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A
Closer Look:::...
The
rear PCB is surprisingly cramped for "just a display",
which again may give some clues about its capabilities.
You can see the pre-fitted USB cable held securely in place
using a cable tie. This will need to be snipped of if you
decide to opt for the internal USB cable which will need
to bought separately.
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|
Display
- Rear
|
The
four connectors on the left (as viewed below) take your
temperature sensors while the three on the right are for
connecting fans, lights or other suitable peripherals. Below
these is a jumper which is used to set either a high power
or a low power feed to them. The "HP" setting
is the "High Power" 12V setting and the unit is
supplied configured this way. These power feeds are referred
to as GPOs in the manual and software, and this simply means
"General Purpose Output".
If
you intend using these connectors you'll need to connect
a regular, unmodified floppy power plug to the four pin
connector below them. If not your USB connector should supply
all the power the MX needs.
Each
header is good for 12V/1000mA or 5V/1000mA in high power
mode or 5V/20mA in low power mode. Next to the floppy power
connector are the low power 5V GPOs
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|
Sensor,
Fan and Auxiliary Power Connectors
|
So
what are all those little PCB components about? Well, the
bigger of the two chips visible from the back is actually
a RISC processor!
High-Performance
RISC CPU:
• Only 35 single-word instructions to learn
• All single-cycle instructions except for program
branches, which are two-cycle
• Operating speed: DC – 20 MHz clock input DC
– 200 ns instruction cycle
• 8K x 14 words of Flash Program Memory, 368 x 8 bytes
of Data Memory (RAM), 256 x 8 bytes of EEPROM Data Memory
• Pinout compatible to other 28-pin or 40/44-pin PIC16CXXX
and PIC16FXXX microcontrollers
If
you want more technical details on this CPU, the data sheet
can be found HERE.
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|
PIC16F877A
|
The
other takes care of the USB side of things.
The
FT232BM is FTDI's second generation USB UART device. If
you want to feast on the finer details you can find them
HERE.
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|
FTDI
FT232BM
|
The
temperature sensors are also an optional extra, but one
worth investing in if you want to make the most from your
MX.
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|
Thermal
Sensor Wire
|
The
downside is that these sensors, while very accurate, are
much bulkier than the flat type we've become used to and
not really suitable for mounting beneath your CPU heat sink
or other similarly tight spots.
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|
Thermal
Sensor
|
The
final part of the kit, and also one you need to purchase
as a special option is the three-LED indicator kit.
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|
Indicator
Kit
|
 |
|
Indicator
Board
|
This
connects to the back of your MX using the low power GPOs
and the supplied data cable and you can then program it
to signal various activities from within the software.
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|
Indicator
Board
|
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|
Indicator
PCB Rear
|
Matrix
Orbital supply a template to help you mount the indicator
once you've found a suitable location for it.
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|
Indicator
Template
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|
