HobbyBoards 8 Channel I/O

[chrkov]

Does MCSXap support this?

Also, does MCSXap support the lcd driver board?

[Michael McSharry]

xapmcs1wire supported all hobby-bords devices. If this is new product then I will add it. There are several IO devices using the DS2405.2406,2408 that it supports.

[chrkov]

Great.

Do you have any information for how to send information to the lcd driver card for HS?

[Michael McSharry]

Use hs.SetDeviceString "DC","Text to Display"

[chrkov]

Michael,

Is the new 8 channel I/O supported? I cant seem to get it working.

mcsxap1wire does see the 8 channels, but I can not control it nor see the status correctly.

I noticed this in the documentation.

The 8 Channel I/O is compatible with software which supports the DS2408 1-Wire chip. Please note that
this is a different configuration than the precursor, Hobby Boards 4 Channel Relay device (no longer
sold), which used four DS2405 1-Wire chips

[Michael McSharry]

I know it supports some ds2408 8 chanel io device. I will need to go back and look at sourc to lok at assumptions. Does it give you options to select relay vs. switch?

[chrkov]

Yes, it does give me that option.

I have tried both switch and relay for status on the input.

relay does not control the relays at all. and when set to switch it does not see the inputs change.

[Michael McSharry]

The DS2408 is an oddball in that the primary sensor is index 3 rather than index 0 as all others are. You want index 3 to be other than text or wind.

There is debug output in the processing of the DS2408 as either a switch or relay so I would enable that and see what is happening internally.

[chrkov]

Michael,

Thanks for you help. And pardon me being a pain the butt, but huh?

You lost me. I am kind of new to 1-wire and still learning.

[chrkov]

Update.

Here is something interesting.

If I have the input closed when I start xapmcs1wire, it sees it and continues to poll it. Once it goes open, it updates to open and then never polls it again.

Wierd. I was able to reproduce this 3 times.

Chris

[chrkov]

Michael,

Sorry about beeing such a pain in your butt.

I have the I/O working just fine now.

Here is what the problem was. I was using a 24 V AC transformer for the input on the inputs across the + and -. I was seeing the LED turn on so I just could not figure out why if the LED and relay were engadging, why is the I/O not seeing it.

Well. I put a volt meter on the transformer only to find out it was only putting about 3 volts out and not the 24. Turns out my transformer was bad and the power it was putting out was enough to trip the relay and LED but not enough for the I/O to see.

I put a new transformer on it, double checked the output of it (24 Volts!) and now the I/O is working perfectly.

So my problem the whole time what not enough juice. But now it is working just perfect.

Now, I know how to clear out the database, chart and xapmcs1wire itself. But if I want to wipe out all xap stuff in HS to start over, what files do I need to wipe. I am not worried about the devices themselves. All this testing made a mess of things and I just want to start from scratch.

Thanks

Chris

[Michael McSharry]

The recommended approach for xap applications is to instaall each, except mcsxap, in a separte folder for each application. xap applications are architecturally separated so it makes sense to logically separate them as well. All data for an xap applcation is contained within subfolders of that application. To remove it just delete it. For mcsxap plugin it will have a database in the hs2 \data folder and a ini in the \config folder. remove these two files and you will have removed the memory of any prior setup. Within HS you will ned to manually delete events and devices that are associated with the plugin.

[chrkov]

Michael,

I have been working with Eric at Hobby-Boards to isolate an issue with the 8 port I/O. I think we have the problem figured out. What I am seeing is when I use 24 V A/C on the input, the output flaps. 24V is never removed, but the I/O keeps bouncing from 1 to 0. Here is what Eric said.

The actual input value will change with AC since it goes positive and negative. When it goes through zero then the input will show 0(false). But you can use the activity latch that will stay set once an input goes to a 1(true) until it is reset by the master. Just reset the activity latch once you read it and it will be ready for the next 1 on the input.

Do you support the activity latch?

Also, I show a 1 instead of a zero when the I/O is open. Shouldnt that be a 0? Mine goes 0 when I apply power to the I/O.

Thanks

Chris

[Michael McSharry]

What you should be expecting is one or two xAP messages depending upon the activity latch and the input latch.

If there is activity, but the input latch is the same as the last time then you will get an xAP message where the status will be the current state of the input and the text (i.e. value) will toggle between 0 and 1. A HS trigger based upon value change will identify activity.

If there is activity and the input latch is different than the last time then you will get an xAP message where the status will change to the new input and the value will will track the input. An ON status will be a value=1. A HS trigger based upon status change will identify a new input level.

[chrkov]

Michael,

I understand what you are saying, but why are the I/O reporting 1 when open (off)? They change to 0 when closed (on). Which is the opposite of what you just said.

1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 8 [25 Switch 7/30/2008 8:00:11 AM
1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 7 [24 Switch 7/30/2008 8:00:11 AM
1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 6 [23 Switch 7/30/2008 8:00:11 AM
1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 5 [22 Switch 7/30/2008 8:00:11 AM
0 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 4 [21 Switch 7/30/2008 7:57:18 AM
1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 3 [20 Switch 7/30/2008 8:00:11 AM
1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 2 [19 Switch Today 9:11:57 PM
1 xapmcs1Wire IO_01 - 1 [18 Switch 7/30/2008 8:00:11 AM

Input 4 is on using the onboard +5v DC.
Input 2 is suppose to be on. It has 24V AC in it. you can see how it constantly changes even though the 24V is constant.

All the others are off.

So how can I fix the the 24V AC input so it shows on also.

Also, do you see what I mean by the 0 and 1 are backwards?


Chris