User`s Manual Template - Nixie Clock Tube Clock Database
Contents
1. lt C gt lt S gt lt T gt lt Hours gt Minutes gt lt Seconds gt Hours minutes and seconds are in ASCII format 24 hour clock protocol and must include any leading zero to make up a six digit time To set the time to 2 25pm the command is lt C gt lt S gt lt T gt lt 142500 gt To set the date simply replace the letter T above with the letter D lt C gt lt S gt lt D gt lt Day gt lt Month gt lt Year gt The date is in six digit format again so leading zeros need to be used together with a 2 digit value for the year 12 April 2014 would be lt C gt lt S gt lt D gt lt 120414 gt CD Clock Display Displaying the time or the date is very simple The command to display the time looks like this lt C gt lt D gt lt T gt lt Socket 1 1 or 0 gt lt socket 2 1 or 0 gt etc The time display command appears to operate like a group command The clock is either displayed or not displayed A value of 1 in any socket s position means that it will display the time while a value of 0 means the clock display is switched off the clock is always running With three Smartsockets and assuming that you want to display the time on the 4 tubes of the last device in your array the command to use is lt C gt lt D gt lt T gt lt 0 gt lt 0 gt lt 1 gt When the time is displayed the hours and minutes are displayed as HH MM while the seconds tick by on the 6 innermost decimal points in binary code The command t2. ASCII none Font number 0 9 Sets Font none Speed Set 0 9 Set Speed Parameters Comment none Effect type 0 N Set Effect none O L R B Set DP s none 0 1 2 3 Digit Rotation Set Contraflow none 10r0 Group commands have been created to also reduce the number of command characters which are required to achieve control of the displays In one way these group commands may be thought of as performing a quick set function because they act on all 4 tubes of each Smartsocket at the same time and in the same way The format for this command is a little different to previous commands but is still very easy to understand In a similar way that some commands already introduced address individual tubes the group command addresses individual Smartsockets The protocol for group commands is as follows G sub command F S R E P C gt lt smartsocket 1 gt lt smartsocket 2 gt lt smartsocket 3 etc As an example let s assume that you have 2 Smartsockets daisychained 8 tubes and would like all 4 tubes of Smartsocket 1 to use font 2 all tubes of Smartsocket 2 to use font 8 while at the same time setting all right decimal points to their on state then the following commands should be used lt G gt lt F gt lt 2 gt lt 8 gt lt G gt lt P gt lt R gt lt R gt 141Page 2 3 10 1 Group digit rotation Perhaps one day you might become either bored of using an IV17 IV4 tube in it s usual vertical orientation or you might wish to
3. even the most modest host microcontroller to control large arrays of Smartsocket devices Some of the following commands operate on system variables which are very important for the correct operation of the devices especially when making arrays of Smartsockets Those particular commands will be highlighted for you in the following text However you should not worry about making any mistakes because if you make a mistake the Smartsockets are reset to a standard configuration once power is removed Note that with all commands a minimum time of at least 5mS should be allowed between sending the previous command and sending the next command If yoiu send data too quickly it will be ignored The exception to this is when writing a new user defined character when 80mS should be allowed for the software to write the new command in to the non volatile flash memory 8lPage 2 3 0 Version Command Parameters Comment Displays Version None The version command returns 4 characters on the display which represent the version of software being used V224 means that you are using code version 2 24 2 3 4 Maximum tubes command Sub Data Command Type Parameters binary Comment Z Hehe No Total number of Sets number of Total tubes tubes b tubes It is important for the code on each Smartsocket to know how many other tubes are in the network and therefore this command is important Because of the potentially large number of tubes th
4. experiment with a new way of mounting the tubes perhaps on their side or upside down The usual way to deal with this scenario is to write some new rotated or inverted fonts but why do that when you have perfectly good fonts already except that they need to be rotated to suit the new orientation of the tube This is where the rotate command is useful because it rotates the digits through 90 180 and 270 degrees lt G gt lt R gt lt smartsocket 1 gt lt smartsocket 2 gt lt smartsocket 3 etc The parameters are 0 no rotation 1 90 deg 2 180 deg 3 270 deg So let s assume you have 3 Smartsockets You have mounted Smartsocket 1 in standard vertical orientation Smartsocket 2 is mounted next to it but inverted and the last Smartsocket is normally oriented too The only tubes which need to have the characters rotated will be those of Smartsocket 2 in the middle As with all group commands suitable for the other Smartsockets must also be transmitted so in this case the correct command is lt G gt lt R gt lt 0 gt lt 2 gt lt 0 gt It might not be obvious why you would do this but there will be a day when you think up a great idea for a new enclosure for your tubes which demands that the middle 4 tubes be inverted Then suddenly it will all make sense 2 3 10 1 Group Contraflow This command was created because there might be a time when you have used the digit rotation function and mounted your tubes on their side Depending w
5. of tubes which you have When power is first applied to all Smartsockets simultaneously very important a software programme called enumeration is run This gives each tube a virtual position within the controllers which relates to each tube s position in the real world The leftmost tube is number 1 followed by 2 then 3 and so on Commands are sent in groups so for example if you would like to set the font of tube 2 and 3 but leave the font of tube 1 and 4 the same you must send a command which addresses all of the tubes The font command begins with the letter F then the next character relates to tube number 1 s font then tube number 2 s font and so on This means that if you want to change the font only for tubes 2 and 3 you will need to know the font of tube 1 and 4 already if you do not want to change them HINT You can use an array to hold that information in your PC or microcontroller program In other words a command such as Tube2 Font 3 and Tube 3 Font 3 is not really feasible This method of keeping a mirror in your host has many benefits which makes this method most suitable in this application If you are using the IV17 IV4 explorer boards with Smartsocket controllers you will only have to jumper 4 connections between each board to increase the number of tubes in the array Data IN Data OUT fl Data OUT BE JO GND di GND 9 O 5Vdc 35Vdc PSU 5Vdc d 5Vdc O 35Vdc LO
6. you have a small 35V supply mounted with each Smartsocket microcontroller Data connections should be made using good quality cable and if long distances are expected then a shielded cable is better than using multiple core ribbon cables 26 Page M MESSAGE P DECIMAL POINT Command V Version Command Z Total tubes Command N eNumerate Command F Font Command E Effect Command S Speed MS none Sub Type none Sub Type none Sub Type NN Sub Type none Sub Type none Sub Type none Parameters binary tube position b scroll wait b start pos b end pos b Parameters None Parameters None Parameters Parameters none Parameters none Parameters none 0 N See effect list Data all ASCII message Comment Direct to tube Scroll message message O L R B each tube 1 2 3 4 each tube Switches DP s on off DP animation Comment Displays Version Data binary Total number of tubes b Comment Sets no Of tubes Data Binary Comment Pause 40mS Displays position Pause 40mS Does not display Data all ASCII 0 9 See font list Comment Sets Font Data all ASCII sewn Sets transition effect Data all ASCII 0 9 Comment Sets transition speed 27 Page Command I Independe Sub Type IF Parameters binar tube position b Data all ASCII Font numb
7. 1V17 How to scroll the word IV17 left to right and leave the tubes blank 4 tubes Send message MS lt 50 gt lt 4 gt lt 1 gt IV17 4 spaces How to scroll the word IV17 right to left and leave the tubes blank 4 tubes Send message MS lt 50 gt lt 1 gt lt 4 gt 4 spaces IV17 How to make a smooth sweep reveal 4 tubes 24 Page Set the effect to 1 fade speed to 5 medium and delay each transition by a value of lt 80 gt Send GE1 pause 5mS Send GS5 pause 5mS Send DSL lt 80 gt This method assume that shorthand group commands are used but the same result can be achieved using the per tube commands Send E1111 pause 5mS Send S5555 pause 5mS Send DSL 80 3 4 Test modes New in Version 2 26 is the facility to test the Smartsocket without the need for a host device to send data Test 1 Device function Pin 5 Pin 1 Test 1 may be carried out without the need for the HV supply or the tube deck pcb to be connected because it tests that the microcontroller is operational Pin 5 PortA 3 of the microcontroller will mirror the status of pin 1 during this test Pin 1 is normally held high by a pull up resistor so normally Pin 5 will also be high However if pin 1 is connected to OV then pin 5 will change to OV too Test 2 Display connections Test 2 is invoked by connecting pin 1 of the microcontroller to ground During this test each segment is tested on it s own from a to p For example a
8. 4 Page 2 2 Command structures Messages for the Smartsockets take the following form lt Command_Function gt lt Function_Parameters gt lt Function_Data gt There are many types of commands listed later in section 2 4 and they all begin with a single significant ASCII letter or hex equivalent Most commands have operational parameters which the functions use to implement those commands It is important to note that some numeric parameters are in ASCII format while some are in decimal format This mixed use of formats for parameter values has been necessary to satisfy specific requirements of each function The function data is not required for all commands The most common command which you will have to use that requires function data is probably the command for displaying a message on the tubes This command begins with letter M for Message then D for Direct followed by the position in the array you would like to make the start point of the message sent as a decimal value not ASCII After the start point comes the message body itself For example to display the text WOW at position 1 send the following data excluding the pointy brackets MD decimal 1 or 01 or 96000000012 WOW It isn t obvious why the tube position should be sent as a decimal number here but let s send the text WOW to tube position 244 now MD decimal 244 WOW In the previous example it would have been easy to use t
9. IE test modes Q Q O 99 1 3 What do you need to make Smartsockets work Almost any serial data capable source can be used such as a PC a PDA ora microcontroller The 9 6k 8N1 NRZ protocol operates at TTL levels 5Vdc logic so an RS232 convertor may be required in some circumstances EG MAX232 Of course you will also need to supply 5V to the circuit too 3 Page 2 0 Operational Details 2 1 Principle of operation TTL level serial data is sent to the micocontroller using the 8N1 NRZ protocol The data consists of command and control messages as well as data which you wish to display directly The IV 17 IV 4 Smartsockets are programmed to respond to specific messages which have been sent using a particular format If you do not use the correct format you should not expect anything to happen The microcontroller captures the incoming data into buffer memory and at the end of the data transmission the message which was just sent is analysed If the message contains data which is to be displayed the controller sends the data to the relevant tubes If the message contains control and configuration commands the message contents are immediately made effective For a more in depth understanding of the system it is probably a good idea to think of each tube as a standalone device with it s own controller chip and power supply This will make it easy for you to visualise how the message structure has been designed to suit the array
10. R gt 2 3 12 Clock Commands Sub Data Command Type Parameters all ASCII CS T D HHMMSS or DDMMYY Set Time or Date Comment C Clock CD T D 0 or 1 per tube Display Time or Date Basic timekeeping functions have been provided for use in your Smartsocket projects This is not a full alarm clock with timezone functionality yet but in terms of keeping track of the date and time it works well enough It has always been assumed that a Smartsocket host will have it s own way of keeping track of the time but it became clear that there are times when a constantly updated display would be difficult to achieve In these cases the common factor was the use of secondary time sources such as GPS or longwave radio time signals In the case of GPS devices these can be quite power hungry and may not always receive a good signal In these cases the Smartsocket has it s own clock which can be periodically update or set with the host The clock was never designed to be completely free running however an accuracy of 1 second per day has been observed in some devices meaning that only a periodical update of the correct time will be required 1l8lPage If power failure detection has been implemented in your circuit which is a standard feature with the IV17 IV4 explorer boards then the clock will continue to run even in the low power standby mode if there is a backup battery connected CS Clock Set To set the time use the command
11. Speed setting command 13 2 3 9 Independent tube control functions 13 2 3 10 G Group functions c d ert ee estere E Renee 14 2 3 10 1 GR Group Digit Rotation oo eee 15 2 3 10 2 GC Group Contraflow eee 15 2 3 11 D Delays of transition seseeeeen 16 2 3 12 C Clock related functions sseseeeeeees 18 2 3 13 W Write custom character 20 2 4 Initialisation and schematics sss 21 2 5 a PERO dM re 24 Troubleshooting 3 1 Tes M Od LEE 25 3 2 Problems you might encounter 22 emmee 26 A list of commands which can be printed out is available on the last two pages of this document 2 Page 1 1 What are Smartsockets The Smartsocket concept was created to meet the demand for a standalone device which acts as the interface between a display device and the designer A display device is defined as any Nixie VFD or LED device capable of being used to generate characters and or numbers to convey information Smartsockets greatly simplify the process of creating a visual output device array by handling all character and font generation as well as all transition effects within the device itself With the IV 17 IV 4 Smartsocket is is possible for you to offload all of your display control functions to the Smartsocket device leaving you free to concentrate on the ty
12. USER S MANUAL IV 17 IV 4 Smartsockets By Chris Barron Release Date RevisionDescripion 1 V2 26 17 12 2011 Further transition effects added V2 27 29 12 2011 Added test feature set baudrate at 9600 fixed Microchip MOVFF bug V2 28 31 12 2011 Auto baudrate detection in first 1500mS default 9 6k V2 29 01 01 2011 Core message handler speed increase Group DP command added V2 30 02 02 2011 Independent commands to address single tubes added 1 0 2 0 3 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS General Information 1 1 What are Smartsockets 4 inondations rece dus uev ado rax ca ipta ou Dade 3 1 2 How do they work EEE 3 1 3 What do you need to make Smartsockets work sss 3 Operational Details 2 1 Principle of operation Mee SR ET 4 2 2 Command structures 2 5 o ra ope eo Rr na pa SE epRA RA ag upRA PA Run RATE RRuA RA SE RR RA MEGA 4 2 3 Commands 1 L5 Asusencsutelaossesenu tecidocseu tc edi cose ieder eid 4 2 3 1 M Message commands eeeeee 6 2 3 P Decimal Point commands sss 7 2 3 8 V Version of software inuse meemm 9 2 3 4 Z Maximum tubes system command s 9 2 3 5 N ManualeNumeration eseemee 9 2 3 6 F Font setting command ucl ede e AEn 10 2 3 7 E Effect setting command 2o te hice hrec et etai 12 2 3 8 S Transition
13. e data must be sent as non ASCII value so for example the correct command to use for an array of 16 tubes will be as follows lt Z gt lt 16 gt 2 3 5 Forced enumeration Sub Data Command Type Parameters Binary Comment Pause 40mS Displays position eNumerate Pause 40mS Does not display As was previously explained the Smartsockets enumerate themselves automatically when power is applied With a larger array it may be the case that you are required to use more than one power supply and in this case it is most likely that they will not power up at the same time If this happens then the Smartsockets will not enumerate correctly The manual enumeration command N allows you to force the array to enumerate even after power has been turned on for a long period of time 9 Page Once the command has been sent all Smartsockets change into a state where they are waiting for one byte of data to be sent A short time after the N command is sent 50mS works well the host should send a single byte 0 zero Non ASCII after which the array will enumerate itself once again The two types of N command are ND and NN When NN is sent the Smartsockets enumerate and return to the normal wait state When ND is sent enumeration is carried out just as above except the last digit of each tube s position is displayed on the respective tube In the case of ND being used a large display array would show digits 0123456789012345 and so o
14. enever a string of characters has been received All test modes are available at all times the device does not need to be set to a special mode to invoke the tests above 3 2 Troubleshooting Hopefully you will have trouble free operation however there are certain limitations which affect all electronic devices and these should be taken into consideration Some effects appear to be corrupt The only time this has been known to happen is when new message data is sent to the array before the previous transition effects have completed their cycle The solution is to increase the wait time between messages to allow the effect more time to complete The clock stops ticking This could happen if any message is sent to the displays while the clock is being displayed the solution is to send the clock display command again after sending any other messages Power Distribution When connecting several Smartsocket controllers together solid connections with good quality wire needs to be made between the power pins of each device In addition to this a 0 1uF capacitor and 100uF capacitor should be connected in parallel with each device s power supply pins as close to the microcontroller as possible When making an array of 2 or more Smartsockets it is advisable to apply power in the middle of the array for example if you have 4 Smartsockets then apply power after socket 2 and before socket 3 if that is possible This is especially important if
15. er 0 9 Comment Sets Font nt Command C Clock Command W Write Sub Type CS Sub Type none MI a RS Ra Parameters none none none none none none Parameters O C L R U Parameters Data all ASCII Comment Font number 0 9 Sets Font Speed Set 0 9 Set Speed Effect type 0 N Set Effect O L R B 0 1 2 3 10r0 Data all ASCII Delay 1 delay 2 Cycle delay Data all ASCII T D HHMMSS or DDMMYY T D Parameters all binary Location 1 125 0 or 1 per tube Data all binary Bit pattern a p 00r1 Set DP s Digit Rotation Set Contraflow Comment Absolute delay each tube Synchronised delays All delays cleared Comment Set Time or Date Display Time or Date Comment Write a user character 28lPage
16. ext thing to consider is the speed of your data Between 300mS and 2000mS after power is applied the Smartsocket controller listens for a capital letter U to arrive which is the automatic baudrate detection synchronisation character If you do not send a character then the speed will be assumed to be 9 6k baud Data speeds of between 9 6k and 57 6k baud are possible Once the baudrate has been set the Smartsockets need to know the number of IV17 IV4 tubes in the array One Smartsocket 4 tubes two Smartsockets 8 tubes and so on To set this value see section 2 3 4 Z command In summary the software initialisation should proceed as follows 23 Page POWER ON t 0mS Wait 100mS t 300mS Send U if Autobaud is desired t 2000mS Send Z command to set the number of tubes END OF INITIALISATION That is the end of the initialisation process and the Smartsockets are now ready to operate as commanded 2 5 HOW TO In this section it has been assumed that the correct initialisation procedure has been followed With so many commands at your disposal where do you start will try to cover some of the basic functions to help you to get to grips with how easy it can be to create stunning effects using very few commands Values in braces are binary values How to display the word IV17 4 tubes Send message MD lt 1 gt IV17 How to scroll the word IV17 left to right 4 tubes Send message MS 50 4 12
17. ffect value No effect Jump fade The new character displays immediately while the old one fades out a 1 Crossfade between old and new digits Z 3 _ Step fade The old digit begins to fade before the new digit replaces it A Fade up All segments begin to light before switching off to reveal the next character 5 Rotor CW without highlight 0 O 6 Rotor CCW without highlight S O 8 Rotor CCW with highlight S O 9 Split Rotor CW with highlight S O A QQ SplitRotor CCW with highlight S O B SpinwashCW Spin wash CCW D _ Shiftright left E Shiftrght left 12 Page Intense combo wash Intense combo wash in reverse Intense combo bullets ntense combo bullets in reverse 2 3 8 Transition speed selection MED uu G EE i KT Y K SIipand spin in reverse M N 5 Sub Data Command Parameters all ASCII Comment Type none none 0 9 Sets transition speed S Speed With so many transitions it would be nice to be able to slow them down perhaps increasing the anticipation about what will come next or even speed the transitions up in order to create a very eye catching transition which demands attention The range of effect speeds is 0 9 with 0 being the quickest and 9 produces the longest lasting transition The command is once again a per tube instruction and so the speed of all tubes must be set at the same
18. he ASCII character 1 decimal 49 to represent the tube position where you wanted the message to start But what can we use in the second example when we want to make the message start position tube number 244 Can you send ASCII character 244 easily or even can you remember that that particular ASCII character relates to decimal number 244 can t ASCII 244 character member of the extended ASCII character set Traditional end of message characters such as carriage return CR and line feed LF are not required and should not be sent Note that the lt gt braces are used only in the documentation and they should not be sent in the actual command 5 Page 2 3 Commands Not all commands are available with earlier versions of software The introduction of various commands can be observed in the revision list on the front page of this guide The IV17 IV4 Smartsocket commands can generally be broken down into two types Display information commands and the control configuration commands Sub Parameters Data Command Type binary all ASCII tube_position b message Comment Direct to tube M MS scroll wait b start pos b end pos b message Scroll MESSAGE message Switches P DP s DECIMAL on off POINT DP non s animation 2 3 1 Message commands As you can see there are only two command types which are required to control what data is displayed by the tubes including the decimal po
19. hich way you mount your Smartsockets in the array you could find that a scroll command seems to operate in reverse Instead of the digits scrolling from top to bottom they could scroll from bottom to top To correct this problem just issue the Contraflow command and the relative positions of the tubes to each other is completely reversed Tube 1 becomes tube 4 and so on Importantly you do not need to change the order of any data you are going to send The use of one contraflow command is the only compensation you will need to make lt G gt lt C gt lt smartsocket 1 gt lt smartsocket 2 gt lt smartsocket 3 gt In this example using 3 Smartsockets let s assume that Smartsocket 2 needs to be reversed because it has been mounted on it s side but Smartsockets 1 and 3 are normally oriented then the command to use is lt G gt lt C gt lt 0 gt lt 1 gt lt 0 gt The numeric values are ASCII characters 151Page 2 3 11 Transition Delays Sub Data Command Type Parameters all ASCII Comment Absolute Delay 1 delay 2 delay each tube Synchronised delays All delays cleared O C L R U Cycle delay So far in this guide any digit change transition mentioned has referred to an instant change or the instant reception of commands In earlier versions of the software when you wanted to scroll a message across the display you literally had to send the scrolling character data line by line with the relevant pauses to move a static l
20. ine of text across the tubes one tube at a time This brought about the creation of the scroll command which now does everything required in one simple command A very eyecatching effect can also be created by changing the digits in a display one character at a time with a pause in between This sort of effect might start at tube position 1 which begins to change immediately then after a short time delay tube 2 begins to transition after another short pause tube 3 begins to transition In this way a sweeping reveal effect can be created To do this without any special commands requires that your host device sends a sequence of messages each with a short pause following it to one tube at a time That can be very longwinded To make life easier the delay commands have been created and these allow you to force each tube position to wait before transitioning to the new character you would like to send There are more than enough delay patterns to choose from so you will hopefully be able to find the right one for your needs DA Delay Absolute All delays begin counting down when a new character is sent to the displays the first delays to expire are the shorter delays A longer delay means more time passes before a tube changes from the existing character to the new character Absolute delays are defined as a parameter which every tube possesses and which can be unique and distinct from any delay programmed into a neighbouring display p
21. ints Let s say you want to scroll a line of text from tube 4 to tube 1 left to right then you need to use the MS command The parameters which are required relate to the scrolling step delay the start position and the end position The by denotes this data is not ASCII but actual decimal or binary data When you do not see b then it is safe to assume that the numeric value is in ASCII So to scroll our message Hello World across 4 tubes starting at tube 4 leaving at tube 1 with a short delay between each scroll step you should send the following command excluding and gt lt M gt lt S gt lt 60 gt lt 4 gt lt 1 gt lt Hello World gt When you send that command you will notice that the display scrolling stops with the last 4 digits displayed on the tubes orld If you like you can clear the tubes after a scroll simply by sending enough trailing blank spaces as required to move the text off 6lPage the tubes For a 4 tube display this would be 4 spaces for 8 tubes it is 8 spaces and so on An easier way to display data is to use the Direct message command MD To use this command the only parameter which you need to provide is the start position of your text If you wanted to display the word HI on tubes 2 and 3 send the following command lt M gt lt D gt lt 2 gt lt HI gt There is a distinct exception to the use of ACSII characters for the message body which is related to
22. li us seras alent Ge aka dev e des ee eee nd Wei ling Moocher AN Moocher is Smartsocket font NJ number 8 Intruders A Pi Intr B s Smartsocket font FIZ 7d T NJA C number GeekKlok font images reproduced from the GeekKlok User Manual vers2 5 by R Weisling for information purposes only There is one more font which is the user defined character font This font is used in conjunction with the user Write command and it is comprised of the user defined characters To use this font select font U instead of 0 9 2 3 7 Effect selection Sub Data Command Type Parameters all ASCII Comment Sets transition none none 0 N See effect list effect E Effect One of the reasons that Smartsockets are so useful is the variety of inbuilt character transition effects which are included Itis common to see digits cross fading in retro style clocks and devices using vintage display devices but upon realising the greater potential for creating many more interesting effects many different styles are provided As was the case for the font command the effect command addresses all tubes in an array so you still need to be careful that you send all effect transitions Assuming a 4 tube array and you want tube 3 to use effect G and the remaining tubes to use effect 8 then the command to use is lt E gt lt 8 gt lt 8 gt lt G gt lt 8 gt Below is a list of the current effects Effect Description of e
23. ll segment a s will light first then all segment b s and so on allowing you to detect if there are any short circuits or missing connections If at any point during this phase of the test cycle 2 segments are lit at the same time in any tube then you need to check for a short circuit A likely place to find a short would be through the creation of a solder bridge between 2 pins of the HV driver IC While each segment is being tested each decimal point in each tube is tested individually in a scanning pattern from right to left and back again Once the segment test is complete the screen test takes place In alternate tubes all a to h segments are lit and then all i to p segments are lit After a short pause the pattern switches tubes If any neighbouring tubes display the same pattern then there is a probably a short circuit between connections to individual tube screens possibly at the HV driver again 25 Page All displays in all tubes should be of an even brightness during this test Test 3 Data packet reception confirmation Pin 14 toggles with data Test 3 requires that data be sent to the Smartsocket from a host device This test confirms that data is being received although the actual speed may not be correct for the microcontroller This test provides confirmation that the host device is able to communicate with the microcontroller During this test the status of pin 14 PortC 3 alternates between high and low 5Vdc and OV wh
24. n 2 3 6 Font selection Sub Data Command Type Parameters all ASCII Comment F none none 0 9 See font list Sets Font Font This is a simple way to be able to set the font of each tube Fonts only apply to numeric characters There are fonts for upper case and lower case letters as well as some punctuation marks You can create your own fonts too because there are 120 custom characters available for you to edit but more about that later The font command structure follows the same protocol as the decimal point command which means that instead of using this command to set only one font on one tube you must set the neighbouring fonts of the tubes next to the one which interests you too This isn t always the case there are a few shortcuts available but more about that later too The system font is font number 1 which means that if the Smartsockets are powered off then when they are next powered back on the font will default to type 1 To change fonts the method is straightforward Assuming an 8 tube array two Smartsockets daisychained and you want the last two tubes on the right to display numbers using font 4 leaving the other tubes using font 1 send the following command lt F gt lt 1 gt lt 1 gt lt 1 gt lt 1 gt lt 1 gt lt 1 gt lt 4 gt lt 4 gt font numbers are in ASCII 101Page 2 pL EI NAZ KY 3N EE MA TAT AA AA AND C03 5 ED LEAH e xr So NX TIN TDN SAAN addit ral fonts r o EM PR pesce ies Val
25. o display the date is almost identical that that used to display the time and you simply need to replace the letter T with the letter D If we use the three Smartsockets form the example used to display the time above then the command used to display the ate on the middle 4 tubes of the array Smartsocket 2 in the array is as follows 19 Page lt C gt lt D gt lt T gt lt 0 gt lt 1 gt lt 0 gt The date is displayed as DD MM on four tubes and the year is displayed in binary format on the innermost 6 decimal points Where a Smartsocket has been displaying the time or the date and the time date command is turned off the previous characters which were being displayed on those tubes concerned are restored 2 3 13 Write user defined characters Sub Parameters Data Type all binary all binary Bit pattern a p Write a user O0 or 1 character Command Comment none Location 1 125 WwW Write There are 125 user definable characters available for general use To define a character the state of each segment needs to be set or cleared depending on whether or not it is to be set to an on state or an off state The segments of the IV 17 have been assigned letters to identify each one from a through to p To create the number 8 it can be seen that segments a to h need to be set as do segments p and I To express this as an instruction with which to store the character in the onboard eeprom memory a
26. osition l lPage The DA command is a per tube command which like other per tube commands already detailed requires that a value for every tube position be transmitted with every instruction Valid ranges of delay values are 1 9 ASCII with 9 being the longest delay and roughly equivalent to about 2 seconds duration Therefore if tube 1 has a delay value of 2 and tube 2 has a delay value of 4 then tube 1 s delay will expire before tube 2 s delay and tube 1 will begin the transition to the new digit before tube 2 will If four tubes each have delay values of 2 4 6 and 8 respectively then the effect will be that the new word will be displayed revealed from the left to the right one digit at a time The command to use in this example is as follows lt D gt lt A gt lt 2 gt lt 4 gt lt 6 gt lt 8 gt DS Delay Synchronised Synchronised delays are the shortcut way of creating controlled delays where the one digit s delay parameter is a function of the current one Let s use the previous example where a left to right sweep reveal was constructed using the command lt D gt lt A gt lt 2 gt lt 4 gt lt 6 gt lt 8 gt The shortest delay is on the left and the longest on the right In situations like this where the delays are a function of each other where each delay increases in size by 2 A synchronised delay can easily replace the longwinded per tube method The correct instruction in this case is lt D gt lt S g
27. pe of data you would like to display With a single command you can scroll a line of text across a set of VFD tubes instantly display the time and date and toggle individual decimal points on and off If you are trying to make a wordplay device such as a word ladder or a Four Letter Word device you are going to find no easier way to handle the complex task of moving the data from your controller and putting it on the displays This list presents a few of the unique benefits to using the IV 17 IV 4 Smartsockets Flexibility of design using modular hardware up to 252 tubes may be used Programmable fonts and effects make display customization an inherent feature Integrates seamlessly with existing microcontroller projects Software updates are possible using Flash technology Control via a standard serial protocol makes interfacing with Smartsockets an easy task Due to extremely low standby power backup batteries can be small Each tube in the array behaves completely independently of it s neighbour o Automatic baudrate detection is possible Q Qi 70 Or 9 OO 1 2 How do they work At the heart of the IV 17 IV 4 Smartsocket is a high speed microcontroller which performs the following tasks Handles communication with the host device Communicates with downstream Smartsockets Keeps an onboard real time clock updated Performs display multiplexing by communicating with the onboard driver IC Monitors for user input
28. re that you are using the correct load capacitors for your crystal 2 lPage Schematic for an IV17 IV4 Smartsocket controller Left DP Right DP Clock Data Strobe 32 768kHz The Smartsocket has been designed to operate with a shift register based driver design which for the IV17 IV4 tubes can DATA be an HV5812 A6812 or MAX6921 Screen 1 Seg o Screen 2 Seg a Shown left is the connection schematic Screen 3 Seg b relating to the outputs of the driver used Screen a Segc with IV17 IV4 Smartsockets Segn Seg d Seg m Sege Seg p Seg f Seg Seg g Seg k Seg h Seg j Seg i p xg STROBE CLOCK 22 Page Decimal point drive circuit 35Vdc This circuit has been tested and is known to work well when switching the decimal point control lines Out To DP In from PIC Gnd Software initialisation When power is first supplied to the Smartsocket controller the first task it attempts to complete is an enumeration routine where an array of Smartsockets communicates with one another to establish which tube is tube 1 and which is the last tube of the array This enumeration happens very quickly and should not be disturbed and therefore it is important that you do not send any messages for the first 100mS after power is applied Also note that power should be applied to all Smartsockets at the same time if this condition is not met then a manual enumeration can be generated using the NN or ND commands The n
29. splay patterns will not always be synchronised There are 4 different patterns numbered 1 to 4 ASCII These patterns offer some visual appeal by adding movement to your display If you have a larger array than just 4 tubes then most likely you will want to use your own imagination and create some patterns of your own which can be done using the DP control commands above To activate an animation send the animation program number after the P command You can set any groups of 4 tubes to any pattern in a large array with this command too Let us say you have 4 sets of Smartsockets 16 tubes total and you wish to set the middle 8 tubes to run animation number 1 Bearing in mind that you still need to send data for Smartsockets and tubes which will not be displaying DP animations send the following command lt P gt lt O gt lt 1 gt lt 1 gt lt O gt As with all DP commands none of the numeric values or characters are in binary format so you can type this command directly from a PC keyboard via a terminal program such as Hyperterm Configuration and control commands The group of commands which are of this type give you the control and flexibility to manage every aspect about how your data is displayed on the tubes You will find there are also some shortcuts and group commands which become very useful when you start to build larger arrays using Smartsockets This grouping of commands has been done to make it possible for
30. t lt L gt lt 2 gt 5 left sweep reveal L in this instruction indicates that the first tube to transition will be the leftmost tube and the value of 2 defines the wait period before each subsequent tube transitions It may not seem like much of a saving with four tubes but you can imagine how much easier a left sweep reveal will be with 16 tubes because exactly the same command works as well with 16 or even 60 tubes as it does with 4 That covers a left sweep reveal so you can probably guess the command to use for a right sweep reveal now Yes you just replace the letter L with the letter R lt D gt lt S gt lt R gt lt 2 gt right sweep reveal There are three remaining sub types of this command O C and U l7 Page O The transitioning begins from the Outer two tubes and moves towards the centre C The transitioning begins in the Centre tubes and works it s way outwards U Undefined A pseudo random algorithm selects different values for each tube The O and C command structure us the same as for the left and right commands The U command requires no additional data so the command for pseudo random undefined delays is simply lt D gt lt S gt lt U gt DR Delays Reset to zero Well after playing around with all those delays it might be the case that it is impossible to remember what tube is set to which delay value so why not just issue a the reset command to bring some sanity back into things lt D gt lt
31. t a desired location the following D S command should be transmitted lt W gt lt address 0 125 gt lt 1111111100010001 gt The string of sixteen 1 s and 0 s in the previous command represent the state of the segments a through p the first segment after the address relates to segment a followed by b then c and so on Both the address and the segment bit states are binary values not ASCII You will just need to remember where you store your characters so that you can use them later 20 Page 2 4 initialisation Most electronic devices need to be initialised to a known state before they are used and the IV17 IV4 Smartsocket is no different Before attempting to operate the device the following conditions need to be met If you received the Smartsocket software on a preprogrammed PIC chip you will receive the pullup resistor with the chip Please install the resistor 4k7 between PIC pin 2 RAO and any 5V supply line from the main power supply This PIC input is used to detect power failure of the main supply which forces the PIC into low power mode so the resistor should not be connected to the battery backup ve contact PIC MCU If you intend to use the clock functions you should connect a 32 768kHz timing crystal to pins 11 and 12 with appropriate capacitors to suit the crystal Cx Some crystals require 12pF load capacitors others require 20pF It is important to be su
32. the use of user defined characters In this case you need to provide the binary character number in the range 0 125 instead of the ASCII character 2 3 2 Decimal point commands Decimal points can be independently controlled and in some circumstances they can also be animated too The basic decimal point command operates on a per tube basis This means that for each tube in the display there is a corresponding position in the decimal point control command which refers to each particular tube EG lt P gt lt Tube 1 DP s gt lt Tube 2 DP s gt lt Tube 3 DP s gt lt Tube 4 DP s gt etc If we say that you want to turn on the left hand decimal point of tube number 3 then in conjunction with the P command we also need to send the L instruction O Off L Left R Right B Both It is important when you control DP s in this way that you also send the DP data for every decimal point too Assuming that the only decimal point you would like to turn on is the left DP of tube number 3 and you have 4 tubes in the array you need to send the following command lt P gt lt O gt lt O gt lt L gt lt O gt And if you want to turn on all DP s send this lt P gt lt B gt lt B gt lt B gt lt B gt Animating the decimal points is possible using inbuilt routines but it is important to remember that these routines are only designed for use with 4 tube arrays If you 7 Page have larger arrays then you might find that the di
33. time Assuming a 4 tube array which needs the first two tubes to run quickly say at speed 3 and the remaining two tubes to transition more slowly say at speed 7 you should send the following command lt S gt lt 3 gt lt 3 gt lt 7 gt lt 7 gt Speed numbers are in ASCII 2 3 9 Independent tube control functions Sub Parameters Data Type binary all ASCII IF tube_position b Font number 0 9 Sets Font IS tube_position b Speed Set 0 9 Set Speed tube_position b Effect 0 N Set Effect b b Command Comment Independent M tube_position Any valid Character Set character O L R B Set DP s IP tube_position As you saw earlier it is possible to set all tube function parameters to different values using commands such as F S E M and P When you use these commands to change the control parameter of just one tube it can be long winded not to mention 131Page microcontroller memory hungry to have to send the values for every tube beside the one you wish to change For this reason the Independent command has been introduced which allows for a single tube s parameters to be changed with a single instruction For example to change tube 162 s operating parameters to font 6 effect 4 and transition speed 8 the following commands should be sent lt Il gt lt F gt lt 162 gt lt 6 gt lt I gt lt E gt lt 162 gt lt 4 gt lt Il gt lt S gt lt 162 gt lt 8 gt 2 3 10 Group tube control functions Data all
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