Helix System For Sale after Jan. 5, ‘18

R

Rjlangley

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Complete Helix System For Sale

I'm selling this all for $240.00 O.B.O. For asking price, I’ll handle the shipping cost.

It ran well for the 2017 season and with a mixture of light styles (I have incandescent, standard AC LEDs and Pixels (running via the 2 built Ether-Node boards and a couple of SanDevices)).


Included:
***Built Items***
4 x Helix v. 3 Main Board’s (One of the four v.3 boards has an issue where it corrupts the SD card files. Not sure if that can be solved. I just ran into that this season. Other 3 work great.)
1 x Helix v. 2 Main Board
5 x Daughter boards (3 of the Daughter boards have onboard power supplies. 2 require external power and I do not have those.)
4 x Helix 32 channel SSR (One of the 32 Ch. boards requires 5V DC external power supply and I do not have that available)
2 x Helix Ether-Node
(If you’re not familiar with the Helix Ether-Node, please be advised that each will only support one pixel controller. Currently, I have run for a SanDevices e6804 and the other for a e682)

***PCB Boards***
1 x Helix 32 Channel SSR PCB only (version that takes onboard power transformer)
1 x Helix Ether-Node PCB (includes EEPROM chip) and I’ll include the propeller processor for it too.

***Other Related Items***
3 x Pro XBee radios
1 x MaxStream XBee Radio
3 x Sparkfun MP3/Audio players (with VS1053 chip and one is an earlier version with a smaller footprint, it has an adapter to fit the Helix) - These audio players have been discontinued. Any of the new audio boards with the VS1063 chip will not work with the Helix.
I'll also be including the USB-to-RS485 adapter with USB cable. This is used for setting the clock on the main controller.

Main, Show player (left) and the Ether-Node (right)
IMG_9072.jpg

Ether-Node
IMG_9073.jpg

One of the other Main boards, used as a secondary main board
IMG_9080.jpg

One of the Daughter boards with onboard power
IMG_9074.jpg

The other Daughter board with onboard power
IMG_9081.jpg
 
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One of the 32 Channel SSRs with onboard power, this one is for half the 64 strands of lights in my 12 ft tree.
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The second of the 32 Channel SSRs with onboard power.
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The third of the 32 Channel SSRs with onboard power.
IMG_9075.jpg

Main v. 3 (Top-Left is the one that corrupts the files on the SD cards. Top-Middle is a good v.3 Main. Top-Right is the v.2 Main (can be used as a secondary with the v.3s). Middle/Bottom-Left is the 32 Ch. SSR PCB. Middle is a Daughter board with onboard power. Middle/Bottom-Right is the 32 Ch. SSR that requires external 5V power. And Bottom-Middle is the Ether-Node PCB with EEPROM chip.
IMG_9085.jpg

Two Daughter boards that require external 5V power.
IMG_9086.jpg
 
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Hi Franco02,

I do. Interesting. I thought I removed the content from this post. I was getting close to pulling off the components from the boards, in case I’d use them in other projects. Wasn’t looking forward to that.
I’ll be happy to sell them to you though, if you could get some use out of them. :biggrin:
I have all the mentioned Helix boards with wireless add-on boards, MP3 breakout boards and the USB to serial board, which helps to set the time.
I do also have the EEPROM and Propeller CPU for the unbuilt Ether-Node PCB.
I should put it out there that it’s been a year since I’ve messed with these boards, so I’m not sure I’ll be much help, if you run into any trouble. My heads been consumed with a whole other mess and a manager position at work.

franco02 said:
hello, you still have Helix System For Sale?
Thanks
Click to expand...
 
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hello, thanks for answering, what would be the best offer with shipping included to West Palm Beach 33414 Florida. I also understand that you can not be of much help but it is ok, it would only help me with some scheme of how was your configuration and if you could make it work, also if you have some ready sequences would be very helpful.
Thanks.
 
Re: Complete Helix System For Sale

I could pass along that information, sure.

I think $240 with shipping is a good deal.
I paid $200 for half this system from someone who had moved to something else.
And the onboard components are still in good shape.
My lack of using it was not because it stopped working. I’m growing the RGB in my show and outgrew what was supported for the EtherNode boards I had could handle.

Would you plan on going all AC type lights (incandescent and/or regular LED) or including RGB?
If RGB, please know that I had to make all my sequences in one long sequence. Otherwise, the RGB lights would not reset after the first sequence with RGB.
You’ll also have to get a RGB controller like a SanDevices controller or Falcon controller.
The EtherNode is meant to interface with those. The EtherNode is basically your network adapter.


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Hello, the price is good for me. I plan to use only addressable RGB lights, I would really appreciate it if you could include all the information you have, some scheme of the connection chain, sequences, all with what you can help me to get started.
I could pay you through Paypal or any other method.
Thanks.
 
Re: Complete Helix System For Sale

Okay, now I feel like I do need to help you and stop you there.
I’d PM, but just in case anyone else that is new to this hobby could benefit and make the right choice...
I remember how it was when I started.
I don’t feel as though you know what you’re getting yourself into. If you are only going with RGB, this really isn’t the system to start with.
You would be much better off with a Raspberry Pi for the show player. Those are $35 (for the computer board and power supply can be found for $10) and you might need a USB Audio adapter. Because there have been ongoing issues with the onboard audio and I’m not sure if they’ve been worked out. Otherwise, you would need a micro SD card and USB stick. But’s you would still be better off for price.
This system is better suited for someone mainly wanting to control AC strings of lights.
I’ll PM you for some other info to consider.


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Re: Complete Helix System For Sale

Hello, I appreciate your honesty and I was looking at the information you sent me and now I see the differences between the different types of controllers, again thank you very much for your inconvenience.
 
Re: Complete Helix System For Sale

You are very welcome.
I want to make sure you get a good start and not a bad experience.


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