SS V1 vs V3. Im baffled...

[JonB256]

zwiller and others, could the flicker you're seeing just be the inherent DMX refresh rate flicker? I know some people are really bothered by the flicker of Half-wave LED strings and others can't see it. Personally, if a half wave LED string is not moving, I don't see the flicker. Make it move and it becomes obvious.

[sean815]

zwiller and others, could the flicker you're seeing just be the inherent DMX refresh rate flicker? I know some people are really bothered by the flicker of Half-wave LED strings and others can't see it. Personally, if a half wave LED string is not moving, I don't see the flicker. Make it move and it becomes obvious.

no its more like a quick flash of all white.  not the same as halfwave flicker. 

My end result is that i have some strings that flicker and work great with V1 controllers.  So i will just use both v3 and v1 in my show.

[JonB256]

If it involves "white" (aka, Red, Green and Blue all on), perhaps it is a power surge problem where the voltage drops low enough to affect the TM1804 / TM1809 chips.

Is the problem worse on Long (higher current) strings than short ones?

[zwiller]

Sorry not to get back to you Jon, been building like a madman.  I am wayyyy behind.   

Just posted a vid to vimeo, will be a few minutes.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

I tried a bunch of ways of shooting video and they did not work out any better.  The picture quality stinks but you will see what we're talking about.  The window frames are divided in 2.  First version v3 on top and right and latest v3 on left and bottom.  This is not a minor issue.  Obvious flickering...  I must also add that I've tried all of the different resistor recommendations on the previous firmwares.  They don't change much. 

I have the distinct impression that most of the testing of firmware occurs with nodes and not other modules/strips.  Here's the deal: the firmware works flawless with nodes but not flex strips or the square modules.  I can't speak as to other items.  To give you a better idea, the test firmware on the nodes looks awesome!  Great fades and the the twinkling at the end is great, but that same firmware on my flex strips is awful. Flickering, etc and a bunch of pink stuff on the end part.  I cant help but think eventually there will be firmware for each type of ss gear.  That said, I am VERY HAPPY with the first V3 firmware.  All my ssc are v3.1 and I am not going back or modding to the new V3.  Lastly, I think most of the issues are related to flickering on ramps.  On full on everything works fine.  Make a 4 second ramp and it's all over...   

I am just trying to help out.  I expect we will get to the bottom this soon, 

[chrisatpsu]

i've had the opposite results, where v1 and v2 caused excessive flickering with flex strips (ended up not using them last year) to smooth operation with v3 mod so far.

[JonB256]

That looks like a Data line frequency problem. The TM1804 chips support various data frequencies. RJ specifies which ones for Ray Wu to use to meet the Smart String design. Since the whole string is flashing (I'd call that Flashing, not Flickering), it looks like a data integrity problem. You might be able to "swap around" SSCs and find a pair that works better together.

[sean815]

Sorry not to get back to you Jon, been building like a madman.  I am wayyyy behind.   

Just posted a vid to vimeo, will be a few minutes.  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

I tried a bunch of ways of shooting video and they did not work out any better.  The picture quality stinks but you will see what we're talking about.  The window frames are divided in 2.  First version v3 on top and right and latest v3 on left and bottom.  This is not a minor issue.  Obvious flickering...  I must also add that I've tried all of the different resistor recommendations on the previous firmwares.  They don't change much. 

I have the distinct impression that most of the testing of firmware occurs with nodes and not other modules/strips.  Here's the deal: the firmware works flawless with nodes but not flex strips or the square modules.  I can't speak as to other items.  To give you a better idea, the test firmware on the nodes looks awesome!  Great fades and the the twinkling at the end is great, but that same firmware on my flex strips is awful. Flickering, etc and a bunch of pink stuff on the end part.  I cant help but think eventually there will be firmware for each type of ss gear.  That said, I am VERY HAPPY with the first V3 firmware.  All my ssc are v3.1 and I am not going back or modding to the new V3.  Lastly, I think most of the issues are related to flickering on ramps.  On full on everything works fine.  Make a 4 second ramp and it's all over...   

I am just trying to help out.  I expect we will get to the bottom this soon, 

this is the same thing Im experienced.

If it involves "white" (aka, Red, Green and Blue all on), perhaps it is a power surge problem where the voltage drops low enough to affect the TM1804 / TM1809 chips.

Is the problem worse on Long (higher current) strings than short ones?

Ive noticed this on a few strings , some are 32 pixels, others 100 pixels, and in between so length is not problem.