Steven Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I'm happy to report that I just finished assembling my first Rainbow Flood Extreme, and it worked the first time! (Well, nearly. Details below.)The construction went fairly smoothly, including the surface mount chips, which were easier than I assumed they would be. The SMT technique that worked well for me was to dab a small amount of flux on the center pin and center solder tab. Then I put some solder on the tip of my soldering iron. I then used my finger to place the device exactly where I wanted it and held it firmly with one hand, while applying molten solder with the soldering iron held in the other hand. When it was firmly attached, I went soldered the other pins.I used a similar technique for the LEDs. For that quantity of LEDs, a large flat foam pad could be used to keep them seated, but I didn't have one handy. So I held the board with one hand sideways, held the soldering iron in the other hand, and tacked one pin of each LED. Then I laid the board upside down and soldered all the pins.The first test didn't work.Then I read the manual. It seems that the DMX address switch is '1' when 'off', and '0' when 'on'. In hindsight this kind of makes sense since it's grounding a logic pin when 'on'. I toggled all the switches and then it worked! As advertised, it is nice and bright. I only ran a test sequence that faded through 7 primary colors, but later I'll experiment with the strobe feature.I've never used a "waterproof" fixture before. I'll have to see how it does.Now for the "needs improvement" section. These suggestions are mainly my "wish list", because it's working well in its current state.I hope I don't have to change the DMX base address very often, because it requires removing 4 long screws to access the address switches. I'd be worried about taking the cover off after a season of the gasket held tight. Why don't you do like all the other kids do and program the address from a computer?I found that when the RFX loses the DMX signal, the lights stay at the brightness they were. This is a bit unexpected. (However, it's better than the $7 RGB DMX controller "test pattern.")On the installation manual: It says: "Press the two boards together. Insert one socket into the other." This does not tell which way (although it would become obvious once it was time to install the end caps. Also, it says: "This device uses potentially deadly voltages in operation." No it doesn't. Maybe you need to get a new lawyer.On the DMX Blender: DMX is a 3-wire specification that includes a ground wire. Yes, it usually isn't required, but you have it right there, so why not use it? Unless I am mistaken, pin 7 (DMX ground) on the DMX Blender is not connected. It should be connected to ground. I realize that in most cases, the power supply and the DMX controller (via the computer) use a common (safety) ground, but we really shouldn't depend on that. Also, the DMX standard allows for 2 universes on one Cat5 cable. To allow for that, the DMX Blender should pass all pins (1-8) through from one jack to another. I don't believe it does.This one is for HolidayCoro on their Enttec Cat5 adapter cable: The DMX standard uses 6 wires of the Cat5 cable, but your cable only has 2 connected to the XLR plug. This is a shame, since all 8 wires are present. We have standards so why not use them? In addition to pins 2 and 3 from the XLR-5, I re-wired my adapter to have pin 1 of the XLR-5 connected to pins 7 and 8 of the Cat5, pin 4 connected to pin 6, and pin 5 connected to pin 3, as per the standard. They may not all be used today, but now at least the ground is connected to where it's supposed to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh28 Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 How "directional" is the light on the Rainbow Extreme. Is the light more of a traditional flood light or more of a spot light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 marsh28 wrote: Is the light more of a traditional flood light or more of a spot light?It's not a spot light. I don't know how to measure the "width", but it's definitely a flood light, not a spot light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted May 4, 2012 Author Share Posted May 4, 2012 A couple more things about the owner's manual that need correction:It says: This device uses potentially deadly voltages in operation. No it doesn't. It uses 12 volts!It says: The Rainbow Flood - EXTREME uses standard DMX wiring. No it doesn't. The Blender uses standard DMX wiring, not the RFX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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