Can anyone ID this?

[che85mor]

It's an LED marquee board. Letters are all orange. The only inputs it has is an RJ11 jack and the power cord. There are no manufacturers marks that I can find or anything to identify it.

 

[sm625]

how many rows and columns of LEDs? It looks like 80x7 but I cant see for sure. And are those single LEDs (Total = 80x7 = 560), or pairs of LEDs? (Total = 80x7x2 = 1120). Or is there 3 LEDs per cluster? (Total = 80x7x3 = 1680)

Have you tried plugging it into your LAN. It might show up in your router's device list or in an ipconfig/ all. The description might include a model number or at least the manufacturer.

 

[che85mor]

There are 16 boards, each board has 70 LEDs for a total of 1120. They are arranged in small squares of two LEDs in opposite corners. They are all orange lights. I'm not sure if they are multi colored because all I've seen so far is the sample. However I think if they were multicolored the sample would showcase that.

 

[che85mor]

One end looks like it has an infrared sensor on the front.

 

[PottedMeat]

Have you tried plugging it into your LAN. It might show up in your router's device list or in an ipconfig/ all. The description might include a model number or at least the manufacturer.

it's RJ11, usually RS232 serial port.

It looks like a sign that labels individual movie theaters.

If there are no external markings, you're going to have to open it up.

What's the voltage/current on the power adapter?

 

[Modelworks]

it's RJ11, usually RS232 serial port.

It looks like a sign that labels individual movie theaters.

If there are no external markings, you're going to have to open it up.

What's the voltage/current on the power adapter?

Yep it is RS232. There have been quite a few turning up on the market lately, just can't recall the company name.
If I recall correctly though it uses RS232 and there is a datasheet floating around somewhere with the pinout and the commands you can use. Will search more when I get back home, I think I saved the link.

 

[che85mor]

The power supply output is 12V 0.75A It says Challenger Cable Sales I.T.E. Power Supply model HK-M109-U120

I took the casing apart and pulled the circuits out. There is a small green controller board inside mounted to the back of the large black board where the LED's are affixed. The only mark on it is 7X80R and the only thing that stands out about it is there is a DIP switch with all the switches in the same position.

The black circuit board that has all the LED's on it has B80RG_A.PCB on one and B80RG_B.PCB on the second one. In addition to that there is a basic white quality control sticker on it, but it's in chinese so I have no idea what it says. There is some ink written language on it. I can only assume it says "Inspected by 13".

The only other marking is a sticker that looks like it was printed from a cheap inkjet printer. It fades from dark blue at the top to white in the middle to dark blue on the bottom. It has a bright blue ball in the middle with "SVV" in white on it. Below the ball is SuperViewVision.

I hope all this helps you help me. I really need to find a controller module for it. Thanks!

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would plug in the serial and console into it to see what you get. May be lucky enough that it actually has some kind of interface or a help menu. May need to play with baud rate and stuff though.

 

[Railgun]

Typically you wont get anything. These kinds of boards are usually one way communication.

The only manufacturer that I have experience with is Translux. Maybe you can start with them.

www.trans-lux.com

 

[Modelworks]

The signs I was thinking about are made by Alpha.
The RJ11 pinout would be
1=signal GND
2= RXD
4=TXD

The protocol for sending commands is here:
http://www.adaptivedisplays.com/Documentation/questions.php?questionid=149

 

[che85mor]

This might be a dumb question, but I don't see where I can plug in an RS232. Is there such a beast that goes from serial to rj11?

 

[Modelworks]

This might be a dumb question, but I don't see where I can plug in an RS232. Is there such a beast that goes from serial to rj11?

The sign companies sell them , or you can make one using the pinout I listed above. It really is a simple cable.

 

[ericloewe]

It may be a bit off topic, but did you actually pay for that having no idea as to how to make it work?

 

[che85mor]

Yep Eric! It was 9.99 @ Goodwill with a 15 day return so if I couldn't figure out how to make it work, then I'd just take it back. I plugged it in and the sample lighting came on, all the LED's worked so I figured all I had to do was figure out how to send commands to it. Knowing how to research like I do, I guessed that wouldn't be a problem and it's working out so far.

The key to gaining knowledge is to step into unfamiliar territory, out of your comfort zone, and challenge yourself to learn. It's how I learned to fix computers and now I have 15 years in the IT field. I don't know everything (as is outlined by not knowing there was a serial to RJ11 cable) but what I don't know, I know how to figure out. And if I can't find the info, I ask. Which leads me to you fine folks.

 

[che85mor]

The sign companies sell them , or you can make one using the pinout I listed above. It really is a simple cable.

Thanks Modelworks. It's funny how things work themselves out. I asked about that cable and the next day I went to an install with a new scale and there, in the box, was a cable with serial on one end and RJ11 on the other LOL! I'd never seen one in my whole life that I can remember.

Which leads me to ask (with fingers crossed) is there actually a briefcase under my bed with a 100k cash in it?

I'll let you know how that one works out