Build Questions

No joy...did some testing, and apparently the PIC is booting up, as MOST of the leds come on, then go out. But, I can't get any control out of Vixen, and the voltage regulator heatsink is getting uncomfortably warm, on both controllers. I am using the fake SSR board, and I'm getting nothing out to them. I did have an SSR hooked up, and was getting the 5 volt out to it and the light strings lighting on boot up, but doesn't seem to be getting it now.

On bootup, should ALL the led's light?

I've rechecked and rechecked everything - parts are in right positions, and checked all the solder joints. I would think/hope ONE of them would work, but no, not yet.

Oh well, I'm going to step back for a few days, and hit it again. Have the Light Up Ohio this weekend, so I'll concentrate on that...

No schematic makes it a little tough to troubleshoot, as that helps me understand what all is going on. Plus, it would be nice to know test points, and what I should be reading. The heatsink getting overly warm bothers me a lot, though. And, it's on both controllers...

R
 
I have very little understanding of what the code in the PIC is doing, but I can tell you what I experienced. My regulator got uncomfortably hot and I put a larger heatsink but still warmer than I like. I am going to try a regulator with a higher current rating hoping for less heat.
Not all lights come on at power up. Mine seem to come up with a random pattern for a few seconds then go out. Maybe the lights that were on when it got turned off??
I got the few seconds of lights then no control but found that I could not control the module address with the jumpers reliably. I was able to get a code for PIC hard coded the specific module number and then it worked. I found that it was an addressing problem by using the test in Vixen with all 128 channels and it worked - then turned off channels till I could determine which channel in Vixen controlled that bank of lights.
I hope this helps.
 
The voltage regulator does get hot and that is the reson for the big heat sink. I have not lost a voltage regulator yet.

Upon boot up, four of the channels are made to be analog inputs for module selection purposes. The balance of the pins may be on or off, it is random and and normal. Once the PIC reads the four analog input pins, it then makes these four pins outputs and enters the program loop where it turn off all the channels and waits for data. This is why the random channels go off after 8 seconds.

Each time the PIC looses power, it must enter this voltage reading 8 second period. Using the hard coded address HEX files, this 8 seconds will be eliminated and the three shunts can be removed.

I am not sure why this is occuring in the sinking system. Some people have no trouble where others have the trouble. I use my own SSRs and I source the current from the PIC. I have no problems but my system works in reverse to yours and my PIC code is also reverersed.

Use the hard coded HEX files if you are having trouble addressing field modules and that will fix that problem.
 
With my heart-felt thanks to Lou, David, LeRoy, Bill, and anyone I possibly overlooked, I'm proud to say I am now the owner of TWO almost completely operational FireGod systems!

Got them both working today - I had to get a transformer, as one of the wall-warts was bad, out of the box. While testing, the 2nd wall wart burned out, also. I'm not sure what caused that, as it was on the other controller, than I tried the first one on. I haven't put an ammeter in line yet, but will. I want to find out if I am pulling close to an amp, for some reason (I have difficulty believing that is possible), or whether the wall-warts are very low quality to begin with (evidenced by not working when I got it?). They are rated 1000 mA, so shouldn't be a problem at all, and the transformer I am using is a 25 vac, 2 amp, VCT, so I'm using 12 volts at 1 amp, and it's not even getting warm at all. The wall wart was very warm, when it "*-poofed-*".

But, just wanted to let everyone know, SUCCESS!!

I will try to work on a Wiki on assembly, this week, as I am on vacation.

Oh yeah, I've narrowed all my problems down, to not having enough SSR's hooked up. David wrote the following to me, when I was first having trouble:

The 8 second boot up time is normal and since the lights turn off after 8 seconds, that means the PIC program is running.

Try to configure Vixen for FM #2, #3, or #4 and see what happens.

Try turning on all 128 channels at once.

You MUST plugin the first three SSRs or fake SSRs to enable the FM to find the address.

Plug in your eight fake SSRs and see what happens.
Click to expand...

I didn't have enough 820 ohm resistors, so only had 4 SSR's hooked up, and assumed I had the "first three". but now I know I didn't. As you look at the FM, with the RJ45 at the top, the bottom right corner is 1-4, and it goes in a counter-clockwise rotation from there.

I still have several channels, that aren't working - channels 2-6 on FM1, and different ones on the other module, so I will be looking at poor solder joints. I'm not sure what else could be causing it. I'll get it, though...


Thanks again, to ALL!!!

R
 
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Just a quick update -

Lesson one - don't do the FG at the same time as doing your LEDTricks! After 768 LED's on the LT, and the 256 on the FG, I managed to get a few backwards. Funny, there were only a few wrong on two boards, but they were in a row. Over 1000 leds in just a few days....whew!

Also, be VERY careful with the oscillator. The pins are almost exactly the same size, as the holes. I had to push them in pretty stoutly, to get them to seat. If you have the capability, I would drill them out bigger, as I was getting one board that was sporadic, and traced it down to the oscillator. One of the leads had folded, and I think was touching the case. I took it out, but managed to lose one pin, number 4 (the ground), and the pad on the board, for pin 1, that's not connected, trying to get it back out. I drilled out the holes to .030, and found a cutoff from a resistor, and soldered it well to the pin 4, and put it all back together. Got lucky, because the case is ground, so as long as I got a good solder joint, it would be okay, and the pad I lost, isn't necessary, as that pin isn't used. Works like a champ, and I "stressed" the oscillator and no more glitches. But again, I would definitely re-drill the holes for the oscillator, if you can. I should have caught it, because that lead would have had to be just a bit shorter, before I cut them. But, I didn't. I do have two extra oscillators on order, one for backup, one to replace this one. I trust the solder, but since you can't see under it, I don't feel like chancing it.

I now have 256 channels, but I did have a few little issues with the addressing - I'm going to go ahead, and use the "dedicated" programming, for each module, because...well, just because!

Thanks again, all. I can now add "dimmable" to my vocabulary!

edit - Oh yeah, I did put the 6 volt regulators back in, and it fires my SSR's with 750 ohm resistors, just fine!

R
 
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51fordf2 said:
With my heart-felt thanks to Lou, David, LeRoy, Bill, and anyone I possibly overlooked, I'm proud to say I am now the owner of TWO almost completely operational FireGod systems!

Got them both working today - I had to get a transformer, as one of the wall-warts was bad, out of the box. While testing, the 2nd wall wart burned out, also. I'm not sure what caused that, as it was on the other controller, than I tried the first one on. I haven't put an ammeter in line yet, but will. I want to find out if I am pulling close to an amp, for some reason (I have difficulty believing that is possible), or whether the wall-warts are very low quality to begin with (evidenced by not working when I got it?). They are rated 1000 mA, so shouldn't be a problem at all, and the transformer I am using is a 25 vac, 2 amp, VCT, so I'm using 12 volts at 1 amp, and it's not even getting warm at all. The wall wart was very warm, when it "*-poofed-*".

But, just wanted to let everyone know, SUCCESS!!

I will try to work on a Wiki on assembly, this week, as I am on vacation.

Oh yeah, I've narrowed all my problems down, to not having enough SSR's hooked up. David wrote the following to me, when I was first having trouble:



I didn't have enough 820 ohm resistors, so only had 4 SSR's hooked up, and assumed I had the "first three". but now I know I didn't. As you look at the FM, with the RJ45 at the top, the bottom right corner is 1-4, and it goes in a counter-clockwise rotation from there.

I still have several channels, that aren't working - channels 2-6 on FM1, and different ones on the other module, so I will be looking at poor solder joints. I'm not sure what else could be causing it. I'll get it, though...


Thanks again, to ALL!!!

R
Click to expand...

This may help: The LED acts as a diagnostic tool. When the channel is turned ON and the LED does NOT light up, the 5 VDC loop is not complete or the LED is installed backwards.

Good luck!!
 
Did I miss something or does the Wiki for Firegod have a broken link for the BOM?

I was hoping to take a look at before I start assembling my Firegod boards.(I know, I still haven't started....)
 
I am finally building my Firegod controllers and dont find anywhere that they tell me what way to put the shunts on the field modules.
 
I believe as long as you don't duplicate you can set them as you like. If you are using all four modules, you will of course, need to use all four addresses. Contrary to common many jumper settings, you need to install a jumper for every position except the address desired. i.e. for field module 3 you would put jumpers in 1,2 and 4.

I am currently trying to program the pics myself, and can't get the SW to detect the device. Using a JDM programmer, WinPic800 and a real com port, but still no luck.
 
Gotcha now I understand why they are there. By using the jumpers you determine what board address that board is 1,2,3,or 4. Thanks
 
Where can I get just the PCBs already made (etched not full cards), I've tried to do etching and I'm just down right rotten at it. Thanks.
 
Sparkey said:
Where can I get just the PCBs already made (etched not full cards), I've tried to do etching and I'm just down right rotten at it. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Go to the Christmas Wiki, select Beginners area and find the "comparison of boards" All the info you need is there.
 
Yes, the comparison list tells you who sells the boards (2nd from last column on the right).

If you're looking for FireGod's boards, contact him directly. It's a proprietary system and he may or may not have any boards available.
 
Sparkey said:
Where can I get just the PCBs already made (etched not full cards), I've tried to do etching and I'm just down right rotten at it. Thanks.
Click to expand...

there's been a thread i started ages ago about different places to get boards made, i think there was about 3 of them off hand.
 
You might check with Lou - lbro - as he ran the last coop buy for 20 sets. That's where I got mine. Here's a link:

Firegod Coop

The Firegod system IS proprietary, and David (Firegod) has the files. Lou "might" have the files, from the coop, don't know. David didn't even have a schematic, for the boards, he "winged it"!

I used two Firegod systems last year, and was VERY happy with it. During testing, seemed like the 100 steps of dimming, was very obvious, on 4 or 5 strings for testing, but was not visible in ANY way, during the show...maybe it has to do with fluorescent lighting throughout the house? Anyway, I heartily recommend the Firegod. I'll be using the Helix next year, as I have 512 channels of Helix, and only 256 of Firegod.

Again, get in touch with Lou or David, as I would like to see another coop of the FG system.


R
 
I ordered all the parts from the BOM and had PCB express make my boards but I'm having trouble on where the caps go on the PC interface. The BOM lists C1-C4 (1uf) which I assume correspond to C3 on the silkscreen however the BOM (and my order) has only 4 of those and there are 5 on the actual circuit board. I assume C2 is the 2200uf and C4 is the 100uf. So that leaves me wondering about C1 on the board and the 5th C3 on the board?

Thanks for any help

Aaron
 
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