is good going.

Btw did you make those letters yourself?

[Imagine]

Ah yes. Looks like somewhere I'm playing in August. Very posh for my neck of the woods.

Can you post a link for the UK seller of the wireless boards you found ? From what I've seen they tend to be double the price of the Chinoise. You didn't seem to have to wait as long for yours as I did. About a week is good going.

Btw did you make those letters yourself?

Will post the link later when home - but they're from eBay and a UK seller. Yes they're more expensive, but they'll be here tomorrow, giving me time to sort the letters for Saturday's wedding.
One big problem I've just realised however is that the voltage step down boards require an earth....and the 12v transformers don't have one going into the LEDS . So, looks like I need to do something like put a socket inside the letters to plug the adapters into with an IEC presenting to the outside world so I can pick up ground from there.

And no - I didn't make them. I don't have that sort of patience. That said, I'm seriously considering giving it a go now I've seen how they're made. How hard can it be?

[Nakatomi]

Will post the link later when home - but they're from eBay and a UK seller. Yes they're more expensive, but they'll be here tomorrow, giving me time to sort the letters for Saturday's wedding.
One big problem I've just realised however is that the voltage step down boards require an earth....and the 12v transformers don't have one going into the LEDS . So, looks like I need to do something like put a socket inside the letters to plug the adapters into with an IEC presenting to the outside world so I can pick up ground from there.

And no - I didn't make them. I don't have that sort of patience. That said, I'm seriously considering giving it a go now I've seen how they're made. How hard can it be?

FWIW I wouldn't put DC on an IEC socket. Any numpty could come along & plug in an IEC mains cable. Maybe change the connector on the lights to one with a common ground connection coming from the driver box instead. I'd likely use something like a locking circular connector e.g. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/din-connectors/0491027/ if it'll handle the current you need.

[Imagine]

FWIW I wouldn't put DC on an IEC socket. Any numpty could come along & plug in an IEC mains cable. Maybe change the connector on the lights to one with a common ground connection coming from the driver box instead. I'd likely use something like a locking circular connector e.g. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/din-connectors/0491027/ if it'll handle the current you need.

I wasn't - that would be silly
I was thinking more along the lines of this sort of thing with the three pin socket inside the box, and the DC adapter plugged into it to power the lights. That way, I can pick up ground from the incoming IEC for the voltage regulator to power the wireless board.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[DJ Jules]

I wasn't - that would be silly
I was thinking more along the lines of this sort of thing with the three pin socket inside the box, and the DC adapter plugged into it to power the lights. That way, I can pick up ground from the incoming IEC for the voltage regulator to power the wireless board.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

They don't really need an Earth, you'll be fine without.

Julian