plasmadrive Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 We here I sit a bit frustrated. The converters I bought from Ray don't work with DMX signal. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/DC5V-input-DMX-to-WS2811-SPI-Converter-512-channel-output-max170-pixels-controlled/701799_1019363088.html They work fine with their own internal patterns.. I used those to test my strips with.. Now I needed to actually run DMX to them and I can't get them to work at all. I have tried two different DMX testers. I tired swapping the D- and D+ but no joy. I put DMX first, then power..I tired first power then DMX.. No joy either way. I tired every combo I could think of with no positive results. I even used one to inject DMX and the other tester to read it and there was not even a pass thru signal. I have about 12 of them and tried 3... nothing worked on any of em' Sumpen ain't right! Anyone have any suggestions? I am no DMX novice, but I can't make em' work to save my bacon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Cockroft Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 I see where it does say to hook up DMX and then power. You said you did that. Is there anything you have to program for the DMX channels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 Nope.. should detect it. but it does not.. Ray's email server has been down for the last two days so I have not been able to chat with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Back up a bit and put a known working DMX device (LED light, etc) on the DMX signal your sending to Ray's box.That should tell you if you're even getting a valid signal from your DMX source (computer, I presume). If not, then check your DMX source. If OK, reconnect to Ray's box and put your DMX test device on the passthru connectors and see if it passes through or gets messed up in transit. If that's OK, and Ray's box is still not working, try inserting a DMX distro or RS485 buffer between it and your computer. I've had some Chinese devices that don't respond to a valid DMX signal, but when a distro is inserted, it magically works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted August 16, 2013 Author Share Posted August 16, 2013 (edited) Hi Ken, No computer.. use a Pocket Console DMX http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Products/PB8.aspx and when that didn't work I pulled out the Swisson XMT-120 http://www.swisson.com/us-dmx-measurement-tool Notice above I tried the pass thru.. nothing. They just don't work.. If they don't work with standard DMX, then they are obviously not DMX compliant. I won't use anything that I have to massage when there is a rock solid standard involved. So unless there is something that I missed.. but I am pretty sure that ain't it... then they are all going back to Ray. BTW, I did use a computer to driver board the first time but when that didn't work, I figured it must be the driver board.. that is when I pulled out the other DMX tools and started trouble shooting. We even looked at the signal getting to the controller with a scope before we plugged it in and it was fine. Edited August 16, 2013 by plasmadrive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 Sounds like they're going back. Holidaycoro has their Tinypix controller, if you want to try one, I have some spares. I also am evaluating a new 2811 board that you're welcome to try. I'm using a couple of Ray's other 2811 DMX controllers with good success, but both are tied up in a model project. Let me know if you want to test drive these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted August 17, 2013 Author Share Posted August 17, 2013 Hi Ken, I have an E682 and a JSY board but I may need to buy a few more. (I need 20 universes). but these were just going to make life easier for me. The Tinypix are a bit too expensive for what I am doing with them... They are about double what Ray gets and I need 20 of em.. but then again the Tinypix probably work. The 2811 board you have listed looks like it is only 12v. My stuff is 5v. Otherwise that didn't look too bad. (how do you find this stuff) ha ha. I have about 4 or those other drivers from Ray but that is not enough.. I did get these to work once finally by removing the DMX ground wire and by reversing the D+ and D- and waiting about 10 minutes before plugging them back in. Problem is that once the DMX was unplugged they would not work in DMX mode again. I am exploring that now.. I will keep you posted. Thanks for the offers.. and the suggestions.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 (edited) When you search Ray Wu's website, and looking for the 2811 type of smart string lights, these searches produce DIFFERENT results: "WS2811""WS2811IC""2811""2811IC" Their search engine isn't great, as you can see. If you want a GREAT way to search the LOR forums, use Dogpiles Advanced Search and point it to Forums.Lightorama.Com with your search arguments and you will get so many hits you'll wonder how you lived without it. The search engine in the LOR Forum kinda sucks, but they're stuck with it. I just found something WAY better. BTW, here's the Technicolor Pixels I was talking about earlier. FYI Edited August 17, 2013 by Ken Benedict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Holiday Coro's Tinypix controllers are only $24 in the quantity you need. x20=$500 for a great looking, unique display with 20 universes. Isn't that worth bragging rights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted August 17, 2013 Author Share Posted August 17, 2013 Well, I don't know how.. but all of a sudden, the unit I am using to test with is working. No idea why. I walked away, came back and plugged it in and it works... However.. when I was sitting there doing something else and had the DMX channels at zero, all of a sudden there was a burst of random lights. I just don't know about these.. I may have to bite the bullet and get the Tiny pix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I may be stating the obvious, but I noticed two things:It looks like you set the starting DMX address with software; maybe you are accidentally sending the channel values that reprogram it. The picture on Ray's website shows some jumpers that need to be added or subtracted before it works properly. Are they set OK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted August 17, 2013 Author Share Posted August 17, 2013 You can't set the DMX address with software.. The converter has no such ability at this point. They start at channel one no matter what. The sending unit is not automated. I did not have it connected to a computer... It was still connected to the tester. There was no reason for that random burst that I know of. Noise is not an issue. The tester is working correctly. The only thing that is unknown is the unit under test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted August 17, 2013 Author Share Posted August 17, 2013 So now that I have it working, after a fashion, the output is GRB instead of RGB. Damn.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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