New to group - recommended open hardware

[Tim G]

Greetings - I was looking for a USB-DMX interface, and found the review by Simon J Newton on Amazon, giving the Velleman interface "1.0 out of 5 stars  Avoid at all costs."

His response mentioned he was a developer for Open Lighting, which brought me here. On the home page I found:
"Introducing the Number1; Open Source DMX512 / RDM hardware."

That sounded perfect.

However, as I looked for details, this does not seem to be available, and I was unable to find schematics or other design material for it.

The FAQ has a crossed-out link to Stellarscapes.

What is the currently recommended hardware for inexpensive/DIY USB-DMX interfaces? (Pi Hat or standalone)

[Arjan van Vught]

Op zondag 4 oktober 2020 om 18:40:50 UTC+2 schreef tim....@gmail.com:

https://github.com/victor-lallemand/OPI-zero-2-out-dmx

 

[Peter Newman]

Hi Tim,

In terms of other hardware have you seen the FAQ here:

https://www.openlighting.org/ola/get-help/ola-faq/#What_are_the_recommended_USB_Device_to_use_with_OLA

I've also clarified the OLE state:
https://www.openlighting.org/ole/faq/#Where_can_I_buy_hardware

Personally I think the OLE still has interesting options, but be aware of what's been implemented in the sofware currently:

https://www.openlighting.org/ole/number1/

E.g. https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ja-rule/issues/99

It sort of depends what you want in terms of input/output, port count, RDM, computer interface method, software support etc.

[Tim G]

@Peter, thank you for the quick reply.

First off, my current goal is for simple control of LED fixtures for architectural lighting. Maybe in the future if/when I have music gigs again, I might use this for stage lighting. Just simple preset or live-fader color washes, no moving heads or fast patterns.  But I definitely want reliable smooth operation without flicker or glitches.

I was looking for USB-DMX so I'd have flexibility to use Raspberry Pi or Windows as the host. I've also seen some Android-based DMX software (which would be nice) but it seems to require a proprietary DMX interface

Thanks for the updated FAQ - here's what I conclude:

• Anyma uDMX, no opto-isolation     approx $250 USD
• DMX-TRI                                        approx $175 USD
• Entec DMX USB Pro                       approx $175 USD
• Entec DMX USB Pro  mk2               approx $220 USD

• ultraDMX Micro                                approx $70 USD

Alternatively, I could get boards fabricated, order parts, and build one of these options:

• As @Arjan suggested, the OPI-zero-2-out-dmx on Github.  This appears to be a UART interface rather than USB
  
• The JaRule Number1.
• The uDMX from http://www.illutzminator.de
  

From a time/effort/practicality perspective, the ultraDMX Micro seems like the best option.  Are there any downsides I should be aware of?

Thanks!

[Tim G]

@Peter,

I see why I missed the Number1 hardware - I looked at the directory layout in README.md rather than the actual file structure.  I started to do a pull request to fix the structure diagram, but got into an odd state. I'm not an expert with github, so I'll just post the update directory structure here so you can edit the README.md.   I notice there is no PC board design in the hardware/number1 directory although the photo shows a PCB has been completed.  Are those files available somewhere else? Even the schematic is in an unknown format SchDoc (Altium maybe?)

├── Bootloader  # The DFU bootloader
│   └── firmware
│       ├── Bootloader.X  # Bootloader MPLAB X project
│       ├── src  # Bootloader source code
├── boardcfg     # Software configuration for each board
├── common  # Common code shared between the bootloader and application.
├── firmware  # The main DMX/RDM application
│   ├── ja-rule.X
│   └── src
├── hardware/number1       # schematic and BOM board layout for JaRule/Number1
├── linker       # linker scripts for the bootloader & application
├── tests        # Unit tests
│   ├── harmony  # The mock Harmony modules
│   ├── include  # Test headers
│   ├── mocks    # Module mocks.
│   ├── sim      # A simple PIC32 simulator
│   └── tests    # The unittests
├── tools        # tools to upgrade the firmware on the device.
└── user_manual  # The user manual

[Arjan van Vught]

Op 4 okt. 2020, om 23:02 heeft Tim G <tim....@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:

Alternatively, I could get boards fabricated, order parts, and build one of these options:

• As @Arjan suggested, the OPI-zero-2-out-dmx on Github.  This appears to be a UART interface rather than USB
  

The UART’s are the DMX connections. Instead of USB, these open source hardware boards are designed for the use with Art-Net 4 or sACN E1.31 firmware. 

The Art-Net 4 or sACN E1.31 firmware is also open source.

- Arjan

http://www.orangepi-dmx.org

[E.S. Rosenberg]

Slightly OT question - I was recently wondering what nice equipment I can get for toying around at home.

On the one hand I could take the easy way and buy really cheap fixtures on AliExpress but I also feel that if I can support real manufacturers instead of knock-offs that would be nice.

Though I am absolutely not looking to break the bank, cheap is high on the list of demands.

Op ma 5 okt. 2020 om 09:22 schreef Arjan van Vught <arjan.v...@gmail.com>:

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[Glenn Meader]

Cheap knockoff fixtures can work fine for home use. 

Not so much for rugged professional touring or permanent installation use where reliability and performance are key. <grin>

One thing that may be frustrating about no-name fixtures is that the documentation is often poor and so developing fixture profiles is hard work. 

(and there are never existing profiles for fixtures by a no-name manufacturer)

I have found that AmericanDJ makes relatively inexpensive fixtures that work OK and I have had good experiences with their customer support. (not as cheap as AliExpress.though)

Here's a relevant article:

https://www.techietalk.co.uk/articles/moving-lights-budget/

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-lighting/CAHxFV_vnrnfg0WCgMK9h3DGYBrXp882Vywr-GbrCBPnRaROZGw%40mail.gmail.com.

[E.S. Rosenberg]

Yeah I know the limitations of the cheap knock offs it's more the moral side of it, do I want my money to go to a manufacturer who makes knock offs and thus harms businesses I value, even if the specific miniature movers etc. that I'm just getting for a home lab are not even made by those big brands.

Op ma 5 okt. 2020 om 21:28 schreef Glenn Meader <gme...@gmail.com>:

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[Peter Newman]

Hi Tim,

Yes I'd agree with that assessment.

Unlike the other interfaces on your list, the Anyma uDMX and DMX-TRI don't use the practically defacto Enttec Pro protocol, so will only work with software that specifically supports them, the other USB dongles have a broader range of support. The JaRule would have this limitation too.

If you want Windows, the JaRule still needs work:

https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ja-rule/issues/250

The only obvious issues I can see with the ultraDMX Micro is that it's not isolated and it's an XLR3, so you'll probably need adaptors.

[Peter Newman]

Good spot, I've fixed this (I forgot you'd done it so I've started from scratch):

https://github.com/OpenLightingProject/ja-rule/pull/288

Although need to sort our CI first...

The schematic is indeed Altium, you can see it here:

https://www.altium.com/viewer/

I can't remember the specifics sorry, I think possibly the schematic was open sourced but not the board layout, which Stellascapes did. I'd imagine an auto-layout would do a pretty decent job of one nowadays.