Output Card Product Announcement

[Tyler Reed]

The next card that we decided to get ready first was the Output Card.  Today I completed some more tests and I am happy at where it is at to go ahead and tell everyone about it.

The output card's product number is SST24O and will have 24 outputs.  The card will be priced somewhere in the $60 to $70 price range, and will be connected to the computer through USB.  The card will require no special drivers and will be plug and play on any machine running Windows XP or greater.  The card will require an external 12v power supply, and will not have the option to be powered from USB.

The 24 outputs are broken down into 3 groups of 8 outputs.  Each group has a jumper that will allow you to pick from 3 different power sources, 12v, 2v (LED power), and Custom.  The custom can be from 1v to ~50v DC (user supply-able).  The first group will also allow for full dimming.  There is also 24 LEDs on the board for each of the outputs for debugging, and those can be shutoff by removing the debug jumper.

To try to keep the board size smaller, the only connections on this board will be ribbon headers for the outputs.  The ribbon headers will be 10pin, 2 grounds and the 8 outputs.

I will have more info on our website later, with other info like amp draw, and max amps per port.

As for a release date, I have nothing set in stone at this time, but my aim is for sometime in June.

[Tyler Reed]

Ok, I have some updates to the original post that i had made.

The output card is mostly done, just finishing up some of the code for the chip.  However there have been some changes from what i originally wanted to have.  The first one is that there will be no PWM (dimming) on this card as of now, I was having some problems getting that working, i am still working on it, and hope to have it in place by release.  The second change is that instead of 2v there is a adjustment for the power supply on the board to allow you to adjust it to your needs.

I will hopefully have the prototype card in 2 weeks, and if it works, then i can send off for the final production board.

Thanks,
Tyler

[phil744]

Sweet, i can start wiring stuff up now

[Tyler Reed]

Hey everyone,
Just another announcement about the output card.  Tests have gone well, and I will be sending the boards off for production this week hopefully.  I have a few more things to look at to make sure but everything so far is going good.

Attached here are some pictures of the new Smart Sim Tech control panel software with the Output Card Screen and my test board with some LED's to simulate the hardware I still need to create.

Smart Sim Tech Control Panel - Build 1.0.4179


Test Board showing the LED outputs


Cad Drawing of Final Output Card (Zoomed In)