MR16/LED Controller

Well with the need to controller individual LED’s like what was requested for the Train LED controller I thought I might as well make one that would handle the MR16 led spotlights.

This little unit is designed to allow me to control MR16 spotlights so I can flood the house in different colors. This means dimming the MR16’s. The Lynx controller does this very well but has alot of parts not required to just do 12 volt MR16’s

So I came up with a controller to do both and since it uses the Lynx control section it can use the special MR16 firmware I created for the Lynx to be a very good MR16 controller at a very good price. It provides 16 channels of control and should handle 10 - 15 MR16 per channel.

You plug a 12 Volt DC supply in and your DMX input and thats it. All connections are done with 1/4 spade connectors to make it easy to wire.

You can jumper the transistors if you only need 100ma or less drive or install them if you want more like to run MR16’s.

I expect to be lighting up the show this year using one myself. The boards are ordered and I am waiting for them to arrive to do some testing. I expect us to be able to coop these within the month.

 RJ

RJ,

Why in the world would you create another SSR when we have so many good designs already?

Well they are a few good reasons I felt like creating a new SSR. First while the current designs are good they do not really have any good enclosures that they fit into well. They require you to engineer them into something and while some folks are really good at making them nice and even weather resistant, it is work and didn’t have the clean look I was looking for.

So the first thing is I started with the case. With help from others I was put on to a nice yet very small case. This case has rubber seals for the cables to exit through. It is hinged top for access and can be locked. It cost about $3.50 in quanitity and $4 in low quanitity. I like the neat weather tight setup I am going to desolder all the parts off of my SSR’s and use them on these for my Freestyle this year.

But the real reason I did it was so that I could design a SSR that was the same parts and board cost as the standard ones, but gave the user the ability to add some extra parts for a few dollars more at anytime to make it a complete 4 channel DMX controller with internal SSR. So it is a SSR + (4). This is what I wanted for my mini trees. I will put 16 of these out, one under each mini tree and I will have the four channels to run the colors on the tree. These are small enough to hide under a mini tree easy and then I can use one cable daisied between all my mini trees (DMX) and not have to run 16 cables out to the mini trees at the extreme edge of the yard.

The unit is complete with its own tiny power supply and so like the other Lynx items you just plug it into power and plug your DMX feed into it.  I think this adds another nice device to our family of holiday light control.

RJ 

Here you go, the final product of a lot of work but I think the outcome was worth it. This is the freestyle as it builds from the current coop that is under way. The Coop includes the PCB , Parts and Case. This make it’s easy for everyone to have good results.

The Freestyle is a 128 channel DMX controller that works with Standard DIY SSR’s. It is complete and does not require any additional external parts to function.  Just plug it in and hook up your DMX feed to have control over up to 32 SSR’s and 128 channels.

Of course you do not have to use all 128 channels but it is nice to have them there when you decide to expand you show. Just build a few more SSR’s and plug them in.

The cost is very aggressive. The current Coop that Bill at www.Diylightanimation.com is running is costing under $76  and even includes the pic chip programmed for you. This makes the per channel cost including even the case cost unbelievable cheap.  

I am excited to get this done for those that asked for it and can not wait to see them in use this season. I know I will be running one to replace my two grinche’s and DMX converter. I never intended to use it when I designed it for everyone but after getting it built it is just too nice not put to work.

I think you will agree that the 180 degree about face to redesign the newer unit was worth the wait.

RJ