Lynx USB Dongle Assembled!

[Steve Gase]

thanks for the explanation.

[Mimir]

That explanation is perfect. For me the reason I started messing with them is because you can buy the development system at radio Shack for $40. Easy to load the programs, a whole bunch of example code and libraries freely available, etc.

John

[Mimir]

I have vixen controlling my G35 RGB lights!

[chrisatpsu]

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[NavyGator]

I already have the addiction.  I have been playing with an arduino and some GE35 lights I got on sale a Lowes after Christmas.  I found out that my brother in Texas and his best friend have been doing this for a long time. 

The manual is fantastic.  Very easy to follow and the pictures really help.  The only part that you might look at is that when I printed the manual out, the pictures and the directions were not always on the same page, so I had to flip back and fourth some.

I added a Word document to the assembly manual that can be downloaded and has a better format to use if printed out. Thanks for the feedback.

Rich

[mkozik1]

I'm by no means an arduino expert, but have built a couple and used them in projects.  In short, Arduinos will do nothing that the PICs can't do (from what I can tell as a noobie) for the dmx/lighting thing.  Arduino is an open source series of boards based upon an Amtel ATseries chip.  They have standards for the pinouts with set spacing so that you can plug daughter cards (called shields) onto them.  Otherwise, they are simply a micro controller.  Their popularity seems to come from the open hardware specs, the ease of customizing the controller by stacking shields on top, a robust open source library for programming, and a relatively inexpensive prototyping environment.

So Randy,

One of the things that I am in need of is the ability to trigger a form C relay to trigger certain items mostly for my Halloween setup.  You mention "for the dmx/lighting thing" so you can configure this board to work in a universe then?  So I can trigger this along with the other items I have in my LOR sequence?

[Mimir]

I'm by no means an arduino expert, but have built a couple and used them in projects.  In short, Arduinos will do nothing that the PICs can't do (from what I can tell as a noobie) for the dmx/lighting thing.  Arduino is an open source series of boards based upon an Amtel ATseries chip.  They have standards for the pinouts with set spacing so that you can plug daughter cards (called shields) onto them.  Otherwise, they are simply a micro controller.  Their popularity seems to come from the open hardware specs, the ease of customizing the controller by stacking shields on top, a robust open source library for programming, and a relatively inexpensive prototyping environment.

So Randy,

One of the things that I am in need of is the ability to trigger a form C relay to trigger certain items mostly for my Halloween setup.  You mention "for the dmx/lighting thing" so you can configure this board to work in a universe then?  So I can trigger this along with the other items I have in my LOR sequence?

I have my arduino currently programmed to listen to DMX and is controlling 216 channels on my LED's.  So yes, you can program them to be DMX.  The code for the DMX part is available on the web.  I did have to add a 485 chip to convert the rs-485 DMX signal to digital serial input, but this is not hard.

The main reason I went with this instead of a PIC is that I was able to go to my local Radio Shack and buy one. I am still looking for an equivalent PIC setup that doesn't cost a bunch.

[RJ]

Lets keep the thread on topic.

RJ

[mkozik1]

Sorry RJ 

Thanks Mimir - I'll PM you as I am very interested in this!