ok, due to spacing i did not put in the resistors between each led wire to the chips.. but yes they will be there in the end... but am i even close to having this connected correctly?
still confused about how to connect the pnp.. anyone else use fritzing to show me if and what i am doing wrong?
thanks
It's not clear what the PNP transistor is there for. Were you planning to have more than one row of 10 RGB LEDs?
You will need to provide power, ground, clock, and data signals to the shift registers.
You should probably provide bypass capacitors between the power and ground leads of each chip. The datasheet for the chip is likely to recommend a value or range of values.
johnwasser:
It's not clear what the PNP transistor is there for. Were you planning to have more than one row of 10 RGB LEDs?
yes, there will atleast 10 rows
johnwasser:
You will need to provide power, ground, clock, and data signals to the shift registers.
i haven't gotten that far in connections, currently i just want to connect the rgb leds with their resistors,and the pnp properly.
johnwasser:
You should probably provide bypass capacitors between the power and ground leads of each chip. The datasheet for the chip is likely to recommend a value or range of values.
crossroads has not mentioned anything about that to me.. he just said i need the following:
1 pnp with a resistor for every row of 10 RGB leds
10 RGB leds - (with 3 resistors for each RGB led)
4 74HC595's
Ruffsta:
johnwasser:
It's not clear what the PNP transistor is there for. Were you planning to have more than one row of 10 RGB LEDs?yes, there will atleast 10 rows
crossroads has not mentioned anything about that to me.. he just said i need the following:
1 pnp with a resistor for every row of 10 RGB leds
10 RGB leds - (with 3 resistors for each RGB led)
4 74HC595's
You will need an output pin for each PNP transistor. Either an Arduino pin or another shift register.
You have a resistor between the PNP and +5... It should be between the Base of the PNP and the data pin. I think it's the Emitter that connects to +5 (directly) and the Collector that connects to the common Anodes of a row.
crossroads has not mentioned anything about that to me..
That is probably because he didn't think you did not know such a fundamental thing.
See:-
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Tutorial/De-coupling.html
i did not put in the resistors between each led wire to the chips.. but yes they will be there in the end
So don't even try to physically make this without resistors.
As to the layout, what stops the common anode of the LEDs shorting out with the green cathode?
You should probably have posted this in his thread. We talked a little about what parts to use, and such. You should also mention the specific parts that you plan to use, so that someone can make sure that they are suitable for your needs. Probably you want some .1uf (104) caps with your 595s.
Hippynerd:
You should probably have posted this in his thread. We talked a little about what parts to use, and such. You should also mention the specific parts that you plan to use, so that someone can make sure that they are suitable for your needs. Probably you want some .1uf (104) caps with your 595s.
i think he made that topic because of me lol... well any mod can split/merge topics if they wanted and know how. i'm mod on a gardening forum.. i have done it a few times before..
Grumpy_Mike:
That is probably because he didn't think you did not know such a fundamental thing.
See:-
http://www.thebox.myzen.co.uk/Tutorial/De-coupling.html
that or i may not need it for my project.. everyone's projects are different regardless of certain similarities.. just 1 or 2 differences is all it takes
I'm pretty sure I mentioned needing a 0.1uF cap per chip in the PMs about your project.
Maybe for the WS2803 that we discussed so you could have color control that was more than white, red, blue, green, red+blue, red+green, blue+green, off.
i think it was for the other project, but i have those anyways... 
i just want to connect these 10 correctly so that i can start doubling it an and so forth..
once i get these 10 working.. i think this project will move along rather quickly..
nvm, i thought those were one of the ones i bought.. hmm.. k, no worries i'll pick some up 8)
0.1uF 50V ????
nobody got fritzing to show me how to do this?
that or i may not need it for my project.
Just to be clear, you always need decoupling capacitors on any project that has one or more ICs.
0.1uF at 16V, 25V, 50V, all will do. They may get bigger in size with higher voltage, keep an eye on that.
Fritzing is a toy, I refuse to use it. The schematic clearly shows what to connect. Fritzing only shows half of what is needed to make sure things are connected correctly - like a black box for a transistor - but which pin is E, B, C? Same for shift register - which pins do what?
Expanded to show missing current limit Rs, and proposed expansion with "layer enable" towards making a 10x10x10 cube.
k, taking a break because i'm just about to give up... i need to be able to SEE it connected not just drawn up (like how/where to connect the pnp's, the 0.1uF's, etc..).. those schematics are helpful, but i can't connect them if i don't see them actually connected together... some people are just visual learners and i'm one of them..
bad enough all the parts for arduino are small.. the biggest part i have are the 830 pin breadboards.. so i gotta SEE how things are connected..
you can't fit all this on a breadboard... so it then be a matter of putting on one of these:
and that will be fun all on it's own.. so all i want is to see the first 10 fully connected properly, not so much to ask i think
i need to be able to SEE it connected not just drawn up
No you don't, a physical layout is much more complex than a schematic, it is much more easy to miss things, have holes displaced by one or forget a break. The point is that a physical layout means nothing, you can't follow what the circuit is doing, it is a dead end in your education.
some people are just visual learners and i'm one of them..
If so then following a physical layout is the last thing you want to do. Reading a schematic and making sure the bits are connected together correctly IS a visual learners experience. Just blindly following a layout is no learning experience at all. It is like the difference between drawing a picture and coloring in some one elses picture. In fact it is less educational. At least when you colour in you are choosing the colours, following a layout you are making no contribution at all.
you can't fit all this on a breadboard
Bread boards are another thing I detest and should be banned for anything that uses more than six components.
so it then be a matter of putting on one of these:
Lots of other prototyping options, I use strip board, very cheap and versatile.
http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Equipment/Stripboard-29453
In short, no you are not even remotely close.
Another reason that Fritzing is not the best solution for this - It may LOOK all happy, but in reality on the first 74HC595 pin 16 is connected to the blue cathode as well as the green cathode, and pin 15 is connected to the green cathode and the common anode. Pin 10 is connected to the blue cathode of the second RGB LED as well as the red cathode of the third RGB, repeat for each following 74HC595 and RGB LED. This is a train wreck of wiring. While a schematic may be scary at first a proper schematic, followed properly, will eliminate such wiring mistakes and prevent you from destroying your components.
all i know is that all this arduino stuff was supposed to be something fun for my son and i to do together.. but in the end it's just frustrating and pissing me off royally!
youtube vids don't show jack except to show "hey look what i did".. but nothing else... everyone has their own way of doing things - so when you have like 5 different people telling you something - you don't really get anywhere.. pretty soon i'm gonna say screw it and sell everything on ebay, i don't need all this frustration.
bought all these parts that i have - thinking we're all set, nope you have to buy this or that too.. and then you put together and still get nowhere..
ex: i bought this thing - put it together, yet i have yet to see a tutorial on it's usage:
ask the seller for some resources - they don't have any to give... i googled for it - all i find are images of it like that one.. look for tutorials, nothing - and this is just 1 example of all the things we have.. lcd screens which i have no idea how to use them.. so ok get into leds... nope, can't find exactly what i want... ask for help - i'm told i'm doing it wrong.. like wth already.
If you were learning French, would you start with "Le Chat Au Chapeau", then pick up Marcel Proust, and not expect to get "royally pissed"?
Work at the simple stuff, build on it.
i agree, but honestly - my son and i are getting tired of blinking lights on a breadboard... when we want to do so much more with them..
Ruffsta:
ex: i bought this thing - put it together, yet i have yet to see a tutorial on it's usage:
ask the seller for some resources - they don't have any to give... i googled for it - all i find are images of it like that one.. look for tutorials, nothing - and this is just 1 example of all the things we have..
Often the best Google search is the chip number and the word Arduino. After some image searching I found that what you bought is the MAX7219 kit like those sold by cutedigi.com.
A Google search turned up some resources:
http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/MAX72XXHardware
http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/LEDMatrix
