Product guide

SECOND PLACE
LED News Ticker
T
he handy LED News Ticker brings the news
to you by displaying up-to-date headlines in
a scrolling format. The system features a main
board and eight slave boards attached to dot-
matrix LED displays. The main board features a
Microchip Technology PIC18F2525 microcontroller
connected to a WIZnet WIZ810MJ Ethernet module,
which uses the W5100 to provide an easy-to-use
interface to the Internet. The LED News Ticker
requires no interaction to operate. Once powered
up, the device immediately connects to the Internet
and downloads news updates every 15 minutes.
It handles all DHCP leasing and DNS resolving,
allowing you to use dynamic IP addresses.
-James Blackwell U.S. [e-mail]
DMX Portal
THIRD PLACE
T
he well-designed DMX Portal is an affordable
DMX lighting controller. You can use the
novel system to remotely control up to 512
channels through an IP-based network or directly
inter face them to embedded systems with a
serial connection. It was designed to be perfectly
suited for designers who want to off-load DMX
management an d refreshes fro m the m ai n
system controller. It’s also useful for distributed
lighting systems where low-cost Ethernet wiring
is more practical than expensive RS-485 wiring.
The prototype includes an external EEPROM
for scene storage and a Microchip Technology
PIC18F4620 microprocessor. A WIZnet WIZ810MJ
evaluation board is connected to the SPI on the PIC
development board.
-Matt Ernst U.S. [e-mail]
Remote Real Virtual Instrument
Interface
FOURTH PLACE
W
it h th e a m a z in g Re mo te Re a l Vi r tu a l
In s tru m ent In te r fa c e, yo u c a n c ont ro l
any musical instrument with a MIDI input and
capture its audio output over the Internet. You
can also use the well-designed streaming media
device to record audio if you don’t need MIDI.
It features a WIZnet W5100 hardwired TCP/IP
chip, a Ramtron VRS31L3074 microcontroller,
and a Texas Instruments TLV320AIC23B audio
CODEC. The system’s software is split into two
parts: an embedded portion for the VRS31L3074
microcontroller and a PC portion for the VSTi plug-
in. The PC-side software provides the interface to
the virtual music studio software.
-Clemens Valens France [e-mail]
www.polyvalens.com
WIZnet Open Hardware Platform
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