What does everyone use for power supply for ren-c??

[fathead45]

i was reading and it is sayin unfiltered power. what is everyone using to power it?? i have a power supply already running for my grinch on 5 volts and i would like to use that. can i??

thanks

[P. Short]

That is how I configure my Ren-C boards.

[fathead45]

ithink ya forgot to upload a pic,lol

[dirknerkle]

i was reading and it is sayin unfiltered power. what is everyone using to power it?? i have a power supply already running for my grinch on 5 volts and i would like to use that. can i??

thanks

I think what is meant by unfiltered is that the "ripples" in the current haven't been smoothed out by a voltage smoothing capacitor circuit and that the 60hz signal is still present. The 60hz signal is the "zero cross" of the A/C current -- e.g. when the voltage is zero. An unfiltered DC signal has both a + value at the apex of the wave and a zero signal as well whereas a filtered DC signal has the + wave at the apex but it doesn't dip all the way down to zero again because the capacitor keeps it from dipping quite that far.

To invision an unfiltered DC wave, think of a set of arches on the lawn -- all you see is the top half of the wave but there's a top (apex) to the arch and also a zero where the arch meets the ground. A Ren-C can pick up that zero signal if it's pronounced enough and the voltage is high enough because there's a larger differential between 9 and 0 than 5 and 0.

A perfectly filtered DC signal would be what you'd get from a battery -- pure + and - and no wave at all.

That's a lay person's explanation of how it works, by the way... and I'm sure that if I'm off base (which has happened more than once before :rolleyes:) others will set me straight...

[RavingLunatic]

i was reading and it is sayin unfiltered power. what is everyone using to power it?? i have a power supply already running for my grinch on 5 volts and i would like to use that. can i??

thanks


The unfiltered/unregulated voltage is not to power the board, it is for the ZC generation. The Ren-C gets its power (5VDC) from the Olsen/Grinch via the interconnect cables when J1 (on the Olsen/Grinch) is jumpered.

[P. Short]

The definitive information is in the wiki, here (http://www.christmasinshirley.com/wiki/index.php?title=Renard-595_Converter). There has been a lot of work put into creating the pictures and the text on that wiki page, and it contains the best, most authoritative information. Read sections 6 and 7 on providing power and the ZC signal to the Ren-C.

[fathead45]

thanks for that. im sorry i was asking the wrong question. what are you using for the 9vdc power for the ZC signal. i got it all switched around. sorry,.

[bmcgeeny]

i was reading and it is sayin unfiltered power. what is everyone using to power it?? i have a power supply already running for my grinch on 5 volts and i would like to use that. can i??

thanks

I use a small wall wart. Inside the box with all the other stuff

[bmcgeeny]

i was reading and it is sayin unfiltered power. what is everyone using to power it?? i have a power supply already running for my grinch on 5 volts and i would like to use that. can i??

thanks

I use a small wall wart. Inside the box with all the other stuff

[fathead45]

alright thank you. i got plenty of those lying around.

[fathead45]

so i was reading all the wiki stuff and really dont have any of the materials around here and dont know if i can get them in time. but if im reading right if i have a 9v wall wart i can just connect to the zc signal and ground and i would be good?? i wont need anything else??

[sjwilson122]

If it is unregulated and unfiltered, then it should work.

[bmcgeeny]

so i was reading all the wiki stuff and really dont have any of the materials around here and dont know if i can get them in time. but if im reading right if i have a 9v wall wart i can just connect to the zc signal and ground and i would be good?? i wont need anything else??

I use a Center Tap transformer with two Diodes for my Zero cross. WJohn has a diagram for a simple Z/C to replace a Ren T.

The wall wart is 5v and powers the 5v for the grinch and ren c

[fathead45]

alright, after talkiing with 51ford last night, i have a much better understanding of what i need. so im gonna goto radioshack today and try to get a centertap transformer. now all i was seeing was the 12.6v ones. ill try that.

[fathead45]

how would i take this transformer http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103732&clickid=cart
and bring the 12v down to 9?? im new to trying to make circuits work like this. im just looking for a easy way to do thsi.

[sjwilson122]

Are you looking to use this as your zero cross? If you are the only thing you will need is two diodes. Something like this,

[fathead45]

ok sweet. that is alll i needed. thank you. so the 2 wires i will combine with a diode on each and put that to the renc board and then the ground on it as well.

[sjwilson122]

Correct, and the type of diode is not really critical either. Since it is just for zero cross, diodes like 1n4001 will work fine.

[fathead45]

ok now i made this and i put a meter on the yellow and black wires and the voltage jumps around and then goes to zero. is that supposed to be how it works?? and now im confused as to which pin to put it to on the renc. i seen the 3 options and they are all diff. can you enlighten me??

thanks

[sjwilson122]

If you are reading from the yellow and black wires BEFORE the diodes it will be AC voltage and will probably read some where between 7-8 volts. If you are measuring AFTER the diodes it will be DC voltage and should also be in the 7-8 volt range.

The diodes should hook up to pin three of the JP3 header (zc in) and the center tap to pin one of the JP3 header (gnd).

[fathead45]

alright thank you. got it all powering on. now im trying to figure out the 9pin to rj45 config. i was looking at the diagrams and im having a hard time figureing out which pin on the 9 pin goes to what pin on the rj45. i know im prob over looking it but i hope someone can help.

oh and i already do have power to the grinch and i have the shunt in place. so i just need to pass the data signal from the pc to the renc board.

thanks

[RavingLunatic]

Try this:

http://christmasinshirley.com/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Wiki_-_Renard_SS_RS232_Data_Cable2.jpg

[fathead45]

well it all worked. thanks for all the help. i have 30 channels going right now. thanks everyone.

here is what i used, i hope someone will add it to the wiki because it was easy to get all the components and really simple once you know what your looking for.

center tap transformer x1
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103732

1N4001 diode x2 (radioshack has 2 in a package)
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036268

I put power the 2 black wires on the one side with a wall jack. the other side i put the diodes in the correct way on the yellow wires and then twist the other end of the diodes together. i put a wire off that and put it on the ZC in on the ren-c. Then the black wire between the 2 yellow wires is the ground and i put it on the board as ground. now plug it in and it works great.

This diagram is what i used for the diode:
http://www.christmasinshirley.com/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Xformer_ct.gif

Cable to run renc from pc:
http://christmasinshirley.com/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Wiki_-_Renard_SS_RS232_Data_Cable2.jpg


thank you all for your help. once i got it all together it made good sense to me now. thanks again.