4th Mastercard Inputs totally inoperable

Hi everyone,

I'm having an issue with my 4th Mastercard connected to my USBExpansion Card.

I Have 2 Mastercards, 1 plugged into J1 (MC1), and 1 plugged into J4 (MC4) on the USBExpasnion Card. Slots 2 and 3 are left empty.

Simply put, SIOC does not seem to be picking up any INPUT commands gained from MC4 (although outputs still work fine).

I have an Opencockpits Input connector box plugged into J3 on the Mastercard. There are a few switches connected to this Input box, and none of them are picked up.

This is my SIOC.ini file:

Code:

---

[SIOC]
IOCP_port=8092
IOCP_timeout=4000
Minimized=Yes
toggle_delay=20
CONFIG_FILE=Cockpit_Full.ssi
[IOCARDS MODULE]
IOCard_disable=No
IOCard_LPT=No

[USBKEYS]
USBKeys=0,96

[USBDCMOTORS]
USBDCmotor=0,38

[DCMOTORSAD]
USBAnalogic=0,38

[MASTERS]
MASTER=3,11,1,70
MASTER=2,5,1,50
MASTER=0,4,4,12

[A/D USED MASTER]
USB_AD=4

[MULTIPLE]
MUSB=Yes

[USBSERVOS]
USBSERVOS=0,4
deviceUSB=2132

[FSUIPC MODULE]
FSUipcdisable=No
FSUipcRefresh=50

[IOCP CLIENTS MODULES]
IOCPini_delay=3000
IOCPclient0_disable=Yes
IOCPclient0_host=localhost
IOCPclient0_port=8090
IOCPclient1_disable=Yes
IOCPclient1_host=localhost
IOCPclient1_port=8099

[SOUND MODULE]
Sound_disable=NO
Volume=100

---

To test, I made a SIOC script covering all possible Inputs on J3:

Code:

---

Var 0102, name Switch1, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 216

Var 0107, name Switch2, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 217

Var 0108, name Switch3, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 218

Var 0109, name Switch4, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 219

Var 0110, name Switch5, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 220

Var 0111, name Switch6, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 221

Var 0112, name Switch7, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 222

Var 0125, name Switch19, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 223

Var 0114, name Switch9, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 224

Var 0115, name Switch10, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 225

Var 0116, name Switch11, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 226

Var 0117, name Switch12, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 227

Var 0118, name Switch13, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 228

Var 0119, name Switch14, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 229

Var 0120, name Switch15, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 230

Var 0121, name Switch16, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 231

Var 0122, name Switch17, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 232

Var 0123, name Switch18, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 233

Var 0124, name Switch20, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 234

Var 0126, name Switch21, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 235

Var 0127, name Switch22, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 236

Var 0128, name Switch23, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 237

Var 0129, name Switch24, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 238

Var 0130, name Switch25, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 239

Var 0131, name Switch26, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 240

Var 0132, name Switch27, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 241

Var 0133, name Switch28, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 242

Var 0134, name Switch29, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 243

Var 0135, name Switch30, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 244

Var 0136, name Switch31, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 245

Var 0137, name Switch32, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 246

Var 0138, name Switch33, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 247

Var 0139, name Switch34, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 248

Var 0140, name Switch35, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 249

Var 0141, name Switch36, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 250

Var 0142, name Switch37, Link IOCARD_SW, Input 251

---

After starting SIOC and making sure the script is run, I go into IOCPConsole, and flick the various switches. However, there is no reaction.

Sounds like a faulty switch, right? So, I dug out my multimeter and tested the switches (I even put the multimeter terminals on the Input box to make sure it wasn't the box that was faulty). Low and behold, the switch worked flawlessly when tested with the multimeter.

So, in short, I have an Input box connected to J3 of Mastercard number 4. Whilst the outputs work, none of the inputs are recognised by IOCPConsole or SIOC.

Furthermore; can someone please tell me the purpose of the Red LED on the USBExpansion Card?

Cheers,

Jack

You must use the sockets in sequence. i.e you must use J1 then J2 then J3 , don't leave gaps. Make sure you have 5 volts connected to each of the master cards. this is not necessary for the USB expansion card
this is from the manual
*******************************************************************
J1, J2, J3 and J4 connectors: The DB-25 connectors are where up to 4 master cards can
be connected. If you are only using 1 master card, you must use the J1 connector; if you
are using 2 master cards, then you must use J1 and J2 and so on.
J5 connector: +5 volts DC. This connector is used to feed additional circuits, but not to
feed the USB expansion card, which is fed through the USB connection with the PC.
J7, J8, J9 and J10 connectors: These are used to connect analog inputs (10 K linear
potentiometers). In the IOCards software we’ll define how many of these inputs we are
using. Pin #1 (left side, GND) is connected to any of the potentiometer pins except the
center one, pin #2 (center) which is connected to the center pin on the potentiometer. Pin
#3 (right side, +5 V DC) is connected to the last pin on the potentiometer.
USB connector: To connect the card with the PC.
LED: It blinks any time an input in the master card changes. If no master card is
connected it will blink randomly.
SW1: These are used to reset the USB expansion card. Simply touch them together for a
moment to reset the card.
*****************************************************
don't forget to edit your controlador.ini file


Controlador.ini: We have to check the following sections (regarding the USB card, the
rest of sections must be not changed).

[ Iocard Master expansion USB ]
USB=yes
[ Múltiples USBs ]
MUSB=No
(We would write ‘YES’ if we were using more than one USB card in the same PC.)

[ USB Device number ]
deviceUSB=2048
(This number is used only in the case of MUSB=Yes to define which card we are testing
with the software.)

[ A/D used by Iocard Master expansion USB ]
USB_AD=4
(Number of potentiometers that are connected (0,1, 2, 3 or 4).)

[ Number of connected master cards ]
NCards=1
(Number of master cards connected to the USB card (1, 2, 3 or 4).)
IOCard.ini: We have to check the following sections (regarding the USB card, the rest of
sections must be not changed).

[ Iocard Master expansion USB ]
USB=YES
[ Múltiples USBs ]

MUSB=No

**************************************************************************
regards
geoff

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for your excellent, detailed reply. Unfortunately, it is not possible for me to use J2/J3 at the moment in terms of space.

Thank you for the notes re controlador.ini; I honestly did know that it worked with multiple master cards.

Yes, there is definitely 5V connected to each card.

Right, I have it picking up inputs, but I'm getting severe "bounce".

When flicking a switch, SIOC also receives inputs from 2 other switches, and so on. It's almost as if there's a loose terminal, but I've checked multiple times with a multimeter, and each and every switch is fine.

I think the cause is that Opencockpits use very sensitive CMOS chips which easily pick up electrical interference from some sources.

I can confirm I'm receiving significant "bouncing" from certain inputs. Would connecting these un-used inputs to a 5V source (on the Mastercard) reduce this bouncing?

Jack,
In another of your threads you had two GND pins tied together, have you tried removing this link.
I dont have to do anything with my unused inputs and they dont cause any problem.
Les

Hi Les,

I don't have any of my Grounds linked together at the moment.

This interference is apparently quite common with CMOS (according to a few Google searches). The most common fix is to put either the source feed (0V or 5V) into the unused inputs to avoid interference.

However, I'm unsure if this will damage the card or not.