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pixcon 16 - where to begin?


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Mike - The update I tested recently appears to make the WS2811's work as WS2811's rather than having to configure them as 1804's.  After the update, the 1804's no longer worked as they did before the update.  The first Pixel in the string is Red.  The Ws2811's I bought, now work when configured as High speed WS2811's.  They don't work as low speed.  My Pixels came from Ray Wu.

Walt

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I hope LOR will make a tutorial in youtube about Pixcon16. Yes it's hard for a newbie.

without holidaycoro and John Storm youtube tutorials i might lost !

LOR think every body is smart. I am not an electrician either. Mmmmhhhh....?

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is my first year messing around with the pixcon 16. I was able to get the pixcon configured and had decent communication on the network. However I am unable to get the pixcon to run through the hardware test.

 

Before plugging the lights in I had everything powered down, plug the lights into the first port, apply power to the card, get the first pixel to come on, I hold the factory ip button for three seconds and release. Doing this will change the blinking sequence between the red and green leds on the card but does not do anything with my pixels. I haven't had a chance to try another string ( I will tomorrow) but any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I would check the fuse to that port, try a different port, and then try a different strand.  What type pixels did you configure the pixcon to and are you sure that the rgb lights are this same type?  also verify that the strand is wired to the correct terminals.  

Your power supply needs to be at least 4 amp as well

 

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3 hours ago, dan24438 said:

Before plugging the lights in I had everything powered down, plug the lights into the first port, apply power to the card, get the first pixel to come on, I hold the factory ip button for three seconds and release. Doing this will change the blinking sequence between the red and green leds on the card but does not do anything with my pixels. I haven't had a chance to try another string ( I will tomorrow) but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are you holding the IP button in while Applying power? That resets the IP address

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I would check the fuse to that port, try a different port, and then try a different strand.  What type pixels did you configure the pixcon to and are you sure that the rgb lights are this same type?  also verify that the strand is wired to the correct terminals.  

Your power supply needs to be at least 4 amp as well

 

It cannot be a fuse problem if the first pixel lit up.

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I would check the fuse to that port, try a different port, and then try a different strand.  What type pixels did you configure the pixcon to and are you sure that the rgb lights are this same type?  also verify that the strand is wired to the correct terminals.  

Your power supply needs to be at least 4 amp as well

 

It cannot be a fuse problem if the first pixel lit up.

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I'm using a 400 watt, 12v, 33 amp power supply. I've set the pixcon to ws2811 (using a 60/60 strand). I will try a different strand and a different port this morning. With regards to putting it into hardware test mode I am waiting for the board to power on before even touching the factory ip button.

Edited by dan24438
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13 hours ago, dan24438 said:

This is my first year messing around with the pixcon 16. I was able to get the pixcon configured and had decent communication on the network. However I am unable to get the pixcon to run through the hardware test.

 

Before plugging the lights in I had everything powered down, plug the lights into the first port, apply power to the card, get the first pixel to come on, I hold the factory ip button for three seconds and release. Doing this will change the blinking sequence between the red and green leds on the card but does not do anything with my pixels. I haven't had a chance to try another string ( I will tomorrow) but any help would be greatly appreciated.

After powering up the PixCon16 there should be NO pixels lit.  If you are seeing lit pixels on your string/strings after the board starts up (and not just a brief flash), you have a problem that needs to be fixed.

Either the string is bad, you have not correctly selected the Pixel Driver in the PixCon16 configuration, have not properly set normal speed/high speed in the PixCon16 config, or have wired your pixels to the connector incorrectly.

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Not sure what I did last night to get the first pixel to light up, but now i'm not getting anything to light up. I tried a different string, and a different port. I did upgrade my pixcon to the latest firmware (which could have been one of my issues last night). Now when I power on the pixcon the power light comes on and stays on, then the status led blinks slowly (show computer is off), when I push the factory ip button and hold it for three seconds then release the status led starts blinking fast and the power led stays the same.

 

Any advice?

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5 minutes ago, dan24438 said:

Not sure what I did last night to get the first pixel to light up, but now i'm not getting anything to light up. I tried a different string, and a different port. I did upgrade my pixcon to the latest firmware (which could have been one of my issues last night). Now when I power on the pixcon the power light comes on and stays on, then the status led blinks slowly (show computer is off), when I push the factory ip button and hold it for three seconds then release the status led starts blinking fast and the power led stays the same.

 

Any advice?

How did you set up the board? Did you use the LOR assistant?

 

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Either the string is bad, you have not correctly selected the Pixel Driver in the PixCon16 configuration, have not properly set normal speed/high speed in the PixCon16 config, or have wired your pixels to the connector incorrectly.

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I setup the board using the network config (like it says to in the manual).

I have the board set to Static IP: 192.168.0.51

pixel setup is set to WS2811/12 with high speed unchecked (I tried with both unchecked and checked), Simple config, max 170 pixels per port, starting universe is set to 1, number of nodes per port is set to 170. channel order is set to rgb.

Misc: Firmware is 1.4.8, voltage on bank 1 is 12.2, bank 2 is 12.2.

 

Strips are from Holiday coro. they are INK1003 pixel protocol (2811 compatible). 60 led/60 ic per meter.

Color order is red/green/blue

The strip has 5 wires but only three going into the factory plug. The factory plug has a red, black, and green wire.

Per the package red is positive power, green is data out, black is 12v negative.

The two additional wires are a red/black which is connected to the black wire, and the other is a red wire connected to the other red wire. I assumed these were just so you could do a power injection (correct me if i'm wrong).

On the Pixcon 16 port connector: I have the red wire screwed into the 1 port, the green wire screwed into the 3 port, and the black wire screwed into the 4 port. I do not have the other two wires plugged in (maybe I need to?)

I've tried several different strips (four) and tried several different ports (four, guess I could try all of them).

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry if i'm doing something completely stupid and not catching it. This is my first time messing with RGB's, LOR products are so much easier with matched with other lor products.

Edited by dan24438
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lol I've got to be doing something wrong. So I moved the plug to other side and nothing. I moved the plug back and now the first half of the strand comes on when I power up the card but it stays on (using the hardware tester it does not cycle through the colors). So at least one of my problems I'm assuing was a bad connection. But not sure why only half of the strand comes on or why its stuck on white. 2nd strand 2nd port same problem, only the first half of the strip is on and its white.

Edited by dan24438
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29 minutes ago, dan24438 said:

lol I've got to be doing something wrong. So I moved the plug to other side and nothing. I moved the plug back and now the first half of the strand comes on when I power up the card but it stays on (using the hardware tester it does not cycle through the colors). So at least one of my problems I'm assuing was a bad connection. But not sure why only half of the strand comes on or why its stuck on white. 2nd strand 2nd port same problem, only the first half of the strip is on and its white.

Does the physical number of pixels agree with what is set up on the board? Do you have another board to test your lights/connections? 

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Ok so I've got all of the pixels on changed it from max 170 pix to max 340 pix. (so I understand why only half of the strip was working). Still can't get the board to run the test cycle tho. Hope i'm not annoying anyone yet (feel like I have no idea what i'm doing).

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