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Thread: Norms DAC / Chinese 20k kit

  1. #11
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    Cool

    OK - finally got a chance to see the drawing you posted. Yep - That's exactly what you want to do. So you can either buy a parallel switchbox that switches all 25 lines, or you can gang a bunch of relays together and switch just the lines you need.

    As for the auto-switch from Belkin - I don't think that will work. It's designed to switch based on a signal from the host machine. But the signals from your controllers (either the DMX board or Norm's DAC) are both going to be on, so which one gets the port? Then too, the signals are totally different, and they're on different pins too. So no, I don't think that's going to work...

    Adam

  2. #12
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    Default Thanks Adam

    Right then so my wiring is sorted ...I did wonder on the belkin if The DMX was the default (stand alone) When I want to use the the DAC I could have a power switch to turn it on.
    There is a 5v reg supply on Norms board that I could use to drive a relay to turn off the supply to the DMX, in that way there would only be one set of live inputs at any time. Does that sound more feasable?

    Regards rog8811

  3. #13
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    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by rog8811 View Post
    I did wonder on the belkin if The DMX was the default (stand alone) When I want to use the the DAC I could have a power switch to turn it on. There is a 5v reg supply on Norms board that I could use to drive a relay to turn off the supply to the DMX, in that way there would only be one set of live inputs at any time. Does that sound more feasable?
    I like the idea of the relay... That would certainly prevent having two signals applied to the auto-switch at the same time.

    However, I don't know if the switch will work with the signals you'll be sending to (or rather, through) it. Remember that computers and printers speak digital, and you're sending analog data.

    Eh - if the switch is cheap enough it might be worth it to buy one and just try it. But I'd want to do a lot of testing to be sure it will switch reliably under all conditions.

    Adam

  4. #14
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    Default Cheap enough

    £0.99 from ebay seemed worth a punt. I will see what it will do, if it works I will let you all know as others may want to do similar things.
    If it doesn't work, back to plan "A"

    Regards rog8811

  5. #15
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    Default Another double post, D'oh

    I have done some research on parallel ports and auto switches, it seems they are ok for switching TTL so the blanking should be ok, I think that the +/-15v for the galvo drives will be a no no .

    So I am revisiting the relay idea, would I be able to common up all of the blanking grounds to cut down on contacts required?

    Regards rog8811

  6. #16
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    Cool

    Yeah. Actually - all the blanking grounds get connected to Pin 25.

    The pins labeled Red -, Green -, and Blue - are not grounds. Those are for reverse-blanking lasers. Normally you only connect to the + color signals, and all the ground wires from the blanking lines on the lasers go to pin 25, along with the grounds for the signals to the galvos.

    At a bare minimum you'll need 9 lines switched. That's X+, X-, Y+, Y-, R+, G+, B+, Shutter, and ground. Though if I were you I'd include the two interlock connections as well.

    Adam

  7. #17
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    Default

    The pins labeled Red -, Green -, and Blue - are not grounds. Those are for reverse-blanking lasers.
    There you go, something else I have learnt, thanks .

    These is going to show how far behind the 8 ball I am... I have not yet seen the scanner kit but a diagram I have seen seems to show a row of 3 two pin sockets marked R, G and B, will these be + and - blanking rather than Blank and ground?


    Regards rog8811

  8. #18
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    Cool

    Ok - back up.

    The scanners (or more accurately, the scanner AMPS) have three input terminals. One for X+, one for ground, and one for X-. (Obviously the other scanner amp receives the Y+, ground and Y- signals)

    Those are the only connections to the scanner amps, apart from the power supply connection and the cable that goes to the scanners themselves.

    The red, green, and blue color signals are connected directly to the blanking leads for each of your three lasers. Those color signals don't have anything to do with your scanners, and will never be connected to them.

    You may be confusing the ILDA pinout (the 25-pin connector that is used to connect your projector housing to your controller, or DAC) with the connections for the internal components inside your projector. Your projector needs to have a 25-pin connector on the outside to receive the signals from your controller (assuming your controller will be external to the projector). Then you will need to run wires from that 25-pin connector to the individual components inside.

    Now, the DMX controller that you were talking about probably does not have a 25-pin ILDA-standard connector on it. Instead, it's probably just got X+, X-, Y+, Y-, R, G, B, and ground connections. (Let's hope it also has the shutter output!) If those are the pins you were talking about, then yeah, they'll need to be connected to the relevent components inside your projector while also being wired through whatever switch or relay network you decide upon.

    If you plan on mounting both the DMX mini-controller *AND* Norm's DAC inside your projector, then you won't have an ILDA connector on your projector, because all the projector-specific outputs will be internal to the projector itself. Thus, all you'll need to do is wire the outputs from Norm's DAC and the DMX controller through your switch network and then to the lasers, the scanner amps, and the shutter. The only cable you'll have coming out of the projector is the one from the parallel port to the input of Norm's DAC. (Note that a parallel cable is *NOT* the same as an ILDA cable. The pins are the same but the signals carried on those pins are totally different.) Well, I guess you might have a DMX cable too, for the DMX mini-controller.

    How, exactly, were you planning to lay out your projector? Did you plan on including the DMX mini-controller inside the projector, or were you going to mount that in it's own external box? And what about your Norm's Lasershow DAC? Is it going to be internal to the projector, or in it's own box as well? The answers to those questions will tell you how you need to wire everything.

    If you do decide to mount either controller (or both) in an external box outside of the projector, then you'll want to use the ILDA standard connector to run the signals between the projector and the controllers. This means using a 25-pin cable, and 25-pin conenctors on each end that are wired to the ILDA standard.

    However, if you mount everything internal to the projector, then you won't have an ILDA port, because all the signals that would normally be carried on that ILDA cable are already internal to your projector.

    I know it sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Does the above make any sense?

    Adam

  9. #19
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    Default Thanks!

    It does indeed make sense and confirms a lot of what I had worked out and made me think about other parts.

    I am building the DMX, DAC, and the relay board inside the flight case with the rest of the scanner parts.

    To the outside world I have:-

    Mains supply in

    25 pin parallel port connector (mounted on Norms PCB)

    Power switch for DAC ( I may go for a push button for DAC [Latches relay] and a push button for DMX [unlatches relay] )

    Maybe the dil switch for DMX selection......I am not sure if it needs to be outside as it could be accessable through the electronics cover when the case lid is open ......

    Thanks again for the information Adam

    Regards rog8811

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