Ren-C & Ren-T suggestion

[Dan Ross]

After seeing Mudsculpters setup I had a thought. Would it possible to add a trace on the Ren-C from pin6 of JP4 and JP5 to pin4 of JP3 then on the Ren-T add a spot (like P1 on the 595) to input 5vdc and tie it to Pin6 for +v and Pin7 or 8 on JR1 & JR2 for ground. This would allow the Ren-C and the 595 to get power from the spot on the Ren-T without having to modify the cable like Mudsculpter did.

[Wayne J]

Sounds like a niffty idea. I would like to see what Phil thinks. :)

[P. Short]

That sounds fine to me, although it does add another wrinkle for the newbies to figure out. My biggest concern is about IR losses in the power and ground wires, and the quality of the +5V at the Ren-C and the 595 after running it some distance. It would be best to keep the P/S to Ren-T cable and the Ren-T to Ren-C cable reasonably short (total length under maybe 6-10 feet).

It's just a matter of modifying the PCB layouts in coordination with the coop orders, and I'm not really in the loop on that one.

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Phil

[RavingLunatic]

I'm not sure I see the need for that.

Currently the Ren-C should be getting it's 5VDC from the 595 (just make sure a jumper is on J1).

The Ren-T doesn't need any external 5VDC (under the current options).

However: :wink:

If you did add the wiring change to the Ren-C then possibly a trace could be done from VCC to pin 6 of JR1/JR2 on the Ren-T (maybe add a jumper in the trace). This would allow you to leave out the entire the voltage regulator circuit (I believe, Phil will correct I'm sure) which would allow you to remove (or not install) C1, C2, D4, D7 and U3.

Then you could either input the 5VDC on the 595 (and jumper J1) or put a connector in on the Ren-T where U3 used to be on pins 2 (Gnd) and 3 (VCC).

I'm not sure how much of a change this would be to the Ren-T design which has already been produced and already in use. Of course, those users who want to go that route could leave out the voltage regulator parts and just solder a wire from pin 6 of JR1/JR2 (whichever they are using) to hole for U3 pin 3.

I believe wjohn is looking for changes to Ren-C before making another run of boards so now would be the time to make it happen if it is needed.

I'll leave this decision to the board makers.

Enough of my rambling....

[P. Short]

Just a thought, but I've always felt that it would be convenient if the connector on the Ren-T was the 4-Pin Disk-Drive Power connector, so that you could just plug in a PC power supply without any adapter. I'm not sure if this is the right part, but something like mouser 538-15-24-4742 or some other part out of the 538-15-24-4 series.

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Phil

[Mudsculpter]

My biggest concern is about IR losses in the power and ground wires, and the quality of the +5V at the Ren-C and the 595 after running it some distance. It would be best to keep the P/S to Ren-T cable and the Ren-T to Ren-C cable reasonably short (total length under maybe 6-10 feet).Phil


I tested the distance from the Ren -T/power pass cable to the Ren-C/595 over a 100' of cat5 and the 5v power/ZC signal are doing their thing. I have not run any lengthy tests though. I may set up a string to run for a few hours to see if any problems occur.