Help with iDMX using WDM colorwasher

[ItsMeBobO]

Finally plugged in all the stuff I bought this summer. The iDMX was found by HW utility and is solid on the front led status. The back is slow blink which means not communicating with the dmx device.

The problem may be the led rgb light I have hooked to it. Its still in demo mode and has absolutely no visible switches on it. Its WDM wallwasher ColorWasher which is weather resistant model. The documentation for it is very thin. Anyone else have one of these? I did not buy the remote control but I think this may be the only way to set the address and 3 vs 5 channel mode. I have tried every address the console has on it. Nothing so far.

[J_Plak]

do you have the Remote Control ? Addressable with Remote Control http://www.wdmlighting.com/wdmSupport/wallWasher.html

[ItsMeBobO]

No, I don't have the WDM remote. It was $39 on top of. I did see that blurb. But I was kinda looking for the word only in that sentence. Or a sentence which says remote is required to set address to control via dmx. The sales pitch on the selling pages says it this way, which does not imply required to me.

* Control via optional IR remote or any regular 512- DMX-controller
* Accepts I/R signal or DMX controllable

I did write the manufacturer yesterday for clarification but no response yet. Sorry to clog this forum with an equipment question. But this is my only dmx device so I am not altogether sure its not a problem using the iDmx.

[J_Plak]

Bob-O, don't feel bad about asking questions, as I was looking for next years on getting some of thses unit.
General Description: [align=left]High Power LED RGB Outdoor Floodlight![/align] [align=left]Control via optional IR remote or any regular 512-DMX-controller. Ideal LED-luminary for outdoor[/align] [align=left]use. Locking possibility at the mounting bracket.[/align] [align=left]Perfect for public places and buildings. 216 Highpower10mm LEDs. Advantages of high-power[/align] [align=left]LED-technology: extreme light output, extremely long life, low power consumption, maintenance[/align] [align=left]free. Ready for connection with power cord and safety power plug.[/align] [align=left]now on page 2 of the ColorWasher User Manual [/align] [align=left]CONTROL FEATURES:[/align] [align=left]4 DMX Channels[/align] [align=left]Addressable with Remote Control[/align] 3-pin XLR serial input/output
and on page 3
It is a 3 Channel or 5 Channel mode unit
Jerry Plak

[-klb-]

ItsMeBobO wrote:

Finally plugged in all the stuff I bought this summer. The iDMX was found by HW utility and is solid on the front led status. The back is slow blink which means not communicating with the dmx device.

Actually, DMX is not a two way protocol. A DMX controller has no way to know if a light is actually there to respond to it. The slow blink on the back just indicates that the iDMX is sending DMX packets out.

I do not have that exact unit, but I have three of the 19 inch colorbars, that I used as part of my Halloween show. Yes, mine all came out of the box in demo mode. Not only is the remote used to set a unit ID, but also to switch from self running programs (demo loops) to DMX mode. On mine, there is no way to get from that self programmed mode to DMX, other than the remote. You should only need one remote to program as many units as you have. I did all three of mine, and will soon be programming 15 more for another show, using either my remote, or one that a friend owns...

The other fun thing that I learned has to do with the 5 channel mode. On the colorbar, the default (and maybe only mode, I haven't really checked) appears to be the 5 color mode. Configured ID: Red ConfID+1: Green ConfID+2: Blue ConfID+3: Dim ConfID+4: Strobe. If Dim is set to zero, it will not generate any light no matter what RGB is set to... In one respect this is nice, in that you can set a color, then use just one channel to fade, instead of two or three. So as long as you are not cross fading from color to color, you can use fewer of the iDMX's 64 smart channels. But if you are playing, and forget to turn up Dim, it could be frustrating.

The other issue is how strobe is implemented. I wound up not using it at all for Halloween, but rather sequencing the exact on and off timings for the strobe effect.. I would have figured that if you set RGB & Dim all on, and then ramped Strobe up, you would get a nice sweep of strobe rates. Unfortunately, apparently the unit resets the strobe timer every time it gets a new value on the strobe channel. The result was not remotely what I was looking for..

As for the 19 inch color bars, I have three of them a bit over 6 feet above the ground in my two story entry. They got soaked in at least three rain storms since they went up, and I have seen no signs of water entry yet... They also totally put to shame the strobe effects from the $10 Party City strobes I had used the year before.. I'd offer up some video, but the first chance I'll have to get it off the camera will likely be mid December...

- Kevin

[ItsMeBobO]

Thanks so much Kevin. This is exactly the info I needed. The literature which says optional remote is misleading. I even found a site which bragged how cool it was to be able to set the address via remote, not mentioning it could not be done any other way.

I found TriNorthLighting sells the remote for $19 instead of $39 but then wants a $7.50 small order fee! Once again thanks. After the remote arrives I will post a wrap up.