Snevl_bb LED Sign Control package Discussion

[stevea]

Where is the Holidays section for Important Dates for Snevl BB? I know where the section is where I place Important dates into Snevl BB, but I can not find where the Holiday section is. Today my sign is saying that St Patrict's day will be in two days, NOT!

jgary,

My signs are saying it's St Patrick's Day today, so something must have gone wrong. You should have an event that runs the script "make_motd.vb" once per day, probably early in the morning. Make sure that event ran. You should be able to look in the Snevl_bb.ini file, in the [MOTD] section, and see something like this:

motd=St Patrick's Day

(There may be some additional stuff after that if you have some birthdays or whatever coming up within 7 days).

If the event ran and the motd= line is right, then the daily script you have running to set the display buffers didn't run. In the samples I provided, I think I called that script "Idle_msg.vb".

It sounds like this has been working for you before, so something went wrong along the way recently. You should have events that run every morning in this order:

• Set the BB clock (it doesn't roll over to a new day). This event should just have a script action like this: Snevl_bb.vben("set_datetime","1") (assuming your sign is #1)
• make_motd.vb
• idle_msg.vb

Check to see if those are running. Is it a safe bet that you are running the latest version of Snevl_bb? (v1.4, I think).

Steve

[danielbo]

What type of Signs do we need to get.

Could you please update me again on what type of sign I need to get for this program. I really want to get this program and a sign. I think I can afford it now, I buy a lot of stuff on ebay. I really excited about getting this set up, I have the perfect place for it. Its been a dream that I hope I can make true now. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me in finding a great deal on a sign.

[stevea]

Pretty much any sign from Adaptive Micro Systems (AMS) except the Beta Brite Prism. The Prism uses a USB interface, and all the others use a serial interface. Snevl_BB only supports serial. The Beta Brite is the smallest of the signs, and so is more suitable for home use. It's getting harder all the time to find very many of these signs. I have a 4200C (2 line, about 4.5 feet long) and I haven't seen one on EBay for years.

A quick search on EBay for "adaptive micro systems" got this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adaptive-Mic...item3a71dcf2b5

which looks like it should work fine with Snevl_BB.

Steve

[jpape]

Sign Connectivity

Steve,

I was wondering how you have your sign connected to Homeseer. Is it directly connected to a serial port or are you using one of the TCP to Serial converters with virtual serial software.

I have my sign connected via a WIFI to Serial adapter and I'm using a virtual serial port software. My issue is that after a while I get an error saying the COM port is no longer responding. This prevents the script from updating the sign.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Judd

[stevea]

Judd,

I actually have two signs. One is the 213C BetaBrite, and it is connected via hardwire serial (about 100 ft of Rx,Tx, Gnd in a CAT-5). The other is one of the larger 2-line 4200C signs on one of the IP-to-Serial 4-port boxes (I think it is one of the Lantronix ones, but can't remember and am not home right now). For a while I was having the serial connection drop to the sign on the Lantronix, and it kept getting worse. Eventually I replaced the wall wart on the Lantronix, and it fixed it.

I've not tried one of the WiFi-to-serial boxes.

Steve

[jpape]

Judd,

I actually have two signs. One is the 213C BetaBrite, and it is connected via hardwire serial (about 100 ft of Rx,Tx, Gnd in a CAT-5). The other is one of the larger 2-line 4200C signs on one of the IP-to-Serial 4-port boxes (I think it is one of the Lantronix ones, but can't remember and am not home right now). For a while I was having the serial connection drop to the sign on the Lantronix, and it kept getting worse. Eventually I replaced the wall wart on the Lantronix, and it fixed it.

I've not tried one of the WiFi-to-serial boxes.

Steve

Thanks for the reply Steve. Are you using any port replication software with the IP to Serial box? I tried two different Wifi to Serial units and I get the same port errors. I'm wondering if it's the Port Director software I'm using.

Judd

[stevea]

Judd,

Sorry, but I'm going to claim ignorance. I installed the driver software that goes with the IP-to-Serial box, and it just works. I don't know if that is considered "replication" or not. The four ports on the Quatech box (not Lantronix - just checked) simply show up as serial ports on the HS machine. This worked under both WinXP and Win7-32, I think with the same drivers.

Steve

[Monk]

Anyone have one of these signs they would care to part with for a decent cost?

[stevea]

Anyone have one of these signs they would care to part with for a decent cost?

I'm assuming you've checked EBay periodically? I haven't done so lately, but it used to be I could search for either "BetaBrite" or "Adaptive Micro" or "AMS sign" and find at least a couple of reasonable bargains.

Steve

[Monk]

I'm assuming you've checked EBay periodically? I haven't done so lately, but it used to be I could search for either "BetaBrite" or "Adaptive Micro" or "AMS sign" and find at least a couple of reasonable bargains.

Steve

Yes, I spent a good bit of time today searching around. How does this look for the price - claims to be new and I believe the size is just over 2 ft wide. How large are the ones you mentioned?
Thanks!

[stevea]

Yes, I spent a good bit of time today searching around. How does this look for the price - claims to be new and I believe the size is just over 2 ft wide. How large are the ones you mentioned?
Thanks!

Monk,
It certainly looks just like some of the AMS signs, but I'm concerned that they don't simply call it an AMS sign. If you intend to use it with my Snevl_BB software, it requires two things: (1) It has to be a real AMS sign, and (2) it must use a serial port interface. For example, The BetaBrite Prism is from AMS, but uses a specific USB interface that isn't compatible.

You probably could ask them. I think the protocol for the AMS signs is called "Alpha" or something like that.

Steve

[Pete]

Monk,

Jim DooLittle's BB sign is still up and off over his basement bar area. Not sure how he routed his power and serial connection to it but I could check on my next visit and remove it. I don't think Mary Doolittle wants it any more. I will ask about it.

I remember seeing it working when HS was still up and running at her house.

[Monk]

Nice - I would be proud to own it. You can PM me on CT for $ info if its available.

[Pete]

Ok; will write to Mary Doolittle tonight about when I can go the house and will write via CT to you.

[Monk]

Thanks a lot Pete !