#17

apologies, let me clarify.

previously, if you plugged a grid into TT and lit up a lot of LEDs, there’s a guarantee you’d hit the limit of 5v for the onboard regulator and eventually brownout the device, meaning it’d undervoltage the screen and likely reset the AVR.

the update to the electronics on this edition of TT was very modest. it has a higher capacity 5V system. so you won’t run out of power.

but this doesn’t change the fact that grids are noisy electrically, and given the nature of euro power systems (covered very extensively elsewhere on the forum) you may have noise bleed onto your power system depending on your power supply, other modules, etc. hence the suggestion that you may still want to split the power for the grid. currently the only option we supply is offworld, but this is now a very common thing for many manufacturers and i’m hoping a standard/cheap/robust splitter cable becomes widely available (ie, a super nice one shipped with the touche)

ps. you can’t really “fry” an old TT with a grid by asking for too much current, due to the fact that it has a DCDC chopper for regulating 5v. the one report of “maybe fried” was just a bad solder joint on the input fuse that happened to fail around the same time as the user started experimenting with grid ops. overcurrent is a very big issue with linear regulators, because they melt and then connect terminals together, ie, the notorious early makenoise power supply with 500ma 5v which upon failure connected 12v to the 5v line and then promptly killed everything on the bus.

edit: i’m branching this thread

6 Likes
> teletype: grid # code exchange
#18

Thanks all for the details, much appreciated!

#19

Is there a way to identify my TT, to see whether it’s a revised version?

#20

we haven’t shipped any revised units. those are what we’re shipping starting dec 3.

  • original: green pcb
  • new: black pcb
2 Likes
#22

so to clarify, If I was going to connect a

•Just Friends
•W/
•Ansible

to the new teletype with two i2c headers in the back. I can,

Chain 2 together with a cable with 2 headers,
connect the last 1 with a single cable.

1 Like
#23

each 2x3 header actually can be two connections since each has 2x GND SCL SDA. so the new TT has 4 connections, but you can also just daisy-chain from Ansible or JF etc.

i highly suggest people just get these: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1950

$2 gets you 8 or so sets of 3 cables. just be sure to line up the GND and you’re good.

but yes, your proposal would work also with two headers on one ribbon.

1 Like
#24

that makes sense. So could you use the 2x3 cable and just connect 3 of the pins on the header? or do you have to connect all 6 pins when using the 2x3 cable. Just got a bunch of 2x3 cables :smiley:

#25

Alright, for all newbies here is some info. (Latest Teletype hardware with 2 I2C pins in the back. no BACKPACK)

I have connected

  • Mannequins W/
  • Mannequins Just Friends
  • Monome ANSIBLE

to the Teletype.

Cables I used is these suggested: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1950

Here is my kit: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/799580

I had to use the 12inch cable to get from Teletype to JustFriends. Also had to use a 12inch to get from JustFriends to W/

6inch was enough to get from Teletype to ANSIBLE.

Just friendly info if you are not connecting them directly next to each other.

Now to learning!

CHEERS!

3 Likes
#26

Sorry to bring this up again, but I’d like to make sure I’ve understood this correctly.

I have one 2x3 header on my Teletype. I can use one 3 wire ribbon (like I could get from that Adafruit product) to connect one GND SCL SDA set to Ansible, and another to connect to Just Friends.

Do I have that right?

1 Like
#27

Yes, that is correct.

1 Like
#28

Great, 20 characters of thanks!

1 Like
#29

I’ve been trying to avoid too much extra cable spaghetti and as a result don’t want to power my grid separately if possible. A happy discovery I just made is that although my (green PCB) teletype can’t handle the latest Grid with very many LEDs lit up before it resets, it can handle my ancient walnut 64 (the “series” edition, circa 2007) with all its LEDs lit up. Now, I can have my modern grid plugged into my ansible and my retro grid plugged into my teletype without needing to take up any extra power sockets. Just thought I’d share this in case anyone else has an old grid sitting around.

(Btw: I used to get high pitched acoustic noise coming from my grid when it was powered from the modular, but now that’s gone. Either my tinnitus has got worse and I can’t hear it any more - certainly possible - or some other module changes in my rack has fixed it. Ymmv.)

1 Like
#30

grids 64 are definitely very useful with teletype - the grid control mode was specifically designed to only use a 8x8 area.

3 Likes
#31

Any word on plugging in an old (greyscale I believe, non-varibright) 128 grid directly into teletype? My initial explorations with a few grid LEDs lit up work fine, as does grid control mode, but I’m curious if it’s capable of having all LEDs lit or if there’s a ceiling.

#32

no way to say for sure without trying - i would say if you have a script that potentially could result in many LEDs it’s best to power externally, especially if you’re planning to use it in a live setting.

2 Likes
#33

Thanks! Will experiment. I also have the potential to pick up one of your Two > One modules - in addition to being a keyboard/grid switch, is this a good solution for externally powering a grid?

#34

yep, it will provide power as well!

1 Like
#35

I have a new (black PBC) teletype. As far as I understand it, this hardware revision means that I wouldn’t need a backpack, right? But can a backpack be used with this version, and if so will it have any effect and which effect would that be?

#36

i am almost certain that the backpack will not fit the new TT. some connectors had to move around in order to fit two i2c headers on there. if you’re doing 1x3 connectors you can do 4 devices, and i do recommend chaining.

#37

Thanks!

That was my understanding as well, just wanted to make sure…