Anyone use a USB485B for DMX this year? - LOR DMX - LOR Hardware

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Anyone use a USB485B for DMX this year?

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Posted: Sunday January 22nd, 2012 12:30 am

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flogger7
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Cracker wrote:
I don’t know what the heck I’m doing wrong, but I’ve read several post over and over to make sure I was doing this right. Trying to run USB485B adapter in DMX raw and all that is happening is the lights are going crazy. Here is how I’m connecting...

I connected the 485B to the PC and is recognized on Comm3. I opened the Sequence Editor and changed the network preference so the adapter connected is on DMX universe 1, Raw DMX and changed the LOR network Regular to None. Closed Sequence Editor so it takes affect and reopened.

I then connected RJ45 pins 4 & 5 out of the 485B to pins 2 & 3 of the DMX device. (4 to 3 and 5 to 2).

Next I opened the Control Panel. The CommListener shows Listening on port 8837, Connection accepted (352), A8007Lzf Adapter opened and Connection accepted (628). So far everything looks good. I verified the “Control Lights” is checked under the Play button.

I opened up a sequence and made sure that the RGB channel I was testing is set to DMX Universe 1, channels 1-3. The DMX device is also set to 1-3. But when I play a sequence, the lights go crazy. Just flashing on and off. Tried reversing the pins, same result.

To verify nothing wrong with the adapter or the DMX device, I connected using an iDMX...works perfect first try.

WHAT AM I MISSING??

What happens if you set the channel config (in the sequence, don't change the device) to channels 2,3,4? I have to +1 offset all my channels when using the usb485 dongle for raw dmx.

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Posted: Sunday January 22nd, 2012 04:10 pm

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Dennis Cherry
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Are you sure about the RJ-45 connection pins? It is normally pins 1 & 2 for DMX devices and not pins 2 & 3. Please verify.

flogger7 wrote: Cracker wrote:
I don’t know what the heck I’m doing wrong, but I’ve read several post over and over to make sure I was doing this right. Trying to run USB485B adapter in DMX raw and all that is happening is the lights are going crazy. Here is how I’m connecting...

I connected the 485B to the PC and is recognized on Comm3. I opened the Sequence Editor and changed the network preference so the adapter connected is on DMX universe 1, Raw DMX and changed the LOR network Regular to None. Closed Sequence Editor so it takes affect and reopened.

I then connected RJ45 pins 4 & 5 out of the 485B to pins 2 & 3 of the DMX device. (4 to 3 and 5 to 2).

Next I opened the Control Panel. The CommListener shows Listening on port 8837, Connection accepted (352), A8007Lzf Adapter opened and Connection accepted (628). So far everything looks good. I verified the “Control Lights” is checked under the Play button.

I opened up a sequence and made sure that the RGB channel I was testing is set to DMX Universe 1, channels 1-3. The DMX device is also set to 1-3. But when I play a sequence, the lights go crazy. Just flashing on and off. Tried reversing the pins, same result.

To verify nothing wrong with the adapter or the DMX device, I connected using an iDMX...works perfect first try.

WHAT AM I MISSING??

What happens if you set the channel config (in the sequence, don't change the device) to channels 2,3,4? I have to +1 offset all my channels when using the usb485 dongle for raw dmx.

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Posted: Sunday January 22nd, 2012 11:25 pm

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WhitePlainsNY
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I tested my USB485 connected to a HolidayCoro DMX controller after swapping pins 4/5 to 1/2 on the CAT5 connecter using S3 and it worked fine for testing the RGB lights. The one issue I came across that someone is also going to encounter is that Windows 7 Firewall had to be set to allow the LOCComListener program to go through the firewall.

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Posted: Monday January 30th, 2012 06:21 pm

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Preston Meyer
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Running DMX and LOR networks with two USB485B's. Made up a RJ 45 to 3 pin XLR cable. Set up one for DMX per instructions with only that one connected to computer. Then connected 2nd 485 for LOR system.

Both networks work fine. LOR has 2 CTB 16 PC's and a Color Ribbon. DMX has RGB flood, commercial 4 pak dimmer, and strobe. No problems with addressing or sequencing errors.

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Posted: Monday February 6th, 2012 08:56 pm

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LightORamaDan
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Not sure how old your USB485Bs are but when we made our USB adapters we did not always purchase comm chips that supported DMX speed. This is because the "slower" chips are slower because they make the connection more reliable and less susceptible to interference, noise, need for terminators, etc...

The adapters we sell now all will support DMX as their chips are specified to run at speeds up to 250k which DMX speed.

Other than this issue I do not know of a reason why you would not be able to run DMX via the USB adapters. They are "dumb" interfaces so if the PC they are running on is too slow you will have issues which will be had with any "dumb" adapter.

Dan

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Posted: Monday February 6th, 2012 09:27 pm

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GoofyGuy
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LightORamaDan wrote: Not sure how old your USB485Bs are but when we made our USB adapters we did not always purchase comm chips that supported DMX speed. This is because the "slower" chips are slower because they make the connection more reliable and less susceptible to interference, noise, need for terminators, etc...

The adapters we sell now all will support DMX as their chips are specified to run at speeds up to 250k which DMX speed.

Other than this issue I do not know of a reason why you would not be able to run DMX via the USB adapters. They are "dumb" interfaces so if the PC they are running on is too slow you will have issues which will be had with any "dumb" adapter.

Dan
Is there a way to know which ones we have? I plan on using mine to run at least 1 network unless 1.31 protocol is adapted. I hear rumors of a beta running it as we speak. I would be on board with that as soon as its ready for D-load.

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Posted: Monday February 6th, 2012 10:41 pm

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jeffl
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I have one that is about 5 and one about 3 years old. If there are chips marking we could look I'd like to look to see what I have.

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Posted: Monday February 6th, 2012 10:59 pm

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jerrymac
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Cracker wrote:
bretk wrote:
I had a similar issue with the usb485. I just got tired of trying to figure it out and got an enttec. No probs scince. :cool:

I was hoping that wasn't the case. Each Enttec is only 1 universe (512chs) correct? Well $60 is better than $250 (iDMX).
Later this year when (if) LOR supports E131, the one universe issue will be less of an issue. Example EthConGateway will give you 4 univers's over ethernet etc.

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Posted: Tuesday February 7th, 2012 01:42 am

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jeffl
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jerrymac wrote:
Later this year when (if) LOR supports E131, the one universe issue will be less of an issue. Example EthConGateway will give you 4 univers's over ethernet etc.
I'm happy in knowing that I can run this year with the DMX capabilities that are out now. I know the Enttec Pro and Lynx adapters work so I have choices and that's all I need.

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Posted: Tuesday February 7th, 2012 02:04 am

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LightORamaDan
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As far as checking a USB485 to check what chips it has, I do not recommend it for the regular USB485 as it could get damaged while taking it apart. The USB485B is not as likely to get damages.

I will have someone go back and see if we can find the part numbers that would be on the chips.

As far as E1.31 that will happen this year... Ran a little late for it last year but the native DMX support is there now and that was a big chuck of the work. The E1.31 support has been coded and what remains is testing it and some additional code for configuration interface changes.

Dan

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Posted: Tuesday February 7th, 2012 03:59 am

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geronc
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LightORamaDan wrote:
As far as E1.31 that will happen this year... Ran a little late for it last year but the native DMX support is there now and that was a big chuck of the work. The E1.31 support has been coded and what remains is testing it and some additional code for configuration interface changes.

Dan

Yet again, awesome to hear this news.

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Posted: Tuesday February 7th, 2012 12:41 pm

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derekbackus
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Don't know if this applies to other DIY controllers... I just crossed pins 4&5 and DMX out from LOR works great with the Renard64.

Derek

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Posted: Thursday February 9th, 2012 07:14 pm

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richardh
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LightORamaDan wrote: As far as checking a USB485 to check what chips it has, I do not recommend it for the regular USB485 as it could get damaged while taking it apart. The USB485B is not as likely to get damages.

I will have someone go back and see if we can find the part numbers that would be on the chips.

As far as E1.31 that will happen this year... Ran a little late for it last year but the native DMX support is there now and that was a big chuck of the work. The E1.31 support has been coded and what remains is testing it and some additional code for configuration interface changes.

Dan
Any luck of finding out what part number is on the old USB485B? I have two units that I bought over 5 years ago and I am having some DMX issues with them.. I would hate to buy some new ones and find out they might now work for me.

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