LED Par's Jester?

[aburrows94]

Hey Guys

 

Just had some LED par cans dropped off for a show. never used LED's before and have no idea what I am doing with them B-)

 

there is a set of dip switches on the back as well as a switch for auto or music, then the standard DMX in DMX out. I have tried loads of combinations but cant seem to get it to be controlled by our jester 24/48.

 

I've gotta get these rigged n working Monday morning, really appreciate all the help you guys give here, its great for students trying to learn this trade.

 

Cheers

 

Alex

[steve h]

Hi Alex

 

Sounds like you've got something from the lower price range as far as LEDs are concerned. The dip switch should work as a normal one, however the last 2 or 3 switches may put it into some sort of auto mode (I'm afraid I cant say for sure unless you say what fixtures they are!)

 

As for the desk firstly make sure you have the most current version of the jester firmware loaded onto it, there has been a bug with some LED operation on it through the faders which may be effecting it. The next thing I would suggest it to set an LED to DMX channel 1 (just put the first dip switch to on the and rest off) and then see if you get anything by moving the first few faders (if you have a 1to1 patch). Be aware that on some LED the 1st channel is for effects then the next 3 for the colours so it may be a couple of channles in before you get anything!

 

Steve

[Daveman]

You need to find a copy of the manual for the LED PARs that you're using. That will tell you how to set the dip switches so that you can put them in DMX control mode, and also how to set the start DMX channel number.

 

Depending on the units that you're using, there will be about 3-5 channels of control. This should be detailed in the manual. If there's only 3 channels, they'll be intensity for red, green and blue. However check the manual to see if there's an overall brightness channel, if there is then it makes things easier control-wise.

 

If you had a desk that supported fixtures (like a fat frog) then this would be easier but it's not impossible with a jester.

 

So, assuming you have the minimum 3 channels of control, say you set a unit to DMX start channel 1. Plug it up to your jester desk and try adjusting channels 1-3. They should vary the intensity of the red, green and blue LEDS. Use the three faders to create the colour you want, then I would save this as a submaster, so you can get the exact same colour back every time you need it. If all your LED PARs are going to be on at the same intensity and colour all the time, I would set them all to the same DMX start channel, which will make sure they all have the same exact colour, and also save you time.

 

The most important thing really is to find the manual. That will solve most of your problems. What kind of unit are you using?

[wlaidlaw]

Also, yoi need yo find out which pin is which on the DMX input. You may need an adaptor to swap the pins over.

 

If there are no markings on the case just try both possibilities.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Will

[MarkPAman]

I'd suggest you get in touch with whoever dropped them off and ask what the DIP switches do. The low price LED cans come in so many varieties, that even two of the apparently same make may be different.

[Just Some Bloke]

Some LED fixtures use 3 channels for control of red, green and blue plus another channel for intensity (and maybe others). If this is the case then if the intensity channel is at 0 then you'll get no output regardless of what the RGB channels are set to. It's also possible that they've combined the intensity and strobe onto one channel so 0-50% = intensity and 51-100% = strobe.

 

Try setting different channels to 50% and see if the channels around them will then work.