New to Renard 64 Help please

[dgreen]

Hey all,
First of all, thanks to everyone here for all the information you have posted.
It allowed me to automate my Christmas lighting this year which the kids enjoyed exponentially.
Also, it allowed me to meet many of my neighbors and give us something to talk about.
Now, on to my problems.
I have no background in electronics whatsoever. I am a systems administrator by trade so I am pretty familiar with computers and the protocols in which they speak. However, I have no idea what a 10k resistor is (well that I have learned but I would not know when to use it if it were not for you).
Last year I built and ran a 595 with 48 channels (ran out of time) and had no real problems. I did not understand all of what I was doing but I ordered a PCB, and parts off of the BOM, built a cable to go from my pc to the 595, and your instructions told me what to do (I had to learn to solder but I practiced on an old motherboard and picked it up pretty fast).
This year is a little different; I have decided to move to a Renard 64. Well, I have decided to go with three Renard 64’s because we are expanding.
I followed the same steps as I did last year. I ordered the parts, I put it together, but now I am a little lost.
First of all, there are several options I am not sure about.
1. I have decided (for no real reason) to go with the option where I plug the pc into a ren-t board (I do not have yet if anyone has some to sell) then plug the ren-t into the Renard 64. I have no idea about power.
2. Please look at J17 on my Renard. Is that plug inserted correctly? Or is it backwards? I tried to follow your instructions but I was not sure here.
3. Please look at resistor banks?? Yellow lines. Do they have to be installed in a specific order? I installed them all the same way except for one (testing)
4. I need a wiring schematic for both wires (one to the Ren-t one to the Renard 64) I can build them there are just a few to choose from. I am not sure on a lot of the parts of they are for the 64, 24, etc.
5. How do I power the unit? On the 595 I just powered through the Cat5 cable from the pc Vixen ran from). I have several computer power supplies if I need one standalone, that is no problem.
I do realize all of this info is probably in the readme or the wiki but I am confused on it. I need to be sure the parts I am using are for the 64 board and I am using them correctly.
There are probably more questions but these are keeping me from moving foreward.
Thanks for any help you can give.

[P. Short]

1) You need to find a source of +5V, and connect it (and the corresponding ground) into the connector that is installed in place of U1. For now, the best source is probably a spare disk drive power connector from inside the PC (assuming that it is not a laptop) or else use a spare PC power supply.

2) You probably won't be using that connector, so don't worry about it.

3) In that photo pin 1 of the resistor SIPs (which usually has a black dot next pin 1) should be down.

4) All of the cables (PC to Ren-T, Ren-T to Ren64, Ren64 to next Ren64) have straight-through connections (no missing wires, no pin swapping, etc).

5) See item 1.

--

Phil

[shocker]

plus you are missing a jumper on the picture near the rj45

[dgreen]

Thanks for the reply guys,
That gets me closer.
Shocker, where is the missing jumper?
you said next to the RJ45. Do you mean the out rj45, in rj45, or one of the 16 others.
If i were to guess, i would say you mean to place a jumper in the circle where it looks like a fuse was ment to go.

Thanks for any help understanding.

[ErnieHorning]

...where is the missing jumper?
If i were to guess, i would say you mean to place a jumper in the circle where it looks like a fuse was ment to go.

Don't put a jumper in the circle, that would be a bad thing. Right between the circle, which is actually C3, and the OUT connecter, you'll see three pins. Even though its hard to read, this is J2; where the jumper goes.

The circle is C1. I can't tell for sure, but I think you put the capacitor in place of U1 instead of C3. Which means, when you move th capacitor, you'll still need U1. Your also missing D1.

[Wayne J]

WOW... it's Ernie! :) How ya been? Haven't seen you around, glad to see you back! ;)

[ppohlman]

Sorry about resurrecting this old thread, but I had a similar question.


2) You probably won't be using that connector, so don't worry about it.

What is this connector (J17) used for, and why is it not important?
Would it be alright if I don't even solder it on?


plus you are missing a jumper on the picture near the rj45
Also, which pins of J2 do you put the jumper on?

Thanks.

[Elmo2resc]

I would say most people and myself use the Ren-T to bring zero crossing in and out of J3 and J4. This post references the older version of the Ren 64. I don't use J17 and didn't need to install it. I built my board using ZC Alternative 1 with all the leds and PWM firmware. J2 is jumpered with the 2 upper pins or the 2 pins near the edge of the board. I hope this helps. Jerome

[WWNF911]

Sorry about resurrecting this old thread, but I had a similar question.



What is this connector (J17) used for, and why is it not important?
Would it be alright if I don't even solder it on?


Also, which pins of J2 do you put the jumper on?

Thanks.

Which Ren 64 are you building? XB or XC
If its XB, I would highly recommend taking a look at Kevins website (KMC123)

[ppohlman]

I am building the XB version using the Alternative 1 and bringing in the ZC from a Ren-T.
I'll have to look at Kevin's website. There isn't much on the wiki about the construction of the Ren64 XB.

Thanks for the quick response Jerome & WWNF911.

[P. Short]

J17 was originally intended for use in programming the PICs on the board without removing them. Nobody is doing this that I'm aware of, so you can leave J17 off altogether if you want.

[ppohlman]

That makes sense. Is it still possible to program the PICs using that method? Is it even worth doing it that way?
I'm guessing it's just as easy to program them on the programmer and swap them over.

Thanks Phil.