Greg Young Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 I have setup my LOR IDMX-1000 controller without any issues..I am starting off incorporating DMX with the use of Chauvet colorstrips (they are light bars with red, green and blue LEDs).Once setup, I used LOR to control the DMX values affecting the RGB section of the color strips. This section specifies these 3 colors and allows fading from 100% to zero (and vice versa).I have noticed when fading I will get a flash of another color, at odd times. This doesn't occur with every fade, but with some - primarily when blue is faded, but on occasion green as well. It almost never happens when fading red.It happens whether the fade is controlled by the sequence editor, or manually using the hardware editor.My firmware is current.I tried the other 2 lightstrips, and it occurs with them as well, so I know it is not the Chauvet fixtures.Any ideas from those of you with some DMX knowledge?Thanks,Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jones Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 are you using a DMX terminator? sounds like you might be getting a reflection.What type of cable are you using? is it DMX cable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Sanders Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 It may be the colorstips themselves. If you watch the product video, you will notice on some of the fades that they do flicker, so it may not be LOR, it just may be the way the fixtures work themselves.http://www.chauvetlighting.com/flash/colorstripfinal.htmlWill Sanders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Dr. Jones wrote: are you using a DMX terminator? sounds like you might be getting a reflection.What type of cable are you using? is it DMX cable?I am using DMX cable, with a 120 ohm terminator. I tried with terminator plugged into the colorstrip, and without it. That made no difference (but I didn't think it would on a short cable length). I should mention I am only using a 3 foot cable to connect to the LOR IDMX controller for testing purposes, but it is DMX rated cable all the way..I thought about reflections as a possibility, but don't know that much about DMX yet to arrive at any sound conclusions.Speaking of terminating reistsors, it just dawned on me (duh!) that the LOR IDMX has internal terminating resistors on both the input, and output lines.Would removal of either of these (especially the output side) affect reflections, etc?Thanks,Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Will Sanders wrote: It may be the colorstips themselves. If you watch the product video, you will notice on some of the fades that they do flicker, so it may not be LOR, it just may be the way the fixtures work themselves.http://www.chauvetlighting.com/flash/colorstripfinal.htmlWill SandersThanks Will. I see the flickering you are mentioning, but mine looks different. It is more flashes of other colors, so I don't think it is a unit problem, as it is intermittent, and not consistent...Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jones Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 nothe reflection is generally a factor at the end of the lineHow many channels does the colorstrip use?After looking at the video posted by Will - i may have to concur that it could be a factor with the strips themselvesIf you have a device that spits out DMX natively, I'd give that a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Belcher Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Greg,It will be the strips themselves causing what you see. If it occurs at the 20% level above blackout, I would cut the fade off; ie, fade it from 100% to 0%, but cut the last 22% or so off. You will have to play with it. That will not be a termination problem.Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Thanks Dr Jones, and Charles.I will play with it a bit more...It would be a shame to think these somewhat pricey colorstrips can't do smooth fades... It still puzzles me that the flashes are intermittent, and not consistent..GregCharles - the flashes of green that occur when fading the blue LEDs sometimes happen at about 20% of intensity during a fade, other times 42%, etc.. I can't find a spot that they occur with any consistency... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Belcher Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Greg Young wrote: Thanks Dr Jones, and Charles.I will play with it a bit more...It would be a shame to think these somewhat pricey colorstrips can't do smooth fades... It still puzzles me that the flashes are intermittent, and not consistent..GregCharles - the flashes of green that occur when fading the blue LEDs sometimes happen at about 20% of intensity during a fade, other times 42%, etc.. I can't find a spot that they occur with any consistency...Greg,Give me a little more information. Are you fading pure blue or green when this occurs or is it a combination of two or more colors that flash as you fade?Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Belcher Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Greg,One more thought. Set channel # 1 to a value between 210 and 219 which is 83-86 in LOR percents. Then control channel # 3 independently and see if it fades correctly. Do the same with channel # 4.Edit: You are in DMX mode aren't you and not in a "program" mode?Let me know.Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Charles Belcher wrote: Greg Young wrote: Thanks Dr Jones, and Charles.I will play with it a bit more...It would be a shame to think these somewhat pricey colorstrips can't do smooth fades... It still puzzles me that the flashes are intermittent, and not consistent..GregCharles - the flashes of green that occur when fading the blue LEDs sometimes happen at about 20% of intensity during a fade, other times 42%, etc.. I can't find a spot that they occur with any consistency...Greg,Give me a little more information. Are you fading pure blue or green when this occurs or is it a combination of two or more colors that flash as you fade?CharlesHi Charles:I am fading a pure color (red, blue or green) when this happens. The reds fade fine. The green fades almost always fine, but have an ocasional flash of a color, the blues fade fine, but more frequently (every 4 or 5 fades or so) have flashes of the green LEDs as they (the blue) fade.Using the HWU I have the DMX value of channel one to be 214 (RGB range for these colorstick units are 210-219), which corresponds to a LOR value of 84% (range 83 - 86%).Channel 2 then controls the red, channel 3 the green, and 4 the blue. They cover fading from 100 - 0%.I get the same results running sequences, as I do using the HWU (channels in sequences defined as E0.1, E0.2, E0.3, and E0.4 respectively).Finally, late last night as another test I eliminated all fades in my sequence, replacing them with simple full color on and full color off. I found that I get (although not as much) these same momentary flashes of another color when one color goes off and another one comes on.That would seem to suggest it is not purely a fading issue.Is it possible with a 3 foot cable (again using a good quality DMX cable) that I am getting some noise from the IDMX1000, or pc, because the units are too close??Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Charles Belcher wrote: Greg,One more thought. Set channel # 1 to a value between 210 and 219 which is 83-86 in LOR percents. Then control channel # 3 independently and see if it fades correctly. Do the same with channel # 4.Edit: You are in DMX mode aren't you and not in a "program" mode?Let me know.CharlesCharles:Yes, I am in the DMX mode....Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Belcher Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Greg Young wrote: Charles Belcher wrote: Greg Young wrote: Thanks Dr Jones, and Charles.I will play with it a bit more...It would be a shame to think these somewhat pricey colorstrips can't do smooth fades... It still puzzles me that the flashes are intermittent, and not consistent..GregCharles - the flashes of green that occur when fading the blue LEDs sometimes happen at about 20% of intensity during a fade, other times 42%, etc.. I can't find a spot that they occur with any consistency...Greg,Give me a little more information. Are you fading pure blue or green when this occurs or is it a combination of two or more colors that flash as you fade?CharlesFinally, late last night as another test I eliminated all fades in my sequence, replacing them with simple full color on and full color off. I found that I get (although not as much) these same momentary flashes of another color when one color goes off and another one comes on.That would seem to suggest it is not purely a fading issue.Is it possible with a 3 foot cable (again using a good quality DMX cable) that I am getting some noise from the IDMX1000, or pc, because the units are too close??GregGreg,At this point anything is possible, but my guess is that it is not the cable. You could be using a 100' mic cable, not intended for DMX use and it wouldn't cause this. I will email my Chavet rep this morning and see what he says about it. I will let you know what he says.Are we talking about this product?http://www.chauvetlighting.com/fixtures/colorstrip_fix.shtmlCharles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Yes, that is the product, thanks Charles!!!Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Plak Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 OTGreg,How are you be using the Chauvet colorstrips in your Display?Jerry Plak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jones Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 CharlesI was having a similar flash when fading a gen 1 Colorblast (yes the one with 278 leds) off of a Lil DMXter. It went away when I switched to a console. I wonder if the output signal of the iDMX is wavering and adding an additional start command or if ocassionally it is sending 513 addresses.Might just be time to put an iDMX on a scope and see what the signal looks like.:?Greg -how are you running the iDMX - is it from a usb->LOR or a DB9(serial)->LOR Is the usb port a version2 or 1? -if it appliesdo the flashing colors flash at full intensity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Belcher Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Dr. Jones wrote: CharlesI was having a similar flash when fading a gen 1 Colorblast (yes the one with 278 leds) off of a Lil DMXter. It went away when I switched to a console. I wonder if the output signal of the iDMX is wavering and adding an additional start command or if ocassionally it is sending 513 addresses.Might just be time to put an iDMX on a scope and see what the signal looks like.Dr. Jones,That is a good point. I emailed my Chauvet rep to see what he thinks, but he hasn't anwered me yet. After he replies we can put our heads together and try to get to the bottom of it.I doubt Greg has a hard console he can connect to.Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 J_Plak wrote: OTGreg,How are you be using the Chauvet colorstrips in your Display?Jerry PlakJerry:I was hoping to use them as a colorwash on the front of the house, to match the diamonds I have on the outside of windows (which are solid colors of red, blue and green LEDs)Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Dr. Jones wrote: CharlesI was having a similar flash when fading a gen 1 Colorblast (yes the one with 278 leds) off of a Lil DMXter. It went away when I switched to a console. I wonder if the output signal of the iDMX is wavering and adding an additional start command or if ocassionally it is sending 513 addresses.Might just be time to put an iDMX on a scope and see what the signal looks like.:?Greg -how are you running the iDMX - is it from a usb->LOR or a DB9(serial)->LOR Is the usb port a version2 or 1? -if it appliesdo the flashing colors flash at full intensity?Hi Dr Jones:I forgot to mention earlier these strips only use 4 channels.I am using a LOR 4858 USB unit from my winXP pc..Yes the colors that flash seem to do it at full intensity, but they are so brief it is hard to be sure.I talked to our AV guy in town today (at the local high school), who has one of the same Chauvet colorstrips! He said them dim fine using standard DMX consoles, and thinks my issue is coming from the software/DMX interface unit....Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Charles Belcher wrote: Dr. Jones wrote: CharlesI was having a similar flash when fading a gen 1 Colorblast (yes the one with 278 leds) off of a Lil DMXter. It went away when I switched to a console. I wonder if the output signal of the iDMX is wavering and adding an additional start command or if ocassionally it is sending 513 addresses.Might just be time to put an iDMX on a scope and see what the signal looks like.Dr. Jones,That is a good point. I emailed my Chauvet rep to see what he thinks, but he hasn't anwered me yet. After he replies we can put our heads together and try to get to the bottom of it.I doubt Greg has a hard console he can connect to.CharlesThe school has a console, but they can't get at it until the fall semester starts.Based on what the AV guy told me, his strip dims fine. If mine do on his console, that would rule the strips out.Having 3 strips I really doubt it is an issue with all 3 of them, which brings me back to an issue with the interface at some level (pc/software/IDMX 1000)..Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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