DMX TRAINING PLEASE!

[rdebolt]

So it is no secret that I have been having major issues trying to get my show to run this year. Last night in a last gasp attempt I went back to LOR protocol and almost all of my issues went away. Don't get me wrong I am not blaming DMX, but I'll be darned if I can get it to run correctly for me! This is the second year in a row that I started DMX only to go back to what is reliable for me. I have asked for help and posted with a lot of problems and would like to thank everyone for the help! Right now for example I have 17 LOR controllers and 3 Lynx Express. The LEs are running wireless and as I watch my show the LEs are not in time with the LORs. It is slight, but noticable to me and the LEs are behind not ahead. I am running LSP software and I know that there are issues with it as well, but you go with what you know. I am going to try Xlights to run my show as a test and am hopeful that it will perform well. Don't get me wrong here I am not complaining, I just want my show to run and run without having to baby sit it.

[hbomb341]

Best tip I can give you and a place where you get walk through piece by piece is THE ACADEMY (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login)

This is EXACTLY what it is there for ... a class on XLights, a Class on How to hook it up, Discussions on troubleshooting.  The best way to get it all clear for most people is hand on and semi one on one ....  Forums can only go so far ... also find a local support group ... here in Dallas their is a TON of guy I can pickup the phone and will help out or barrow spare equipment from.

Harrison

[rdebolt]

I would LOVE to go, but I don't think that it is in my budget right now. I know that my post sounded like a rant and I really did not mean for it to sound like that. The info and projects that RJ build and share with us are truly remarkable. I am not slamming anything or anyone, I just want to understand it and make it work for me. There has to be something that I am doing wrong (probably several things). If I get everything done with my show in time, I would like to go back to DMX and figure it out this year!

[rrowan]

Just my 2 cents for take it for whats it worth.

While we try to explain things in the forum and the wiki, I don't' believe its the best place for it. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.
I recommend when things slow down for the staff to setup a chat session in teamspeak to go over your setup and any questions you might have. In the past this has proven to be very helpful.

Of course RJ would be the best person to ask but I have not clue if he has an extra second to do anything at this time.

So in the mean time I would just use what you know and trust.

Rick R.

[mmais68569]

OK Rick I removed my 2 cents worth.

[rdebolt]

Thanks Rick. I would love to set up a a chat and figure this out. BTW my pixelnet megatree is working great!

[jnealand]

zman did a presentation in 2010 on DMX.  Here is a copy of his handout.  He may have a newer one, but I have not seen one.

[rdebolt]

Thanks jnealand. I know Mark and have that hand out. My problem has to be in my set up some where. I just cannot figure out where.

[Sparky96]

To me it sounds like a software problem and not a DMX problem. I am also having minor issues with my show. It runs great once it start it, it's getting it started that's the issue. It's better now that I moved to xlights, but I still have one issue going on. Im not a computer guy so I probably won't be much help there, but I do understand DMX from the pro gear I use. Ask away and I'll see what I can do to help point you in the right direction.

Dave

[dmoore]

I would say the solution is breaking things down and doing one-on-one comparisons in the off-season.  Setup sample sequences and then substiute parts - software, interfaces, protocols.

On a side note - while the LOR and the Lynx are both doing DMX (in your orginal design), the two controller designs do use different firmware and that could surely affect the speed of execution.

[JonB256]

...- while the LOR and the Lynx are both doing DMX (in your orginal design), the two controller designs do use different firmware and that could surely affect the speed of execution.

Dave, while the two designs (Lynx and LOR DMX, and even Open D-Light) are different because they all use different version PICs and firmware, each a fully capable of keeping up with a 44 frame/sec DMX data stream. And once received, that data is just an intensity value, nothing more. As far as speed of execution, even if one is faster, they are all finished and ready for the next packet when it arrives.

Dave, you might be interested in the oddity and "fix" I ran across for the D-Light Open ACx16 and Open ACx8. The discussion is on that forum but it involves the timing of the TRIAC gate pulse being perhaps "too early" for a 100% intensity command on some controllers, probably due to variations in the TRIAC, Optoisolators and Zero-cross resistors. If you change Intensity to 99%, it works better. I made a global change by using a Dimming Table.

Never a problem with my Lynx Expresses, though.

[rdebolt]

I am really conviced that my problem is a combination of things including software, hardware and setup. Is it possible that my cabling is too far from my units. I have not had issues with LOR, but I have never run as many channels as I am now either. 256 LOR, 68 DMX, 5760 Pixelnet.

[Sparky96]

Well, you should be good up to at least 500-600 ft. and probably more before you start noticing problems with DMX. I'll have to look up the actual number, but its way more than you will probably need. With DMX, the same amount of information is sent each time, so using more or less channels won't affect the overall speed of the signal. I can't speak for the LOR and pixelnet stuff, but I'm guessing it's similar. My guess is your lag is in converting the signal between the different languages, but it's just a guess.

Dave

[rdebolt]

Well, you should be good up to at least 500-600 ft. and probably more before you start noticing problems with DMX. I'll have to look up the actual number, but its way more than you will probably need. With DMX, the same amount of information is sent each time, so using more or less channels won't affect the overall speed of the signal. I can't speak for the LOR and pixelnet stuff, but I'm guessing it's similar. My guess is your lag is in converting the signal between the different languages, but it's just a guess.

Dave

My runs of cable are probably a couple hundred feet at most.