Author Topic: Lynx Light Curve Utility???  (Read 1915 times)

Offline rjhodgefamily

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Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« on: December 08, 2017, »
So we have a bunch of cheap Holiday Time LED 100 count lights from Walmart that were added to the show this season. And they just don't dim properly. So after finding a USB dongle I have been playing with the LE Config Utility and none of the light curves quite match up to what I would like to see.

In the Wiki for the LE assembly manual there is a link to a video that RJ is demoing his Lynx Light Curve Utility. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. But for the life of me I can not find a link to this utility anywhere.

Is this utility buried inside of the LE Config Utility or am I blind from staring at ultra bright LEDs? Or how do other people update there light curves?

Thanks,
Richard

Offline caretaker

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Re: Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2017, »
Yes, it's in the latest Lynx config utility.
Jeff Squires
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Offline rjhodgefamily

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Re: Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2017, »
So I downloaded what I believe to be the latest version from the software page on the wiki. There is only one link for the config tool. I attached an image of what I am seeing. According to the About menu it is version 1 of the software.

Offline tbone321

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Re: Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2017, »
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Yes, it's in the latest Lynx config utility.

Really???  Perhaps you would like to share that piece of software.  I believe that he is referring to the light curve utility, which allows you to create and modify your own light curves, not just the ability to select from some existing ones.   It existed for a very short time until RJ removed it in order to make changes to the interface but it never came back.  I guess that before he had time to complete it, he had decided to step back get away from the group.  Too bad he didn't post the source for it like Rick did with the software he created before stepping back from being active.
If at first you don't succeed,
your not cut out for sky diving

Offline rjhodgefamily

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Re: Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2017, »
So it sounds like I need to use DMX Deck to figure out my curves. And then manually edit the config XML to add my new curve to the list of available curves. And then use the LE Config Utility to program it into the LE.

Offline tbone321

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Re: Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2017, »
If you can decode the xml file then sure, you can do it that way.  The xml is not just a series of hex codes so if you figure out what how it is configured, please let me know.   Also, make sure that the set you are working with are dimmable.  Some of the sets are not and will go from full bright to very dim almost instantly and holding them in that state will fry the set.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2017, by tbone321 »
If at first you don't succeed,
your not cut out for sky diving

Offline rjhodgefamily

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Re: Lynx Light Curve Utility???
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2017, »
So the xml isn't too bad. it is a little ugly when just looking at it. But the Strings Are base 64 encoded binary. You can use something like You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to decode the base64 string to 255 2 byte numbers which represents the entire light curve. This will represent the 8 bits of light granularity that DMX allows. Each 2 byte number can range from 0-1023 or in hex 0000 - 03FF.

So to create you new hex file you can just type it in any text editing tool. Just make sure you do not have any carriage returns. You can then modify the same link as above to convert from hex to text. Just reverse everything. And switch it over to encode on the middle section.

Now just copy and paste the new text into the xml file.

<MY_AWESOME_CURVE>new base 64 string</MY_AWESOME_CURVE>
<space></space>

Save the file and you should now have access in the LE config tool. As you can see this is quite the PITA which is why I was hoping for the Light Curve Utility. I might have to start writing my own program in the off season. As I for see this coming up more and more as LED's are more prevalent. Unfortunately I only program in Mac stuff normally. So not sure how much benefit it will be to other people.