Jump to content
Light-O-Rama Forums

DMX fading response


Greg Young

Recommended Posts

Greg Young wrote:


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

Greg
Greg,

I don't think that the problem is your particular iDMX1000. You are now the third person I know who has experienced problems of this sort with an iDMX1000.

But, I hope I am wrong!

Charles
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 94
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Greg Young

    33

  • Charles Belcher

    22

  • Dr. Jones

    12

  • -klb-

    11

Charles Belcher wrote:

Greg Young wrote:

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

Greg
Greg,

I don't think that the problem is your particular iDMX1000. You are now the third person I know who has experienced problems of this sort with an iDMX1000.

But, I hope I am wrong!

Charles


Charles - do you think then it is the LOR2 software, instead of the IDMX1000???

I am still hoping the replacement unit may help solve this problem, as again, mine doesn't appear on my HWU when I search for conected units, which according to the instructions it should...

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg Young wrote:

Charles Belcher wrote:
Greg Young wrote:

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

Greg
Greg,

I don't think that the problem is your particular iDMX1000. You are now the third person I know who has experienced problems of this sort with an iDMX1000.

But, I hope I am wrong!

Charles


Charles - do you think then it is the LOR2 software, instead of the IDMX1000???

I am still hoping the replacement unit may help solve this problem, as again, mine doesn't appear on my HWU when I search for conected units, which according to the instructions it should...

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

Greg

Greg - are you searching all 240 units? the iDMX comes preset to E0.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg,

Well, first I am a DMX user and not a design engineer so my guess is from that viewpoint only. Dan/John are the ones with the design answers and I can only make an educated guess based upon my experiences during the prep for the TCL workshop, your observations and a couple of other DMX users observations who have since emailed me.

It seems that all four of us have one thing in common and that we experienced wierdness with the DMX signal when using the iDMX1000 and when we plugged the same fixtures into a DMX console the problems went away.

So based on that, my guess is that it is the iDMX.

BTW, when I set the HWU to 240, it does not find my iDMX either, but when I it to 40 or so it does find it. Try that and see if it is recognized. It won't help the flashing but at least you can work thru the recognition problem.

Charles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you can also change the address to something lower in the hwu

I am also a DMX end user, but have some knowledge of the workings of the language. When it come to the chipset -i'm at a loss

- i really need a dmxerciser

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr. Jones wrote:

Greg Young wrote:
Charles Belcher wrote:
Greg Young wrote:

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

Greg
Greg,

I don't think that the problem is your particular iDMX1000. You are now the third person I know who has experienced problems of this sort with an iDMX1000.

But, I hope I am wrong!

Charles


Charles - do you think then it is the LOR2 software, instead of the IDMX1000???

I am still hoping the replacement unit may help solve this problem, as again, mine doesn't appear on my HWU when I search for conected units, which according to the instructions it should...

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!

Greg

Greg - are you searching all 240 units? the iDMX comes preset to E0.


No, I was not searching for all 240.

I have the maximum units set for 20, but I typed in E0 to set the search.

I thought that would then start with E0, and display a maximum of 20 units. Since only 16 should show, it should cover it.

Am I not correct on that?

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charles Belcher wrote:

Greg,

Well, first I am a DMX user and not a design engineer so my guess is from that viewpoint only. Dan/John are the ones with the design answers and I can only make an educated guess based upon my experiences during the prep for the TCL workshop, your observations and a couple of other DMX users observations who have since emailed me.

It seems that all four of us have one thing in common and that we experienced wierdness with the DMX signal when using the iDMX1000 and when we plugged the same fixtures into a DMX console the problems went away.

So based on that, my guess is that it is the iDMX.

BTW, when I set the HWU to 240, it does not find my iDMX either, but when I it to 40 or so it does find it. Try that and see if it is recognized. It won't help the flashing but at least you can work thru the recognition problem.

Charles


I'll give that a try, thanks Charles!

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr. Jones wrote:

you can also change the address to something lower in the hwu

I am also a DMX end user, but have some knowledge of the workings of the language. When it come to the chipset -i'm at a loss

- i really need a dmxerciser


Good one Dr Jones!:P

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg,

First change the unit ID on your iDMX to "10" instead of "EO", then set your HWU to search for 40, which is greater than what you need for a search but not too much to drag the search down. It should find the iDMX then.

Don't forget that the unit ID's are in hex, not decimal; so "EO" in hex is 224 in decimal. The search function is in decimal but it is searching for ID's listed in hex.

Here is a decimal/hex/binary chart:

http://www.dewassoc.com/support/msdos/decimal_hexadecimal.htm

BTW, none of this has anything to do with the flashing problem, but maybe you can get the HWU to recognize your iDMX.

Charles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charles Belcher wrote:

Greg,

First change the unit ID on your iDMX to "10" instead of "EO", then set your HWU to search for 40, which is greater than what you need for a search but not too much to drag the search down. It should find the iDMX then.

Don't forget that the unit ID's are in hex, not decimal; so "EO" in hex is 224 in decimal. The search function is in decimal but it is searching for ID's listed in hex.

Here is a decimal/hex/binary chart:

http://www.dewassoc.com/support/msdos/decimal_hexadecimal.htm

BTW, none of this has anything to do with the flashing problem, but maybe you can get the HWU to recognize your iDMX.

Charles


OK, thanks Charles!

I tried it set to 0 with a search for 20. Will go the 10 and 40 route.

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

OK guys and gals here is the latest.

I got the replacement IDMX1000 in the mail today (thanks Dan!).

The HWU recognized it as 16 units - so far so good!:)

When hooked up to the Chauvet colorstrips, (in the RGB mode fo the strips), there was no longer any flashes of other primary colors during a fade of one of the primary colors - hurray!!:):)

BUT...

Now there is flashing of another primary color (red during solid green, green during solid blue, and blue during solid red) when I have a primary color on solid, before any fading.:(:(

This occurs whether using the IDMX1000 console in the HWU, or my programmed sequences.

I tried the unit I will be sending back, and it only flashes these alternate colors during the fades, just as before.:?

To me since the pattern of errors has changed with the replacement unit, it would seem to me to be some kind of hardware issue, as nothing else has changed on my end.

Any thoughts from anyone out there?

The DMX guy that bench tested my colorstrips using his DMX console wants to order some more (He has one, which is where I first same the colorstrip unit). Maybe I should offer him the option of purchasing my 3, taking a small loss on them, and call it a day.

Opinions?

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg

is the flashing consistent? how many times per minute does the flashing happen? Does the other color drop out when the flash happens?

Dan

Does the iDMX send any info in the start code slot?

Charles - any ideas?

I'm thinking there is an erronious start code being sent, or an inconsistent DMX string.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr. Jones,

Well, I have been busy and haven't taken my iDMX units to my bench tech. I guess it is time to do this and see what he comes up with.

Greg,

Give me a couple of days to see if my tech see anything on his equipment before you give up.
_________________________________

This is scary as I am burning hours programming, programming and programming my 3500 channels without having hooked everything up to see what is going on in the real world. I am just using the animation screen in LOR and only have one iDMX and one LED tube by my desk. The only reason I even have the tube is to check out the colors I am using and verify the RBG values on paper are translating to reality. I am not using twinkles nor shimmers so I can keep up with the fades and make sure I am under 64 at all times.
_________________________________

This is a quote from the iDMX manual:

"The packets per second rate is approximately 80 with 256 channels and 40 with 512 channels. Break is 225 microseconds. Mark-After-Break (MAB) is 25 microseconds."

____________________________________

This is a quote from an Enttec DMX USB PRO: (for comparison only)

: Universe & user config EEPROM
- Refresh Rate configurable from 1 to 40Hz
- Break configurable from 96uS to 1.3mS
- MaB configurable from 10.6uS to 1.3mS "
____________________________________

And, some info I have laying around states the following and accompanies the diagram attached.

1. SPACE for BREAK=92uS min transmittal time and 176uS max
2. MARK after BREAK (MAB)=12uS min transmittal time and 8uS min rec time
3. Slot Time
4. START bit
5. LEAST SIGNIFICANT Data BIT (LSB)
6. MOST SIGNIFICANT Data BIT (MSB)
7. STOP Bit
8. STOP bit
9. MARK time between slots
10. MARK before BREAK (MBB)
11. BREAK to BREAK time
12. RESET Sequence (BREAK, MAB, START Code)
13. DMX512 Packet
14. START CODE (SLOT 0 Data)
15. SLOT 1 Data
16. SLOT n DATA ( Max. 512)


Charles


Attached files 157680=9128-dmx-small.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr. Jones wrote:

Greg

is the flashing consistent? how many times per minute does the flashing happen? Does the other color drop out when the flash happens?

Dan

Does the iDMX send any info in the start code slot?

Charles - any ideas?

I'm thinking there is an erronious start code being sent, or an inconsistent DMX string.




Hi Dr Jones:

No, the flashing is not consistent. It is intermittent. I wish I could find a pattern to it...

The primary color does not drop out. The flash (another primary color) just appears for a moment, and then is gone. Maybe it lasts about a half second or so. I haven't measured it precisely.

Thanks,

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Charles Belcher wrote:

Dr. Jones,

Well, I have been busy and haven't taken my iDMX units to my bench tech. I guess it is time to do this and see what he comes up with.

Greg,

Give me a couple of days to see if my tech see anything on his equipment before you give up.
_________________________________

This is scary as I am burning hours programming, programming and programming my 3500 channels without having hooked everything up to see what is going on in the real world. I am just using the animation screen in LOR and only have one iDMX and one LED tube by my desk. The only reason I even have the tube is to check out the colors I am using and verify the RBG values on paper are translating to reality. I am not using twinkles nor shimmers so I can keep up with the fades and make sure I am under 64 at all times.
_________________________________

Charles


OK Charles, thanks!

I am a bit surprised we have not seen postings from any other LOR IDMX users, as to this issue (or related). It is possible not many have had any issues.

I suppose they might not be using LED washes/fades, or haven't bothered to fully try the units out as well...

Anyone else encountering similar issues?

Greg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg,

As I said in an earlier post, I had similar but not identical problems when I was programming for the DMX workshop in July and I know of two others beside you and I who have had similar problems. In all cases the problems went away when a hard lighting console was used.

Charles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Charles, I remember that...

I was hoping maybe someone else out there reading this thread had the same issue, and possibly came up with a work around. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

Dan is now on the problem, so we may have a work around in the not too distant future...:)

I will certainly keep everyone posted.

Greg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone,

I just finished bench testing one of my iDMX-1000 units set to ID# 10. I did the following tests:

1) Powered the unit with a external power supply
2) Used a hard lighting console, the HWU and a program via the sequence editor for testing
3) I came out of the iDMX-1000 into a DMX test unit which records channel activity
4) The lighting console, the HWU and the program sequence gave the same results.
5) Whether I changed value on one channel or a series of channels simultaneously, no unintended channels changed value.
6) Included in the test were constant value changes, twinkle and shimmer.

So, the conclusion for me is that this particular iDMX1000 set at an ID #10 worked correctly.

I wish I could offer more, but it is what it is.

Charles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...