First Attempt Skewed!

[mikkojay]

I fired up my box for the first time this evening, and well, see for yourself...
The images are skewed in a really odd 3d fashion.
I am using Chinese 30k scanners and an FB3 board.
The first pic is supposed to be the test pattern that looks like a bike wheel in a box with the word "top". Next is supposed to be 2 concentric circles.
I double-checked my pinout from the serial connector to the scanner boards with a multimeter, and everything was as I believe it should be.
1---------X+
2---------Xg
3---------Y+
4---------Yg
I don't have the ttl hooked up in these pics, although the images were so skewed, it didn't seem to matter.
I didn't want to start grinding on trimpots, in case it was something a little more obvious to someone with more experience with these things.
Any ideas would we appreciated.
Thanks, Mike

[cruch]

Ok! I have connected my FB3 board like this:

On the DB25 connector: Pin 1 X+ Pin 2 Y+ Pin 6 and pin 19 for green

[allthatwhichis]

Are you using "pin 1" x+, pin 2 x- and so on? It should be pin 1 x+, pin 14 x-, pin 2 y+, pin 15 y-
.1 .2 .3
.14 .15 .16

Well, it is usually wired this way; does that make sense?

[mikkojay]

Thanks for the replies guys, I knew I came to the right place- let me go swap some things around and see what happens.
I'll keep you posted. I am awake way earlier than normal this morning, might as well forget about sleeping!
Mike

[allthatwhichis]

That happens with this shitte sometimes... It sucks when you are at work 8 hours later and think that you won't be able to play when you get home cause your too tired right then to even work... But you'll come home and go without sleep again.

[mikkojay]

Oh man- I am getting really close now...
I have to go to work, but here is what happened-
I rewired according to the new diagram, and things looked WAY closer, BUT-
The image was upside down. Next, I tried the inputs (see pdf) that were -XY and ground. The image size doubled in size, flipped to the proper top/bottom orientation, but is now flipped the wrong way right-to-left, like a 3 looks like "E". I tried switching the wires on the X axis input, but that just displayed a solid line. I then tried the X input of +XY and left the Y on the -XY, and the orientation became correct, but the image was 1/2 as wide as it was tall! Can you tell from my grammar that I haven't slept much in the last 24 hrs? Ha!
I did watch a few graphics with the dolphin swimming around etc... while the image was at its closest, and I could feel the hook of this stuff dig deeper into my brain. Can someone who has had a good night's rest and a cup of coffee in them science this one out for a newbie in crisis?
Thanks for the assistance thus far- once again, this forum and its members kick ass!
-Mike

[allthatwhichis]

Probably need a picture of the test pattern for a good diagnosis... Good luck sitting through work.

[carmangary]

Woah there. It sounds like you are just hooking things up different ways and seeing what happens. That's never a good thing to do with electronic gear! You can blow something.

Sorry about the manual being so poor. I should have written something up in retrospect.

Here is how they should be hooked up.

If your DAC has differential outputs, connect X+(DAC) to (+) on a scanner board. Hook X-(DAC) to - on the same scanner board. Connect the (DAC)Gnd to either of the G pins (or both) on the same scanner board. Now, connect the Y+,Y-, Gnd outputs from your DAC the same way to the other scanner board.

If your DAC has single output, connect (X) to + and Gnd to G on a scanner board. Short the - and G pins on the scanner board. Your picture will only be 1/2 size and you will need to adjust either your DAC output to +/-10V or adjust the scanner input scale to increase the size. Do Y the same way.

Make sure you understand this completely and verify your wiring is correct before turning them on. Once you turn them on you should have a correctly proportioned picture. If it is upside down or backwards then you can fix it in your software (should be output settings) or you can swap the + and - wires on the scanner board. If upside down, swap them on the Y board. If backwards, swap them on the X board.

I hope this helps. But, I want to say it again. You shouldn't turn anything on until you understand what you are doing and have double checked the wiring. This goes for any electronics work! Otherwise, you might end up with some burnt out components! (I know it from experience).

[mikkojay]

I'm at work now- oh the humanity! 8 hours to go...
I suppose work is the neccessary evil to pay for all of this fun stuff. Such is life!
Mike

[mikkojay]

You are right, you should not play "pin the tail on the donkey" even if its only a 5vdc input. My first reaction was that if the picture is backwards, the polarity must be reversed, right? Sort of like hooking up one speaker backwards, causing right and left to be out of phase. I'll let you know more later tonight.
Mike