Mini Mac Roboscan 812 DMX

[gaamorganon48]

Hey guys wonder if you can help.    I’m using 2 mini Mac profiles in my chain then Robo’s  scan 518 and 512. But I’m having issues.    With DMX.  So I have normal DMX from  dongle. To the mini macs which work on the patch  then from the last Mac I used a phase reverse cable  every time I plug it in.  The Mac loses DMX signal (led light stops flickering ) as if it was a short ..  but if I don’t use the mini macs all the Robo scans work fine could someone shed some light on what it could be.  Cheers 

[Robin D]

Could be a number of things unfortunately.. 

Sorry but I am struggling to understand what you are describing, but if we start with some questions it might help.

To confirm: If you connect the dongle to just the Roboscans they work fine. If you connect just the Mac's, do they work fine?

Are you terminating the DMX line? I know most of these units are supposed to self terminate, but putting a known terminator as the last in the line, may make a difference and rules out self termination as a possibility?

Have you tried just adding one device at a time? It may be just one of them with a fault that is causing the issue and then taking the rest of the line down. 

If these devices have master/slave settings, (I don't remember) then are they all set to slave or standalone. If any are set to master, they will output DMX onto the line to try to control the devices downstream. 

Why are you using a phase reverse cable? If it's because Mac's need it, then you need another before linking on to the Robo's to reinstate it as normal. If that is the case, put DMX through the Robo's then phase reverse, then Mac's ending with a terminator. Does everything work then? 

Are you certain you have not patched the devices in the software with an overlapping DMX address? 

Consider getting a DMX splitter and running them on two separately terminating lines?   

Are you using DMX cables or microphone cables. The latter work 9 times out of 10, (or perhaps 99 times out of 100) but the 1 in 10 can be a nightmare to debug. 

What dongle and software are you using? Can you borrow a proper desk and try that to prove it's not the dongle causing issues especially with DMX timing. 

Good luck. 

[sleah]

It's the Roboscans that need a phase-reverse cable to operate on standard DMX. The Mini Macs use standard DMX cables.

Are you certain your phase-reverse cable(s) is wired exactly as per the Roboscan manual? i.e. pins 2&3 swapped.

Have you tried just the Roboscans (via reverse cable) from the dongle without the Macs connected?

Have you tried the Mini Macs after the Roboscans, with a reverse cable before and after the Roboscans?

Are you 100% certain you have addressed the Roboscans correctly for use with DMX? There are various dip switch combinations (some undocumented) used for testing and serviceing which may possibly affect the DMX line.

It's worth labouriously going through trying various combinations of one or more of each device connected to the dongle until you either find or eliminate the problem. As suggested, it may the dongle that's the issue...

Edited April 9 by sleah