The plug barrage continues…

This time it’s an update of the flawed Opto-coupler Plug, which only worked properly on one channel (unless you patched it up). So here’s the new Opto-coupler Plug v2:

Wait! There’s more! It’s actually two plugs in one now:

(note: the solder jumpers need to be shorted out to use this as an output board)

Since there was enough room on this board, I decided to make it more versatile: it can now be used as dual Opto-coupled input (as before) or as dual Opto-coupled output plug. In the latter case, the JeeNode drives the IR LEDs and the output is a phototransistor which can be used as low-power (polarized) switch for some external device. The choice is determined by how the IC socket and Opto-coupler are hooked up.

The connectors are the same as before: detachable screw terminals, these are very convenient because you can prepare the wiring elsewhere and then plug / unplug / swap channels as needed.

I have no immediate use for these plugs right now, but of course I had to make sure that everything is working properly, so I hooked both of them up:

On the back you can see how things were connected together:

Here’s the updated opto_demo.pde test sketch for that – I decided to send the results by wireless for a change:

Sample output on my central JeeLink:

Yippie – looks like it’s working exactly as intended! Note the inverted signals, BTW.

Docs and shop have been updated for this new plug version. If you have version 1, please let me know and I’ll send out an updated board to you.