Beta-Portable Wired/Wireless DMX Tester (See first post for specs and features)

[n1ist]

Do you have a version 1 or version 2 board?  If it is a version 1 board (3 resistors next to the PIC), did you add the two 4.7k resistors?  The attached picture shows an easy way to do this if your resistors fit between the socket pins.

If you think the '125 is damaged, try removing it and jumpering between pins 11 and 12.  That will bypass it, but the board will only work in wired mode then.
/mike

[holland lights]

Ok ill try that, well i might only use wired anyways, or i might go wireless i dunno yet.

[holland lights]

Do you have a version 1 or version 2 board?  If it is a version 1 board (3 resistors next to the PIC), did you add the two 4.7k resistors?  The attached picture shows an easy way to do this if your resistors fit between the socket pins.

If you think the '125 is damaged, try removing it and jumpering between pins 11 and 12.  That will bypass it, but the board will only work in wired mode then.
/mike

I have a ver 2. It has 4 resistors next to the pic.

[holland lights]

Well i put a jumper between  pins 11 and 12 and it works now. I just need to order another chip i guess now.

[holland lights]

Have the board in the case now. And have a wireless board in the back, just no parts on it yet. Still have to wait to get the antenna unit anyways. But its working just fine as a wired tester.

[dlhoppe]

There are a few things that have been brought up by those testing. I just wanted to point them out so others will know about them. These are things that I've been able to reproduce and explain.



1. When changing universes while powered on, the previously selected universe is still active.

Explanation: This is the designed behavior of the Ex/Rx. The universe change will not take effect until the Ex/Rx is powered off and back on again. The universe selection occurs during the Ex/Rx boot sequence.

Solution: When changing the universe setting on the DMX Tester, you must cycle the power off and back on again to the get the Ex/Rx to detect the new universe setting.

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2. When testing with the LE and setting it to wired while leaving the Ex/Rx in place, the data light shows DMX is being received, but no light output occurs.

Explanation: This is an LE issue. The same thing happens with any DMX source (dongle, DMX Tester, etc.). I have no idea if this issue is already known with the LE. In any case it's not a DMX Tester related issue.

Solution: If you're changing connectivity from wireless to wired, you'll have to remove the Ex/Rx from the LE.  I can see where someone may want to use a cat-5 cable in a wireless environment to do some trouble-shooting using the tester. However, you'll just have to remember to pull the Ex/Rx in addition to putting the "Remove for wireless" jumper in place to interact with the LE in wired mode.

Update: This is confirmed by RJ as normal operation for the LE and has been posted a number of times throughout the forums. When using the LE in wired mode, the Ex/Rx MUST be removed.

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3. When pressing the "Mode" button on the LE with a high starting channel value while DMX data is flowing (either wired or wirelessly), the LE will lock up. Sometimes light output will continue, sometimes not. In all cases, the LE will not respond to the "Mode" button any more. This requires the power to be cycled on the LE to clear the lockup.

Explanation: I'm guessing this is some kind of DMX frame timing issue on the LE when a high starting address is set. I can re-create this using the dongle with Vixen as well. The problem only shows when using high start addresses (anywhere from about 380 and up). So this appears to be an LE issue only.

Solution: Regardless of your DMX data source, disconnect or pause the DMX data stream when using the "Mode" button where the LE has a high start address, or if you're setting it to a high start address. 


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I will pass on any LE related issues we find to RJ. I can't speak for him, but I'm guessing these things won't be on any high-priority list since they're very obscure problems. If they were causing issues for everyone, they'd have been fixed a long time ago.

Testers, keep up the good work! I'm impressed that people are finding such things. That tells me you're working hard to find flaws. Excellent!

[PJNMCT]

Hi Dave,

I was wondering if we can use an older v1.2 ex/rx? I have a couple that I wanted to use with the tester.

Thanks,
-Paul

[dlhoppe]

Yes, that should be fine. We don't use the LEDs anyway for this purpose.

[dlhoppe]

Are there any approved coop managers that would be interested in running a coop for this device?

[PJNMCT]

I don't know if I'm approved or not but I would give it a shot.

-Paul

[PJNMCT]

Please check out this template and let me know if it works. It seems to for me.

BTW, the build went great. A couple of gotchas but they were self-inflicted.

-Paul

[PJNMCT]

...turned the template into a label to cover the self-inflicted wounds... 


-Paul

[holland lights]

What do you use to open a php file?

[bcstuff]

What do you use to open a php file?

Holland Lights if you are using firefox 8 change the name of the file to the file you downloaded with that extension to open it properly.

See my post here:
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[holland lights]

ok it worked. Who would of known to do that. Now how do you get the neat graphics that are on the tester in the picture?