Channels Misfiring

[TaylorFox]

So I've never had an issue with my controllers since I first started an animated display 3 years ago. But this year in my Halloween display some of the channels seem to be misfiring or not firing at all when they're supposed to. The only thing I've changed this year is added a background animation for my "tune-to" sign. Any ideas what may be causing this? Thanks in advance!

-Taylor

[Victory402]

I read something recently here that resetting the controller will correct this. hope this helps a little.

[Max-Paul]

Resetting the controller is a good start. But in my opinion, most of the problems along this line can be one of two other possible causes. reboot your computer. Ya, that was a problem I had once right in the middle of the season. The other possibility is that you have your comm cable to close to some of the A.C. wires. Move all comm cables as far away from the A.C. lines as you can. Do not let your comm cables lay on top or below any of the other cables.

[Brian Mitchell]

I've never had an issue with com cables being too close to power cables. I have had issues with a flaky com cable causing trouble. Resetting controllers is always good. It isn't always the controller where the trouble is appearing that is causing it either. Reset all controllers to be safe.

Also, double check your channel configuration. If you are seeing issues in the same spots within a sequence, recheck the sequence with fades set to ramps. Fragments will show up better that way.

Also if you have any flourescent bulbs in the display or on the same circuits as the display, they are known to cause noise that disrupts the show.

Good luck.

Bri

[Anthony in Houston]

Try re-flashing the firmware.

Anthony

[rwertz]

Make sure you don't have the same channel (Unit/Circuit) included in your main sequences and in your background sequence too. You should only have a circuit assigned to one or the other.

If you are running one of the later versions of LOR there is a Verifier tool you can run. It will tell you if you have channel conflicts between the background sequence and the rest of the show. It will also tell you a lot of other less concerning things like you have an unused channel in a sequence (you can choose to ignore those).

[TaylorFox]

Ok, I restarted my computer and there still is no difference. I've also checked the sequences and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. I watched the show all the way through several times and have noticed that it's completely random; its not always the same channel or the same sequence. It happens in many different actions, but most notably on long fade ups. For example the lights will fade up slowly together as they're supposed to, then one light will just go out, and then come back on once it reaches the peak of the fade. What about re-flashing the firmware; how do I do that?

[LightORamaDan]

TaylorFox wrote:

Ok, I restarted my computer and there still is no difference. I've also checked the sequences and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. I watched the show all the way through several times and have noticed that it's completely random; its not always the same channel or the same sequence. It happens in many different actions, but most notably on long fade ups. For example the lights will fade up slowly together as they're supposed to, then one light will just go out, and then come back on once it reaches the peak of the fade. What about re-flashing the firmware; how do I do that?

Did you reset the controller? To reset the controller:

If the controller has Unit ID switches on it:

Power off, Set the Unit ID switches to "00"

Power on for 1-2 seconds (until you see the LED blink fast)

Power off, Set the Unit ID back to the original value



If the controller does not have Unit ID switches then:

Power off, Remove the jumper from the 2nd row of the 18 pin header

Power on for 1-2 seconds (until you see the LED blink fast)

Power off, Replace the jumper on the SECOND ROW



Dan

[kzaas]

TaylorFox wrote:

Ok, I restarted my computer and there still is no difference. I've also checked the sequences and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. I watched the show all the way through several times and have noticed that it's completely random; its not always the same channel or the same sequence. It happens in many different actions, but most notably on long fade ups. For example the lights will fade up slowly together as they're supposed to, then one light will just go out, and then come back on once it reaches the peak of the fade. What about re-flashing the firmware; how do I do that?

That exact same problem was happening to me last season on the fades and it was caused by my comm cables being too close to the power cables, as the others have suggested. Have you checked that yet? Try to keep them 3-6 inches away apart.

[TaylorFox]

kzaas wrote:

That exact same problem was happening to me last season on the fades and it was caused by my comm cables being too close to the power cables, as the others have suggested. Have you checked that yet? Try to keep them 3-6 inches away apart.

Yeah, I actually just changed the comm cable so that it isn't anywhere near any kind of power sources and it looks like the channels are still misfiring completely at random :{

[Don]

TaylorFox wrote:

I've also checked the sequences and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

Did you verify that, without a doubt, the controller/channel used for your sign/background sequence does not appear in any other sequence .. ever?

I know you say you've checked the sequences, but you'll want to make sure about this one.

[cmoore60]

One other thing that comes to mind that has been reported in the past to cause some issues with random events. Do you have compact flouresent lights in use?

Chuck

[bob]

Don wrote:

TaylorFox wrote:

I've also checked the sequences and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

Did you verify that, without a doubt, the controller/channel used for your sign/background sequence does not appear in any other sequence .. ever?

I know you say you've checked the sequences, but you'll want to make sure about this one.

Try using the LOR Verifier - it can automatically detect a bunch of potential problems with your show, including this one that Don has pointed out.

[stachows]

I agree with what Don says, but I had a huge issue last year with channels comming on when thier not supposed to, and then others staying on... All kinds of mishaps.

I checked every single comm cable, moved them away from power cables, everything...nothing worked.

I finally found my problem...after really trouble shooting

I had made my own DMX cable out of very cheap wire.

This caused all sorts of issues, most of which had NOTHING to do with DMX.. my regular controllers were flaking out because of this one cable. I replaced the cable, and problem solved.

If anything I hope this lets you know that if you trouble shoot the right way, you will find it.!!!

Scott.

[Mark h2o]

Your problem sounds exactly like a comm cable issue. It could be a faulty or corroded connection within the crimp on jack. But it still really sounds like you are getting some sort of line noise on the comm cable. If you are using a laptop try placing it in a different location where the comm cable is well away from major power sources. If you can also test your comm cable with a multi meter or cable tester.

[Mark h2o]

Also, if you have channels sticking on or stuck on shimmering after a song has ended, it's a strong sign of cable issues. Any cable on the controller network can cause issues for the whole thing. If using more than one controller also try disconnecting the last cable on the network and running the show. If the problem goes away, replace the cable. If not then disconnect the next one and so on as mentioned by others.

Good luck.