Output Drivers

 

ARC has four primary drivers installed to date.

 

 

 

 

 

In Configure under “Output Setup” there is a DMX enable. This ARC.v2 release allows for 64 DMX channels to be controlled. For separate board setup there is a serial enable that allows 128 relay / dimmer combinations. The Serial driver drop down selections are; R8Pro, PWM8X or RC51. There are two ports implemented; the USB for DMX protocol and the Serial RS232 which can be setup under “Port” for custom applications.

 

1) The DMX driver feeds the USB port output using the ENTTEC Open DMX USB interface http://www.enttec.com/opendmxusb.php to convert to standard DMX512. Any DMX driven device can be used.

 

2) The R8XPro driver feeds the serial port output that sends a board address and then a “set all relays” command from 0 to 255. At every cue point this string is sent for each board installed. The specific board that has been implemented is the National Control Devices R810Pro eight 10amp relay board. http://www.controlanything.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NCD&Product_Code=R810PRO. Multiple boards can be driven by programming board ID’s. The R810Pro default board ID out of the box is “0”.  

 

3) The PWM8X driver feeds the serial port output that sends a board address, a channel number and a value of 0 to 255. At every cue point this string is sent for each channel on every board installed. The specific board that has been implemented is the Nation Control Devices PWM85 eight 5amp dimmer board.  http://www.controlanything.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NCD&Product_Code=PWM85. The same board ID changes are required for multiple boards as the R810Pro. These dimmers are for DC applications like RGB LEDS, not for A/C devices.

 

4) The RC51 driver feeds the Serial RS232 port that sends a “set all relays” command from 0 to 255 and a <cr> return. At every cue point this command will be sent to one board. The specific board that has been implemented is the Industrologic RC51 eight 10amp relay board. http://www.industrologic.com/rc51desc.htm. This board has Mini basic control; a simple basic program Files\setrelrc1.TMB can be loaded into the board that will turn the serial input into “set all relays” command or any function that is programmed in basic. This board can be driven will a dumb terminal application. Up to 4 boards can be implemented using a custom EPROM and jumpers between the Int. pins on the board. We can supply information on a simple Mini basic program and multiple board setups.

 

It should be noted that when using separate boards that mixing manufactures is not recommended.

 

These drivers where selected to cover a wide range of applications. There are a lot of control board manufacturers and devices available. The architecture of the output of these drivers may apply to other devices that we have not tested.  Custom drivers are available.