DiyLightAnimation

1 - Kit #1
1 - Kit #2

Thanks

4 - Kit #1
25 - Kit #2

Ray's got a new format for the C9's that feature a flat back that would work great to fasten to a strip of something flat (I'm thinking either vinyl or wood). The link below is for the WS2811, but he'll be making them in 12V TM1804 too.

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One of the most confusing things I found with the Pickit 3 was the software. I feel like Microchip does a horrible job posting the stand alone programmer for the Pickit 3. Microchip doesn't even list it, but they do for the Pickit 2. Added to confusion, there's two different versions of the stand alone programmer, one that supports the newer pics and one that doesn't. Forgive me if I mispeak, because this is all off the top of my head, but I believe it's the older version that supports the newer chips, but you have to install the new device file in order to do so.

Use the second link posted by Keith (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login) to download the stand alone programmer and updated device file. Perhaps someone else can clarify if it's the v1 or v3 beta he should download. I can't recall and I'm not at home to check. Forget MPLAB for programming your SSC and etherdongle. If you're going write your own embedded software, that's another story and you'll need MPLAB then. For some reason, the .hex files only work with the stand alone programmer and not the programming feature in MPLAB.

Renard users just put the DMX firmware in their Renards and run off the DMX outs. I'm not sure adding another protocol to the mix is a good idea. and since they can already run them it really is not needed.

RJ

It depends on the chip used. The boards that are running off of the old PIC16F688 have the DMX firmware, but there are newer boards that use other PICs and don't have a DMX firmware yet, and some people have problems with using DMX on renard boards.

This idea was more 2 fold. 1, a small device that you could easily add anywhere in your network to get a DMX out (in case you didn't have a active hub nearby, but your network cable was going right past where you needed DMX. Right now, you could take an active hub, cut it up (to make it smaller) handle powering it, and then you'd have something like that, but it would be nicer to have a board designed for that. 2, it would be nice to have a PixelNet->Renard converter for the reasons I already mentioned. Then I just combined 1 & 2 together because it seemed like a good fit.

So I'm a little puzzled. The resistors appear to be the same physical size.  If the resistor value went up enough that the wattage might have gone down enough, or that might not have even been the problem.  I'm curious now how much current was being drawn on the old reds. I'll have to hook it up to my mm and check.

I did notice that wiring is a darker color now.  Remembering reading on a different thread that Ray increased the size of the wiring for new smart strings, I tried to compare the old wire on the dumb strings to the new ones. I *think* that it may be thicker wiring now. It so hard to tell without a micrometer once you start going above 20awg. I can't visibly see a difference, but the new ones feel thicker between my fingers. This shouldn't have an impact on bad nodes. I'm just pointing this out as another improvement.

Whatever the case, it appears that dumb strings were produced for a while that worked, then sometime around August-November 2012 there was some sort of change that fried mostly reds, and now they've been changed and are working again.

Me three