Ok, I read through one of the online specs for a buckpuck and I have a better understanding of the CTRL and REF pins.
1. The REF pin is a 5v output meant for powering a small uProcessor or digital logic. It can also be used to power a simple voltage divider circuit so you can vary the voltage into the CTRL pin from 0-5v.
2. The CTRL pin is a logic input meant to be set between 0 and 5v that will control the output driving % of the buckpuck. As the control voltage gets higher, the output current of the buckpuck drops. There is even a graph on the datasheet for the buckpuck showing that.
=========== Now having said that ===========
The last circuit diagram you showed has the REF output pin tied through a resistor to the CTRL input pin. That will permanently set the current output of your buckpuck to some value less then 100%. I seriously doubt that's what you were going for.
In short, how you have the buckpuck wired up in that diagram (ignoring the power extenders...) you have all 4 LED's set to be on all the time. 2 through CF, and the other 2 (meant for clash/shimmer on at some static less then 100% value)
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Now I need to read up on Erv's spec for the power extender to see exactly how they are wired and meant to be used.
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