Karmeck Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 Google dose not help, most if not all videos and guides are geared towards real pins. But how do I power the pin2dmd Evo when using it with a pc? Is It all done with the mini USB or do you need external power as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted April 18, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted April 18, 2021 Use the 12V from the PC power supply and connect it to the screw terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 1 hour ago, lucky1 said: Use the 12V from the PC power supply and connect it to the screw terminal. Ah, I see, well I don't use a dedicated pc for this, I just bought a 3 meters long hdmi cable. And a long USB extension cable for the buttons. Put to wire somthing from inside the computer out to the dmd. That's to much. https://germangamingsupplies.com/Power-Supply-5V-40A Would this external power supply suffice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 I found this https://www.inet.se/produkt/5322443/phobya-extern-natdel-230v-4pin-molex-34w If I understand what els I have read, 12 v is now acceptabel as there is a converter on the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmoto Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 I use a Meanwell RS 75 5 (5V 12A) power supply and it works fine. Connect two cables from the +5V of the power supply to the +5V pins on the 5V DC power connector, and two cables from -5V of the power supply to GND on the 5V DC power connector. Maybe you have to adjust the output of the power supply a little bit to get a clean signal. BTW; Molex-Plugs don't fit so good on the 5V connector on the EVO, I modified an old P4 Auxiliary Power Connector of an old PC power supply. Does not look very professional, but it fits pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 19, 2021 Author Share Posted April 19, 2021 1 hour ago, gmoto said: I use a Meanwell RS 75 5 (5V 12A) power supply and it works fine. Connect two cables from the +5V of the power supply to the +5V pins on the 5V DC power connector, and two cables from -5V of the power supply to GND on the 5V DC power connector. Maybe you have to adjust the output of the power supply a little bit to get a clean signal. BTW; Molex-Plugs don't fit so good on the 5V connector on the EVO, I modified an old P4 Auxiliary Power Connector of an old PC power supply. Does not look very professional, but it fits pretty good. I up vote you as you answer my question and came with useful information. But.... How is any of that more user friendly then what I'm linking to. I'm getting my pin2dmd Evo from germangamingsupplies.com and talked to him on Facebook, he told me he ships the Evo with a molex connector, that I'm for that reason think will fit fine. And will be truly plug and play with the external power supply in buying. I'm sorry, it's not you. But the assumption in this forum that ppl will just know or are expected to learn when there is a solutions that require neither and that is so much easier. I know I have a grate image for this..... Ah, here it is. I picked this up on a forum for retro consoles and crt tvs. I got similar suggestions there trying to connect my wii to a crt monitor, vga. In the end I used the wiis hdmi converter with a hdmi to vga converter I had laying around. Considerably cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzorbas Posted April 19, 2021 Share Posted April 19, 2021 Do you have an old laptop power supply kicking around? If you do, just look for one that is 12V 5A. The Meanwell suggestion is fine but unnecessary if you have one of these around. I've built quite a few of the pin2dmd EVO displays and this is how I test them with a real pinball machine. You would just have to cut off the connector that goes into the laptop and determine which of the wires is positive and negative. Then you can use the screw terminals as Lucky1 suggested or you can get a VHR-4N connector and crimps and use the other header. I believe that Lucky1 changed the design of the EVO board from v1.3 to v1.4 so that the 5V DC connector now runs through the step down circuit to make sure that you don't push too much voltage through the board. Prior to v1.4 this was not the case. If you put in more than 5V by mistake you could fry the LED panels and the board itself. I exclude the 5V header from all the boards I get produced just so people do not make the mistake even though it no longer matters. You are safer to use the 12V header on the board. Lucky1 can correct me if I have misstated anything here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmoto Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 On 4/18/2021 at 12:03 PM, Karmeck said: I found this https://www.inet.se/produkt/5322443/phobya-extern-natdel-230v-4pin-molex-34w If I understand what els I have read, 12 v is now acceptabel as there is a converter on the board. If germangamingsupplies uses the standard layout of the EVO board, there is no 4-pin-Molex connector. It is, as dzorbas mentioned, a VHR-4N connector. My EVO is spare part, in case the pin2dmd (an older STM32) in the vpin breaks. I use it with my normal PC for testing tables, At the beginning I used an extra PC power supply. I modified a 4 pin molex from the original 12V|GND|GND|5V to 5V|5V|GND|GND.. Because the molex is a bit wider than the VHR, the pins are bended. It worked, but it looked terrible.I chose the 5V power supply, because I can use it for powering LEDs, if not in use with the EVO. If you have to buy a power supply anyway, you should take a 12V power supply as lucky1 and dzorbas allready stated, and use the screw terminal. No crimping and a fine connnection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 1 hour ago, gmoto said: If germangamingsupplies uses the standard layout of the EVO board, there is no 4-pin-Molex connector. It is, as dzorbas mentioned, a VHR-4N connector. My EVO is spare part, in case the pin2dmd (an older STM32) in the vpin breaks. I use it with my normal PC for testing tables, At the beginning I used an extra PC power supply. I modified a 4 pin molex from the original 12V|GND|GND|5V to 5V|5V|GND|GND.. Because the molex is a bit wider than the VHR, the pins are bended. It worked, but it looked terrible.I chose the 5V power supply, because I can use it for powering LEDs, if not in use with the EVO. If you have to buy a power supply anyway, you should take a 12V power supply as lucky1 and dzorbas allready stated, and use the screw terminal. No crimping and a fine connnection. I talked with tech owner of germangamingsupplies.com ( Dominik Dancsó) on Facebook and he explained that when you select Vpin as the area the pin2dmd will be used, a molex connector is included. I'm sure it will fit and work flawlessly, until proven otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 20, 2021 Author Share Posted April 20, 2021 Dominik now confirmed for me on messenger that he uses a connector that is only molex on one end. The other end is surly something that fit whatever those numbers and names above means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzorbas Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 14 hours ago, Karmeck said: Dominik now confirmed for me on messenger that he uses a connector that is only molex on one end. The other end is surly something that fit whatever those numbers and names above means. I'm going to guess that the molex connector, if that is what it actually is, will attach to the display. The other end will just be bare wires with no connector as he can't assume what power supply you plan on connecting it to in your vpin. I know that's what I would do for someone if they bought a panel from me for a vpin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 2 hours ago, dzorbas said: I'm going to guess that the molex connector, if that is what it actually is, will attach to the display. The other end will just be bare wires with no connector as he can't assume what power supply you plan on connecting it to in your vpin. I know that's what I would do for someone if they bought a panel from me for a vpin. In an earlier talk with Dominik he said: " Hi! You don’t need external power for your pin2dmd. The vpin version comes with a standard molex connector which you can simply plug into your atx power supply. " Suggesting that the molex end is not plugged in to the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzorbas Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 8 hours ago, Karmeck said: In an earlier talk with Dominik he said: " Hi! You don’t need external power for your pin2dmd. The vpin version comes with a standard molex connector which you can simply plug into your atx power supply. " Suggesting that the molex end is not plugged in to the board. Perfect. I thought you were concerned with not opening up your PC. You will have to open it up and plug this into the computer power supply. This cable will be hanging out of your PC and you will have to connect/disconnect it from the display. If there is no connector on the display end, you will have to use the screw-in terminals. As long as you are aware of this, you will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 41 minutes ago, dzorbas said: Perfect. I thought you were concerned with not opening up your PC. You will have to open it up and plug this into the computer power supply. This cable will be hanging out of your PC and you will have to connect/disconnect it from the display. If there is no connector on the display end, you will have to use the screw-in terminals. As long as you are aware of this, you will be fine. I will not open my pc, instead I will use this https://www.inet.se/produkt/5322443/phobya-extern-natdel-230v-4pin-molex-34w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 21, 2021 Author Share Posted April 21, 2021 On 4/18/2021 at 10:07 AM, lucky1 said: Use the 12V from the PC power supply and connect it to the screw terminal. I just understood what a screw terminal is. I was blinded by the white 5v and 12v. There are 2 screws. What go's in 1 and what goes in 2? I'm guessing 1 12v and 1 ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzorbas Posted April 22, 2021 Share Posted April 22, 2021 Yup, that's right. This connector, VHR-4N, makes it easier but the screw terminals work just as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 2 hours ago, dzorbas said: Yup, that's right. This connector, VHR-4N, makes it easier but the screw terminals work just as well. In what order? Is that important? Like, ground has to be in 2 and 12v must be in 1 or the other way around? Google fails me on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Content Provider lucky1 Posted April 22, 2021 Content Provider Share Posted April 22, 2021 There should be a + and - sign on the pcb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 22, 2021 Author Share Posted April 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, lucky1 said: There should be a + and - sign on the pcb Still don't answer the question though. A quick Google tells me ground is - but I would like to be certain so I don't do it wrong. Because I don't know if it matters. So I rephrase the question: Dose ground go in + or - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzorbas Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 @Karmeck Here you go. The red wire with the black stripe is your ground. The other is your 12V. If you use the screw terminals, ground is the "-" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmeck Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 4 hours ago, dzorbas said: @Karmeck Here you go. The red wire with the black stripe is your ground. The other is your 12V. If you use the screw terminals, ground is the "-" Thank you. I wonder, what does "key" stand for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzorbas Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Keying is used to prevent misalignment of connectors when you plug them into the header. For all of my displays I cut the pin off the header that is labelled "Key". Then I insert a little blocking plug into the same hole in the VHR-4N connector. It gives you a visual clue of where the connector should be plugged in and in some cases stops you from plugging in the connector in the wrong spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.