DMX Connection

[racernut]

I can't find this in the forum.  Does the DMX lights have to complete a circuit back to the DMX box?  I don't know if I need to bring another cable back from the last light to the box.  Thanks for any help.

Edited December 3, 2015 by racernut

[iresq]

No.

[zman]

You will want to terminate it at the last fixture.

[racernut]

What is the proper firmware upgrade for old 1600w boxes and 1602w boxes?  Didn't want to upload the wrong ones.  Thanks for your help.

[zman]

Now you need to provide more detail on your network. Are you wanting to run the LOR controllers in DMX mode? Are you running native DMX devices on a DMX Universe? In this case, what are you using for a DMX dongle?

 

Most of the the LOR controllers will respond to DMX with anything within the past 4-5 years. There is a list on the LOR site that tells you what is compatible with DMX in the first place.

[Ed K]

zman,

 

Is it a good idea to put a terminated Cat5 cable (e.g., with a 120 ohm resister connected to 1 and 2 wires) into  the LOR controller that is at the end of a set of daisy-chained LOR controllers?  I've seen on a number of videos that doing so would clean up the signal (including one from John Storms).  

 

Ed

[EmmienLightFan]

zman,

 

Is it a good idea to put a terminated Cat5 cable (e.g., with a 120 ohm resister connected to 1 and 2 wires) into  the LOR controller that is at the end of a set of daisy-chained LOR controllers?  I've seen on a number of videos that doing so would clean up the signal (including one from John Storms).  

 

Ed

This is good practise with DMX, but for LOR I don't think you need it, but I may be wrong.

John Storms runs some of his controllers in DMX mode so it may have been DMX, not LOR.

 

Also, try to avoid posting on older topics, especially if it is a different subject matter. Just start a new thread.

[zman]

I have used terminators with both LOR and DMX for years. It's cheap insurance that when things start to act funny, you eliminate reflection on the signals as part of the problem.

[k6ccc]

RS-485 is RS-485. Does not matter what data protocol is running on it, it should be terminated according to the RS-485 spec. At lower speeds, and shorter cable lengths, you are more likely to get away with not using termination, but that does not make it right.

BTW, although I have no plans to use DMX over RS-485, when I built up a bunch of terminators last year, I built them with termination on both pins 1 & 2 (DMX standard) and pins 4 & 5 (LOR standard). That way I don't have to remember which ones are which way.