dongle testing?

[brittio]

*********NEWBIE ALERT*********

-I've built my dongle and everything looks good (except for the red LED that I installed backwards then melted when taking it out...) 
-I've programmed my PIC and it seems to have worked just fine.
-When I plug in the USB cable my green LED lights.

How do I test without having built anything (I have 4 LEs ordered in the coop) to plug into it?

[smartcontrols]

It sounds like you are probably in good shape. There is not a lot of testing you can do without something that understands DMX plugged into it.

One additional test I might suggest is to run a small sequence in vixen to just turn on and off a few channels. This will force vixen to communicate with the new dongle.  That should tell you that your com ports are all set up correctly, your USB cable is good, and vixen can talk to the USB module on the dongle.

If you are going to have any issues with the dongle setup, this would most likely find them.

And one more thing CONGRATULATIONS on your build.

-Jeff

[dmaccole]

(except for the red LED that I installed backwards then melted when taking it out...) 

A single red diffused LED is one the last things Radio Shack is good for anymore. Yeah, they're a buck-fifty, but much cheaper than a single part shipped from Mouser and better than a long-term wait until your next Mouser order (and there's *always* another Mouser order).

\dmc

PS: I actually buy the 20-assorted pack for $3, which makes the pain less horrific, and then delete the LEDs from Mouser BOMs ... You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login ... YMMV.

[brittio]

One additional test I might suggest is to run a small sequence in vixen to just turn on and off a few channels. This will force vixen to communicate with the new dongle.  That should tell you that your com ports are all set up correctly, your USB cable is good, and vixen can talk to the USB module on the dongle.

Hooked the dongle up and tested with Vixen to the best of my abilities (which isn't much) and didn't get any errors.  So...  I think I'm good, but we'll know more once I get a LE built. Thanks.

A single red diffused LED is one the last things Radio Shack is good for anymore.

I was planning on stopping by Radio Shack to check.  Glad I'm thinking right.  Thanks.