Parallel port

[Daemon]

Hi all

I just acquired a 64 channel grinch however also realised I have a laptop with only usb connections.

I see some posts saying that a usb to parallel port(db25) adapter will not work.

Would you recommend I bu a small second hand pc dedicated to the lights or would I be able to control them with a PCMCIA smart card parallel port adapter.

Or another option?

Thanks
Steve

[cbell]

Hello Daemon,

You could go with a REN-C/REN-T combo. This will basically convert your Grinch into a Renard. You would still need a serial port, but from what I have been reading, the USB to RS232 adapters do work with them. Seems like the adapters with the FTDI chipsets have the best luck. See the REN-C here (http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ren-C). wjohn on the forums usually has boards available. There aren't any REN-T boards available that I'm aware of, but from what I understand it is a pretty simple circuit to put together. There are plenty of threads that discuss the REN-T, but here is a link to a schematic in the wiki.
http://doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ren-T_Assembly_Instructions.

Another advantage to the REN-C/REN-T is that it adds dimming capability. The route I went was with RPM's Grinch DMX dimmer (http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=28743), which gives your Grinch both DMX and dimming capabilities, the downside being that you would need a DMX dongle, but they are available in USB. RPM is currently looking for interest of a version two of his Grinch DMX dimmer. http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6520

[awhaley]

Personally, I actually recommend getting an older desktop unit to dedicate to the lights... because:

1. it's useful to have a unit with parallel, serial, and usb ports to give you lots of options...

2. It's nice to NOT have your primary PC stuck in the garage for a month and a half at christmas time

and

3. If you ever blow something up REALLY good, it's not to have it not plugged into your primary laptop.


I just like having all the light stuff on one computer, and having the laptop on the other side of the table for frequent reference to schematics, this forum, etc....

That said, the Ren-C is a perfectly valid option for converting from serial to grinch, if you don't mind going usb to serial. I've never tried the smart card option... I'd crawl the stickys and wiki to see if they talk about that option?

Art
Art

[Wayne J]

For what it costs, and the time it takes, I would sell the Grinch and just go to a Renard. Much more simple setup and then you can use a USB to RS232 adapter.

[Daemon]

Thanks everyone

Parts and controllers being so expensive to come by here in New Zealand I think I will keep the Grinch and go with an old pc to control it.
Its my first board and the parts etc are not as easy to come by here for a renard and we have no mouser.
It was going to cost me about $250 US to populate 2 renard 16's.

[IdunBenhad]

For your information, I have two computers on-line right now. One is the "main" computer and the other is a laptop that controls my weather station.

I decided to go with a dedicated old computer for the lights. I'm a "noobie", too, and didn't want my computers tied up with the lights. (The power company loves me).

I managed to find a Pentium 4 motherboard with 6 PCI slots on Ebay. I bought it for $.99 and $15.00 shipping. On the off chance that the seller might have a power supply, I E:mailed him and sure enough, he had the power supply that came with the MB. So, for $24., I have a basis for a dedicated computer. I just happened to have 1 gb of the proper memory here and a few other PCI interface cards, so here we go.

You can probably find an old computer if you look around. One source might be a school who is upgrading. You never can tell.

Good Luck.

IdunBenhad

[bmcgeeny]

Hi all

I just acquired a 64 channel grinch however also realised I have a laptop with only usb connections.

I see some posts saying that a usb to parallel port(db25) adapter will not work.

Would you recommend I bu a small second hand pc dedicated to the lights or would I be able to control them with a PCMCIA smart card parallel port adapter.

Or another option?

Thanks
Steve

I would just go like this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PCI-IEEE-1284-Parallel-Printer-Port-I-O-Card-ECP-EPP-SP_W0QQitemZ220360985398QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Defa ultDomain_0?hash=item220360985398&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

If all you want to run is one Grinch. Onc PCI slot is all you need. It will probably cost you 5 times the cost of the card to have it shipped to NZ. I've got a couple laying around that I have never even used.

[IdunBenhad]

The PCI card suggested by post #7 will not work in a laptop. It is for a desktop type computer. Actually, I may need one for my upcoming computer, so that was good lead for me!

I am not sure if a PCMCIA parallel port will work to control the Grinch.

I had also been told the USB/PARALLEL converter would not work. Of course I found that out after I bought it!! But, that is my fault, I didn't do the research, like you are.

I have several PCMCIA cards, but don't happen to have a Parallel one.

Good luck, hope you find what you're looking for. Keep us posted.

Idun

[Aurbo99]

Just came back from shopping with the wife this morning.

Stopped into the local computer guy and he had some "upgrade kits" for sale.

I bought it and went to the local ERC (Electronic Recycling Center) and bought a tower for 5 bucks.

MSI K9N mobo
Athlon 5200 cpu
2gig ram
on board video
on board lan
on board ac97 sound
usb,serial,LPT
500watt psu

transplanted my hard drive and wireless lan card from the old 1.2Ghz system
HD is a 80gig, freshly wiped and XPsp3 installed with only
Net 2.0
Vixen
tightVNC

this leaves me just over 72gig of space for sequences and music.

Oh and the cost of the upgrade kit? $ 99 bucks!

I spent more than that on my last shipment of mini's in from the US.

[jpb]

I will also recommend purchasing the second PC as a designated lights pc. That way the laptop is still available as a laptop in December rather than being tied to your lights.

I would also recommend you get a USB flash drive and run vixen from that. This way you can develop your sequances on the laptop and then plug the flash drive into the lights computer to test the hardware. You can even put the flash drive in your pocket and work on your sequences any time you are near a computer with 5 mins of spare time.

Jon

[Daemon]

Hi all

Thanks for the replies.
In the end I bought an older pc, 2.5ghz,768mb ram, 80gb hdd off the net which cost me $80 shipped.
So I have a parallel, serial and usb ports and it runs xp pro so should be able to handle the vixen software no worries.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Cheers
Steve