Yet another U360 questions, this time regarding LEDs...

[thembfam]

One more time. Anyone using the U360 with LED lit pushbuttons? If so, how are you powering them? Directly thru 5V power source with resistor? Please help. Thanks! I'm trying to minimize parts here. I don't want an I-PAC and an LED-Wiz and U360 sticks! Hehe... I am exaggerating but thanks in advance for the support!

=)

[QuixoteQuest]

If you want to do all of these things you won't be minimizing any parts. You have no redundancy built in right now.

I don't presently yet have my LED buttons, but I do have U360s and an I-Pac--though I'm saving up for my RGB LED buttons and LED-Wiz. My only real wasted parts at this point will be my Happs buttons; I can reuse my Cherry microswitches and all the wiring.

If you want to drive RGB LEDs with all the cool attract modes and color changing, you'll want to get an LED-Wiz. This will have nothing to do with the U360s, as they run direct thru USB (at least mine do) and the I-Pac is a different animal once again, functioning as the keyboard encoder.

Headkaze, who posted a very cool tutorial for installing an LED-Wiz and RGB LED buttons, is powering them all thru 5V hooked to his PC power via a free Molex connector. He isn't using a resistor.

[thembfam]

Awesome. I will have to look into that. So, if I have my U360 connected to USB, could i ditch the I-PAC and run my buttons and LEDs all thru a Key-Wiz?

[Kaytrim]

Headkaze, who posted a very cool tutorial for installing an LED-Wiz and RGB LED buttons, is powering them all thru 5V hooked to his PC power via a free Molex connector. He isn't using a resistor.

The resistors are built into the RGB assembly that GGG sells.

Awesome. I will have to look into that. So, if I have my U360 connected to USB, could i ditch the I-PAC and run my buttons and LEDs all thru a Key-Wiz?

If you are planing on solid color LEDs and not wanting any fancy attract mode or color changing stuff you could do that with the I-PAC if there is a 5v connection on the board.  The KeyWiz is just like the I-PAC in that it is a keyboard encoder.   You can get a 5v connection from the KeyWiz to light any LEDs but you will still need the resister.  Randy at GGG sells powerful LEDs and includes the resister needed for 5v power.  The LED-Wiz only controls lighting the LEDs and gives you the ability change the intensity of the LED and the color of RGB LEDs

One thing you need to keep in mind is that a standard LED uses 20ma (milliamp) of power.  A RGB LED uses 60ma of power.  USB only supplies a maximum of 500ma of power.  If you need more than 20 LEDs or 6 RGB LEDs you will need to supply an external 5v power source.  Normally you can get this directly off your computer power supply.  The LED-Wiz gives you the ability to connect an external 5v power source to the interface thus boosting the amperage available from the card.

Hope this helps
Kaytrim

[Extreme8]

One thing you need to keep in mind is that a standard LED uses 20ma (milliamp) of power.  A RGB LED uses 60ma of power.  USB only supplies a maximum of 500ma of power.  If you need more than 20 LEDs or 6 RGB LEDs you will need to supply an external 5v power source. 

Huh.
Learn someting new every day.
Is this 500ma limit true for powered usb hubs as well? The reason I ask is that I have several devices that aren't seen when plugged into a regular hub (or directly into the usb port) but work fine when connected to a powered hub.
I always assumed it was a power issue but never persued it any further.

For once I followed the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" school of thought rather than the "fix it till it's broke" path I'm normally on.

[Kaytrim]

"fix it till it's broke"

Ah the path of the true tinkerer. 

Is this 500ma limit true for powered usb hubs as well? The reason I ask is that I have several devices that aren't seen when plugged into a regular hub (or directly into the usb port) but work fine when connected to a powered hub.

I don't think that the amperage limit is the root of your problem there.  A USB device should always be recognized if the proper drivers are installed.  Normally this happens the first time that it is plugged into the computer.  It also depends on the USB standard that the device and computer are using.  Most of the un-powered hubs that I have found only support USB 1.0.  These usually run around $10.  The USB hubs that are powered, come with a power plug are 2.0.  Depending on the motherboard you may have both 1.0 and 2.0 USB ports. 

One thing that is supposed to happen but doent always work is that if a 2.0 device is plugged into a 1.0 port the device is supposed to detect it and downgrade to the 1.0 standard.  If one of these non complaint 2.0 devices is plugged into a 2.0 hub which is in turn plugged into a 1.0 port the hub will act as the translator for the device.  In this way the non complaint device will function normally.

Now I may be off my rocker here as this is based on some assumption and not fully understanding your hardware.  Nor do I pretend to be an expert on USB technology.  If I am completely wrong someone with more better knowlege should be along to fix my miss stakes.   RandyT, do I have this right or did I completely miss the mark?

TTFN
Kaytrim