Lynx

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The Lynx Controller

The Lynx is a DIY dimming controller which uses the DMX protocol. It was designed with the following goals

  1. Be DMX to be compatible with other lighting equipment as well as be assured that it could run up to 512 channels at low event times on one port (DMX universe).
  2. Be extremely simple for even the most novice of DIY’ers to build with step by step assembly instructions with pictures and no variations for them to have to understand. You just need basic soldering skills and I even point you to lessons on this in the manual
  3. Be a coop kit that included everything down to the enclosure so we could be sure you had the correct parts and everything fit. This there would be no variations in it that might cause it to not work as expected while making it easy for the community to support as we would know it was built the same as ours.
  4. To look professional so it had the apperance that you could have purchased it from a commercial source even though you built it yourself therefore adding to your pride.

Even though it is different than the coop’s you normally see run, as it is a kit it works the same, there is no profit made from it. We order and share the same cost therefore the more we order the cheaper it costs.

What is the Lynx?

  • The Lynx is a DMX dimmer that just works a little different than a standard PIC dimmer.
  • It does not require a zero cross signal as it does not require syncronisation to the AC frequency.
  • In fact it doesn’t actually use AC at all it uses pulsing DC to power the lights.
  • It also does not use triacs it uses mosfets to switch the load.
  • It does not require a separate power supply you just plug it in like a LOR or AL light controller. The power supply is on board and provides all the power needed to run the unit.
  • It does not require external solid state relays as they are onboard.
  • The high voltage is isolated from the digital side of the board so there is very low risk of anything getting into the DMX feed and damaging any digital equipment like your computer.
  • Another difference is that the PIC chip doesn’t control the dimming, it simple gets the information from the DMX stream and instructs the hardware what level of dimming to provide on which channel.
  • Dmx is a very simple and reliable protocol that has been in use for many years for lighting control.
  • To prevent the builder from needing a PIC programmer and needing to understand it the PIC comes programmed and ready to be installed.
  • Since the starting address needs to be set by the user, the Lynx units starting address can be programmed via Vixen by setting one jumper and sending the address from Vixen then moving the jumper to the operate position. This address can be changed as often as you like and will stay even with power off until you change it.
  • In the case of the dmx stream stopping for any reason the system is programmed to set all channels to off after a quarter of a second so any computer or dongle failure will not leave all your lights on.

The Lynx Manual, read this for information on construction details.

Forum

[DLA Lynx Forum]


Which pins to use on the Enttec Pro Dongle


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