Can't get my nECG-DP2 to connect to my 2811 pixels

Imacericg

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Feb 3, 2012
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Just got the nECG-DP2 in the mail today. Output 1 is connected to my old 2801 pixels that are on the right half of the matrix, they are working fine. Output 2 is connected to my 2811 pixels on the left hand of the matrix. For the life of me, I cannot get Output 2/2811 pixels to work properly. Any tips?
 

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AAH

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It's a bit hard to read the speed that you have it set for but I run my 2811 at 3200 with no issues.
 

fasteddy

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The speed you have set of 500 is too slow for the 281x chip.

Start at the deafualt of 3500 and then back it down by steps of 250 until you get the sweet spot. Generally the longer the cable the lower the speed.
 

fasteddy

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The new controllers may actually have different setting for speed. So i would try a few different speeds between 500 and 2000 and see if you can get something stable

The other thing to take note of is that the 281x chips do not like being plugged in and unplugged when powered up and may cause damage to the first pixel, so hopefully you havent been doing this
 

Imacericg

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Did some more trouble shooting and started cutting my solder joints and found a bad connection. False alarm on the controller being the issue, thanks for your help guys!
 

kane

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Imacericg said:
Did some more trouble shooting and started cutting my solder joints and found a bad connection. False alarm on the controller being the issue, thanks for your help guys!

This is a good reminder about troubleshooting - it's always good rule things out systematically.

For example, if you've got two strings of pixels connected to a controller, and one is not working, then the first thing you should try is swapping the two pixel strings. Depending on what happens at that point, you'll know whether to focus your energy on looking at the pixel string (and it's associated wiring & connectors), or the controller.
 

Imacericg

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Kane - I thought I tried that (swapped the outputs and swapped the pixels) and still couldn't get it to work. I even swapped out the controller with no luck. I was on hour 3 of troubleshooting so I probably wasn't thinking straight at that point and had a setting off or something. Thanks for the tip and advice, I am happy with the working matrix.

Video of the matrix here:
https://youtu.be/ktH3FGBNQsY

I need to play with the speed, as you can see some flickering on the left in the 2811 pixels.
 
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