DiyLightAnimation

Hardware => Lynx Smart String => Topic started by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,

Title: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
usb dongle flashed with pixelnet, active hub , ssc v2 no mods. when i go into the ss utility, i am able to choose the amount of nodes, transmit, and all the nodes flash in white. when i do this the program jumper is making contact with both pins, i then move the jumper to only be on one pin. when i go into vixen, i set up a test profile with the amount of rgb channels, i have the pixelnet plugin installed in the plugin/output folder.  but when i go to channel test. i am not getting anything to my nodes? where do we start? thanks in advance for any and all assistance.



thanks

duane
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: hicksjo on November 30, 2012,
Did you remove power from the ssc between programming and testing?
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: rrowan on November 30, 2012,
For a quick test. You can try the color finder program in the wiki. All you have to do for the USB dongle is to tell it what com port you are using and then it will output what ever color you want by three sliders. That way you should know if you have a hardware or software problem. If color finder works then it just a setup problem with Vixen.

Rick R.
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
power was continuous to the hub. the ssc was disconnected after the programming. i tried color finder and it still shows nothing



duane
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: sjb on November 30, 2012,
You are starting at channel 1 in Vixen and the SSC is programmed for the same start channel?
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
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You are starting at channel 1 in Vixen and the SSC is programmed for the same start channel?


yes, i  created a profile with the same number of rgb channels and created a sequence to test with and still nothing.
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: lonewolf41 on November 30, 2012,
Don't know if it matters, but I always remove power before switching the jumper.  Make sure you are using the correct SS utility to program.  For V2 un-modded, you need the first/original program without the grouping capability.

HIH,
-Keith
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: sjb on November 30, 2012,
With it flashing when you were programming it, this sounds to me that you have the connections set properly. But it is Vixen that is not set properly. Have you confirmed that the channel in Vixen are enabled and also that the dongle settings (port #, baud rate) are set properly and that it is enabled?

Steve
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: zwiller on November 30, 2012,
Also in Vixen make sure checkbox for plugin is checked and channel #'s assigned.  Those always got me...
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
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Don't know if it matters, but I always remove power before switching the jumper.  Make sure you are using the correct SS utility to program.  For V2 un-modded, you need the first/original program without the grouping capability.

HIH,
-Keith

the ss utility that i am using is version 1.0

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With it flashing when you were programming it, this sounds to me that you have the connections set properly. But it is Vixen that is not set properly. Have you confirmed that the channel in Vixen are enabled and also that the dongle settings (port #, baud rate) are set properly and that it is enabled?

Steve


new profile just for the pixelnet. all channels enabled.

baud rate 115,200
parity  none
data bits  8
stop bits  1 
com port 2
emtec usb pro


if i run one of my other sequences with the usb donble flashed for dmx everything works fine. do i need to set something different in vixen when the dongle is flashed for pixelnet?


duane
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: sjb on November 30, 2012,
I have never done this before so someone else will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe all that you have to change is,
1) uncheck the the entec USB plugin in your out put plugin
2) Select the pixelnet plug in and set it up with the settings. (Make sure it is checked to enable

And that is it.
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: hicksjo on November 30, 2012,
sjb - that is correct

duane - you indicate emtec USB pro .. if you are using that plugin you won't get pixlenet output

you need to switch to pixelnet output plugin
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
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I have never done this before so someone else will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe all that you have to change is,
1) uncheck the the entec USB plugin in your out put plugin
2) Select the pixelnet plug in and set it up with the settings. (Make sure it is checked to enable

And that is it.


STEVE, YOU DA MAN!!!!  lol i didn't have the pixelnet plugin chosen in the plug in set up. now for the fun part. i wanted to use the usb dongle to check my active hub and smart strings. now that i know they all work, time to get the etherdongle and conductor working. thanks again for all your assistance. i am sure i will be back here in a few with progress on the etherdongle.


thanks

duane
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: sjb on November 30, 2012,
Duane, That is awesome. Glad I could help.

Can I ask a favor though. Can you remember this, because whenever I am able to get into RGB I will probably do the same thing and I will need your help.

Have fun.

Steve
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
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Duane, That is awesome. Glad I could help.

Can I ask a favor though. Can you remember this, because whenever I am able to get into RGB I will probably do the same thing and I will need your help.

Have fun.

Steve

i will help in any way that i can. i just hope that when the time comes, that i have gained the knowledge to return the favor. guys like you are what this forum is all about and that is why i like it here. i must say, it is pretty darn cool watching the rgb do their thing. i just had a random sequence set up to see them work. i was so excited i ran in and got the wife to show her! lol i'm not sure if i am going to try and tackle nutcracker yet. i think i am just going to do some basic stuff with the rgb this year and see what happens. this is my first year and i haven't been able to spend much time on the rgb because i have been spending all my time building elements(mega tree, 8 mini trees, 2 arches 3 colors each and 8 snowflakes 2 colors each) and just learning basic sequencing. needless to say this has been one really busy fall!


thanks again and call on me any time


duane
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: sjb on November 30, 2012,
WOW!!

Duane sounds like a lot for your first year. I have only done 32 DMX channels with the express.

Good luck and remember to take a video of your accomplishment.

Steve
Title: Re: first timer working with rgb. please help.
Post by: duane.mosley on November 30, 2012,
we made a full commitment to go all in last christmas so i started buying stuff in January. the woman is just as much into as me and her thoughts were if we're going to do it, let's do it! lol. our birthday presents to each other this year were lights. she bought me 1100 rgb nodes and i bought her 10,000 leds. lol we just made an effort to buy a little something each month to get to where we are. i will be posting a video when it's done. at this time i have 6 songs, with intro and closing the show is at almost 16 minutes right now. i plan on having that up to 30 minutes by the end of the season.


duane