DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Bobcat DMX Servo Controller => Topic started by: mkozik1 on August 26, 2012,
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Am wondering if anyone has the new updated pics Night Owl provided a little while back? I just completed my servo board and have noticed many differences from the manual and what I have! I have powered it up but have no lights. When I plug in a servo, I get the initial power cycle but cannot control from Vixen. I have the jumper in place to power both the board and the servo from one supply just for test purposes.
One big question I have is the (+) for the LEDs, top or bottom hole? I assumed bottom because the track was going to the resistor (which is probably wrong!). I have programmed the PIC and I have attempted to set the start channel using the configuration tool.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Take care,
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You have the LED correct; top pin is ground (near the flat line on the silkscreen). Bottom pin is the anode, connecting to the resistor.
/mike
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So Mike, with all that I have done, where should I begin troubleshooting? I checked my solder joints, no stray solder causing a short. Based on one of RJ's videos, I removed all of the chips and still saw no power light.
Ugh >:D
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A few things to check:
Do you have the jumper on the left side of the board in the WIRED position?
Is the DMX cable plugged into the left (DMX IN) jack?
Using a meter, check for 3.3v between pins 2 (positive) and 3 (ground) if the programming header? Pin 1 is the left one, closest to the PIC.
I will have to check the code, but I think the LEDs are error (red) and data (green)
/mike
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A few things to check:
Do you have the jumper on the left side of the board in the WIRED position?
Is the DMX cable plugged into the left (DMX IN) jack?
Using a meter, check for 3.3v between pins 2 (positive) and 3 (ground) if the programming header? Pin 1 is the left one, closest to the PIC.
I will have to check the code, but I think the LEDs are error (red) and data (green)
/mike
Thanks Mike, I have a few of the answers, but am traveling right now and will need to obtain the other when I get back. I know the jumper is on wired and the cable IS plugged into DMX In as stated on the PCB (I actually tried it in both just to make sure!!). I will have to check the voltage on the ICMP Header. I was able to program the PIC through this port does that matter or will all the voltage come from the programmer?
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A few things to check:
Do you have the jumper on the left side of the board in the WIRED position?
Is the DMX cable plugged into the left (DMX IN) jack?
Using a meter, check for 3.3v between pins 2 (positive) and 3 (ground) if the programming header? Pin 1 is the left one, closest to the PIC.
I will have to check the code, but I think the LEDs are error (red) and data (green)
/mike
Mike, I checked for 3.3v at the header and it is not there. I have voltage coming into the board and at the servo pins but not at the header.
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Following the schematic (it's in the WIKI), power comes in at the power connector, goes thru the single supply jumper, diode D1, and the LD1117 regulator. From there, the 3.3v is distributed around the board.
Using your meter, check the middle and right lead of the regulator. The middle (and metal tab) is the 3.3v output and the right lead (when looking at it with the leads down and the writing visible) should be your supply voltage less about 0.4V due to the diode.
If pin 3 shows no voltage, check the single supply jumper and D1 - if D1 is in backwards, it will block the power. You can jumper around D1 to check; it's job is to protect the board if you hook power up backwards.
If pin 3 shows voltage but pin 2 doesn't, it's either a bad regulator or 3.3v is shorted to ground somewhere on the board.
/mike
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OK - I have 3.3 on one pin and supply voltage on the other. I have 3.3v at the ICSP header on pins 1 and 2. I have reflashed the PIC, I have jumpers set to: Run, Wired, Terminate, and Single Supply. Supply in wired in at L+. I have supply voltage on pins 2 and 3 of the servo header. I checked for voltage on both sides of D1 and it is present. I have programmed the board using the Servo Config tool from the WIKI. I am connected into the left RJ45 which is DMX In. I am looping off of an LE to verify DMX out as they both have the same start channel. Nothing is happening on the Servo Board. No lights, the servo hiccups every so often when I run the program (just fade up and dn to get some sort of reaction) The servo works cause I tried it on an SSC-32 I already had.
What am I doing wrong???? All my other boards are working fine!!
Thanks in advance
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It sounds like some pictures may be required.
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It sounds like some pictures may be required.
Here you are - Thanks for looking!
** Also noted on this build is that the regulator that came with this build is a LD33CV rather than the LD1117 that is shown on the Mouser list and the schematic. Does that make a difference? I AM outputting 3.3v from that unit.
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Have one more question on this front - I have tried to reprogram the PIC and continue to get a fail on the verify. Cannot tell if it fail on the initial program cause I cannot expand the little window. Noticing that most other devices have a different firmware for the Pickit 2 and Pickit 3. Is that the case here as well and I am just not finding it in the WIKI? And of course, the question, can this PIC be flashed using a Picket 3?
Thanks,
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What do you mean different firmware for the Pickit 2 and Pickit 3? Each device has it's own firmware and it's the same regardless of the programmer being used. Any PIC that we use here can be flashed wih the Pickit 3 but you need to make sure that the Pickit 3 has been updated with the correct firmware and that you select the correct PIC from the dropdown list. The Pickit 2 was very good at identifying the chip it was connected to but the Pickit 3 isn't. I would also recomend using the flash utility program on the WIKI instead of MPLAB.
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So I guess it is just the check sums that are different then?
I AM using the utility from the WIKI and not MPLAB.
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That is correct. The two units seem to calculate the checksum differently. For a while, the Pickit 3 wasn't doing it at all.
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I noticed the WIKI does not show the jumper settings for the cradles for the Servo Controller. Do you happen to have those? Maybe I'll try to program the PIC off the controller? Any other ideas of why it is failing?
Thanks,
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I don't have that kit so I don't know what the settings are. Make sure that the Pickit 3 itself has the correct firmware. MPLAB can do that for you. Then make sure that you have the correct PIC selected from the drop down list. If you pick the wrong PIC, it will attempt to write to and read from the wrong locations which will of course fail. Also make sure that the Pickit 3 is plugged into the ICSP header correctly. As simple as it sounds, sometimes it gets plugged in wrong. You may also have it just read from a PIC and see what it does.
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I have checked each of those items. If the Pickit is placed on backwards it tells me there is no device detected. Attached is the screen that shows up. I have reinstalled the software, re-downloaded the firmware and tried multiple times with power applied and not applied to the board, each with the same results. I'm stuck !!
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Not sure if this will help but I was trying to program some pic's yesterday for another project and kept getting failed from memory errors so I shut down the PicKit3 program and unplugged the PicKit3 the plugged it back in and when i started the program I selected "/mclr" under the power selection and then it worked. Also if you have a adapter boards from J1sys thne try programming on the correct one of those, I have a Aether II that had a stubborn ISCP header and no matter how many times I re-soldered it it programming the chip on board wouldn't work.
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Not sure if this will help but I was trying to program some pic's yesterday for another project and kept getting failed from memory errors so I shut down the PicKit3 program and unplugged the PicKit3 the plugged it back in and when i started the program I selected "/mclr" under the power selection and then it worked. Also if you have a adapter boards from J1sys thne try programming on the correct one of those, I have a Aether II that had a stubborn ISCP header and no matter how many times I re-soldered it it programming the chip on board wouldn't work.
Jeff,
I would try this except I do not have the jumper settings for the servo controller, do you?
Thanks,
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If your talking about the J1sys boards settings I am attaching them, it is the ICSP28 adapter using the "L" jumpers.
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If you're using the J1Sys adapters, the doc for the jumper settings is here:
http://www.j1sys.com/pdfs/ICSPAdapters-v1.0.pdf (http://www.j1sys.com/pdfs/ICSPAdapters-v1.0.pdf)
-Mike
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If your talking about the J1sys boards settings I am attaching them, it is the ICSP28 adapter using the "L" jumpers.
I Love that document!! I could not find the servo in the WIKI chart but this tells you all of the specific chips. Guess if I had my head on straight I could have saved you all the trouble and looked over there myself!
Jeff - You win the BIG prize though!! The /mclr box needed to be selected in order for the chip to accept the programming. I tried it in the J1sys cradle and initially it continued to fail, I selected the /mclr and it took it like nobody's business!!! Now I can control my servos. Thank you soooo much!!
I have one last question and that is the behaviors of the LEDs on the board. Once the firmware was in properly and DMX connected, the green LED blinks. When I unplug, that goes away whereas all other boards it stays solid. Is this normal?? What is the red LED for?
Thanks again to all that have helped me through this one. Only 10 more to build!!