Mind boggled at the moment.

[Blackbeard]

I've scanned this section, and keep picking up different bits of info, but still have questions about all this LedTriks stuff.

Is the Triks-C just a serial version of the LedTriks?

Are there any USB versions other that using a conversion Serial-to-USB out there?

Does Vixen support this yet natively or does the launcher still need to be used?

Are boards still available or do I need to wait for a Coop (LedTriks and Triks-C) and what are the costs of the boards currently? Does WJohn have both usually?

Has a PCB been created for the LED boards?

Am I right in assuming I need either a LedTriks or a Triks-C per LED panel or does one support up to 4 LED panels?

The info all seems to be of various ages, and I'm just not sure what's what.

Thanks for helping this confused old man out.

steve

[g2ktcf]

Is the Triks-C just a serial version of the LedTriks?

Yes...one serial port for up to 4 Trick-C



Are there any USB versions other that using a conversion Serial-to-USB out there?

not that i know of...but you only need one serial port and you can use a USB--->Serial converter.



Does Vixen support this yet natively or does the launcher still need to be used?

Not at this time...you have to use the launcher but Vixen does allow you to create the files.



Are boards still available or do I need to wait for a Coop (LedTriks and Triks-C) and what are the costs of the boards currently? Does WJohn have both usually?

yes, wjohn has the Trick-C boards



Has a PCB been created for the LED boards?

Frank has those...do not know if he has any left though.



Am I right in assuming I need either a LedTriks or a Triks-C per LED panel or does one support up to 4 LED panels?

One Tricks-C for each LED-Tricks is needed

[budude]

Is the Triks-C just a serial version of the LedTriks?


Just want to clarify - the answer is no. The Triks-C is really a Serial-to-Parallel converter with some smarts in it to make it semi-standalone. You still need the LEDTriks controller board which is responsible for driving the LEDs. You can drive the LEDTriks controller directly from your parallel port but the CPU usage on your PC will be very high so this is not the best option. The one benefit is that Vixen can drive this directly but not the Triks-C. You need to create files with commands to drive that.

[Blackbeard]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the terminalogy here. The first and last response is mixing me up and seems contradictory.

For a four panel display (4x1), how many boards of each do I need? You know how us old folks are, so are there any pictures available (diagrams, in other words)? I'd prefer to use the serial version, so only mention what is needed.

Thanks for the response, g2ktcf.

steve

[LabRat]

As budude indicated.. TRIKS-C is a serial to parallel driver, to drive the LEDTRIKS board(s). It is based on an ATMEL processor. There is also a design on the forum (File Library) for a PIC based version called PIX-C (or PIK-C depending on my mood).

For either of these, you will still need the LEDTRIKS (available from WJOHN I believe), and a heap load of LED's :) .

[g2ktcf]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the terminalogy here. The first and last response is mixing me up and seems contradictory.

For a four panel display (4x1), how many boards of each do I need? You know how us old folks are, so are there any pictures available (diagrams, in other words)? I'd prefer to use the serial version, so only mention what is needed.

Thanks for the response, g2ktcf.

steve

Steve....my post is based on what hardware is needed. Budude is correct but it is a technical explanation of how the system works. I read your post as "what hardware do I need" not "explain the details".

For each Tricks board, you need a single Tricks-C. Up to four Trik-Cs can be daisy chained off one serial port. Now the LED boards are separate and come in groups of three. Each LED Tricks system is 3 LED Boards, One LED Tricks and One Tricks-C....and lots of LEDs

Does that help?

[Blackbeard]

OK, thanks to all. Apparently, I was responding while LabRat and budude were posting, and those replies weren't there when I sent my last post. It's all coming to me now. I was under the impression that a *-C was a replacement for the LedTrik, so I totally misunderstood most of g2ktcf's answer. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful or critical, if I did. My apologies.

Anyway, it's a next year's project, so I'll have time to absorb all of this.

Thanks so much again.

steve

[budude]

Sorry - I just wanted to make sure you knew that it isn't an either/or selection for LEDTriks and Triks-C - you must have the LEDTriks controller while the Triks-C is an optional component providing RS-232/485 interfacing as well as all the smarts to drive the controller.