DIY 12 or more cue wireless

Don F · November 20th, 2005, 05:46 PM

Heres a nifty little PC for those wanting to play with wireless
I would recommend having it encoded but the price is nice .
Im going to contact them and see if they offer any other frequancies
http://cgi.ebay.com/12CH-Momentary-T...QQcmdZViewItem

PyroZ · November 20th, 2005, 06:25 PM

Thanks for posting this. It is very temptingly priced for a little play with wireless. I'm curious to hear back if there is any additional fee to have it encoded. I only see reference on the eBay page to the fact that they can encode the units. I've been looking for a low priced way to try out wireless.

lamrith · November 21st, 2005, 06:30 AM

The trick would be to incase multiples of those into a single sender box use one remote in toggle mode to select slats, the other in momentary mode for cue firing.

BAsed on what they have you could do 4x12, 12x12 etc prety easily..just pull those processor boards out of thier fancy cases and wire the button contacts to buttons in your firing board... then you could put a bigger antenna on just to make sure you have the range..

For me personally to fill out the firing system I already have I would by 5 of them (I don't see any of the smaller channel units being toggle at a similar price per channel) Then I would have 3 set for momentary with cues and 7 of each other one running for slat selection.. I would probably also use one of the toggles on the slat selection set to control on/off of the battery in the field so it can be safed from a distance.

The big issue then is that there is still continuity to deal with..

Let us know what you find out don!!

Don F · November 21st, 2005, 06:40 AM

Lam
great minds think alike

they do carry 4 channel units you would be using two transmitters .
even if you left the 4 channel in momentary mode it would simply be a safety feature . In that you would have to hold two buttoms to fire .
you would still need cables from the reciever to the slats but those would be shorter cables .
If you could be assured of different frequancies you could avoid cables but would need more recievers/relay boards.
continuity would have to be checked at the field .
the company says they will encode the recievers and transmitters .

lamrith · November 21st, 2005, 05:30 PM

WOW, very cool!!

Your right about the cabling, but just make a single distribution box and have the slats like a wheel (spokes) around it. Shorter runs with less wire count per cable will save $$.they are true 500m?? that like what 1500ft? (forgot my metric conversions..) Either way it is a LONG ways away..

Now that I think about it, if these transmitters are mounted in a existing firing panel with rockers for the slat selection we would theortically "hardwire" the rockers to the contacts for the momentary buttons on the tranmitter, throw the rocker on your panel and you are in effect holding that button down... Then the arm/disarm, test keys could handle the power limiting etc, disconnect battery etc..

PyroZ · November 21st, 2005, 06:59 PM

I just was in contact with the seller regarding encoded units. They cost the same. He just instructed me to order as usual through eBay + PayPal and just request encoding in the comments area of the order.

I just ordered the $24 board you originally referenced. I'll let you know more once I get it.

xenon · November 21st, 2005, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PyroZ

I just was in contact with the seller regarding encoded units. They cost the same. He just instructed me to order as usual through eBay + PayPal and just request encoding in the comments area of the order.

I just ordered the $24 board you originally referenced. I'll let you know more once I get it.

Let us know how these work, I'd like to get one or two for some of our big shells at our 4th of July show. I'd also be interested in their 3,000m range units

Prodigital · November 21st, 2005, 09:26 PM

I think this is what you all are talking about. I am just about finished with it. 132 cues, 36 on the main and 4 slats with 24 cues each. 45-foot slat cables and 20-foot shoot wires give me a 130 circle around the main panel. I have test fired the system at 900 feet and it burns 5 cues of 30 gauge wire wrapped fuse instantly. It is sweet but what a pain in the butt to build.
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johnny_boomboom · November 22nd, 2005, 02:48 AM

Whoa

!!!! Sweet

That is one hell of a rig...

you have that diagrammed out... and would you consider sharing?

lamrith · November 22nd, 2005, 06:43 AM

That is awesome and I know just the boards alone cost $$ let alone all the switches, buttones and work that went into assembling everything. WELL DONE!!

Yes please do share. I am most interested in the trans/recieve and controller you used. I bet those remote antennas cost a good chunk too!!

**JoeRatman** · November 22nd, 2005, 08:59 AM

Wow, excellent system.

I would love to see diagrams.

I find it particularly interesting that you were able to use nichrome wire wrapped fuses instead of ematches. Most wireless systems only support ematches.

Don F · November 22nd, 2005, 09:20 AM

joe the relays are 3 amp 24 volt
that should be plenty for nicrome and you have nearly zero wire resistance so it would be a nice combo system .
prodigitals system is a great looking unit some real craftsman ship .

Prodigital · November 22nd, 2005, 03:45 PM

Thanks for all the kind words.

Johnny_b: No, I did not diagram the system but I will answer as many questions as I can.

Don: The RX/TX are the ones you referenced in this thread with some modifications. The standard relays are 12 volt/12 amp, good enough, but the traces on the board are not. After testing the board just a few times the traces overheated and started lifting off the board. If you use this board you need to take 20 or 22 ga wire and solder it between the contacts to reinforce the traces. I am using an internal rechargeable 24 volt 7AH battery and with this mod it will fire the nichrome easy. I also modified the encoding feature so the transmitter can operate up to 3 individual units or set the receivers to the same code and operate as many as you want simultaneously with the flip of a switch.

Joe, I need to thank you for most of the design. It's yours with relays instead of switches. I just activate the relays with a remote and I left a few of the cues in the main unit.

Lamrith: I have about $200.00 in the 2 RX/TX modules and support pieces for the antennas. I have 2 antennas because one is 315MHz and one is 433MHz. This way I can have a switch for both momentary and multi-fire settings. If you use 2 units with the same frequency, even set to different codes they cancel each other out when you try to press them at the same time.

The most frustrating part of the project was building the transmitter. Getting the 2 different frequencies working together was a pain. Just moving the wiring for the pushbuttons ¼ inch inside the case made a difference in the performance.

**JoeRatman** · November 22nd, 2005, 03:46 PM

Very true Don.

24 volts and 3 amps would be enough to fry nichrome.
I didn't know these boards were rated that high.

Prodigital · November 22nd, 2005, 03:56 PM

Don, I'd love to try this system out at your place in May. Can I get an invite?

SoonerKid · November 22nd, 2005, 04:34 PM

Here's the specs of the relays on that board unless the relays are different than what is pictured there!
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Don F · November 22nd, 2005, 04:49 PM

Pro
Youve got an invite
I'll even supply you some ematches

Prodigital · November 22nd, 2005, 04:53 PM

Any RC board with relay specs close to this will work. Just need to make sure the board itself can handle the current.

Continuity Check · November 22nd, 2005, 05:31 PM

Prodigital... are you sure you didn't intend your name to be "pyrodigital"? LOL. Very nice system...

Prodigital · November 22nd, 2005, 08:43 PM

Thanks Don, I look forward to it.

CC, pyrodigital, not bad

Here is a little closer shot of the system.

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SoonerKid · December 2nd, 2005, 09:34 PM

Here's a link to a webpage describing this board i think there using it for robotics in there instance!

http://www.alexkung.com/R2D2/29/page29.htm

Then the link from that page!
http://www.lightobject.com/Support/RF12CH.htm

Here's the board looks the same as the one Don found on ebay!
http://www.lightobject.com/P_Detail.asp?PID=400

matttmatttmattt · December 2nd, 2005, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoonerKid

Here's a link to a webpage describing this board i think there using it for robotics in there instance!

http://www.alexkung.com/R2D2/29/page29.htm

Then the link from that page!
http://www.lightobject.com/Support/RF12CH.htm

Here's the board looks the same as the one Don found on ebay!
http://www.lightobject.com/P_Detail.asp?PID=400

Found an ebay add for this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll..._BID_Stores_IT

Anyone know where to find the cases?

SoonerKid · December 3rd, 2005, 12:28 AM

I must have missed that one matt.

Here are the different sellers that are found on ebay selling those type of boards!

ColdfusionX Electronics
http://stores.ebay.com/ColdfusionX-Electronics

Electronics Gallery
http://stores.ebay.com/Electronics-Gallery

MadeinCHN2006
http://stores.ebay.com/e-MadeinCHN

Tibetwalk Electronics
http://stores.ebay.com/Tibetwalk-Electronics

Prodigital · December 3rd, 2005, 07:07 AM

The cases are at:http://www.meiresearch.com/mfg_list-24.asp?bhcp=1
Best prices I could find.

pyrocasto · December 3rd, 2005, 10:39 PM

Well this gets me pretty excited. I think I'll buy one next febuary or something, and play with it. It might be fun to use something like this for a hidden finale or something I could plan out.

SoonerKid · December 5th, 2005, 06:43 PM

The company in China that makes them is SZSAW ELECTRONIC CO.

PyroZ · December 5th, 2005, 07:10 PM

I received the board originally referenced in this thread from the seller on eBay. I must say I am quite pleased and it arrived in less than a week from China. I am still trying to evaluate the true effective range of the system. Since my e-fire setups involve frying nichrome, the relays on the board serve the job well.

Thank you to those who have posted links to related info on the board. Mine arrived with no documentation, but was simple to figure out. The additional info gives me insight into even greater potential.

pyrocasto · December 6th, 2005, 01:25 AM

Ok, I just bought a 4 ch one to play with for my solar setup. Got a few questions:
Why is their 3 screws for each channel?

What's the deal with incoding? Have no idea what that means/does.

SoonerKid · December 6th, 2005, 05:54 AM

Pin 1 & Pin 2 = Normally Open circuit.
Pin 3 & Pin 2 = Normally Closed circuit.

As far as encoding goes it only allows that remote to operate the receiver thats encoded the same way.
But as Prodigital stated if your using more than one remote and reciever and your trying to operate(push buttons on) both at the same time and there the same frequency nomatter if there encoded or not they will cancel each other out.

Look at the links i found on my Dec. 2 post might help!

lamrith · December 6th, 2005, 06:38 AM

So how do you go about changing the frequency and what freq's are there available? I could see using 2 of those 12channel for my slat selection and then 3 for the cues. (Yeah my system has big capacity in terms of cue count) I could see another set on a 3rd freq to handle the on/off, safe modes etc..

PRODIG - where did you get those antennas for the field box?? I like those!

I figure I could make my current firing panel the remote box (still usable as main panel if required, as well as continuity checker) and make another box to fire wireless. MY current system can break 10ematch @280ft+ so I could have a show front of 280ft, then use wireless to get another few hundred feet away heh not that I fire any shows in an area that large, but it would save on cabling!!

Anyone have any idea about cellphones, radios etc and the safetyof these units??

November 20th, 2005, 05:46 PM	#1
Don F Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: kansas Posts: 3,023	DIY 12 or more cue wireless Heres a nifty little PC for those wanting to play with wireless I would recommend having it encoded but the price is nice . Im going to contact them and see if they offer any other frequancies http://cgi.ebay.com/12CH-Momentary-T...QQcmdZViewItem

November 20th, 2005, 06:25 PM	#2
PyroZ Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 139	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Thanks for posting this. It is very temptingly priced for a little play with wireless. I'm curious to hear back if there is any additional fee to have it encoded. I only see reference on the eBay page to the fact that they can encode the units. I've been looking for a low priced way to try out wireless.

November 21st, 2005, 06:30 AM	#3
lamrith Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: WA Posts: 706	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless The trick would be to incase multiples of those into a single sender box use one remote in toggle mode to select slats, the other in momentary mode for cue firing. BAsed on what they have you could do 4x12, 12x12 etc prety easily..just pull those processor boards out of thier fancy cases and wire the button contacts to buttons in your firing board... then you could put a bigger antenna on just to make sure you have the range.. For me personally to fill out the firing system I already have I would by 5 of them (I don't see any of the smaller channel units being toggle at a similar price per channel) Then I would have 3 set for momentary with cues and 7 of each other one running for slat selection.. I would probably also use one of the toggles on the slat selection set to control on/off of the battery in the field so it can be safed from a distance. The big issue then is that there is still continuity to deal with.. Let us know what you find out don!!

November 21st, 2005, 06:40 AM	#4
Don F Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: kansas Posts: 3,023	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Lam great minds think alike they do carry 4 channel units you would be using two transmitters . even if you left the 4 channel in momentary mode it would simply be a safety feature . In that you would have to hold two buttoms to fire . you would still need cables from the reciever to the slats but those would be shorter cables . If you could be assured of different frequancies you could avoid cables but would need more recievers/relay boards. continuity would have to be checked at the field . the company says they will encode the recievers and transmitters .

November 21st, 2005, 05:30 PM	#5
lamrith Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: WA Posts: 706	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless WOW, very cool!! Your right about the cabling, but just make a single distribution box and have the slats like a wheel (spokes) around it. Shorter runs with less wire count per cable will save $$.they are true 500m?? that like what 1500ft? (forgot my metric conversions..) Either way it is a LONG ways away.. Now that I think about it, if these transmitters are mounted in a existing firing panel with rockers for the slat selection we would theortically "hardwire" the rockers to the contacts for the momentary buttons on the tranmitter, throw the rocker on your panel and you are in effect holding that button down... Then the arm/disarm, test keys could handle the power limiting etc, disconnect battery etc..

November 21st, 2005, 06:59 PM	#6
PyroZ Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 139	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless I just was in contact with the seller regarding encoded units. They cost the same. He just instructed me to order as usual through eBay + PayPal and just request encoding in the comments area of the order. I just ordered the $24 board you originally referenced. I'll let you know more once I get it.

November 21st, 2005, 09:26 PM	#8
Prodigital Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 177	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless I think this is what you all are talking about. I am just about finished with it. 132 cues, 36 on the main and 4 slats with 24 cues each. 45-foot slat cables and 20-foot shoot wires give me a 130 circle around the main panel. I have test fired the system at 900 feet and it burns 5 cues of 30 gauge wire wrapped fuse instantly. It is sweet but what a pain in the butt to build.

November 22nd, 2005, 02:48 AM	#9
johnny_boomboom Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: SC Posts: 1,406	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Whoa !!!! Sweet That is one hell of a rig... you have that diagrammed out... and would you consider sharing? __________________ Okay Fellas... Light'em up... LET"S PAINT THE SKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 22nd, 2005, 06:43 AM	#10
lamrith Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: WA Posts: 706	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless That is awesome and I know just the boards alone cost $$ let alone all the switches, buttones and work that went into assembling everything. WELL DONE!! Yes please do share. I am most interested in the trans/recieve and controller you used. I bet those remote antennas cost a good chunk too!!

November 22nd, 2005, 08:59 AM	#11
JoeRatman Administrator Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 6,592	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Wow, excellent system. I would love to see diagrams. I find it particularly interesting that you were able to use nichrome wire wrapped fuses instead of ematches. Most wireless systems only support ematches.

November 22nd, 2005, 09:20 AM	#12
Don F Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: kansas Posts: 3,023	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless joe the relays are 3 amp 24 volt that should be plenty for nicrome and you have nearly zero wire resistance so it would be a nice combo system . prodigitals system is a great looking unit some real craftsman ship .

November 22nd, 2005, 03:45 PM	#13
Prodigital Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 177	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Thanks for all the kind words. Johnny_b: No, I did not diagram the system but I will answer as many questions as I can. Don: The RX/TX are the ones you referenced in this thread with some modifications. The standard relays are 12 volt/12 amp, good enough, but the traces on the board are not. After testing the board just a few times the traces overheated and started lifting off the board. If you use this board you need to take 20 or 22 ga wire and solder it between the contacts to reinforce the traces. I am using an internal rechargeable 24 volt 7AH battery and with this mod it will fire the nichrome easy. I also modified the encoding feature so the transmitter can operate up to 3 individual units or set the receivers to the same code and operate as many as you want simultaneously with the flip of a switch. Joe, I need to thank you for most of the design. It's yours with relays instead of switches. I just activate the relays with a remote and I left a few of the cues in the main unit. Lamrith: I have about $200.00 in the 2 RX/TX modules and support pieces for the antennas. I have 2 antennas because one is 315MHz and one is 433MHz. This way I can have a switch for both momentary and multi-fire settings. If you use 2 units with the same frequency, even set to different codes they cancel each other out when you try to press them at the same time. The most frustrating part of the project was building the transmitter. Getting the 2 different frequencies working together was a pain. Just moving the wiring for the pushbuttons ¼ inch inside the case made a difference in the performance.

November 22nd, 2005, 03:46 PM	#14
JoeRatman Administrator Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 6,592	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Very true Don. 24 volts and 3 amps would be enough to fry nichrome. I didn't know these boards were rated that high.

November 22nd, 2005, 03:56 PM	#15
Prodigital Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 177	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Don, I'd love to try this system out at your place in May. Can I get an invite?

November 22nd, 2005, 04:34 PM	#16
SoonerKid Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 761	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Here's the specs of the relays on that board unless the relays are different than what is pictured there!

November 22nd, 2005, 04:49 PM	#17
Don F Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: kansas Posts: 3,023	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Pro Youve got an invite I'll even supply you some ematches

November 22nd, 2005, 04:53 PM	#18
Prodigital Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 177	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Any RC board with relay specs close to this will work. Just need to make sure the board itself can handle the current.

November 22nd, 2005, 05:31 PM	#19
Continuity Check Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Westcoast Private Island Posts: 33	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Prodigital... are you sure you didn't intend your name to be "pyrodigital"? LOL. Very nice system...

November 22nd, 2005, 08:43 PM	#20
Prodigital Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 177	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Thanks Don, I look forward to it. CC, pyrodigital, not bad Here is a little closer shot of the system. Last edited by Prodigital; November 23rd, 2005 at 02:18 PM.

December 2nd, 2005, 09:34 PM	#21
SoonerKid Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 761	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Here's a link to a webpage describing this board i think there using it for robotics in there instance! http://www.alexkung.com/R2D2/29/page29.htm Then the link from that page! http://www.lightobject.com/Support/RF12CH.htm Here's the board looks the same as the one Don found on ebay! http://www.lightobject.com/P_Detail.asp?PID=400 Last edited by SoonerKid; December 2nd, 2005 at 10:07 PM.

December 3rd, 2005, 12:28 AM	#23
SoonerKid Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 761	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless I must have missed that one matt. Here are the different sellers that are found on ebay selling those type of boards! ColdfusionX Electronics http://stores.ebay.com/ColdfusionX-Electronics Electronics Gallery http://stores.ebay.com/Electronics-Gallery MadeinCHN2006 http://stores.ebay.com/e-MadeinCHN Tibetwalk Electronics http://stores.ebay.com/Tibetwalk-Electronics Last edited by SoonerKid; January 7th, 2007 at 12:04 PM.

December 3rd, 2005, 07:07 AM	#24
Prodigital Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 177	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless The cases are at:http://www.meiresearch.com/mfg_list-24.asp?bhcp=1 Best prices I could find.

December 3rd, 2005, 10:39 PM	#25
pyrocasto Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Lost in reality... Posts: 440	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Well this gets me pretty excited. I think I'll buy one next febuary or something, and play with it. It might be fun to use something like this for a hidden finale or something I could plan out.

December 5th, 2005, 06:43 PM	#26
SoonerKid Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 761	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless The company in China that makes them is SZSAW ELECTRONIC CO. Last edited by SoonerKid; February 6th, 2006 at 08:06 AM.

December 5th, 2005, 07:10 PM	#27
PyroZ Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 139	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless I received the board originally referenced in this thread from the seller on eBay. I must say I am quite pleased and it arrived in less than a week from China. I am still trying to evaluate the true effective range of the system. Since my e-fire setups involve frying nichrome, the relays on the board serve the job well. Thank you to those who have posted links to related info on the board. Mine arrived with no documentation, but was simple to figure out. The additional info gives me insight into even greater potential.

December 6th, 2005, 01:25 AM	#28
pyrocasto Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Lost in reality... Posts: 440	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Ok, I just bought a 4 ch one to play with for my solar setup. Got a few questions: Why is their 3 screws for each channel? What's the deal with incoding? Have no idea what that means/does.

December 6th, 2005, 05:54 AM	#29
SoonerKid Supporting Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 761	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless Pin 1 & Pin 2 = Normally Open circuit. Pin 3 & Pin 2 = Normally Closed circuit. As far as encoding goes it only allows that remote to operate the receiver thats encoded the same way. But as Prodigital stated if your using more than one remote and reciever and your trying to operate(push buttons on) both at the same time and there the same frequency nomatter if there encoded or not they will cancel each other out. Look at the links i found on my Dec. 2 post might help!

December 6th, 2005, 06:38 AM	#30
lamrith Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: WA Posts: 706	Re: DIY 12 or more cue wireless So how do you go about changing the frequency and what freq's are there available? I could see using 2 of those 12channel for my slat selection and then 3 for the cues. (Yeah my system has big capacity in terms of cue count) I could see another set on a 3rd freq to handle the on/off, safe modes etc.. PRODIG - where did you get those antennas for the field box?? I like those! I figure I could make my current firing panel the remote box (still usable as main panel if required, as well as continuity checker) and make another box to fire wireless. MY current system can break 10ematch @280ft+ so I could have a show front of 280ft, then use wireless to get another few hundred feet away heh not that I fire any shows in an area that large, but it would save on cabling!! Anyone have any idea about cellphones, radios etc and the safetyof these units??