Slightly DIsapointed With Controller

[Reno Tom]

New to the scene this year with 64 channels / 8500 lights. Seems like my programming is too much at times for the controllers to keep up. Using a 1/10 sec grid. When I do several single block bumps (on then off of 1/10 sec) ther seems to be times when it skips the step or doesn't bring it to full as it should.

Checked programming and all is well.

Been a concert lighting programmer since the early 90's. Not sure if my expectations are too high after using milliion dollar rigs... is there something I can try?

Did a lot of programming by looking at the grid during playback and discovered the issues after going live. After seeing the first few songs in action, i changed my style and seemed to take care of some of the issues I had. (used 1/5 sec instead of 1/10 flashes, etc.)

Don't get me wrong... I love the fun this allows me and enjoy it very much. LOR has a very neat product line. Mind is spinning for future displays.

Please let me know if I should try anything hardware or programming to make sequences replay as written.

[Santas Helper]

Welcome Tom,

That isn't normal reaction of LOR controllers. I would start a troubleshooting ticket with LOR and let them help figure it out.

These controllers stay on track with what is sequenced.

It could be your computer, your cables, your connectors, other programs running in your computer to slow things down.

Good luck

[Caleb Linburg]

If you have a laptop you can bring to the first controller, use a short cat 5 cable and try that. If it works perfect it might be your cat 5 cable.

[eldoradoboy]

in 2009 i ran 200+ channels some songs sequence to .05 seconds and didnt have any network Lag..

I made sure all my controlers hadthe SAME version of firmware and I used good quality cable.. I also ran a TRUE serial port with an RS485 adapter.. sometimes the lag can come from the PC or the USB port driving the LOR dongle.. but controller-wise 64 channels at 1/10 second should be perfectly fine on one LOR network...

make sure your USB root drivers are up to date, and also the drivers for your LOR dongle. as well as i use 128k MP3 files for music...

-Christopher

[Ken Benedict]

Tom - Regarding quick block bumps, I had to preheat incandescent mini lights and other larger ones to about 8 percent 1/3 of a second before I needed them, and it went much smoother. Pulled 46 amps for a few seconds (spread over several 15a circuits). It's like preheating a 1K or 2K fresnel just before you use it as a blinder.

Keep us posted on the progress.

[Shubb]

I suspect it is a cable issue. 1/10 is not that demanding for 64 channels.

[SoCalJimH]

Tom- Are you controlling LED or incan's? To my eye incan's seem to not handle rapid ON/OFF's as quickly as LED's. Incan's seem to be still cooling down at the time they get the next ON voltage which gives them the appearance of 'ON/dim/ON/dim'.

IMHO! Your thoughts?

[LORisAwesome]

The computer you are using might make a difference. A slower computer might not be able to keep up.

Are you running the lights from a show, or running the sequence editor?

The sequence editor can be slow at times, it has more overhead unless you turn certain options off.

Jerry

[Dave Batzdorf]

I am running 14 controllers with some on the ELLs. Using a .05 timing grid with no issues.

[intertrashional]

I am having the same problem you are. I have tried it with longer blocks and it is fine. I only have 16 channels. I have a song where there is a single person speaking so only one channel. It looks like I am missing parts of words. When I have longer segments than just .1 seconds it is fine. It seems to work a little better the second time through.

[ainsworth]

There is something going on with your computer. The LOR controllers can easily handle .02 second timing grids. Make sure nothing else is running on your computer, your disk is defragged, and your network speed is at least set to normal.

[Greg Young]

Agree with the other posts above- this is not a LOR hardware issue. It is communication between the pc and the LOR hardware. I run a good sized system.. consisting of eleven 16 channel controllers, plus sACN to 8 universes of pixels, and my timing grids are pretty much .05sec ,with several .02, without a hiccup. I use ELLs, but only to a couple of controllers, as they limits you to 56Kbps (at least it did in the past) communication speeds.

[Reno Tom]

Running through showtime director. Issue is still there as when run with computer. Certain channels will stay on or barely flicker when others in the sequence are acting as they should. My gut says triacs. Using all incan strings. Got all controllers at the same time so I would assume they were the same software version. I'll keep looking and adjust programming in the meantime. Thanks to all.

[TJ Hvasta]

Do you have the computer connencted to the internet? Antivirus program running? what else is running in the background?

[Guest wbottomley]

Running through showtime director. Issue is still there as when run with computer. Certain channels will stay on or barely flicker when others in the sequence are acting as they should. My gut says triacs. Using all incan strings. Got all controllers at the same time so I would assume they were the same software version. I'll keep looking and adjust programming in the meantime. Thanks to all.

Are you watching the lights using the Sequence Editor or the show player? HUGE difference between the two.

[Max-Paul]

Na, not the computer or the showtime director. What is in common to both? The cat 5 cable is. Dont know how much time you take reading this forum, but I believe the answer has been posted about 100 times this season. Anyone else noticed that for some reason a lot of people are having problems with their comm cables this year? There are two possibilities, First is that you are running your comm cable right next to your A.C. power leads (also possible D.C. leads) Or as a few others have found that they have a bad store bought Cat 5 cable. Might try a cable tester or just buy a few more new ones and start swapping them out.