Product Manual: 6-Channel Lighting Controller with Antenna Beacon Effects | Brickstuff Hobby Electronics

Product Guide: EFFECT-ABEACON 6-Channel Lighting Controller with Antenna Beacon Effects

INTRODUCTION

This guide describes the functions and operation of the 6-Channel Lighting Controller with Antenna Beacon Effects.

The lighting controller has six outputs, all of which are independent.  You can connect up to six LED lights (sold separately) to the outputs on the lighting controller.  This controller supports expansion, meaning you can connect up to 30 LED lights in total using Brickstuff BrickPixel™ Driver Boards (sold separately).  See the EXPANSION section below for more details.

The illustration below shows the main parts of the lighting controller.


POWER

Connect your power input to this plug.  This is a "small" plug (Pico-size), so you'll need a connecting cable with a small plug.  If you are using a Brickstuff power supply with a "large" plug, we sell conversion cables and adapters on our website.

OUTPUTS

Connect up to six LED lights to these outputs.  All outputs are synchronized.  Each of the six outputs uses a "small" plug (Pico-size), so you'll need to connect a LED that has a matching small plug.  If you are using a Brickstuff LED light with a "large" plug, we sell conversion cables and adapters on our website.


Here are some things to note about connecting LED lights to the outputs:
  1. Each output provides enough power to light a single LED light.  You can connect more than one LED light to an output (using connecting cables or adapters)-- there is no danger of burning out or damaging the lighting controller by connecting too many LED lights to any single output.  Note, however, that the power will be divided by the number of LED lights you have connected to a single output (for example, connecting two LEDs will divide the power between them and make each LED light half as bright as it would be if connected by itself).
  2. If you connect a high-power LED light or a LED filament light to an output, those LED lights will be very dim: these kinds of LED lights are designed to use many times the total power output provided by a single output on this lighting controller.  Again, there is no danger of damaging the controller, but your lights will be very dim or may not light at all if using high-power LED lights or LED filaments.
  3. If you want to connect your own LEDs to the outputs in a DIY configuration, we sell individual cables with Pico-size connecting plugs on our website in the DIY section.  You can purchase six of these and connect any LEDs you want for antenna beacon effects.  Since the lighting controller delivers a fixed amount of current to each output, no current-limiting resistors are needed regardless of the voltage LED you are using.  This greatly simplifies DIY setups using these lighting controllers.

POWER LED

The power LED light will be green when power is connected to the lighting controller.

STATUS LED

The blue status LED light flashes to show the settings for the beacon effect.  More information is below, in the USAGE section.

BUTTON

The button is used to change both the setting for the type of beacon effect and also to select the setting for the speed of the active beacon effect.  More information is below, in the USAGE section.

OTHER PLUGS

There are other plugs on the lighting controller-- these have no function for the antenna beacon effect controller, so they are marked with a red "X" in the diagram above.  Leave these disconnected (do not plug anything into these plugs).


USAGE

Once the lighting controller is connected to power, its green Power LED light should turn on.  If this LED light does not turn on, check your power supply source.  The lighting controller is designed to be operated from a 5V DC power source.

Do not connect the lighting controller to any sort of dimming circuit or dimmer controller-- this can damage the circuit board.  To operate properly, the lighting controller needs a full "on" connection (5V DC).
You can use external switches to turn the lighting controller ON and OFF, as long as those switches are not dimmers and provide either a fully ON or fully OFF power supply.

When power is supplied, the onboard Status LED light will blink 1-4 times to indicate the setting for the type of antenna beacon effect:
  1. One blink:  the beacon light gradually brightens and dims
  2. Two blinks:  the beacon light brightens and dims then brightens and dims again
  3. Three blinks:  the beacon flashes once
  4. Four blinks:  the beacon flashes twice
After indicating the setting for the type of beacon effect, the Status LED will then produce additional blinking to show the setting for the speed of the active beacon effect:
  1. One blink:  fast
  2. Two blinks:  medium
  3. Three blinks:  slow
  4. Four blinks:  slowest

During normal operation, you can use the button to change the type of antenna beacon effect by pressing and quickly releasing the button once.  This is called a "short press" of the button.  The onboard Status LED light will blink 1-4 times to show which setting for the type of beacon effect is now active.  See above for the beacon effect type settings associated with 1, 2, 3, and 4 blinks of the onboard Status LED light.

If you press the button when the delay is set to 4, it will loop back to level 1 again.

You can also change the setting for the speed of the active beacon effect.  To do this, press and hold the button for 1-2 seconds, then release.  This is called a "long press" of the button.  This will toggle the speed setting for the active beacon effect and the onboard Status LED light will display a quick "ramp" sequence to indicate which speed mode is active.

Your settings are stored in memory and preserved even when power is turned off.

EXPANSION

Using Brickstuff BrickPixel™ Driver Boards, you can add up to 24 additional antenna beacon effect LED lights to this controller.  Just like with the six onboard connections, each LED will have its own antenna beacon effect.

To expand your antenna beacon effect setup, you will need each of the following:
  1. One or more BrickPixel™ Driver Boards.  We have these in 6-output (SKU: BRANCH06X-1PK) and 12-output (SKU: BRANCH12X-1PK) configurations.
  2. A pack of BrickPixel™ Connecting Cables.  These are sold in packs of four, and we have several lengths (depending on your setup): 5cm (2in) cables (SKU: BP-GROW05-4PK), 30cm (12in) cables (SKU: BP-GROW30-4PK), and 50cm (20in) cables (SKU: BP-GROW50-4PK).  You will need one connecting cable for each BrickPixel™ Driver Board you connect to the main lighting controller.
  3. More lights!
Once you have these parts, you can connect the first Driver Board to the plug labeled "OUT" on the main lighting controller.  See the main controller illustration at the top of this article-- the "OUT" plug is at the center left of the illustration.  Look for the brown "Expansion" label.

THANK YOU

Thank you for purchasing this Brickstuff product!  Your support means a lot to our small, family business, and it allows us to wake up every morning and continue doing the work we love: making really cool things to take your models to the next level!

If you have any questions or problems with this product, please send us an e-mail and let us know how we can help.

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