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DMX fading response


Greg Young

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Greg Young wrote:

Charles Belcher wrote:
Dr. Jones wrote:
Charles

I 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


The 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

Greg,

Here is the response from Chauvet.


"Charles,

Dwight is out of town, but I have looked at your e-mail and have the following questions –

What kind of console is your friend using?
Are the fixtures sharing DMX channels?
If is a fader board, can he try changing the DMX channels to see if the problem moves with the channels or if it’s a problem with the fader
If he is using a computer console – is the DMX line terminated?

It almost sounds like a DMX reflection problem or a bad data line. Can he change the line from the controller to the first fixture?

If none of these suggestions work, please give me a shout.

Thanks,
Michael Graham - Sales Support Manager"
____________________________________________________________________
Greg,
Can you get your hands on a dmx console to check this out? If not, then I would call Dan or John at LOR and see what they think.

Please keep us in the loop on this.

Charles
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Charles Belcher wrote:

...............
Greg,

Here is the response from Chauvet.


"Charles,

Dwight is out of town, but I have looked at your e-mail and have the following questions –

What kind of console is your friend using?
LOR IDMX 1000

Are the fixtures sharing DMX channels?
No, I am only using one for testing

If is a fader board, can he try changing the DMX channels to see if the problem moves with the channels or if it’s a problem with the fader
If he is using a computer console – is the DMX line terminated?
Yes, it's terminated with a 120 ohm 1/4 watt resistor between the data pins (2 and 3)


It almost sounds like a DMX reflection problem or a bad data line.
That was my initial thought also
Can he change the line from the controller to the first fixture?
I could make up another brand new line, but I made this one myself, and know it is good.


If none of these suggestions work, please give me a shout.

Thanks,
Michael Graham - Sales Support Manager"
____________________________________________________________________
Greg,
Can you get your hands on a dmx console to check this out?
I can, but not until September, once school is back in session!
If not, then I would call Dan or John at LOR and see what they think.
Dan/John - have you either of guys been reading this thread?


Please keep us in the loop on this.
Will do, as I expect others may run into this problem along the way as well, which is why I posted it.


Charles
Thanks for following through on this Charles!
Greg







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Greg,

I emailed your answers and some further comments to Mike at Chauvet. I will let you know what he says.

My guess is that everything will work correctly with a hard console. I had some similar problems when I was programming my DMX Demo for the Texas Workshop. They weren't exactly what you are experiencing, but wierdness in general that went away when I hooked up a DMX console. I never did isolate the problems, I just danced around them.

Charles

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Dr. Jones wrote:

Charles

I
Might just be time to put an iDMX on a scope and see what the signal looks like.:?


Dr. Jones,

I am going to have my bench tech put a iDMX-1000 on the scope next week. He has some advanced DMX testing equipment so hopefully we can see what is going on. I will post the results when I get them.

Charles
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Greg,

Here is the latest response from Chauvet.

"
From: tech3
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 4:22 PM
To: mike
Subject: RE: LED strips

Check if there is a polarity switch on the converter box or check if the converter is receiving or sending dmx.


From: mike
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 3:35 PM
To: Charles Belcher
Cc: tech3
Subject: RE: LED strips

I will forward this on to the technical department. I have not seen this before and I want to make sure that we can help you out.
Thanks,
Michael Graham - Sales Support Manager"
____________________________________________________________________


I am sure you have done this but I have to make sure we are covering all the bases.

Have you tried switching the polarity switch to both positions? The "normal" position is towards the center of the iDMX. I haven't answered this email yet.

Charles

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I tired switching to the other polarity on the IDMX 1000 as well. I should have mentioned that, bit it slipped my mind. No change with that switch in either position.

I also noticed, and perhaps this is relevant, or perhaps this is just normal operation, that the data light on the DMX input/output side of the IDMX 1000 box is contantly flashing, sending out packets of information I assume.

This occurs constantly, even when I am using the LOR console in the HWU and not changing any of the slider positions.

I have assumed this just means that the IDMX 1000 sends out the same packets repeatedly, as there are no acknowledgments sent back from the end devices..

Greg

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The blinking led is normal operation

[align=left]Data LED[/align]
[align=left]Blinks once for every 40 DMX packets transmitted if[/align]
[align=left]no DMX input detected on the DMX In connector.[/align]
[align=left]Steady on when a DMX input signal is being passed[/align]
[align=left]through to the DMX output.[/align]

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Dr. Jones wrote:

The blinking led is normal operation


[align=left]Data LED[/align]

[align=left]Blinks once for every 40 DMX packets transmitted if[/align]

[align=left]no DMX input detected on the DMX In connector.[/align]

[align=left]Steady on when a DMX input signal is being passed[/align]

[align=left]through to the DMX output.[/align]



That's what I thought, but it as that LED continuosly blinks, whether I am sending DMX commands out via software/HWU, or not, I just wanted to be sure...
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Greg,

Here is today's reply from Chauvet after my last email to them.
____________________________________________________



From: Charles Belcher [mailto:charlesb@onstagesystems.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 2:42 AM
To: tech3
Subject: Re: LED strips

tech3,

Yes, there is a polarity switch on the converter box, and when in the "normal" position, the fixture has the problem. The converter has a light that blinks when receiving and/or sending DMX and the box is working with all other DMX devices.

Charles


And today's reply.

From Tech3
It sounds like the dmx output on the converter box is bad.
___________________________________________________

That sounds like the official "blow-off" response from Chauvet. Without having the iDMX and the LED, they are at a loss on how to troubleshoot any further.

I guess the next step is to try the hard console in September. Sorry, I couldn't get you further down the road.

Charles





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Thanks for all of the help you provided Charles!

I talked to the school AV guy. the school will be open the first week i nSeptemeber, which is not that long to wait.

He doesn't know LOR, but is willing to bet me that the strips will dim fine using the school's DMX console. Given that all 3 strips act the same way, I find myself agreeing with his assessment.

Once I try that out, I'll repost.

Greg

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Greg Young wrote:

Thanks for all of the help you provided Charles!

I talked to the school AV guy. the school will be open the first week i nSeptemeber, which is not that long to wait.

He doesn't know LOR, but is willing to bet me that the strips will dim fine using the school's DMX console. Given that all 3 strips act the same way, I find myself agreeing with his assessment.

Once I try that out, I'll repost.

Greg

Greg,

That is my guess also based upon my observations when programming for the DMX class I taught and the trouble shooting steps you have taken, so I think it is time to call Dan or John and see what is going on. I just went around the problem by re-programming some things but I would like to know if there is an integral problem with the iDMX as it interfaces with any particular product. Would you mind sending them an email and then tracking the progress on this thread?


Charles
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I too am interested in seeing what the outcome is from the guys at lor

One quirk i did notice is channels past the 256 threshold do act unpredictably. Only really important when you are trying to get the most out of each iDMX or if you accidently address beyond 256

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All,

Here is a little movie I made tonight. I took 8 of my 30 channels 3' LED tubes and put four in line on each side of the roof for a total of 240 channels. I used my iDMX-1000 and S2 software to make a 1.07 minute sequence.

The purpose of the test was to see exactly what happens when 64 or more ichan's are called for.

http://www.lightstomusic.com/videoclip/256channelDMXtest.wmv

NOTES:

Channel 1 is bottom right
Channel 120 is top right
Channel 121 is bottom left
Channel 240 is top left

Watch the time

0:00 starts with all red
0:50 adds 10% intensity of green
1:00 adds 20% intensity of green
1:30 adds 30% intensity of green
etc, etc, up to 5 seconds
5:00 starts with all green
0:50 adds 10% intensity of blue
1:00 adds 20% intensity of blue
1:30 adds 30% intensity of blue
etc, etc, up to 10 seconds
10:00 starts with all blue
0:50 adds 10% intensity of red
1:00 adds 20% intensity of red
1:30 adds 30% intensity of red
etc, etc, up to 15 seconds

Even though you can't see every .10 second intenisty addition, you can see overall that the iDMX is responding well to intensities.

15:00-23:00 is a little chase which means nothing.

24:00-28:00 is 64 channels of red fading up from 0% to 100%
Notice everything is nice and smooth

30:00-34:00 is the first 128 channels (so everything on the right and a few pixels on the bottom left) fading up from 0% to 100%. Notice how the first 64 channels fade up smoothly and the rest go full on immediately.

35:00-39:00 is all 240 channels fading up from 0% to 100%. Notice again how the first 64 channels fade up smoothly and the rest go full on immediately.

Then the movie repeats.

Charles

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Charles Belcher wrote:

Greg,

Any word from Dan or John on the problem?

Charles


Dan sent me a brief note saying that he had not heard of any issues with the IDMX 1000. He also had a question on my comment regarding the reverse polarity switch (as I said it made no difference in either position). What I intended to say was that fades still flashed with the switch in either position, but in the reverse position, the HWU virtual controller did not change the lights as expected. There were some odd patterns! (which confirms the colorstrips use normal polarity.)

I guess he plans to wait until I test the strips in 2 weeks at the school, before arriving at a conclusion.

I wish I still had a scope, so I could monitor the output of the IDMX 1000 during fades. I really think the problem is coming from that unit, or from the computer (Windows XP platform running LOR 2) software controlling it.

Greg
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  • 3 weeks later...

Just a quick update for Charles, Dr Jones, and Dan (and any others interested in following this thread):

I will be testing the fading, etc of my 3 Chauvet Colorstrips, DMX cables and terminator using the school's DMX console next Friday at noon.

Will drop folks a note once I see what the outcome of the testing shows!

Greg

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I have part of the answer!

As expected, it is not the Chauvet light strip, my DMX cabling, or my DMX termination plug. They all worked perfectly with a DMX console, with smooth dimming, that looks very, very good actually!

Therefore the problem is with either the IDMX1000, or the LOR 2 software.

I doubt the software for 3 reasons:

1) the same problem occurs whether running the DMX virtual console in the HWU, or playing a pre-programmed sequence

2) the IDMX1000 does not show up when doing a search for connected devices using the HWU. It should show up as 16 devices, as understand it. It certainly does lock-in when the HWU/software is running, and passes commands, although we do have the issues of these bursts of additional colors, as discussed above.

3) I have noticed the DMX (output) LED flashing to be cycling, even when the IDMX1000 is not connected with the software (in other words when it is just given power, but LOR software is not running). It will flash for a period of time, then stops completely, showing no activity for a period of time, then resumes. This I suppsoe could be normal, but I am not sure why it cycles like that.

I just sent an email to Dan, asking for a replacement IDMX1000. Hopefully that will correct the problem!

Greg

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