After playing around with the Mega, I've decided to upgrade to the 2560 Rv.3. Looks like I have a 1280 mega up for grabs... lol unless I can think of something else I can use it for.
3.2" TFT touchscreen showed up today. Still trying to decide whether I should go Meanwells or the Chesters garage LED shield to drive the LEDs. Its a dimmable 4 channel LED driver that can handle up to 39watts per channel, at 350-1200mA current. Would make it a lot neater. The Jarduino controller is the focus of this build, with a few tweaks. Any input MagicJ? They also have a fan/temp/RTC controller, but I think I'll code that one.
Don't look that hard, but bet you twenty I can f@#k it up as well as the next bloke. :confused:I have been asked a question relating to driving Meanwell 60-48P's with an Arduino, so I thought this was the best place to post the answer :)
This particular LED driver uses a 10v PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal to control the dimming. The problem that we have is that the Arduino only outputs a 5v PWM signal so we need to find a way to increase this to 10v.
There are a couple of options including an op-amp circuit but there are some reports of this not switching quick enough - the simplest, and cheapest, method is to use a transistor switching circuit.
This is the circuit diagram
View attachment 3269
So, the wire from the Arduino comes in at the left i.e. a 0-5v PWM signal. This passes through a 10k resistor to the base of the transistor. I used a standard NPN 2222A transistor (30 cents from Jaycar). The Emitter goes to Ground - this needs to be linked to the Ground from the Arduino.
VCC is a seperate 10v DC regulated voltage source (a plug pack works well) - the positive goes through a 1k resistor to the collector of the transistor. The output is now 10v - note that the output signal is an inverse of the input signal.
This is a graph of the output - Circuit 1 is as described above. Circuit 2 is an alternative circuit which was being discussed on Reef Central some time ago and, from my experience, proved to be inferior.
View attachment 3268
And a picture of the completed circuit - this has two seperate transistor switching circuits on the one board
View attachment 3271
View attachment 3270
And everything mounted in a project box
View attachment 3272
Hope this answers your questions daveH - feel free to ask any questions.
Cheers
Hope this answers some of your questions :)Soooo,
MagicJ, How you doin? :rolleyes
Life treating you well we hope? :rolleyes
Looks like I'm going to head down this well traveled Arduino path. No idea where to start to figured I's post in here & see where that leads lol. Started reading the Arduino home page, checking out little bird elec's & toys down under finding all sort's of toys! No idea what they all do, but should be fun finding out huh.
So for those of you in the know ( MagicJ ) Can you run an eye over the shopping list & impart some thoughts? Mainly for the LED's at the moment but you never know, I need a toy to play with so it may grow out of proportion lol. :rolleyes
Start with this bit I"m guessing....
Arduino Mega 2560 R3
So this is the brain behind the whole thing I'm guessing. Everything plugs into this, it sort's out what your after & tells the bit's you have connected what to do?
Correct - the Mega will future proof your build as it has lots of output pins.
Serial TFT LCD 3.2" with Touchscreen
This is the bit were you can see what your doing I'm guessing.
TFT's look pretty cool but not something I have used - I currently use a basic 20x4 screen. The TFT's are not a lot more difficult to hook up but they take a LOT more code to program - not a major issue but it could take a lot more time to write the sketch.
Real Time Clock Module
Need one of these to tell the LED's to turn off & fade & stuff.
Correct - the Arduino has an inbuilt crystal so it can keep its own time reasonably well, to within a couple of seconds per day. But, on reset or power off it looses the time and starts again. The RTC module comes with a backup battery which will last for 5 years+ - this module is a must for what you are planning.
So bolt these three parts together & we should have something about to turn over? Now I need to knock up some of these doohickeys. Now I'm thinking I need to bang up one of these "Magic" circuits for each channel I want to dim with PWM correct?
Correct - these convert the 5v output from the Arduino to 10v. daveH was able to follow my guide so that's a good start ;)
Don't look that hard, but bet you twenty I can f@#k it up as well as the next bloke. :confused:
No doubt you will, but that is half the fun with this sort of DIY project.
So now I gots a brain box, a clock & screen, lots of little circuits the increase 5v to 10 for the Mean-well. Now I just have to get them all hooked up together, working in some sort of order & see if it works.
Now on to the upgrades,
Q. Why cant I leave the brain box hidden behind/near/on the PC or out of the way somewhere & use some of these things??
BlackWidow 1.0 ASync0003
To send the signal wireless to the other bit hooked up on the drivers dimming wires?? Or am I just getting to far ahead of myself lol.
Just to bring you back to reality, this board is no longer available :eek Other similar boards with WiFi, Bluetooth etc are available but, IMO are not really required for our application. We need power wires etc going to the drivers/leds and so a few more control wires are not really a major issue.
HELP!!!!! before I either blow myself up or Jen cracks it with me & toys pleaseeeeeee :rolleyes
Thanks for the input VaultBoy. I ran the drivers past firechild before I purchased them to make sure all was going to work how I thought they would. firechild was going to use them, which made me breath a sigh of relief lol.rockerpeller I have those same drivers running a little led over my mantis tank. I love them! I am running three ledson eachdriver with 12v input and the drivers dont even get warm... I havent connected pwm yet so i cant comment in that regard.
Sounds like fun :p Maybe I can retire and travel the country putting together some controllers.Thanks MagicJ, answered the questions nicely. Sorry daveH !! :)
How about you just jot down the parts list for me & then rockerpeller, daveH & myself will just camp out in that Reefuge Meeting room you built out the back until we have them up & running!! :)
Of the full build or just the controller?Hey rockerpeller, what was your parts list?
Anybody else have a parts list to share lol :rolleyes This stuff is way over my head hahaha.