collisonlights Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 I NEED HELP ASAP. This is my 3rd year doing a show outside of my home. This year right in the middle of the evening the show quits lighting up...but the music still plays. I have restarted the computer, re-set up the show in Simple Show Builder, powered down the control boxes outside and it doesn't restart. THEN, ALL of a sudden it may start lighting up. We have checked all the connections thinking that it maybe coming unhooked and have found nothing loose. The lines appear all to be dry. This has did this once earlier this week too. The boxes & lines do not feel like they are getting hot. The power to the boxes is all heavy duty house wiring. The lights in the boxes will be blinking steady. A couple of times the lights start acting like it is only getting signal to part of the lights by only lighting some areas then it will start working all over. PLEASE HELP ME . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 If the LED lights in the controller boxes are blinking, the it appears to be a communications issue. Concentrate on your Cat5 wires, remove Cat5 from close proximity to power cables, etc.Does the USB cable to your RS485 adapter have ferrite beads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 You say that the little Red LED in the controllers are blinking? What does the manual say about what the Red LED is suppose to do, and Why?You did read the manual, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Also, when asking for assistance, it is a good idea to include the model numbers of the controllers you are using and also the software version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collisonlights Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 WHAT IS FERRITE BEADS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collisonlights Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 What is ferrite beads? I have a USB485 adapter that the CAT5 connects to the USB but I don't know anything about beads. The software is version 2.6.2. The controller says they are a LOR 1602W, but the manual says LOR160xW. The CAT5 is run under the driveway inside of a pipe along with the electric wires so they can't be separated from the power lines. We didn't have any trouble the last two years and it is the same there. These lines are left inside of it all year. What I don't understand is why it will work for a while then quit for a long time , then start up & be fine for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collisonlights Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 I have 3 control boxes if that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 collisonlights wrote:WHAT IS FERRITE BEADS?see this posthttp://forums.lightorama.com/view_topic.php?id=30845&forum_id=72&jump_to=289940#p289940 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 collisonlights wrote:What is ferrite beads? I have a USB485 adapter that the CAT5 connects to the USB but I don't know anything about beads. The software is version 2.6.2. The controller says they are a LOR 1602W, but the manual says LOR160xW. The CAT5 is run under the driveway inside of a pipe along with the electric wires so they can't be separated from the power lines. We didn't have any trouble the last two years and it is the same there. These lines are left inside of it all year. What I don't understand is why it will work for a while then quit for a long time , then start up & be fine for a long time.Your Cat5 lines stay out all year?Cat5 cable and/or connections can and do fail.If the status LED on your controllers starts blinking while the show is running, then that is an indication of a lose to communications. Communications is carried over the Cat5 cable.I would start trouble shooting with the Cat5 cables.Maybe first hook up your Cat5 tester and verify the cable integrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collisonlights Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 What is a cat 5 tester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 http://lmgtfy.com/?q=What+is+a+CAT5+tester%3F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 It is a very inexpensive device that tests the integrity of of Cat5 wires and connectors.An essential component (in my opinion) for my LOR display.A google search for [ Cat5 tester ] returned 1,550,000 results for this common item.here is just one of themhttp://www.broadbandutopia.com/testumtp500.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgardner518 Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 If your interested, I have one you can have really cheap! With shipping and all you can have it for $15! PM me if your interested! I can get it shipped out right away to you.There is nothing wrong with it. I just have 2.It comes with a black zipper carrying case.See picture below. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collisonlights Posted December 11, 2011 Author Share Posted December 11, 2011 Thanks for everyone's help. Last night everything worked fine. I did not change the CAT5. I installed the software and shows over onto my laptop yesterday morning. I set it to come on and watched it for 3 hours. Then, last night had the show run from my laptop. Everything worked fine. I am not sure if the computer was the problem or if the CAT5 was drawing moister and dried out. Someone (not here) said maybe it was the Ethernet card in my computer. I am sooooooo glad it worked last night.We had 625 vehicles drive through my property. I am hoping the rest of the season goes well with the laptop running it. If it doesn't then I will definitely change the cable. One person here has offered to sell me a tester but I don't know if I would know how to read it as to whether the cable is good or bad.:? Are they easy to understand or do you have to be an electronic type of person? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgardner518 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Here is a picture of the unit apart. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 collisonlights wrote: Thanks for everyone's help. Last night everything worked fine. I did not change the CAT5. I installed the software and shows over onto my laptop yesterday morning. I set it to come on and watched it for 3 hours. Then, last night had the show run from my laptop. Everything worked fine. I am not sure if the computer was the problem or if the CAT5 was drawing moister and dried out. Someone (not here) said maybe it was the Ethernet card in my computer. I am sooooooo glad it worked last night.We had 625 vehicles drive through my property. I am hoping the rest of the season goes well with the laptop running it. If it doesn't then I will definitely change the cable. One person here has offered to sell me a tester but I don't know if I would know how to read it as to whether the cable is good or bad.:? Are they easy to understand or do you have to be an electronic type of person?It is a good unit, and is easy to use, assuming you read the instructions included with it of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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