DiyLightAnimation
Hardware => Lynx Zeus => Topic started by: joshuashu on December 06, 2013,
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will there be a video for Zeus setup from the ED connection from the computer to the board to the Smart strings? I have never hooked up a universe with so much before, and i learn much better by seeing video or in person than reading a document.. Also I am planning on running some dumb nodes via DMX. How taxing on your system is running 2 dongles?
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You really don't need two dongles. If you are using an ETD, it outputs 4 full PixelNet universes. Just get an active hub and you can use its built in PixelNet to DMX converter to drive your DMX devices. The hookup is pretty straight forward. You connect the ETD to the Zeus PixelNet input with a straight thru CAT5 cable. That is as simple as it gets. The nodes then connect to the Zeus in the terminal block connectors. Depending on the Zeus version, different power sources are used. The 16 port version uses a single rail ATX PC power supply. The 8 port version uses any standard 12V DC supply and can also use an ATX supply but you would have to set it up to work properly.
If the Zeus is the last or only device connected to the ETD, then set the terminate jumper. The only thing left is to determine what PixelNet universe to set it to. Unless the starting channels are exceeding 4096, then set it to universe 1. Also remember that no pixelnet device will bridge universes so make sure that the first thru the last channel the Zeus is controlling is in the same universe.
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My experience with (4) Zeus controllers was that the terminate jumper could sometimes produce unexpected and/or undesirable results. I know we "should" terminate ... BUT ... sometimes (or even often) when terminating the last Zeus in the signal chain ... it would then turn on nodes constantly, even when no data was being sent. When I removed the terminate jumper ... the lights would stay off as expected. I've seen this on multiple units but don't understand why. I did experience this is very cold temps (like -5 to 10 degrees F) ... so I wonder if it would do it on a warmer night?