Feature Wish List

[TexasStingray]

Please post any wishes here.

[TexasStingray]

I received one to have the PCB's made with the resistor value on the board instead of the resistor number.

[Ron]

Did you look at a header option for the SD card?  I know it wouldn't lay flat, just a thought.

[TexasStingray]

I originally built the prototype with a header & bought 100 of them off ebay as I was not sure which one it was on mouser (female 16 pin 2 rows of , but after thinking about it I felt that it would make it not as secure with the sd card going in and out and may cause more problems. I know it would make it easy to replace the SD Card module should you need to.

What does everyone else think?

[Ron]

I'm torn on the idea of a header.  I like the modularity, but I could see how it might make it weaker or more prone to a bad connection.  It is nice how the SD card fits against the board the way you have it now.

I'm not sure what would be better.

[wwwgator]

I'm for leaving it as is. The more rigid the card reader the better.

minor suggestions, label the values on the pcb silk screen- just easier to put together.
 Good call on the bent pin IC sockets.....always hated taping them to the board till I can get a pad soldered.
Like I stated earlier, my son (10) wanted to help dad so I had him build the kit.



 

[wjgiles50]

Big plus on the sockets.  For the little difference in cost they are great.  I think the card reader is fine as is.  I tried both a 4GB and 16GB card with no problems.

Probably the biggest issue I see is putting this thing in a case.  I have several blank cases for the USB Dongle which the card fits in. Because the card reader is on one end and the connections are on the other it will be difficult.  This is over the top I know but consider changing the board so that all of the sticky outy things are all on the same side.  Consider this from a weather proof condition.  With all on one side you can mount it with the open holes pointing down.  Again I may be way off base but I think it is worth mentioning. 

[wjgiles50]

I would like to see you add some "reserve words" to the Show file.  I assume that you would want to make them 8.3 also some I will just wing the names as a way to explain.

DELAYXXX.XXX - This should be followed by a time in minutes or could be part of the file name (DELAY010.XXX = wait 10 minutes) Could be used between sequences or at the end before repeating the show.

STOPXXX.XXX - This would make the device stop.  Useful if you want to have the device run a sequence only once.  Think about putting a pushbutton on the reset so someone can walk up and push the button, the sequence runs, and then stops until another push of the button.  I think that this is a big one.

REPEATXX.XXX - Run the sequences XX times and stop.

Seems like I am forgetting one but hope that sparks some input.

[sabie]

how about going with a micro sd card slot
if mounted 90 degrees from existing would require no hole in case

[TexasStingray]

Micro SD Card Module on eBay with "Buy Now" is around $5 and the one we have is $1.64.

[sabie]

to save on the final build i would drop the power led & its associated dropping resistor
the status led is a good enough indication of power
just a suggestion

[TexasStingray]

What about making the red power an indicator when the show has been stopped for some reason (--STOP-- in SHOW) and move it up next to the status.

[sabie]

that would probably be more usefull than a power led

[wjgiles50]

I think anything that can be removed to make the board smaller and cheaper is a good thing.  Right now the smallest package you could use is a SSR4/DMX and the Panther.  Another very good choice is the Ray/Holiday Coro 27 channel DC controller.  With that you can power 9 RGB channels.  That is a lot of dumb strings.

[TexasStingray]

FYI, I am looking into the possibilities of integrating the Conductor Trigger Board into the Panther. If I can this would give you 4 trigger pins if you do not have the CTB and 15 if you did.