After considering the previous design for an AlienFX static lighting board, I have come up with a new design that simplifies the layout and the programming of the board. The previous design used pin headers and jumpers and required resistors on the board. This design uses socket headers and is programmed by inserting resistors and wires.
Programming
As you can see in the render to the right, female socket headers allow the board to be programmed by inserting resistors or wires to connect either +5V, or GND to any of the pins of the LED case cables.
Note also that the HD Active and PWR ON signals are routed to headers to allow them to be bridged to LEDs. In the rendering above, the green and blue wires are jumpers for these signals to the LED cable for the Front of the case.
This design has the advantage that it can’t be Wrong. All the programming of the board is discovered after the board is constructed and the resistor values and the connections required are all made up with jumper wires. I’m assuming that the resistors should be about 1K ohms since the 5v would provide 50ma to the LED. If the LEDs require more or less current, the resistors can easily be replaced.
Note that the only female headers available are 32 circuit rather than the 34 circuit type that are the IDC standard [floppy cable apparently], so a 4pin header is added at the end to program the last 2 pins of each cable. If at board layout time, a 34 circuit header is available, then the layout is slightly simpler.
Board Views
Here are some views of the board as currently envisioned.
You can follow my progress here on the blog. Just search for AlienFX in the blog search box.
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