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DMX512 Links
USITT The DMX512(1990) standard is being revised and updated and will be known as DMX512-A when final.. The latest draft, based on the response to a first public review completed a second Public Review on September 24, 2002.
ESTA -- Entertainment Services & Technology Association
DIY Projects
DMX Building projects Links Page
DMX512 LPR2DMX printer port dongle w/ PCB, schematic, Open Source Linux
DMX512 Microchip Pic 16F84 printer port dongle
DMX512 AVR Atmel AT90S8515 printer port dongle
There’s an Artistic Licence IC to do most everything: Analog -> DMX, DMX -> Analog, DMX -> relay, DMX -> dimmers, stepper motors, moving lamp/yoke and more. (Expensive) bare evaluation boards are available for some IC’s. A set of four 40-pin DIP chips ( two AL4016 16-circuit dimmers, one AL4005 96-channel analog out and one AL4020 72-channel analog in) cost about $200 + shipping. These are standard 0.6” wide 40-pin DIPs and are easy to work with. Nonetheless, building your own boards from scratch is considerable work.
Artistic Licence also has an interesting implementation of TCP/IP->DMX and a wide variety of commercial grade equipment.
Low-cost Commercial devices and populated pc boards
Nicely made, compact, moderately priced DMX512 boards for the DIY’er with informative pages on how to build a AC light dimmers and other projects
BeDesign (now DMXPro) touts a handy IR remote for DMX control (100' range claimed, 512 channels, 50-scene storage)
JPK Systems – Flexible, moderately priced RS-232 controller and interface boards
SpectraScan ( US Distributors for JPK Systems Limited
Enttec (Australia) has an interesting controllers with good documentation
including Ethernet to DMX512 and board-level OEM.
SoundLight -- PCDMX SoundLight manufactures and sells interfaces from DMX512 to RS-232, PC parallel (printer) port, ISA, PCI, PCMCIA and USB. They provide drivers and program skeletons (source code) for VB3-VB6 &VBA, Delphi, links to Linux projects, and a listserve. They also sell a variety of board-level DMX products (multiplexors, fluorescent lighting control, etc
Pangolin and related pc boards
Low-cost dimmers and control panels
Cheaplights.com What it says. Among other offerings, inexpensive non UL dimmer packs with both DMX and 0-10vdc inputs
Inexpensive DMX dimmers (New price on eBay about $95 for DPDMX4B 4-channel 2000 watts total ; about $135 for DPDMX20L 1,2, 4-channel, 2400 watt total)
Also periodically available on eBay for about $100 (used) are American DJ Multi-Data/Paks which provide 72 (seventy-two) channels of DMX512 à 0-10vdc analog output in a well-built 1U rack-mount enclosure. Outputs are selectable between (+) or( –) 10, 12, or 15vdc and are via DB-25 connectors in the rear. There are at least two versions. The later version has a heftier toroidal transformer. Both versions have plenty of room internally to add more circuitry and both use socketed 14-pin DIP LM324A quad op amp IC’s for the output stage. This makes repair of damaged outputs simple and inexpensive (less than 50 cents per IC).
Other
