Am I missing something with DMX?

[BigYinUK]

Hi all

 

I thought I had a reasonable understanding of how DMX works but now I'm a little confused.....

 

Take this scenario: Two identical DMX LED pars connected to that Stairville LED Foot 8 controller I was talking about earlier, both on the same DMX address but doing totally different things. How is that possible?

 

Or is this data corruption due to poor cabling or other hardware issues?

 

Regards

[niclights]

Disconnect one and connect the controller directly to the first fixture and then swap to the second. If they still do different things then I would assume it is a fixture setting.

[DrV]

If one is in master/slave mode you'll get weird stuff happening too

[BigYinUK]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I can't see anything about a master or slave mode in the manuals. It seems to be DMX or not DMX basically.

 

Here's the manual.

 

http://www.jon-norris.mistral.co.uk/stairvilleledcans.pdf

 

Regards

[DrV]

Thanks for the replies.

 

I can't see anything about a master or slave mode in the manuals. It seems to be DMX or not DMX basically.

 

Here's the manual.

 

http://www.jon-norris.mistral.co.uk/stairvilleledcans.pdf

 

Regards

Yes it does. 3. Features (on page 12)

[xllx]

And from page 18...

 

Connections in master/slave mode

 

When you configure a group of devices in master/slave mode, the first unit will control the

other units for an automatic, sound-activated, synchronized show. This function is ideal when

you want to start a show immediately. Connect the DMX output of the master device to the

DMX input of the first slave device. Then connect the DMX output of the first slave device to

the DMX input of the second slave device and so on.

 

However I cannot see any mention of switching master/slave mode on or off I presume once you put the devices into DMX mode, and connect them to a DMX desk, the master/slave function would be turned off.

 

Set DIP switches 10, 11 and 12 to ‘OFF’ (lower position) to activate the DMX mode of the

device.

[BigYinUK]

@Drv

 

Sorry, I meant to say I did see the reference to Master/Slave in "Features" on page 12 but like xllx I can't find the actual switch settings.

 

All my switches are set the same - All OFF (DMX mode) with just 3, 4 & 5 on - DMX address 28.

 

Regards

[xllx]

 

All my switches are set the same - All OFF (DMX mode) with just 3, 4 & 5 on - DMX address 28.

 

Regards

 

I guess the next thing is to try connecting just one device at a time, see how they react to DMX, then try both together, then swapping their position, then changing cables... see if a pattern emerges of any sort.

[Jivemaster]

I once had a set of colour changers (250w halogen) that only worked in one particular order on the DMX line because the line transceiver chips were so bad.

 

Try each lantern individually first.

[BigYinUK]

Thanks all.

 

We're going to spend some time on the lights next week. I'll be trying the various suggestions made above.

 

Regards