Crystal Focus X (v10) specs, demo and discussion

[Darth Brooks]

Totally just bought 2 of these CAN HARDLY WAIT! Thanks erv

[erv]

Manual online. About 90-95% done but still technically WIP, I'm still editing the OLED and skinning sections that aren't included yet.
Article Info - Plecter Labs - Props Electronics

Default package:
Article Info - Plecter Labs - Props Electronics

RICE (Mac OS compile tomorrow when I get my Mac at the lab):
Article Info - Plecter Labs - Props Electronics

Apologies for the delay, reworking illustrations and merging the documents took more time that I expected.

[MikeyX]

Many thanks Erv for putting up the manual and default package for the CF X - I’m familiarising myself in preparation for the preordered boards I have on the way - very much looking forward to getting the first install done, and experimenting with the new features 

Quick question though: I’ve noticed that the qon / qoff parameters are under the section on blade profiles (and in the blade profile in the default configuration). Do these parameters have to be in the blade config, or can they be removed from this and entered in the font config file?

I think of qon / qoff as font related because they depend on the duration of the font poweron/off sounds so it would be great if these are optionally per font rather than per blade profile.

To a lesser extent this applies to blastm as well which I’ve tended to configure based on the nature of the font blaster sounds as much as the functional change.

[Gallandro]

Good mail day!

[EXAR KUN]

The board is black!?

That's hot!

[K-2SO]

The board is black!?

That's hot!

You act as if you’ve been buried inside a temple on a moon, or something.

[RogueJedi21]

Looking to build my first lightsaber with the new CFX. Never done this before, and all the tutorials on youtube seem to only use nano biscotte.

To those who received theirs, can you give me a tutorial on how to solder their wires? The instruction manual posted doesn't have much to work with.

Just trying to do a basic tri-cree Red/Red/White setup with:

1. Flash on Clash
2. Lockup/Defelct on Auxiliary button
3. Using the DM1 kit

Have no idea how to wire this thing on the CFX board.

[erv]

Quick question though: I’ve noticed that the qon / qoff parameters are under the section on blade profiles (and in the blade profile in the default configuration). Do these parameters have to be in the blade config, or can they be removed from this and entered in the font config file?
I think of qon / qoff as font related because they depend on the duration of the font poweron/off sounds so it would be great if these are optionally per font rather than per blade profile.

yes, it's one of the thing that are going to change or be slightly modified soon. Either with an override parameter in the font config itself or by moving those to the font section.

Looking to build my first lightsaber with the new CFX. Never done this before, and all the tutorials on youtube seem to only use nano biscotte.
To those who received theirs, can you give me a tutorial on how to solder their wires? The instruction manual posted doesn't have much to work with.
Have no idea how to wire this thing on the CFX board.

You'll find the wiring of what you want to use with the saber on pages 20-23. If you have built saber with a NB or prizm before, the led and power supply wiring is identical and uses the same pads and terminology.

[MikeyX]

Hi Erv - many thanks for the answer on qon/qoff - sounds perfect 

Received my first 2 CFX’s and I’ve got a quick upgrade install done as it was on the bench ready to go. Before starting I wanted to say thanks - the card is fantastic 

I had some issues that I thought it was worth asking about to see if they are just me being stupid (entirely possible!). Apologies in advance if I’ve missed something obvious in the manual. If you would prefer to get these via email then please let me know - but thought it might help others to see the answers here.

The first saber I have installed is an upgrade from a PRIZMv5.1 with an RGB Tri-Cree. This saber has a latching activation switch rather than a momentary one, and I wanted to keep it that way. Install went fine, and I set ‘switch=1’ (which from the manual looks right, and it worked with the PRIZM). The saber acted really weird:

The saber would not ignite unless I treated the latching activation like a momentary switch (and clicked it on and then straight off again), and then it would power down straight away (with the power off sound etc.). The behaviour wasn’t entirely consistent though - occasionally by clicking the switch on and off rapidly the saber would stay ignited - weird! With the latching switch ‘on’ the aux switch would not take the saber to the menu, but with it ‘off’ it would - so in that way it was acting correctly (apart from the fact that the blade was not ignited with the switch in the ‘on’ position - you had to move it back to ‘off’ before it would ignite and then power down). Power on force etc. are all disabled - the settings and fonts are otherwise as in the default package on the website.
I got to a workaround on this:

* I tried setting the switch=0 just in case, but that didn’t fix it.
* I thought that the ground for the power switch may not be soldered correctly. Removed and re-soldered the ground. When this didn’t work I also re-soldered the activation switch wire.
* Second thought was that this could be as a result of the induction effect from the HP LED wires - the switch wires are all nicely braided, but they do run near the LED ones. I re-wired slightly (and ensured good braiding) to give some separation when I re-soldered just in case.
* Finally I set switch=2 (momentary) - and suddenly the saber works as expected if I just treat it like a momentary switch (i.e. switch it on and then off again quickly). No glitches, no random poweroff’s, it just works fine (other than the switch having to be treated like a momentary one). If I set the parameter back to 1 then it goes back to the weird behaviour. So I have a workaround, but wondering if there is something else I’m doing wrong/missing/could try to make it behave correctly as a latching switch?

I also noticed that in some fonts the saber didn’t seem to be playing the boot sounds, and was un-responsive to some aux switch presses for blasters sporadically. I tracked this down and solved it: in the affected fonts I had alternate sound versions re-named - so for example I had a blaster.wav and a blaster_default.wav (with the old blaster sound in it - left there in case I wanted to switch back). This seemed to mean that neither of those sounds were recognised by the board - so blasters didn’t play at all (making it appear like it was not responding), neither did boot sounds. I have done no editing ‘in place’ on the card - it was all done with re-formatting and copying the entire contents. Deleting the ‘_default’ versions fixed this entirely - maybe this is an issue with the config file parsing?

Lastly I set some blade setups with a qon/qoff and it does not act like previous boards. This is an in-hilt LED setup rather than a strip, so I was expecting it to fade in for the duration (set in ms on this board). Instead the LED seems to flash on brightly, and then fade in - is it supposed to do this?

Having great fun playing with the new features, and the board is otherwise amazing so far - once again many thanks for taking the time to create this great new card, and all your amazing support in answering questions

[MikeyX]

Update on the flash when setting qon/qoff behaviour from the above - I was too quick to assume it was qon/qoff related - it seems to be related to the amount of flicker somehow (that's now the only difference between the blade configs that 'flash' on ignition). I'm doing some more testing to nail this down.

[erv]

Blade will return to main color before starting to fade, hence it could look like flashing it strong flicker or pulse.

For latching switch: use ond=0

[MikeyX]

Many thanks for the quick reply.

I tried setting ond=0, and set switch back to 1. Unfortunately that didn't fix it as the saber acts all weird again where it just powers up and down, so went back to switch=2 where it operates like a momentary switch again.

It's actually on the ignition that the flash is noticeable - it flashes very briefly, then turns off and fades in all in the space of the power file. The flicker is a bit stronger on those blade settings. I tried setting flkon=0 and flkoff=0 which removes the 'flash', but then the blade just turns on/off instantly without any fade on/off. Still playing with the settings on this one.

[Obi Sconobi]

Hi and thanks in advance. 

I’m installing a shiny new CFX soundboard in my daughter’s Enfys Nest Electroripper staff and have a wiring question. My intent was to use a single Neopixel strip because it needs to wrap around the edge of the business end of the staff. The CFX manual shows how to wire a double sided Neopixel strip to L1 and L4 with additional splicing to L2 and L3.    What’s the proper wiring of a single strip?  Is it even possible?

Thanks!

Scott

[erv]

A single strip wires just the same. The split over L1 to L4 will depend on how long your trip is. Even 120 pixel long, a single strip would only need to be current split over 2 channels like L1- and L2-

[Ridire Fíréan]

Hey @erv  !  What type of USB connector is that on the CF-X?