SOMA 564548 Illuminator Installation guide

Brand: SOMA

Model: 564548 Illuminator

Type: Installation guide

SOMA 564548 Illuminator is a device that allows you to connect and control LED strips, LEDs, electromagnets, and electromotors using CV signals. It has eight independent channels, each with its own input sensitivity adjustment, allowing you to use it with a variety of CV sources. The device is powered by a 12V DC power supply and has a maximum total power of 48 watts and a maximum total current of 4A. Each channel has a recommended maximum current of 0.5A and an absolute maximum current of 1.5A. The input voltage range is 3-20 volts and the input impedance is greater than 5.

Cut your LED strips and wires into their

desired lengths and connect them to-

gether and to the DC sockets supplied

with ILLUMINATOR.

• LEDstripshavespecialplaceswhere

you can cut the strip, usually they are

copper pads like in the photo below.

It’s important to cut the strip on the

middle line of these copper pads

• Youcansolderthewireeitherdirectly

to the copper pads or using ashort

wire that is often soldered to one or

both ends of the LED strip by the fac-

tory. Before soldering to the copper

padsyouneedremovethesiliconlayer

(ifpresent)coveringthepadsusing

asharp knife.

• Beawareofpolarity!Theplusand

minus on the LED strips are usually

marked by +

—

signs. The plus wire on

the speaker cable is usually marked by

aspecial color or line on one of the

wires. It doesn’t really matter which

of the two wires on the cable you use

for plus and minus. What matters is

that the plus of the LED strip is

connected to the central pin on

the DC jack. But don‘t worry. If you

mix up the polarity of the strip nothing

will be damaged, the strip just won’t

lightup.Inthiscasejusttrytoreverse

the polarity.

• Theconnectionbetweenthestripand

thewireshouldbecoveredinseveral

layers of isolation/electrical tape or

heatshrinktubing.Thisservestoboth

isolatetheconnectionandtogiveit

additional mechanical strength. In case

ofexcessivestress,thisistheplace

where the wire will likely be ripped from

the strip.

The strips are ready for use when all

of them are soldered to the wires, the

wires are soldered to the DC jacks and

all connections are insulated.

Now you need to choose aproper power

supply.YoucanbuyahighqualityPSU

from us (atan additional price) or use

aPSUthatyoualreadyhave.The PSU

must be 12V and the output DC jack

needs to be center plus. To calculate

the current your LED strips will need,

use the simple formula:

PSU max current in Ais equal or

more than total length of all LED

strips in meters x 0.3.

If your LED installation is not big, a1–2A

PSUcanbeenough.

If you use amodern switching mode

PSUyoudon‘tneedtoworryabout

overload.Allofthemhaveoverload

protection and will be shut down au-

tomaticallyiftheloadistoobig.Sono

ILLUMINATOR comes without LED strips,

wiresorPSU.Thereasonissimple

—

don‘t know what colors and length of

strips you need as well as what length

ofcables.Eachinstallationisveryper-

sonal and we can‘t supply something

thatcouldbecalled„auniversalsolu-

tion“.Youneedtoconnectthestrips

yourselfwhichrequiresbasicsoldering

skillsaswellassimplesolderingequip-

ment. Therefore, using ILLUMINATOR

requires some basic technical skills

and understanding.

First of all you need to buy LED strips

of desired length and color. You need

12V LED strips

Typically, one meter (3 feet) of aLED

strip consumes 0.2–0.35 ampere. We

recommend limiting the total length

of all LED strips connected to ILLU-

MINATOR to amaximum of 16 meters

(52 feet). Different strips connected to

differentchannelscanhavedifferent

lengths.

Secondly, you need to buy wire for

connecting LED strips to ILLUMINATOR.

We recommend standard speaker wire

used for audio speakers

. It’s import-

ant that the copper core is at least 0.35

squaremillimeters.0.5–1squaremilli-

meters is the optimal thickness.

OPERATION

MANUAL

1 2 3

damagewilloccur.Youcanuseapower

supply that is much more powerful than

your LED installation. In this case, it will

just take as much power as it needs and

nodamageoroverloadwillhappen.

It’sbettertouseaPSUthatismore

powerful than what your installation

needsthanviceversa.

Noweverythingisreadytolaunchthe

ILLUMINATOR!ConnectyourPSUto

the DC IN jack, the strips to the out-

put jacks and CV ins to the CV outs of

your analog gear using mini-jack cables

or alligator clips. If you use alliga-

tor clips don‘t forget to connect

the ground of ILLUMINATOR (the

GND pin) to the ground of your

CV source!

Nowit’stimetoadjustthesensitivity

ofeachILLUMINATORchannel.Setup

your musical gear so that the CV out-

puts you use with ILLUMINATOR pro-

ducemaximumvoltageswing.Alleight

ILLUMINATORchannelshavetrimmer

pots that you can reach through the

holes on the front panel using asmall

screwdriver.Bydefault,allchannels

are set to a5V range which is acom-

monvoltagerangeforalotofmusic

gear. To adjust ILLUMINATOR to

ﬁt adifferent CV range, turn the

trimmer pot of each channel from

the minimum clockwise until the

connected LED reaches its maxi-

mum brightness, or alower level

of brightness if desired. We recom-

mendnotsettingchannelsensitivity

muchabovethislevelasILLUMINA-

TOR with proper adjustment of input

sensitivityhasoutputshort-circuit

protection. It’s not easy to damage

ILLUMINATORevenwithimproperuse,

but following our guidelines ensures

maximum protection.

• YoucanusedifferentchannelsofIL-

LUMINATOR with different musical

gear with different CV output ran-

ges. Just adjust each ILLUMINATOR

channelsensitivityaccordingtoitsCV

source.

• Ifthebrightnessofachannelistoo

highyoucandecreaseitssensitivity

using the trimmer pot.

Now ILLUMINATOR is ready for use. At-

tach the LED strips to any surface you

wantandgo!!

Of course the possibilities of ILLU

MINATORarenotlimitedtodriving

LEDstrips.Itcandrivemanymore

devicesincludinganytypesofLEDs

that accept 12V, electromagnets,

electromotors and more. The ILLU-

MINATOR output contains protection

diodesthatdampenreversepolarity

voltagethatarisesinelectromagnets

due to self induction. If you are expe-

rienced in circuitry, you can use ILLU-

MINATOR in much wider applications.

Forexample,theDCsupplyvoltage

that feeds ILLUMINATOR can, in fact,

varyfrom3to20volts.Peakcurrent

for one channel can be up to 5 am-

pereandaveragepowerdissipation

on the commutation circuits up to

4 watt per channel. But such modes

demand some understanding in en-

gineering.Foradvancedusers,here

is the circuit diagram of one channel

of ILLUMINATOR with DC input chain.

All 8 channels are identical.

If you want to use ILLUMINATOR in

a permanent setup and avoid jack

connections, you can use special pads

that duplicate DC IN and all output so-

ckets. The pads are big and comforta-

bleforsolderingandhave+—marks.

Toaccessthesepadsremovethetop

panel.

WHAT‘S IN THE KIT:

ILLUMINATOR

—

1 pc

5.5 x 2.1 mm DC jack

—

10pcs

Optionally available is a12V 5A 60W power

supply that allows using ILLUMINATOR at

maximum power.

Enjoy your music‘n‘light

connection!

SOMA2022

SPECIFICATIONS

Number of channels

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8 independent channels

Supplyvoltage

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

DC 12 V

Supplyvoltagesocket

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.5 x 2.1 mm center plus

Outputvoltage

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

DC 12 V

Output LED socket

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.5 x 2.1 mm center plus

Maximum total power of all channels

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

48 watts

Maximum total current of all channels

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 A

Recommended maximum current for one channel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0.5 A

Absolute maximum current for one channel

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.5 A

Inputvoltagerange

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3–20 Volts

Input impedance

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

> 5.7 kom

(withcorrectadjustmentoftheinputsensitivity

—

100 kom)

Input sockets

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Eurorackmini-jacksandPulsar-23/Ornament-8pins

Number of mini-jack sockets

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8 (1 for each channel)

NumberofPulsar-23pins

. . . . . . . . . . .

9 (1 for each channel + 1 common ground)

Dimensions

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

275 x 70 x 40 mm

Weight

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

300 g

SOMA 564548 Illuminator Installation guide

Brand: SOMA

Model: 564548 Illuminator

Type: Installation guide

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SOMA 564548 Illuminator Installation guide

SOMA 564548 Illuminator Installation guide

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