RenTester - any interest?
- Thread starter ctmal
- Start date
I posted the board files in this post:http://doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?39752-RenTester-Files&highlight=rentester.
I don't know if anyone ever got any boards made or if any groups got together to go in on the boards. I never got any additional boards made(things got too busy around here).
I don't know if anyone ever got any boards made or if any groups got together to go in on the boards. I never got any additional boards made(things got too busy around here).
T.D.Sutton
New member
Hi Chris,
I see the thread has been resurrected
is there perchance a schematic of the circuit in existance, PDF, Jpg, etc ?? so I could happily build a one off
Cheers,
Terry
I see the thread has been resurrected
is there perchance a schematic of the circuit in existance, PDF, Jpg, etc ?? so I could happily build a one off Cheers,
Terry
Hi Chris,
I see the thread has been resurrected
Cheers,
Terry
Everything is in the download. It was created in Kicad(which is free) so you should be able to load it up and get whatever you need from it. Let me know if you have any problems.
If you do get a 1825 it will work in an ss8. I actually did this last year for a pumpkin patch at my Mom's house. I changed the output sequence, put in a 1825 and connected the cat5 out directly to the cat5 in. Voila...a self running controller to make the pumpkins shimmer.
T.D.Sutton
New member
Hi Chris,
Many thanks, Success after "jumping through a few hoops" in an "unfamiliar" program, that circuit certainly looks do-able on my "favourite" stripboard. I will now figure out wether to go ahead immediately or get through my season prep first :-( time is running out!!
On a cursory glance that Cad program looks very nice - more investigation of it to follow
Cheers,
Terry
For the output sequence, do you have any instructions on how to modify it an what the different values are used for?
Here's what I use. It's only a rough plugin but it does what I need it to do.
Extract the .dll file and put it in your output plugins folder. Create a new sequence of 8 channels and set the RenTester as the output plugin for those channels. You'll want to keep the sequence pretty short. I'd start with around 10-15 seconds. Do whatever sequencing you want to do and when you're finished run the sequence. When it's done you'll be presented with a box. Copy the contents to the clipboard. This is the data table that will go at the end of the .asm file.
Open the asm file in MPLAB and scroll to the bottom. Replace the current table(starts with dt) with the contents of the clipboard. Save, compile, etc.
Please note that the way the Rentester works is it repeats each set of 8 channel values multiple times depending on the count settings in the code. If you have any questions let me know.
Hi Chris,
Many thanks, Success after "jumping through a few hoops" in an "unfamiliar" program, that circuit certainly looks do-able on my "favourite" stripboard. I will now figure out wether to go ahead immediately or get through my season prep first :-( time is running out!!
On a cursory glance that Cad program looks very nice - more investigation of it to follow
Cheers,
Terry
Whether to make it now or wait....all I can tell you is each year I find I use it more and more. Turns out it's not only useful for testing the controllers, it's also extremely useful for troubleshooting. I've even had another member here stop by the house with a non working board when we were hanging lights. A few minutes and the RenTester I had could tell exactly what was wrong. It was pretty cool.
What version of Vixen (I assumed 2.1.1) I get the box opening but after a couple of minutes of hourglassing, it just closes. I have even tried a basic 1 second chase.
I'm just curious if a Rentester ever officially became available. I don't remember the details but I remember that I more or less stopped working on it because others were putting out a similar board.
The only reason I ask is because I still use this every year to work out kinks and honestly, I consider it as must have tool in the toolbox. I'm actually about to build a couple more(yes, I use it enough that I can use more) and I'm thinking on 3d printing the case. Nothing in the works at this point but I don't think it will be too much work to make the design.
The only reason I ask is because I still use this every year to work out kinks and honestly, I consider it as must have tool in the toolbox. I'm actually about to build a couple more(yes, I use it enough that I can use more) and I'm thinking on 3d printing the case. Nothing in the works at this point but I don't think it will be too much work to make the design.
dirknerkle
Supporting Member
Is this what you're looking for??? The Renard Plus guys may have a couple of these leftover, I dunno....
I'm not sure. I didn't see any documentation. I thought there was a board on this site that was in the making.
Wayne and I were working on a similar device back in more or less the same time frame. It was all SMD (except the RJ45 connectors), mostly to gain experience in working with SMD. For some reason (which I've forgotten), it was set aside and never pushed through to the production phase.
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