Multiple LOR controllers. Now what?

[ctmcpeak700]

I have 3 CTB16PCG3 controllers.  I have the advanced license for my software.  I can get any one of my controllers to work but I can't get all 3 of them (or even more than one of them) to work at the same time.  My controllers are all mounted one a back plate in a Milbank 242410-TC3R enclosure.

 

What's the problem?

 

On a side note, I have been having issues with my Sandevices E682 controller.  I have emailed Jim St. John several times and he has stopped responding.  Are they still in business?  Just wondering.

 

Also, as for the LOR controllers, I am running Windows 10, if that makes a difference.

Edited August 23, 2015 by ctmcpeak700

[Dennis Laff]

Did they work before or is this the first time starting a show?

[jrock_at_rons]

Did you set the IDs for the controllers? They all ship with an id of '1'. To run all three you'll have to assign a different id to at least two of them. John Storms has a great quick video on YouTube on how to do this.

It could be something else, but I would start there.

Edited August 23, 2015 by jrock_at_rons

[Mr. P]

First make sure that all your cables are good and that they are patch cables and not crossover cables. 

Then connect each unit, by itself, to the Hardware Utility and set the Unit ID, 1,2,3 etc.

Then connect them all together and go back to the HU and set Max  Unit ID to 10 and hit the Refresh button.

You should then see all the controllers in your network.

 

It sounds like they all have the same address so you only see one or the cable between the 1st and 2nd controller is bad.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Mr. P

[Orville]

Having only 3 controllers I'd set the max ID to 05 in the HW, the lowest minimum number possible.   

 

The reason, the higher the number, the longer it takes to find all the controllers, if you have a lot of non-existent controllers, the HWU will search through every number set in the max ID area trying to locate them.  This takes a lot of extra time, so  setting this number to the actual number of controllers you have, especially having a small number of controllers, like 2-5 controllers really speeds this process up tremendously!  

 

However, the HWU at least in my version 3.8.2, the smallest{minimum} number of active controllers is 05.   Don't know if that changed in the newer versions of the software.

 

Also you say you can't get all 3 to work at the same time, if the ID's were NOT set and all are at 1, if you have lights plugged into each controller, then ALL THREE would still turn on any light{s} attached. 

 

Say each controller has a light connected to channel 1, if you run the Hardware Utility, ALL THREE would light Channel 1 at the same time, a sure sign you HAVE NOT set the controller ID's independently!  

 

If only ONE controller lights and the other 2 don't, and you have the ID's set, then you need to select the next controller from the HWU drop down menu, Controller 2 and run the test, if no lights turn on connected to the controller, then you possibly have a bad cat5 cable going from the first controller to the second, replace cat5 cable and try again, if controller 2 now works, continue and repeat this process for controller #3, if controller 3 still doesn't work, again, could be another bad cat5 cable, again replace and try again, once all cables are confirmed good, all controllers should function, but only independently in the HWU.

 

However, you can select each controller independently and turn all channels on each controller at the same time.

 

To do this select controller 1 from the HWU drop down menu, then select the turn on all channels and lights using the Steady option under "Light Mode" in the HWU, then select controller #2, select Steady again for this controller, now all channels should be on in both controller 1 and 2, now select controller 3 and do the same thing again, you should have all channels on ALL 3 controllers on and lit, providing lights are attached to all channels.  

 

If one or more controllers fail to light, then chances are one or more of the cat5 cables are bad or are the incorrect type{crossover}, replace with standard cat5 patch cable and try the test again.

 

One thing you may want to invest in if you haven't as yet is a CAT5/RJ45 Cable Tester, this has helped me make sure I have the correct cat5 cables, as well as prove if a cable was defective, went bad or if I may have had another issue, such as looking at the Cat5 jack on the CTB16, which could or may have come loose or the fine wires get bent out of shape in the controller itself and not making good contact with the cable plugged into it.  A small flat blade jewelers screwdriver works well to separate the fingers if they may be bent and touching, or to bend them back up to make contact with the cable.  Just be very gentle and careful, as they can break off very easily!

Edited August 23, 2015 by Orville