Newbie question...

[Kevin N]

Hi there...this is probably a stupid question, but here goes. I finally got my controllers setup...used the hardware utility to find them on the network and all seems well. My question is this...after I turn of the utility and power down the controller...I have to "find" them again. Is this normal? Does the poering down of the boards make this happen or the exiting of the utility. Also, if poering down the boards causes this...do I always have to keep them powered up? (I didn't check to see if the editor recognized them after power down and back up...any help here would be greatly appreciated as well). Thanks in advance for any help received.

[LightORamaDan]

Hi,

The hardware utility never actually has to be used. It is there only as a tool to test the controllers. Every time you start the hardware utility it needs to re-discover the network. This is by design because you will be adding / removing units as you test them.

The Sequence Editor and Show player always assume that the controllers designiated in the sequences are present.

Thus there is no reason to keep controllers powered although most people do keep their controllers powered on for the display season.

TIP: When you go into the Hardware Utility, you can skip the REFRESH step. In the window (select unit) just to the right of the REFRESH button, you can type in the Unit ID (like '01') of the unit you want to test.

TIP: When using the REFRESH button have your MAX UNITS set to as low a number as possible. That will make the refresh run faster.

Dan

[DownTown]

Hey Dan - I guess there is no way to test multiple controllers at the same time, is there ? I find it helpful to turn on the chase sequence when I'm setting up the lights in November. If I could send the chase through all controllers, I wouldn't have to keep running inside to change the controller selected. I guess I could also set up a sequence to cycle through all the channels and keep repeating that while I'm setting up.



D.T.

[pixeldigger]

DownTown wrote:

Hey Dan - I guess there is no way to test multiple controllers at the same time, is there ? I find it helpful to turn on the chase sequence when I'm setting up the lights in November. If I could send the chase through all controllers, I wouldn't have to keep running inside to change the controller selected. I guess I could also set up a sequence to cycle through all the channels and keep repeating that while I'm setting up.



D.T.

Thats what I do: I just make my own test chase sequence.
It would be cool if the HardwareUtility would do it for you though.