Hanson Electronics DMX18 User manual

DMX18
USER MANUAL
Features
-The DMX18 controller receives DMX data input and drives 18 DC channels.
-Dual DC input (5V, 7 - 40V) (large screw terminals)
-2x 30A (max) ATO blade fuses (30A overall max per 9 channels). Supplied with 10A fuses
-18 DC outputs (5A max per channel). Common anode (common positive) configuration.
-Output terminals arranged as +, Ch, Ch, Ch (particularly suits RGB)
-True electrically isolated DMX input with ESTA pinout (2x RJ45 sockets for looping)
-Remaining zone will continue working if a fuse blows
PCB size is 91mm x 95mm
Revision 1.1
SuitsPCBrevision1.1->
24 September 2018

30V power position 40V power position 5V power position
Connections
Dmx Data
There are 2 RJ45 dmx sockets on the board. These are designed for loop in and loop out. The DMX18 uses the ESTA
pinout. If connecting to a LOR device (dongle or controller) a crossover cable or adaptor will need to be connected in
between.
If the DMX18 is the last dmx device on the dmx cable then the signal should be terminated with the termination jumper.
Basically if only 1 cable is plugged in to the dmx sockets then the termination jumper should be installed. If both sockets
are used then the termination jumper should be left off. ONLY the last board on the daisy chain should have the
termination resistor in use.
DC Power Input
The 2 large 2 way green connectors are the DC inputs from your power supply. Each of the 2 zones of 9 channels can
use a separate power supply or you can feed them both from one common power supply. Separate wiring (back to the
power supply) for each of the zones is recommended to minimise voltage drop. The + terminals are positive and the -
terminals are negative. The board will run of a DC voltage up to 40V. The negative (-V) terminals are commoned
between the 2 zones so this must be taken into account when wiring up to the power supply/supplies. Both of the zones
has a standard ATO (automotive) fuse adjacent to the power terminals. The DMX18 comes supplied with 10A fuses
fitted. Fuses up to 30A can be used. It is recommended changing the fuse to the closest size for the total current that the
zone will be supplying.
Power Selection
At the top right of the pcb there is a jumper for
setting the working voltage of the pcb. The
jumper should be set according to whatever the
highest voltage is that will power the pcb. There
are 3 settings for the voltage 5V, 30V and 40V.
In the 5V setting both zones should be ran off
5V (or 1 can be a lower voltage if required). The
30V jumper setting should be used if the highest
voltage on either zone is in the range 7-30V.
The 40V jumper should be used for voltages in the 30-40V range. The 40V jumper can be used for voltages as low as
20V. Installing this power jumper on the incorrect voltage setting may damage the pcb. The DMX18 will have the
jumper installed on the 30V jumper by default.
Dimmer Outputs
There are 18 channel outputs; 9 per side. Each side can be run at the same, or a different supply voltage. A DC voltage
in the range of up to 40V can be used for each of the banks.
The maximum load per channel is 5 Amps, but the overall limit per bank/zone of 9 outputs is 30 Amps. This means that
you can't turn on all 9 outputs of a zone with the maximum load. In reality, this should not be a problem as most loads
will be less than 2 Amps.
There are 18 dimmer outputs which are in banks of 9 with each zone of 9 fused separately. Each group of 3 outputs is
grouped into 4 terminals. These are the 3 outputs and a common positive. RGB lights with a single common anode should
have the common wire connected to the terminal + (the 4 banks have common -ve terminals) and the red, green and blue
wires to channels 1,2,3 (or 4,5,6 etc). The order and specific channels is actually dependant on what is configured in your
sequencing software. For lights that have single colours (or single channels) per pair of wires then 1 wire gets connected
to the + and 1 gets connected to the channel output. For led lights which require the polarity to be around the right way
then the anode (positive) gets connected to + and the cathode (negative) goes to the channel. For lights that do not have
three channels commoned then 3 wires will be joined and fitted to the + for the 3 channels.
If inserting stripped bare wires into the channel connectors ensure that they aren’t too long. If the wires are too long it
may be possible to pass a wire completely through the connector and short out electronics on the other side of the
connector. Only very fine wire of lengths greater than about 15mm could allow this to occur.
See the Connection Examples section for the various methods of connecting lights.
ICSP Connector
An ICSP (in circuit serial programming) header connector is provided for initial programming of the microprocessor and for
program (firmware) updates.
-2-

USING THE DMX18
Status Leds
There are 3 small LEDs near the centre of the PCB adjacent to the micro.
Red led:- 5V Power, Blue led:- MODE, Green led:- DATA
-Red led 5V power
-Blue MODE led flashing slowly. Green DATA led off. Test mode
Test mode takes precedence over normal running so errors/status message other than test mode won’t be displayed if in test mode.
-Blue MODE led on solid. Green DATA led flashing 10 Hz. Normal run mode. Dmx packets being received
-Blue MODE led on solid. Green DATA led off. Normal run mode. No dmx data
-Blue MODE led flashing 10Hz. Green DATA led off. PGM/Address setting mode. No valid address yet
-Blue MODE led flashing 10Hz. Green DATA led on. PGM/Address setting mode. Valid address received
Start Channel
The start channel is set via the PGM switch and data being sent to the board. DMX addresses can be anywhere between 1 and 512.
The address of the DMX18 can be anywhere in the range of 1 to 495 (a start address of 495 uses the addresses from 495 to the
maximum 512). If the address is set outside of this range an error is indicated via the 2 status leds. See Status Leds. The start
channel can be changed at any time by turning on the PGM switch and sending the data. The start address is sent and stored as 2
8 bit numbers. For a start address of 1-255 the 2nd address/channel should be 0. For addresses over 255 (255-495) the 2n d start
address channel is set to 1 and the 1st address channel is set to the start address minus 255.
When you receive your DMX18 it will have a DMX start address of 1. That is, it will respond to channels 1 to 18. To change
the start address perform the following procedure:
• Power up the DMX18.
• Connect a DMX source of DMX data like a sequencer, test software or dedicated start channel programmer (like da_start
from http://www.da-share.com/software/da_start/ ) etc that you can set at least channels 1 & 2 to a DMX address to the full
0-255 range (not a 0-100% setting)
• Set DMX channel 1 to value 1..255 to the required setting for the new DMX start address
• Set DMX channel 2 to 1 if the new DMX start address is above 255
• Turn on the PGM dipswitch. The MODE led will flash and the DATA led will be off.
• After a valid start address in the range of 1-476 is received the DATA led will turn on. The new DMX start address is then
stored in the EEPROM
• Turn off the PGM switch and the DMX18 is ready to use with the new start address.
• If using da_start then ensure DMX18 is selected to allow the correct address range is selectable
Test Mode
There is a switch which places the control into a test mode. In this mode a test program runs and all 18 outputs are cycled through.
This mode allows for soak testing of lights without the need for a source of dmx data. The control will cycle through 12 modes
of testing from 1 channel on at a time, through all reds on, all greens etc. A number of the test modes are for RGB 3 channel lights.
Connection Examples
Typical connection arrangement
showing 3 leds and a 12V power
supply. The lights can be single
colour, multicolour, RGB or
whatever. For individual lights
with 2 wires the positive wires
would be joined and connected to
the +V terminal.
Connection example showing
channel 1 connected to a
second power supply. This
method is used where lights
other than the main power
supply voltage is needed.
This method can be used for
ACL strobes or similar
devices. The primary power
supply powering the DMX18
needs to be in the range of
5V to 40V DC. The
secondary power supply can
be any voltage up to a maximum of 60V DC. This method can
also be used if an output is used to control a relay at a voltage
other than the supply voltage.
As it possible to run the DMX18 off 2 different power supplies
a light on 1 zone can be powered by the supply on another zone.
-3-

No termination on these boards
Connection of a 12V RGB dumb
module to channels 1,2,3
The common anode wire is
commonly black
DMX network connection/s not shown
This board terminated
USB dongle connects to PC, Pi or BBB
Start address set via dipswitches
Connection of 3single
channel 12V lights to
channels 7,8,9
They all share the
positive/anode connection
Start address set via software
12V DC power supply as
this example uses 12V
lights. 5V-35V can be used
Alternately the DMX can be sent from rPi-28D or E1.31
pixel controller that has DMX output/s
-V(GND) and
+V (power)
Wire size needs to be
sufficient to carry current
Connection via Cat5 patch
cables.
Max 1200m(theoretical)
Connecting DMX boards
DMX is an implementation of an RS485 network. It is commonly connected via Cat5 or Cat6 RJ45 patch cables or 3 core cable with 3 pin
or 5 pin Cannon connectors when used for stage equipment. The normal method of connection is from a data source daisy chained from
controller to controller before the final board is terminated either via an onboard termination or via a connector with a 120 Ohm resistor in it.
In general most DMX boards will have 2 DMX connectors. These are connected directly in parallel and it doesn’t matter which is used for
the data in and which is used for the data out. There are 2 exceptions to this general rule. Some cheap Chinese DMX modules only have a
single point to connect the DMX data too and it is necessary to tee off at that point to other boards. The other exception is some stage type
DMX devices that have a Master and a Slave connector. This is because there is internal electronics that allow the device to generate effects
that can be sent downstreamto other devices.
All devices on a DMX cable are on the same DMX universe and that is configured on whatever is sending out the data, not on the devices.
All DMX devices have a “start address”. This is the 1st address that the device uses and it will use that address and the next “n” data bytes.
The cabing order of DMX devices doesn’t matter. The only requirement is that the final device is terminated to prevent data issues.
Terminating any other device is likely to cause data reliability issues.
Connecting lights to DMX18
-4-

Firmware Updates
Firmware update can be loaded through the ICSP header with a Pickit3 (or PicKit2) pic programmer.
Pin 1 of the ICSP header is marked on the pcb and is shown to the left. Ensure the pin 1 (the arrow) of
the header is aligned with pin 1 of the programmer.
Via MPLAB
MPLAB must be installed. It is available from microchip.com
Plug your PicKit 3 into a spare USB port, then start MPLAB X IDE (or version 8.84 or whatever). Once
it has loaded, click Configure > Select Device to bring up the device selection window. From the device
drop-down list, select PIC16F1823 and click OK.
A dialog saying "New firmware must be downloaded for PicKit 3 to work with the part selected." may pop up at this stage. If
it does, click OK and wait for MPLAB to download the programming firmware to the Pickit 3. You will see some activity in the
PicKit 3 tab of the output window for up to a minute or so. When MPLAB is ready you will see "PicKit 3 Connected" and possibly
an error stating "PK3Err0045: You must connect to a target device to use Pickit 3". This is not a problem and just a warning that
the PicKit 3 cannot "see" the chip yet.
Then, click File > Import and browse to the DMX18 1.0 HEXFILE.hex file (latest version at time of writing) and click Open. The
last line of the build tab of the output window should read "Loaded C:\...DMX18****.HEX."
Now, connect the PicKit 3 the 6 pin ICSP header next to the micro. Make sure the arrows on the Pickit 3 and the 6 pin header
are aligned. Then power up the DMX18. The PicKit 3 tab of the output window should now read "Target Detected”.
Click Programmer > Program to initiate the ICSP operation. The PicKit 3 tab of the output window will show "Programming...",
then "Programming/Verify complete" once it is done. Disconnect the PicKit 3. The PicKit 3 tab of the output window will show
"Target Removed".
Via “Programmer To Go” feature of PicKit3
If a PicKit 3 has been preprogrammed with firmware then all is required is that the DMX18 board is powered up. Plug the PicKit3
onto the header as shown above. Power the PicKit3 by plugging it into any usb socket. The power led on PicKit will light, the status
led will be green and the blue active led will be flashing. Press the pushbutton. The status led will turn red, the active led will turn
solid red. When then Status led turns green again and the blue Active led starts flashing the firmware has been updated.
Via “PicKit 3Programmer” software
T h e P i c k i t 3 p r o g r a m m e r s o f t w a r e c a n b e d o w n l o a d e d a t
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/PICkit%203%200.3.3.0%20Setup%20A.zip .
Extract and run in. Select PIC16F1823 as the Device. Select File>Import Hex> and browse to the DMX18 1.2 HEXFILE.hex
file (latest version at time of writing) . Plug in the PicKit 3. If the DMX18 is powered then click on write and it will update the
firmware. If the board isn’t powered then click on the “On” button in the “Target Power” section. The power and mode light
on DMX18 should then power up. Click on “Write”.
Faultfinding
Fault Solution/solutions
Power Led (red led) not lit -Fuse/s blown (note the control only needs power to 1 zone for power led to be on and for that zone to
work). Check fuses
-Power supply faulty or not turned on.
-Power supply section of pcb damaged. No user repairable parts. Return for repair
-Power jumper set for too high a voltage for what is powering the pcb
1 or more Zones not working -Fuse for that zone is blown, power supply powering that Zone is faulty or there is a wiring fault
Channel failing to turn on -Mosfet transistor has been damaged. Can be replaced but warranty may be voided. The mosfet must be
replaced with the exact same type to ensure correct operation
-PCB track has been burnt out. Should be evident if bottom of pcb is inspected
Channel turned on all the time -Mosfet transistor has been damaged. Can be replaced but warranty may be voided. The mosfet must be
replaced with the exact same type to get correct operation
No DMX signal -Termination jumper is installed when both DMX sockets are in use
-No data is being sent. Check software, dongle, cable etc
-DMX (RS485) receive IC is damaged. IC is socketed for easy replacement. It is U3 (a MAX1483 or
compatible). Ensure the polarity is correct. A notch or dot on the IC must match the notch in the IC socket
-Optoisolation IC is damaged. This would usually only be caused by applying excessive voltage to the
DMX data line. The IC is socketed for easy replacement. It is U2 (a 6N137).Ensure the polarity is correct. A notch or dot on the IC must match
the notch in the IC socket
-Insufficient channels being sent by sequencing/test software
Fuse blowing -Fuse selection too low for lights that are connected
-1 or more lights connected have short circuited wires
5
-5-

Warranty
This dmx light controller is covered by a warranty for a period of 12 months from the time of purchase.
The warranty covers only faulty material and workmanship if properly setup and operated in accordance with the specifications
and setup sections of this document.
The repair and or replacement of this controller will only be at the workshop of Alan Hanson. The cost of freight to/from will be
borne by the user.
The warranty does not cover damage to the controller due to misuse i.e.. shorting of outputs, connecting AC supply, connecting
a supply higher than the rated voltage.
The controller is supplied as is. Alan Hanson and Hanson Electronics reserves the right to make changes to the firmware,
specifications and the design without notification.
Misuse, using this for other than its designed use, water damage, mechanical damage or attempting to modify or repair your
controller will void this warranty.
Alan Hanson and Hanson Electronics shall not be liable for any incidental damage, inconvenience, rental, loss of profits or any
other loss due to the unsuitability, failure or use of this controller.
If the user does not agree to these terms the cost of the product (minus freight) will be refunded on the return of the product. The
controller must be in unused condition and must be returned within 14 days.
Please return this controller with a copy of your invoice if it develops a fault. Any controller returned without a copy of the
invoice will be charged at a standard repair rate. The warranty does not cover freight.
Drawings in this manual show typical configurations.
All wiring should be done by competent and/or licenced persons only.
Mounting standoff drilling pattern.
(Scaled. Not 1:1)
Enquiries/Repairs :-
Hanson Electronics
Alan Hanson
16 York St
Eaglehawk Victoria 3556
Mobile [phone]
email hanselec @ gmail.com
www.hansonelectronics.com.au
-6-