HC-8

[JackMan]

Jon,
   I know you don't like to throw a date at us for new product releases but any chance the HC-8 will be available this Winter? I'll be working on some new projects in my nice warm basement when the snow is flying and could probably put one or two to good use.  ;D

[JonnyMac]

It is at the top of our list, so unless something gets in the way (e.g., contract design/build) you should get your wish.  That's the extent of what I can say.

[JackMan]

Thanks Jon, looking forward to another great EFX-TEK product!  ;)

[bsnut]

Jon,

I understand that the HC-8 is top of your list. I have projects that want to use this fine new product for some of them and would like to see a drawing to help me out. One of my projects is the Nachod signal that I am still working on and the HC-8 is prefect, because of 485 coms and you stated that it can be hacked to do other things.   

[JonnyMac]

We won't release any documentation until the product moves into production.  Technically, we're still in the development stages and as I have conversations with some of our bigger OEM customers I keep adding features to enhance the design.

What I can tell you about the RS-485 circuitry is that I changed it from half-duplex only (2-wire) to a circuit that supports full-duplex (4-wire) as well.  Why?  Well, for those that have seen my November column in Nuts & Volts know that I experimented with the Renard protocol that is very popular in the DIY Christmas lighting community.  That protocol really wants to have separate RX and TX lines so that the addressing scheme of the unit is based on its position on the buss.  Since the HC-8+ has DC dimming capability, I changed that circuit to support Renard and even more RS-485 protocols.

[livinlowe]

We won't release any documentation on until the product moves into production.  Technically, we're still in the development stages and as I have conversations with some of our bigger OEM customers I keep adding features to enhance the design.

What I can tell you about the RS-485 circuitry is that I changed it from half-duplex only (2-wire) to a circuit that supports full-duplex (4-wire) is desired.  Why?  Well, for those that have seen my November column in Nuts & Volts know that I experimented with the Renard protocol that is very popular in the DIY Christmas lighting community.  That protocol really wants to have separate RX and TX lines so that the addressing scheme of the unit is based on its position on the buss.  Since the HC-8+ has DC dimming capability, I changed that circuit to support Renard and even more RS-485 protocols.

Sounds like it's going to be a great product, Jon! Sooo hard to sit and wait, like wanting to wake the parents at 5am on christmas morning!  ;D

[bsnut]

I can see your reasoning and guess I will have to wait. I was looking at hack that requires no more than four triggers and was looking see it was able to be done on this new great product.

[JonnyMac]

Yes, the board has eight independent TTL trigger inputs (they're routed through a 74x165 shift register to cut down on IO pins).  Since the board has eight inputs, eight outputs (can be servo or DC out), and RS-485, I considered renaming it the HC-8x8+, but that just seems a bit like a vehicle name.  ;D

[bsnut]

Thanks, Jon you answered my big questions about a great new board with a little spin to it. Once you get the HC-8 through production and testing, then I can start on the BSM Nachod signal system with HC-8's.

[JonnyMac]

Okay, I give, what does "BSM Nachod signal system" mean?

[bsnut]

Jon,

The "BSM" stands for the Baltimore Streetcar Museum which I am a member of. We are a trolley car museum, which saves, restores and runs trolley cars that used to run in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The Nachod signal system was type of signal system that was used by the trolley systems in Baltimore and other cities.  The goal is to recreate the Nachod signal system were parts are hard to come by. The 485 coms will be used to send signal status to the visitor center as annunciation and to be used as part of a display on signals.