jcblincs Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 sorry - ive searched and searched but cant get the exact answer I need.. how do I connect an LED parcan 56. they say that you need 4 DMX channels - is that 3 for colour and one for brightness ? do I physically plug 4 plugs into 4 ourputs on the dimmer pack or am I understanding this wrong ? logic says I only need one power and 3 control leads - if so where do I physically connect these ? I will simply have 2 dimmer packs controling main lights and some 4 channel portable packs around the stage. help - im totally befudled !! cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 You do not plug these into dimmers at all - that would be bad! They work straight from hard power. Control is via DMX which combines 512 channels on a single cable. You chain them together and then tell each light which (starting) channels they are using. You would need a DMX compatible desk. Note that the actual number of control channels varies and often is not what the description says. They are commonly 5 or 6ch each. It might be RGB + Dimmer, but more often it is RGB+Strobe+Macro+FX or similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcblincs Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 so I can connect a DMX out from the last dimmer pack in my setup into the LED light then daisy chain each LED light and then correctly address them. is that right ? (I would then put the DMS terminating resistor on the last LED ?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Here might be a good start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LXbydesign Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 yes jc - that is correct For power, they should plug into 13amp supply. It is perfectly safe to plug all 4 into a "4-way" extension cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliveybaby Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 You got DMX and powering all mixed up easy way to explain Your computer printer is plugged into the mains - yesbut to tell it what to do you link it to a USB port -- yes Parcan plugs into mainsDMX tells it what to do No dimmers required Hope that helps a bit Cliveybaby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcblincs Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 You got DMX and powering all mixed up easy way to explain Your computer printer is plugged into the mains - yesbut to tell it what to do you link it to a USB port -- yes Parcan plugs into mainsDMX tells it what to do No dimmers required Hope that helps a bit Cliveybaby thanks. I got it a couple of posts ago !!! but nice to have the clarification with your good example. A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. Here might be a good start! nope - doesnt help at all on this specific question !!! I have read all the wiki things and none of them anywhere explain that LED parcans need to be powered from a normal 240v socket and that then DMX simply drives a control signal !! remember the rest of my set up is using DMX to a dimmer pack which then contols fresnels. I didnt understand that LED pars simply dont plug into a dimmer like most other lights !! I am afraid sometimes technician articles are too technician and miss the basic points !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Just remember that if a fixture is DMX then it will always use fixed power and never dimmed. If the device has dimming capability then it will be done electronically or mechanically, controlled by DMX. The Wiki article on DMX is useful in explaining the control protocol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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