PoKeys USB Interface

[Wendy]

I hope you did not think I was trying to be 'clever',

No, not at all. We are here to help each other.

Besides my regulated lab power supply I'll use the ones mentioned in the link.

http://www.meanwell.nl/products/Mean...A__S-60-5.aspx

These power supplies can be bought every where.

Regards, Wendy

[flatdog]

Brilliant - thank you.

[Bernie]

Hi Wendy,

I am nearly ready to start wiring some of my hardware to the Pokeys USB Card using Prosim737. The question I have is, how many LED's can I connect to one card using the 390ohm resistors. The LED's that I am using are a standard 5mm diffused type. I am trying to decide whether or not to use the Phidget LED-Advanced for the LED's or the Pokeys USB. Do you, off the top of your head, know how many can be used off one card. I am quite happy buying more of the cards for this purpose but would really need to be able to use the full 55 outputs for the LED's. Also, I gather the Ground and 3.3V can be routed through a PCB from the Pokeys card as there is only the one terminal for each on the card. (Basic question I guess). I understand how Prosim737 works, it is just working out the cheapest and most effective way of using the indicators from prosim. I will be using Open Cockpits cards for the 7 Segment displays required unless you know of any other way to use 7 segment displays.


Kind Regards

Bernie

[Wendy]

Hello Bernie,

To use all PoKeys ports to drive Led's there is only one way and that is use the circuit that is in the PoKeys manual (I think page 54). I have made a PCB drawing for this and it is freely available on my website.

Why can't you use just a limited number of ports to drive led's directly...

First of all there is also a limitation on the power you can draw from the USB port on your computer. Suppose you want to drive 50 Led's and each led takes about 10 mA that gives you 500 mA. To much to use directly from the USB port. That is a limitation on the USB port.

You also have to take into account the total power consumption from a Pokeys card that cannot be more than 100 mA with 4 mA per port.

So you can use all ports to drive led's if you use the driver PCB from my website. That way the power comes from a different powersupply and you can switch a few hundred of mA per port or 20 led's per port.
The board is very easy to build and components cost you only a few euro.


Regards, Wendy

[Bernie]

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for the prompt response, I will have a look at the PCB on your site and make the decision. If I only use a small number of the outputs on the pokeys card, I would have to have quite a few, considering the number that would be required to have the Overhead panel working correctly.

Kind Regards

Bernie.

[Bernie]

Hi Wendy,


Introduction: My overhead panel is made from printed panels between Clear Plastic and the finished product is not bad. Any indicators on that panel will be illuminated by an LED when Prosim737 calls for it to be illuminated.


In the Prosim737 Configuration, under the Tab "Indicators", as you know, you are presented with all or most of the indicators that will appear on the overhead. On my home made panel, I intend to use either an amber or blue LED for the corresponding indicators on the panel. Therefore, the way I see it, each entry in the list of the indicators section, would be attached to an individual LED for the particular indicator. If this is so, then each LED would have to be on a seperate output for it to mimic what Prosim is telling it to do. Again, if this is so, then how would your PCB know which LED is being called upon by Prosim 737. The way I am seeing it, every indicator on the overhead would have to have it's own output. If this is wrong, are you able to describe how your PCB would determine this instruction.

Kind Regards

Bernie.

[Wendy]

Hey Bernie,

your explanation of ProSim configuration for Leds is correct.

The PCB has 24 inputs and 24 outputs, every input is connected with a port on the PoKeys. The Leds are connected to the outputs of the PCB. The power on the PCB comes from a different power supply that can supply more Amps.
So if for example you connected the first 24 ports of the PoKeys to the inputs of the PCB then if you activate port 9 on the PoKeys then input 9 on the PCB is triggered and the respective led on output 9 lights up.

If this is not clear to you, please let me know.


Regards, Wendy

[Bernie]

Hi Wendy,

Thankyou for the detailed explanation, yes I now understand how it works, so I guess now it is just a matter of deciding what board to use. I think the Pokeys board will probably be the way to go for it's simplicity. Just one other question though if you don't mind answering another one, can I have a common ground external to the Pokeys Board for switch connections, meaning a piece of Vero Board that I can take the ground from. Again, thankyou for you valuable help. Finally, do you sell the completed LED boards? and if so, how much would they be into South Australia approximately and are there any power supply conditions, could I use and old 240v to various voltage power supply units.

Kind Regards

Bernie.

[AK Mongo]

Wendy,

I am a latecomer to this thread, but am very interested in this cards potential if it can drive servos for steam gauges.

This card seems to be able to drive servos...

If it takes 2 inputs per servo, does that mean it can actually drive 27?

Does it have a GUI that makes it easy to configure and calibrate servos? If not, how does one access the i/o information of the servo? Lua appears to be one option, but is there a more user friendly way?

Thanks for your time.

Reid

[Wendy]

Hello Bernie,

Yes you can use a common ground. The PoKeys cards have 3 of them all, It doesn't matter which one you use. I would recommend using a 5 Volt power supply with the driver PCB.
I can sell you a completed board if you let me know the value of the resistors you need. I have to calculate the price, I'll tell you later. They are home made, if in time enough people are interested in this board I can order a batch of factory made boards.

Hello Reid,

Welcome to the PoKeys fun.
Yes this board can drive servo's. You only need one PWM port for every servo. The PoKeys card has 6 of them. Configuration software is available to test. However if you want to use it in combination with a flightsim you need external software to drive them, currently ProSim does not yet support the servo's but I think this will not be a problem for you as a programmer
I'm currently writing a piece of test software to drive them from FSUIPC and it already works and works fine for a flaplever 737 kind, but a little bit short of time to finish it. My software is written in Delphi and the connection method to the PoKeys is only a few lines of code. The programming is fully documented and easy to use. There are examples available in Delphi, C++, VB and C#, it's very easy.


Regards, Wendy