George Simmons Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 (edited) For the past week I've had an issue with channels randomly acting up - even when LOR isn't running. Over the years, I've seen that mentioned a lot this time of year - and most often by newbies. The canned advice for those types of issues is to check comm cables/connections. Hey - I'm an old timer, I mean veteran, so I know that, right? And I always check comm cables with a tester before deploying them to the yard.About four years ago when Sharon finally had enough of tripping over comm cables, I installed a semi-permanent cable to the garage. Never had an issue with it. So confident am I that I don't even bother checking that one. I mean, heck, it hasn't moved an inch the past four years. If you can't see where this is going, then you should be collecting stamps or something...Today I replaced the comm cable after days spent fretting over almost everything else. Guess what? Issues went away.So, the lesson learned, both to newbies and to arrogant old timers, I mean veterans, like myself is:ALWAYS SUSPECT A COMM CABLE when you have things happening in the yard which shouldn't be happening.I repeat - ALWAYS SUSPECT A COMM CABLE WHEN THINGS GO SCREWY IN THE YARD!First, of course, is to double check your channel assignments. And then change the damn comm cable leading to the first controller that's causing issues. Don't think about it - just do it!Happy lighting, all! Edited November 26, 2012 by George Simmons 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Orville, I mean George. Orville might have some good recipes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 LMAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shubb Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I'm sure there is a comment about teaching an old dog new tricks but I don't want to be rude... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bman288272 Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 So is George the new Orville or are they brothers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 I guess I didn't realize we needed a new Orville. Don't we already have one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Push Eject Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Thanks for that advice, George. I'm certain I'll need that someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dknahoolewa Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 I needed this last week when i posted that unit 1 wasn't working but the rest where. Some how the info was passing to the other controllers but wouldn't light the first one.Lesson learned...check comm cable first.Guess you missed my post George!!! Guess if you old dogs could keep up with all the new dog questions "ISSUES" you would have reminded yourself........LOL Thanks So Much To All the OLD DOGS........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 That post was soo long winded I almost went and got popcorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGabriel Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I got the dry mouth from reading it and had to go and get a mix drink to finish reading.What a comm cable? Is that the thing with the little clip on the end.LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan.a Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 OMGTL:DR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Benedict Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 George - OK, you had a bad cable, you replaced it and life is good again; did you ever figure out WHY the cable was bad?Chipmunks or other critters maybe? Or an errant staple?Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spomalley Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 This really should be stickied......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 George - OK, you had a bad cable, you replaced it and life is good again; did you ever figure out WHY the cable was bad?Chipmunks or other critters maybe? Or an errant staple?Just curious.I won't be able to physically remove the cable until spring - it's partially underground. But i'm okay with that - just happy to be running error-free again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 "I always check comm cables with a tester before deploying them to the yard."Two questions:1. How do you "check" the comm cables with a tester? 2. I'm having several boxes misbehave. I took the laptop out there and hooked them directly---same issues are occurring. Does that eliminate all the comm cables except maybe the one connected directly to the laptop?I've had to get creative in order to make the show work. It's so frustrating...Thanks,Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 I got my tester from Monoprice.com - the same vendor I get cables from. They cost about ten bucks. The cable tester is a two-part device. You plug one end of the cable into the body of the tester and the other end of the cable into the detachable part of the tester and it checks the continuity of the cable. You can use it easily on cables that you've already deployed, as well as those waiting to be deployed. IMO, a tester is an Indispensible item in your Christmas toolbox.As for your #2 question, I'd suspect the cable from the PC based on what you describe. In most cases, the problem cable is the one just before the first controller that's misbehaving. Any controller downstream from a bad cable will be subject to irregularities. Yes, comm cables can be frustrating to diagnose. But once you've found the problem and replaced the bad one, it's actually quite liberating to see things working error-free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I'll put that one on the Whiteboard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I ordered this morning. Thank you so much for the info. The first cable is a store-bought one. The rest are homemade, so I am going to suspect one (or more) of the homemade. My cables are very long (some over 200 feet), so there could easily be a break somewhere. I also use another cable just for testing, which is small. That one doesn't go into the show, and yet, the same issue occurred when I hooked it directly to one of the boxes in question. It's really frustrating. I've even gone as far as to erase (everything off) the entire channel for a song, just to see if it lights up anyway (no random lighting--everything stays off). Then, I paste the programming back--random turning off and on recurs. I sit there and watch my programming on the computer as the song plays, and the stupid channel just keeps doing what it wants to do, not following my programming. The other stumper is that it appears to go on and off at the exact same place every time. It's like its losing the signal in exactly the same way every single time--It's driving me crazy. The tester is supposed to ship today with arrival hopefully by Friday or Saturday. I really hope it's a multiple cable failure and that it can be fixed. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I have 17 boxes up and running, and only 3 are misbehaving (two are LOR boards and one is a d-light board). Both of the LOR boards were partially used last year (some channels weren't needed yet), and I didn't have this issue last year. The d-light board has been used for at least 6 years, and I think that one is probably a bad triac? The channel stays on even after the show shuts down for the night.Thank you for any additional input.Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magish01 Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 So George,Was the faulty cable causing the face on your house to wink inappropriately at the neighbor ladies? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 So George,Was the faulty cable causing the face on your house to wink inappropriately at the neighbor ladies?No, I'm afraid that's a faulty sequencer. But the ladies tell me it has the virtue of being unique.Janet - It sounds like you've mostly eliminated the cable possibility, although it's still something you should check for the peace of mind. Theres only a couple other things I can think of. There could be small blips in the sequence - orphaned remnants of an old fade perhaps - that are so small they're difficult to see. Or, and IMO more likely, there's something screwy with channel assignments. Sounds more and more like there's a conflict - two channels trying to control the same lights. Have you run the Verifier? If not, you should. I think you might see the problem reported there. Good luck. Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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