Post by: moobar on May 03, 2004, 10:59:00 AM
Tired of waiting for the Xenium external LED kit that some websites are promissing? Well you can do it yourself for a few bucks maybe. Depends on what stuff you already have and need to complete it.
Sure, many of you will say you can see the light from the side so why bother. Well simply put, I was bored.., it looks cool.., and most importantly, because I can!
I finally got mines installed and it works great. Sure it wont use the "official" connector, but hell who knows when that will come out.
I purchased the Tri-Color LED from SuperBrightLEDS. They have 2 type, common anode and common cathode, you'll need to get the common anode LED, it runs about US$1.95 each.
The way installed my LED uses the 3.3v line, so with the LED running at around 2.0v to 3.5v we will just need to add some current limiting resistors. For the Blue and the Green I used 220ohm and the Red I used 2.2kohm as seen here.
PHOTO
The connector on the Xenium bunches together all 4 connections needed for the external LED, but heck I couldnt find any source for the connectors and I didnt even bother to ask OzXodus. So instead I decided to use 28awg wire, stripped from an old printer cable (oh the pretty colors). 28awg is just small enough to fit into the thru-holes on the Xenium. I spose you could use 30awg Kynar but my guess is that it would break sooner than later.
Here is the picture of where I connected to. The RGB connections marked near the on-board LED and the connector are the same points. They are after the transistor but before the resistors hence the need for the external resistors.
PHOTO
Here is a completed assembly ready for installing.
PHOTO
And it installed, you'll see the LED in the lower right corner, just above the power switch.
PHOTO
Im not sure if the pictures will show correctly, but give it a try. Its one of those free image hosting places.
Post by: Master-Chief on May 03, 2004, 01:11:00 PM
But I'd rather look at the side of the Xbox anyways!
Post by: wing456 on May 06, 2004, 06:04:00 AM
Post by: nfs924 on May 07, 2004, 01:46:00 AM
Post by: moobar on May 07, 2004, 09:21:00 PM
TIP: Find the right size of wire of wire first before doing anything else. This is key to using the PCB holes for soldering.
- Old printer cable usually has nice color selection
- Old mouse cable usually has small enough wire
I'll hunt down for where to submit it as a tutorial.
Post by: moobar on June 03, 2004, 05:00:00 PM
Though the external PCB looks to hold more than just the LED, maybe an external connector for the LCD. That may have been the hold up with the kits release as the feature connector also houses the SPI ports.
But then again the PCB shown in the videos could just be a development tool.
Post by: EmperorPsiblade on June 03, 2004, 05:50:00 PM
Would a mod plz pin this!
Post by: moobar on July 04, 2004, 03:41:00 PM
This method should only be used to install ONE external LED. The LED installed here shares the transistors that are onboard the Xenium, so adding more than one Tri-Color LED could and will most likely blow these transistors. I dont know the specifications of the onboard transistors, but with the Tri-Color LED listed above and the resistors used it seems to be pretty safe to power the extra LED.
So if you want to go crazy with Tri-Color LEDs like the recent Xorease video then I suggest you wait for the release of that product to do so. That produst uses seperate transistors to power each LED.
You have been warned...
Post by: markland556 on July 21, 2004, 03:56:00 PM
Post by: moobar on July 21, 2004, 06:28:00 PM
But thats probably overkill. You may be able to get away with driving 5 or so Tri-LEDs with a set of general purpose transistors.
A reminder though, when designing your gonzo Tri-LED circuit remember that the output is active low, this is the reason for the use of common anode LEDs.
Post by: cap269 on July 22, 2004, 01:33:00 AM
Post by: bucko on July 22, 2004, 08:03:00 AM
Post by: moobar on July 22, 2004, 02:39:00 PM
| QUOTE (ern @ Jul 22 2004, 05:38 PM) |
| ...Am I totally unable to connect one of these LEDs to my Xenium?... |
Not entirely, but it will complicate it some. You'd need to invert the signal with either transistors or an IC.
For common cathode the common pin is GND and the other 3 pins are V+, but because the Xenium outputs a low signal (GND) when it wants the LED 'on' then you have to invert the signal with the use of 3 transistors. It wont be pretty but it would work, you'll also have alot more wires to connect; 9 more in fact.
Its seems as cap269 mentioned above, the xsorease is finally available separately for about US$11 but with shipping brings it up to US$26. A bit much for just an LED, but it is plug-and-play. BUT DAMN, its awfully gawdy looking having that thing on the outside of the box.
This way though provides a clean install/finish product.
If your still hung up on doing it yourself I could draw something up this weekend for the 'gonzo' method and for the common cathode method. But like I said you'll also need to locate some general purpose transistors also.
Post by: gamefreakgcb on July 23, 2004, 11:39:00 PM
Post by: appleguru on November 05, 2004, 02:18:00 PM
I have a bunch of RGB LEDs and would like to wire them into the Xenium... I know next to nothing about LEDs, but these are common Anode, with max forward voltages of 2.4 R, 3.9 G, and 3.9 B, typical voltages of 1.9 R, 3.3 G, and 3.3 B. They have max forward curents of 100, 80, and 80 mA, with continuous currents of 30, 20, and 20 mA.
Anyways, what sort of transistors and resistors would I need to wire several of these guys in, and how would I go about wiring it?
I already have the pinout for the SPI connector, and have outputs for GND, VCC, R, G and B.
Any help would be greatly appretiated!
Post by: mrjkwik on November 05, 2004, 09:45:00 PM
| QUOTE |
| Just thought I should mention a few brief points of interest here... First, i was looking over the datasheet for that LED you linked to... it will work, but you'll need to pay special attention to a few things, particularly the voltage, and the fact that they are common cathode... (the RGB lines from the xenium may not behave as you may be expecting them to!) Be carefull not to use any inverse-parallel LEDs, and be carefull about your circuity/wiring.... if you don't know what you're doing, read up first... experimenting will most certainly leave you with some unhappy hardware. Feel encouraged to post some pictures if you do go anywhere with this! --Artifex |
and
| QUOTE |
| Either common cathode or common anode will work, use transistors for switching and buffering. Pay attention to voltage requirements, and you should be able to use any simple LED out there. A few resistors, transistors, and you're on your way. --Artifex |
i'd like a few more specifics as well. as nifty as the extension bar is i'd like to have an led imbedded into the front panel. thanks to all who can help.