Holiday Coro Programming Doogle

[ShayneT]

Has anyone used the programming doogle as DMX doogle? The website mentions it can but is not supported.

[ShaggySS]

I was just going to ask a similar question. In my testing today I can get the dongle http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/54-2.htm to control one of those little 3 channel controllers http://www.holidaycoro.com/3-Channel-DMX-RGB-Controller-p/26.htm but once I hook up a second one it will continue to control the first one but not the second one.

I guess my question is will this dongle control more than one of those 3 channel DMX controllers if not what are others using? I have about 20 of those little 3 channel controllers

[CLD Kevin]

I was just going to ask a similar question. In my testing today I can get the dongle http://www.holidayco...duct-p/54-2.htm to control one of those little 3 channel controllers http://www.holidayco...roller-p/26.htm but once I hook up a second one it will continue to control the first one but not the second one.

I guess my question is will this dongle control more than one of those 3 channel DMX controllers if not what are others using? I have about 20 of those little 3 channel controllers

Might be a dumb question here, but did you program the second controller to a different channel? All the 3ch controllers come pre-programmed as channels 1-3.

[ShaggySS]

Might be a dumb question here, but did you program the second controller to a different channel? All the 3ch controllers come pre-programmed as channels 1-3.

I did change the channel numbers and I did the +1 offset ins LOR which works perfectly for the second controller but the first one is still off. If they were all still programmed as 1-3 I suspect they would all be working as one right? I might try reprogramming them to confirm this. I ordered a DMXKing micro adapter so I am hoping that is the answer to all my problems.

[Tracy West]

You can get them to run... I have proved that this weekend... getting them to stop flickering is the big question that we are working on to answer!

[ShaggySS]

You can get them to run... I have proved that this weekend... getting them to stop flickering is the big question that we are working on to answer!

Two is the most I can get working. I did see the flickering but I didn't know what to make of that. I never ran a sequence though to see if it was working or not I just assumed flickering was bad. I ordered a dmxking dongle but its shipping from New Zealand so hopefully its here in time to salvage my Halloween display. Shipping type clearly said AIR so I hope that mean AIRPLANE and not some boat with AIR in the name. Unfortunately its New Zealand Air tracking info I suspect will be as useful as USPS.

My backup plan will be to find someone with a DMX dongle nearby or someone who focuses more on christmas and has a controller to borrow near by to use during halloween and leave the RGB elements for next year.

[Lincoln Lights]

Holiday CORO's dmx contollers: Depending on what version you received. (internal firmware differance) V1 and V2. I had serious problems getting them to work with LOR usb485. Ibought a Entec Pro and, v1 works like a charm Just programm the address of each one, and you are on the way. Also xmas lights tester is a quick way to verify they are working. v2, another story. Dave from holiday coro has been helpful, but v2 is still "buggy"

[ShaggySS]

How do you know if you have version v1 or v2? can you tell by looking at the board?

[Lincoln Lights]

if you have the programming software from holiday coro, it will tell you. other than that, I do not know. If you bought the prior to September from david, they are probably V1

[ShaggySS]

Not really sure what I have. I got my from creative lighting because they have a cat5 connector http://store.creativelightingdisplays.com/3-Channel-DMX-RGB-Cat5-Controller-3CH-DMX-CAT5.htm and that is one less thing I have to worry about creating a connector for. With that and the splitters http://www.holidaycoro.com/product-p/adapter-3wayff.htm i am 100% cat5 for my DMX.

The controller looks identical inside and out plus they can be programmed with the holiday coro programmer so I can't complain as long as I can get them working.

[CLD Kevin]

I'm not sure the whole difference between HC v1 and v2...haven't really looked. If I were to guess...I say mine are v1. Same as last years.

[Tracy West]

Two is the most I can get working. I did see the flickering but I didn't know what to make of that. I never ran a sequence though to see if it was working or not I just assumed flickering was bad. I ordered a dmxking dongle but its shipping from New Zealand so hopefully its here in time to salvage my Halloween display. Shipping type clearly said AIR so I hope that mean AIRPLANE and not some boat with AIR in the name. Unfortunately its New Zealand Air tracking info I suspect will be as useful as USPS.

My backup plan will be to find someone with a DMX dongle nearby or someone who focuses more on christmas and has a controller to borrow near by to use during halloween and leave the RGB elements for next year.

Well my strips I cannot get the flickering to stop.

I did for just one night but it came back with vengence!

[Lincoln Lights]

I get a flicker in my lights from time to time this week. I ran them for almost 18 hrs st aas a test, and all was great. as soon as I turned them off, I had a couple stay on, and no behave according to my direction. I unplugged the dmx cable, restarted the xlights software, and it would stop. It happened again, and again when I changed from my programming dongel to my entec pro. Both times reconnecting the dmx signal from the universe and plugging back in and also closing and reopening xlights solved the problem.. I amdoing som testing now using my entec pro.

[dgtlpro]

Try putting a terminating resistor at the end of your DMX string. If you are using cat5 then a 120 ohm resistor between pins 1 & 2 should do the trick. Also, if you have long runs make sure your DMX signal cable is not running next to AC power cable. If it is and is at all possible, separate them by about 6" to avoid interference.

[Lincoln Lights]

Thank you for the suggestion. Update to previous post...

First, I applaud you for even reading the mess. I just re read it and I see my spelling is atrocious.

Second. I have almost 100 controlers daisey chained together at this point. My final layout will have 100 controllers injected with 45 - 45w power supplies. So some sontrolers will be daisey chained to each other when they share a power supply, and my out put dmx signal will be "daisey chained" along the power supplies as well. Do I put the resistor at the end of the dmx signal coming from the computer after the last power supply, or do I put one at the end of each section of controllers that share a power supply?

Third: More mis behaving controllers. If I turn the power off and back on, the "DMX" signal / lights do not want to behave. If I leave it off for a period of time, they tend to work correctly again.

corrected........

Thank you for the suggestion. Update to previous post...

First, I applaud you for even reading the mess. I just re read it and I see my spelling is atrocious.

Second. I have almost 100 controlers daisy chained together at this point. My final layout will have 100 controllers injected with 45 - 45w power supplies. So some controllers will be daisy chained to each other when they share a power supply, and my out put dmx signal will be "daisy chained" along the power supplies as well. Do I put the resistor at the end of the dmx signal coming from the computer after the last power supply, or do I put one at the end of each section of controllers that share a power supply?

Third: More mis behaving controllers. If I turn the power off and back on, the "DMX" signal / lights do not want to behave. If I leave it off for a period of time, they tend to work correctly again.

[CLD Kevin]

The max devices you can have daisy-chain is 32. You will need a DMX splitter to get more than 32 devices per universe. Also when injecting power, make sure the power from each source is not connecting to another source.

[Tracy West]

Kevin,

I have learned the hard way.

I should have bought one of your CMB 16 D RGB Controllers with the better connections. I am sure that is what my true problem is. The CAT5 connections are tempermental.

[dmoore]

The max devices you can have daisy-chain is 32. You will need a DMX splitter to get more than 32 devices per universe. Also when injecting power, make sure the power from each source is not connecting to another source.

The “32” number of loads per RS485 line varies greatly based on a number of factors:

• The RS485 chip and its load
  
• The type of cabling
  
• The length of cabling
  
• The strength of the RS485 (dongle) output device
  

I have multiple displays where I have 100 DMX controllers on a single line. In the end, it “depends” on the factors involved.

[Tracy West]

The “32” number of loads per RS485 line varies greatly based on a number of factors:

• The RS485 chip and its load
  
• The type of cabling
  
• The length of cabling
  
• The strength of the RS485 (dongle) output device
  

I have multiple displays where I have 100 DMX controllers on a single line. In the end, it “depends” on the factors involved.

Thank you so much for all your help!

Hopefully tonight I can get it all to work.

[dmoore]

Thank you for the suggestion. Update to previous post...

First, I applaud you for even reading the mess. I just re read it and I see my spelling is atrocious.

Second. I have almost 100 controlers daisey chained together at this point. My final layout will have 100 controllers injected with 45 - 45w power supplies. So some sontrolers will be daisey chained to each other when they share a power supply, and my out put dmx signal will be "daisey chained" along the power supplies as well. Do I put the resistor at the end of the dmx signal coming from the computer after the last power supply, or do I put one at the end of each section of controllers that share a power supply?

Third: More mis behaving controllers. If I turn the power off and back on, the "DMX" signal / lights do not want to behave. If I leave it off for a period of time, they tend to work correctly again.

Holiday CORO's dmx contollers: Depending on what version you received. (internal firmware differance) V1 and V2. I had serious problems getting them to work with LOR usb485. Ibought a Entec Pro and, v1 works like a charm Just programm the address of each one, and you are on the way. Also xmas lights tester is a quick way to verify they are working. v2, another story. Dave from holiday coro has been helpful, but v2 is still "buggy"

Based on my personal experience, getting towards 100 controllers will result in a low enough RS485 signal level that you will likely experience issues. I'd recommend splitting the network or using an DMX/RS485 amplifier. A scope would really tell a lot about what is going on "on the wire" if you should have one.

At this point, all known issues with the V2 programming software have been resolved. I am unaware of any issues, programming or with operation, that the V2 controllers exhibit.

If any HolidayCoro customer is having a problem with their display, please, please, please call us at 731-HDCORO1 or submit a support ticket - we want to make every effort we can to help you resolve issues you are having with our products.

Kevin,

I have learned the hard way.

I should have bought one of your CMB 16 D RGB Controllers with the better connections. I am sure that is what my true problem is. The CAT5 connections are tempermental.

I'm sorry we didn't know you were having issues as we don't normally monitor the LOR forum. I hope our phone call today will help you reach a resolution to your issue and if not, please feel free to call or email me.

Thanks,

David