Two Lynx Express and One USB DMX dongle successfully build

[dannyct]

Thank you everyone for great information and instruction.  I have finished my first lynx express.  The Lynx Express boot-up with "Lynx Express" and 60 hz and displayed "001".  When I pressed the "MODE" the "PAG" displayed.  It looks good so far.   :)  I followed the instruction to do onboard testing and was able to see all channels lit up one by one.

It looks like everything is fine.  However, I noted that when the test was completed and I press the mode again, it doesn't exit the test mode.  I have to press "Reset" to get out of exit mode.

Is that normal?

Thanks.

[RJ]

Yes you need to hit select one more time and it will turn all channels on. This was added at the request of users. Then when you hit mode it will move on to channel programming and then reset itself. If you do not want to change the channel just keep hitting mode until it resets.

And BTW : Congrats on a successful build!   

RJ

[lineman]

Congratulations on your first build oh what a feeling

[dannyct]

 

RJ - Thank you for the confirmation.  I am feeling good now .  Lets there be blinky.  I have one more LE to do. 

Thanks.

[RJ]

RJ - Thank you for the confirmation.  I am feeling good now .  Lets there be blinky.  I have one more LE to do. 

Thanks.

Take more time on this one. People have more issues on their second than their first    They get a little over confident because they see how easy it is and miss something. So the second should have at least if not more attention to it. Then the third you are in habit so it goes fine also with out as much attention.

Trust me I have seen it over and over again! 

RJ

[dannyct]

RJ - Thanks for the tips.  I will make sure to take more time on the second LE.  I'm thinking to buy a third LE for spare, what is your though on this?

[Rainlover]

If you can afford it, a spare is always handy. So is a spare dongle. I don't use all of the channels on my LEs just in case I lose a triac or a channel quits working. That way, all I have to do is move the light string to an open channel and rearrange the channel outputs in Vixen. Not absolutely necessary, but it works for me.

John

[dannyct]

Thanks John, that is a great suggestion. I have 2 LE with a total of 32 channels.  I can't trust my handy work .

This is my first year doing this, so I'm thinking 30 active channels and 2 open channel for spare would be more than enough for me.

If you can afford it, a spare is always handy. So is a spare dongle. I don't use all of the channels on my LEs just in case I lose a triac or a channel quits working. That way, all I have to do is move the light string to an open channel and rearrange the channel outputs in Vixen. Not absolutely necessary, but it works for me.

John

[dannyct]

Thank you everyone for great information and instruction.  I have finished my first lynx express.  The Lynx Express boot-up with "Lynx Express" and 60 hz and displayed "001".  When I pressed the "MODE" the "PAG" displayed.  It looks good so far.   :)  I followed the instruction to do onboard testing and was able to see all channels lit up one by one.

It looks like everything is fine.  However, I noted that when the test was completed and I press the mode again, it doesn't exit the test mode.  I have to press "Reset" to get out of exit mode.

Is that normal?

Thanks.

Updates:

- Completed two LE and one USB Dungle
- Successfully tested with Vixen (no issues).

Next step for me is to decide which light show software to use (LSP or Vixen).  This is my first year doing the light show; my wife already had a debt ceiling for this project.  Until I can get a breakthrough with debt ceiling, I must confine within the budget.  Having said that,  I know Vixen is free, however, LSP has more features and there was a learning curve for people who are switching from Vinex to LSP.  Since now, I am fresh and have no knowledge on neither one of them, should I just start with LSP?

Thanks.

[jeffcoast]

I played with both and Vixen wasn't intuitive to me. Wish LSP I had no trouble setting it up and making a sequence. I am just waiting for 2.0 to decide what to use, as reading about all the trouble with 1.8 is making me leery.

[Christmas.joe]

I too have finished 3 Lynx Express and 2 DMX Dongles.  This year on producing 32 Channels, with one spare Express and one spare Dongle.  Backups for any unforeseen problems.  They work flawless.

Only had one phenomenon to speak about.  I shut off the computer and left everything hooked up.  I left the 2 LE plugged in; just to see what would happen if I left them plugged in.  All night they lay with no activity.  Early in the morning after I made a pot of coffee, I noticed both Express had mysteriously turned on all the lights.  I wasn't too concerned, but maybe someone can shed some light on the issue.

[RJ]

Yes if the DMX generator (Dongle in this case) is off the line is left floating and random noise over time will slowly turn on channels. This issue was worst before we all switched to DMX on the older setups you needed to send all off from you program every so often even if everything was powered up to keep them from doing this. Dmx will take care of that for you as long as the dongle has power.

RJ

[Christmas.joe]

Yes if the DMX generator (Dongle in this case) is off the line is left floating and random noise over time will slowly turn on channels. This issue was worst before we all switched to DMX on the older setups you needed to send all off from you program every so often even if everything was powered up to keep them from doing this. Dmx will take care of that for you as long as the dongle has power.

RJ

Thank RJ, I kind of figured it was something like that.  Good to know about not letting the LE float. 

[chrisatpsu]

Congested