philetaylor

It's been a while since I updated this project. I have some quite functional updated software now for this which I will upload soon but with the imminent release of the STM32 core, I may not do much more with the PIC based version of the actual controller. There are a few reasons for this, mainly as the PIC16f88 will never be able to support a whole DMX universe and using IIC adds an extra level of complexity that makes certain features difficult. Thing like submasters and fixture configuration etc become very complicated.... I am currently in the process of writing an STM32 version which will use one of the USARTS for DMX rather than using a seperate PIC. The STM32 will easily support 'at least' one DMX universe and I don't foresee any performance problems as the DMX sending can be acomplished in its own thread. I should be able to add RDM support as well... Cheers Phil

Mmmm sounds that way to me :(

Hi. There are various cheap dmx dimmers available but I haven't found a kit based one so making your own PCB will be required.... http://www.hoelscher-hi.de/hendrik/english/dimmer.htm http://www.geocities.com/ph_zone/Digi_Pack/Digi_Pack.html There is also the DiyLightAnimation website which is probably more relevant for you as it focuses on christmas lights, take a look at: http://diylightanimation.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page Cheers Phil

I have most of the DMX stuff working at the moment using a modified IIC_MIDI http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=midiboxdmx I am currently working on a MIOS32 based version. With the extra performance of the STM32 I plan to replace one of the 'on board' MIDI ports with my simple RS485 circuit rather than using IIC. Cheers Phil

If a PCB manufacture is planned then i'm in! I'm sick of my crappy Velleman handheld scope...... Phil

How many roads must a man walk down?

Unfortunately the government seems obsessed with making sure we are protected from ourselves and wishes to outlaw anything that may be harmful to us (especially if it is also fun!) I do a lot of discos/pa's and have fallen foul of noise limiters more times than I care to mention. Some are set with sensible limits and it becomes a sport to see how many lights I can get to turn on but others will cut the power if somebody farts loudly :) :) Also as I usually have a PC either for recording or with Traktor I suppose I will have to start lugging a UPS around as well :( If I want to smoke, drink or play loud music and I am with LIKE MINDED PEOPLE then who is the government to tell me that we can't just because it 'may' effect our health ??? (and yes I do all three on a regular basis :D ) Phil

At least i'm not alone :) I had exactly the same problem, it started over Christmas as random failures when compiling from within notepad++. As I was really 'in the zone' I couldn't be bothered to do any diagnosis at this point as compiling from within a Command Prompt worked fine. I assumed that something had gone screwy and a reboot would fix it (I was wrong!) I was then forced to do something as yesterday I couldn't even compile from within cmd.exe >:( I noticed that my path variable was pretty long (definately over 512 bytes) so I decided to 'prune' it as there were lots of things in there that I didn't need (old software etc). Once I had done this everything (including compiling from within Notepad++) worked. Unfortunately it was trial-and-error and luckilly for me it was the first thing I tried. I did try running the MinGW "sh" and looking at the environment and it appears to be the same as the windows one, nothing was truncated but as everything else seems to work OK, I would also suspect MinGW. Cheers Phil

It looks like the install of the Raisonance build environment for CORE32 maxed-out my path!!! I have deleted a few entries from path and all now looks OK. Cheers Phil

Hi. I have been compiling many many midibox apps but something must have happened today (not sure what) as everytime I try to compile any apps (whether my own or ones from ucapps.de) I get the following: C:\Midibox\dmx_controller>make rm -rf _output/* rm -rf _output rm -rf *.cod *.map *.lst rm -rf *.hex mkdir -p _output sh c:\midibox\mios_base\bin/mios-gpasm -c -p p18f452 -I./src -I c:\midibox\mios_ base/include/asm -I c:\midibox\mios_base/include/share -I c:\midibox\mios_base/m odules/app_lcd/dummy -I c:\midibox\mios_base/modules/iic_dmx -DDEBUG_MODE=0 -DS TACK_HEAD=0x37f -DSTACK_IRQ_HEAD=0x33f -I c:\midibox\mios_base/modules/mios_wrap per c:\midibox\mios_base/modules/mios_wrapper/mios_wrapper.asm -o _output/mios_ wrapper.o sh c:\midibox\mios_base\bin/mios-gpasm -c -p p18f452 -I./src -I c:\midibox\mios_ base/include/asm -I c:\midibox\mios_base/include/share -I c:\midibox\mios_base/m odules/app_lcd/dummy -I c:\midibox\mios_base/modules/iic_dmx -DDEBUG_MODE=0 c: \midibox\mios_base/modules/app_lcd/dummy/app_lcd.asm -o _output/app_lcd.o sh c:\midibox\mios_base\bin/mios-sdcc -c -mpic16 -p18f452 --fommit-frame-pointer --optimize-goto --optimize-cmp --disable-warning 85 --obanksel=2 -I./src -I c: \midibox\mios_base/include/c -I c:\midibox\mios_base/include/share -I c:\midibox \mios_base/modules/iic_dmx -DDEBUG_MODE=0 src/main.c -o _output/main.o c:/midibox/mios_base/bin/mios-gpasm modifies _output/main.asm, result in _output /main__mios-gpasm-tmp.asm 0 [main] sed 3844 open_stackdumpfile: Dumping stack trace to sed.exe.stack dump Error [125] Illegal condition (EOF encountered before END) make: *** [_output/main.o] Error 1 Can anybody shed some light on what I might have done to cause this and more importantly, what I can do to fix it ??? I have lots of disk space and have tried rebooting.... EDIT: sed is version 3.02, make is version 3.81, sdcc is version 2.8.0, gpasm 0.13.6 beta and gplink is version 0.13.6 alpha... Cheers Phil

I have never 'played' with the USB PIC module but I have just checked my P18, it is version 1.5 and the PIC 18F4550 is listed under supported PIC's so I would imagine that it 'should' work, hopefully somebody more knowledgable will be able to help, I don't have one of these PIC's to try.... Have you got any other PIC's to try in case you have a 'dud' ? It could also be a parallel port issue, is yours ECP/EPP, mine is a 'proper' port (not a USB dongle) and is ECP and works great ! Phil

Hi. If this is an MBHP_BURNER, Have you set the programming voltage as per http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp_burner.html ? Also (as I am nosy) I wondered what you are using the PIC18F4550 for as this isn't an officially supported PIC for midibox (it has no IIC) but I do notice that it has USB.... :) EDIT: Just checked the datasheet and sorry it does have IIC...... Cheers Phil

I found the following prices for this on another board, I quite like the thought of these instead of MFs for my DMX controller but as I was looking at maybe 32/48 of them this really puts the price up (bulk order anyone???). For a DMX controller though, the fact that you can only move as many faders as you have fingers could be an issue (I always have a pencil handy for this!) D460377 PGF7000 series Red LED (green or blue led also available) 1 off £35.00 each (46.9984 EUR / 69.0307 USD) 10 off £31.50 each (42.3017 EUR / 62.1285 USD) 100 off £24.50 each (32.9013 EUR / 48.3222 USD) Edit: as you can see from the exchange rate this was some months ago :)

I've not been around here for very long but even I know that it isn't a good idea to attack s1 in your second ever post. JSx If you intend to stay around here then I suggest you cool it with the attitude. s1 is one of the most helpful and supportive people I have seen on the many forums that I use so I would follow his advice and chill out

As the Core has a bridge rectifier, a 5v regulator and a big electrolytic cap, you can just feed it ac straight out of a transformer so pretty much any ac or dc psu with a nominal 9v output would be fine. The reason for linear rather than switch-mode is because the core might not draw enough current to make a switch mode psu start. I would have thought that a switch mode should be OK if you have an LCD with backlight but unless you have one lying around, linear should be cheaper anyway! Thanks Phil

You took the words right out of my mouth (I won't type the next line of the song ;) ) Personally I like the 'clean' sound of digital desks but you are best to see if you can borrow one and see what you think. As I say, I am still unconvinced reagarding higher sample rates but I would always record at 24 bit, Yamaha mixers internally work at 32bit and use a clever dithering algorythm if you want to master down to 16bit (some devices just cut the bottom bits.) I have to slightly correct my previous post, I mixed a gig on an analogue Midas console last year, what a great desk (and a frightening price, the roadcase cost more than my 01v!) Cheers Phil

Not exactly 10 times, the phonic costs about £600 in the UK, I bought a used 0x1 on ebay for £350 :) I often see used 01x96's for under a grand..... I am very prejudiced, I have used digital mixers for over 10 years and I can't think of a situation where I would rather use analogue. I do undersatand that some people prefer the fact that everything is immediately in front of them on an analogue desk but IMHO it doesn't take long to adapt. Phil

Well you asked for opinions :) Personally I don't really like these analogue desks with digital outputs, they are great for recording live sessions etc but (IMHO) not a lot else. Why not go the whole hog and get a 'proper' digital desk like a Yamaha 01v96. You can get an mLan (firewire) card for it and have 16 digital outputs AND inputs which means that once you have your music in the digital domain it stays there. It also has 16 analogue inputs and and motorized faders and is a proper 'pro' desk. More analogue inputs/outputs can be added via the built-in ADAT port (I use a behringer ADA8000 for this). Another option is the Yamaha 01x which has mLan built-in. It only has 8 analogue inputs (and 8 faders) but you can add another 8 by daisy-chaining a Yamaha i88x. I have all of the above and although they are 24bit/96khz capable, I have never used either at more than 48khz. I have still never met anyone that can repeatedly tell the difference between 44.1/96/192 in a true double-blind test and Ronny Morris (digital mastering engineer and the god of Yamaha mixers) is pretty vocal on that point and always records at the sample rate of the final media (44.1K for CD, 48K for video). There is a learning curve as digital desks are a lot more complicated but whenever I have to work on an analogue desk now I hate it! Take a look on ebay as there are always 01v96's and often 01x's on there. I understand that this is often a financial decision but as has already been mentioned on another thread, I don't have a wife so not only do I have plenty of time to play with my midibox projects, I also have spare cash to spend on toys :) :) With the shared bandwidth question, looking at the manual for the Phonic, it appears to be able to stream 18 seperate 24bit 96khz channels to the PC. I have checked as often manufacturers (including Yamaha) quote the number of channels at 44.1/48K and this channel count halves at 88.2/96 but this doesn't appear to be the case with the Phonic (as I said good for live recording as long as the analogue stage is OK!) Cheers Phil

Hi. Have you looked in the wiki? The answers to most of your questions are in there but can be a bit hidden. There is a re-arrangement project in progress but it isn't a 5 minute job! I would look in the User Projects section as there are various synth projects: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=user_projects For parts and kits, look in: http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=where_to_order_pre-made_printed_circuit_boards_pcbs_and_parts_kits I have bought from both Mike and SmashTV. Both are really easy to deal with but with my latest boards I got them from SmashTV 'cause I like silk-screened PCB's :) he is in the USA though so delivery costs can be a bit higher.... Cheers Phil

Unfortunately I don't (any more) but my customer always has a couple of machines in their showroom. I'm not sure they would have anybody that could spare the programming time though. I asked the question in case anybody had a good DIY way of neatly cutting slots??? Cheers Phil p.s. 50 posts that means i'm no longer a newbie!

To be honest when somebody spells it out like that, it makes absolute sense why it wasn't working but it took me ages last night to come to that conclusion! I thought as much, I have bought one of the cheap crappy dremel stands, as it seems to have about 1mm lateral movement I don't think it is quite 'precision' enough????

How did you guess :) The only disruption I get is my dog bugging me for food and walks! I did an apprenticeship in electronic engineering (in the late 80's) and almost all of the first year of that was spent in the machine shop. If I had access to a milling machine and a decent pillar drill i'm sure I could make quite a nice job of the panel but I may have to make do with a hand-held router and a dremel :( Mori Seiki who manufacturer cnc machine tools are a customer of mine so I might see if I can call in a favour?? Phil

Not exactly cheap but I have got 4 SMD PIC16F4685's that I ordered for my midibox builds. That will teach me to properly read the item description. :-[

I had some fun last night, I got a bankstick connected and created a simple chase function and it worked! As I still haven't quite got round to finishing a DIN module (I forgot to order enough resistors...) so I created a simple store routine for each state using midi notes. I actually have a simple lighting desk now, unfortunately it has cost me £100s so far and has less functionality than ones I can buy on ebay for £60 but it is a start and I now know a LOT more about DMX! I did have some problems with the bankstick, initially I was calling MIOS_BANKSTICK_ReadPage from within the Timer function and I kept getting some weird results. I then changed it so the Timer sets a flag and called MIOS_BANKSTICK_ReadPage from within the Tick function and it seems to be much more stable. I suppose this is the best way to guarantee that the IIC bus is free? Is the the recommended way to do it? I received a case today so I may look at trying to get everything mounted over the christmas period. I am still not sure how to cut the slots for the faders or the hole for the display though ??? I have also made some (administrative) advances with RDM support. Each RDM compliant device MUST have a unique 48bit ID and ESTA assign a Manufacturer ID for the first 16 bits. I have got the ID of 4D42h assigned to the midibox project (care of me) and I have checked with TK to make sure he is OK with me administering it. I am planning to create a website to allow people to request a block of addresses for their devices but this is a long way away :) Cheers Phil

I wouldn't say I know what I am talking about but I have worked in computers for about 18 years...... Back then you really had to know what you were talking about as you couldn't google the problem while the customer was on the 'phone :) It is worth trying a lower voltage as you shouldn't damage the fan. Phil