Brand New Ren 16 Acting Strange

[rstehle]

I soldered up one of the new Ren 16 boards that I got from wJohn. I began testing it last night and got some strange results but attributed it to being excited and tired. I just got done testing it again and am seeing the same things, so I need help.
Here is what I am seeing: When I trigger a channel in Vixen, the corresponding board channel does not come on......... the channel lineup is weird.
Channels 1 - 8 in Vixen light up channels 9 - 16 on the board.
Channels 9 - 16 in Vixen light up channels 1 - 8 on the board.
The lights will chase great, but I cannot get more than 2 strands to come on solid at the same time. I tried all on, ramp up, ramp down but could not get all 16 channels to come on at the same time at all.
The PIC's I am using are ones that I got from Frank with my Ren 24 boards and have PWM firmware and worked properly in a Ren 24.
I am testing with mini lights, one strand per channel.
(I don't have a scope for troubleshooting.) Any ideas?
Thanks,
Randy

[ben]

I didn't know the Ren16 and 24 PICs were completely interchangable. I knew they were similiar but not excact. Thats good to know.

Ben

[RavingLunatic]

Channels 1 - 8 in Vixen light up channels 9 - 16 on the board.
Channels 9 - 16 in Vixen light up channels 1 - 8 on the board.

Unfortunately, with this batch of boards this is the correct order.
Maybe with the next batch (if another batch gets made) a silkscreen change can be made.

As for your other problems:

All Renard (8, 16, 24, 64) PICs are interchangeable.

Do you have complete control of individual channels?
If so, do you only have problems when trying to control multiple channels?

I would monitor your 5 VDC line (TP6) while you are having problems and see if it is dropping too low. A DMM would work fine for checking this.

[Wayne J]

Edited for bonehead reply. TP6 is 5v .... input is 9 - 12VDC

[rstehle]

Do you have complete control of individual channels?
If so, do you only have problems when trying to control multiple channels?

I would monitor your 5 VDC line (TP6) while you are having problems and see if it is dropping too low. A DMM would work fine for checking this.

I have complete control over individual channels, my problem is whenever I try to have more than 2 channels on at the same time. Once I get past 2, none of the lights will come on at all. With 1 or 2 on, I can ramp on, off, sparkle, whatever.
I have checked the voltage at TP6 and it remains steady at 4.96 volts regardless of the state of the system. It does not fluctuate. What else should I look at?

[Virtus]

See if you can ramp and sparkle channels 1 and 9 together (same time) okay. Maybe the issue involves channels on the same PIC? If that works okay try channels 1 and 2 together and then 9 and 10 together.

[Wayne J]

I know it sounds trivial, but check all the solder joints. Make sure you didn't miss one anywhere.

[ben]

I know it sounds trivial, but check all the solder joints. Make sure you didn't miss one anywhere.

yes do that!! I even have my dad look them over. Another thing I do is hold them up to a light so I can see a little better for those little pinholes.

Ben

[RavingLunatic]

Some other things to consider:

Try testing with only the left side populated. See if that changes anything.

Check to see if the resistor networks (S1 & S2) are installed correctly.

[rstehle]

See if you can ramp and sparkle channels 1 and 9 together (same time) okay. Maybe the issue involves channels on the same PIC? If that works okay try channels 1 and 2 together and then 9 and 10 together.

I can only get one channel from each bank to come on solid at the same time. After 1 each, nothing lights up at all. 1 and 2 together won't come on, 9 and 10 together won't come on. 1 and 9 come on fine, or any single channel from bank 1 and bank 2 will come on. Once I try to activate more than one channel per bank, nothing lights up on that bank. I have checked solder joints (twice) and part polarity. Swapped out all of the pics (not all the MOC's, but did swap a couple of them).