Bubby4j
Active Member
I probably can borrow one, just need to ask someone.Can you borrow a clamp meter from someone?
Or buy this:
Fluke 321 | eBay
Ideal Industries Inc 61 732 400A AC Clamp Meter | eBay
I probably can borrow one, just need to ask someone.Can you borrow a clamp meter from someone?
Or buy this:
Fluke 321 | eBay
Ideal Industries Inc 61 732 400A AC Clamp Meter | eBay
Because I don't think it's necessary to start a new thread, Bubby4j; Have you got your iBeams to run in 13ch mode? I can't seem to find any reference to the correct dip switch settings?
Yes, it's actually slightly undocumented. They don't have it on their website, I first saw it on a forum.
Also, it won't work if you have a really old revision of the firmware, you'd need to upgrade.
I attached the documentation to this post.
One thing I thought was interesting was how the speed channel works.
Not only does it change how quickly motors move, it will synchronize their movements. If you set speed to something like halfway, and change pan & tilt in the same DMX frame, each motor will reach the destination at the same moment.
It's an alternative to having your console do the fade between cues, I have yet to tell if it's any smoother.
One thing I do know though, if you're doing a really fast chase on your console, change speed to 255. Otherwise if the destination position is within something like 20, the fixture won't move the motors at maximum speed if speed is at 0. It's really amazing how quickly you can do chases with this fixture, it's lightning fast! You can even have the position sync to a kick drum.
The binary mode may be of limited use as it'd be best used with a console that can actually calculate the needed numbers automagically, especially the checksum.
I'm afraid it's not as simple as connecting a USB cable. On one of the chips (I don't know which) it contains the firmware. You have to use some specialized equipment to "burn" new firmware. I don't even know if it's possible to overwrite an existing one, it might be read-only.Ah Right, that makes sense now. Thanks.
I'll have a play with them next time I get a chance and see what I can find for mine. You wouldn't happen to know how to go about a software update if they need one? I've seen the file on the HES website, but can't find a reference about how to go about it...
I'm afraid it's not as simple as connecting a USB cable. On one of the chips (I don't know which) it contains the firmware. You have to use some specialized equipment to "burn" new firmware. I don't even know if it's possible to overwrite an existing one, it might be read-only.
Ask Don at lightparts about it, the cheapest option might be to simply buy a chip with it already burned.
It's too bad the firmware isn't open source, then you could modify it and put all sorts of your own goodies in!The Intellabeam uses a 27C512 EPROM for the firmware storage. The chips themselves are relatively inexpensive - one quick source: 27C512 EPROM | eBay
To program them a device programmer is needed - one quick source: TOP853 USB Universal Programmer EPROM MCU Gal Pic New w 2pcs Adapter Extractor | eBay
Once the firmware is downloaded to a PC, then it is programmed into the EPROM and the chip swapped.
Easy-peasy.
I actually have not thoroughly thought about what I'd change. The most useful thing I can think of would be a custom fixture profile, so there's no channels you don't want. I like the binary profile, but it seems a bit too detailed. Really, I'd like the ability to shut down the bulb over DMX without that binary profile.I have done reverse engineering and disassembly on EPROM contents before but I'm not sure I have time to do this anytime soon. Perhaps I'll look at it in the future. I did download the CPU data sheet and the machine language instruction set. I'm not familiar with it but could pick it up quickly. I used to design microchip controllers using TTL logic and MSI devices in a prior life.
Is there a wish list or feature that would be useful?
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