D-Light Boards and DMX

thedementedelf

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I found these postings on the D-light forums....Report this postReply with quoteRe: DMX firmware
by Ponddude on Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:06 pm

"Wow, this is news to me. Let me see if I have this right.

The d-Light adapter will output a DMX universe. So in theory if I wanted to control a moving spotlight I would in theory just go from the adapter to the light?Ponddude
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Report this postReply with quoteRe: DMX firmware
by dlight on Thu Mar 25, 2010 9:14 pm

Sure, with the right software. You want to look for dmx software that can use the "opendmx" adapter. Our usb485 can be used in place of that adapter."


That brings up a couple of questions for me. What software uses Open DMX, and If I am using D-light boards can I then daisy chain a DMX controller off of those and the lights will be controlled?
 

mschell

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Kevin,

I believe the "openDMX" adapter mentioned here is the Enttec OpenDMX dongle. It's the non-intelligent DMX dongle that requires the PC to perform all the timing to be sure the DMX signal is correct. It's the little brother to the Enttec DMX USB Pro. These are commercially available DMX dongles.

Any of the DIY DMX dongles should work as well to send DMX to the controller.

I'm still hazy on if the D-light boards understand how to respond to DMX commands rather than LOR or D-light protocol.
 

thedementedelf

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Mark, thanks. But if I understand it right the adaptor that you can buy from D-light for thier ac boards can work as a DMX "dongle" , so would I need another? Let me re-ask the question I don't think I asked it right or the right one.

Say I am running 2 d-light boards and want to add a DMX controller. It would be set up like this.

Computer to serial adaptor (that D-light says will controll DMX) to board 1. board 1 daisy chained to board 2 (both d-light) which is daisy chained to board 3(dmx) would the dmx board get the infor it needed to work, while the D-light board got the info they needed?
 

AussiePhil

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Kevin

In many ways, DMX512 (DMX) being a standard makes the connections easy once you move into the DMX protocol world.

Basic Setup is
Computer -> "a" DMX Dongle (transmitter) -> DMX Receiver (aka light controller for us)

Now the two most common DMX Dongle Types are the;
ENTTEC Open and the compatibles
and
ENTTEC Pro and compatibles

The "Open" types are all based on the ENTTEC Open and are what are known as "dumb" dongles in that they require the software to deal with the correct DMX timings, this puts additional load on the computer processor and can lead to dropped or missed frames causing effects to be missed or not turned off.
Both Vixen and LightShowPro support the Open sereis as well as many commercial software vendors

The "Pro" types utilise a microprocessor to generate the DMX data stream and handle all the correct timings, this means they need to be able to buffer the data from the computer before it is sent out on the RS485 connection. This means they are more expensive than the "Open" Types but do not suffer the same issues.
Vixen and LightShowPro support the Pro series, including both the Lynx Dmx Dongle and the RPM DMX Dongle.

Now reading between the lines as i do not know the D-Light adapter but if it has been designed as a Open type adapter outputing up to 512 channels then you should be able to connect other DMX512 devices to it. The performance will be governed by your computer and software.

I wasn't aware the the D-Light boards accepted DMX natively so there still may be a jigsaw piece missing.

Cheers
Phil
 

chrisl1976

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Phil

There are some guys over on the Aurora board getting the D-light adapter to work with DMX by making a tweaked Cat5e cable. Swap pins 1 & 2 with 4 & 5.
 

AussiePhil

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chrisl1976 said:
Phil

There are some guys over on the Aurora board getting the D-light adapter to work with DMX by making a tweaked Cat5e cable. Swap pins 1 & 2 with 4 & 5.

so D-Light have used the LOR wiring, both of which are non standard then :) Adapters are easy of course

Cheers
Phil
 

thedementedelf

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I went over to the D-light forums and asked them this questions;


I have seen some postings that the D-light USB adapter can run DMX......can the boards do DMX?.... If I have a set up like this...... computer-usb adapter- AC16-AC-16-AC16 and I want to add DMX can I daisy chain the DMX controller off if the last board or would I need to add a DMX translator in there? I know I will either need to run LSP or Vixen for DMX to work.

Here are the responses I got ......clears the water a bit about D-light and DMX

[/b]Report this postReply with quoteRe: AC-16 and DMX
by JonB256 on Tue Aug 31, 2010 4:44 am

The D-Light USB adapter can "transmit" DMX. It uses a compatible chipset (CTDI).
I've got some DMX hardware arriving soon and will be able to test this. I'll let you know.

But - at the moment nobody has written a DMX bootloader and firmware to put on a PIC.

If there were, then as far as putting a DMX board into a chain of AC16s - that won't work. You would need two USB adapters; one designated for LOR protocol, the other designated for a DMX universe.

You mention a DMX translator. The LOR iDMX device pretty much does that (translates LOR to DMX) but it is expensive. And you don't just put it on the end of a data line - it goes at the beginning of its own line.

As far as DMX output goes, check out Aurora's page. There is a beta version (available by request only) that will output DMX. But I think it is DMX only, and only one universe.2006 - 32 channels, 2007 - 80 channels, 2008 - 256 channels, 2009 - Using 284 channels out of 320 "in the yard." Still have one spare ACx16!!!
http://www.granburychristmaslights.com
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Report this postReply with quoteRe: AC-16 and DMX
by Jonathan on Tue Aug 31, 2010 7:19 am

FYI, Aurora can run DMX via the D-Light USB adapter, but it takes a couple of steps. In case you missed the announcement over on the Aurora forum the DMX build of Aurora is now being released in beta form to those who request it (with the understanding that it is a beta build and as such is considered an unofficial release). Read more about it here.http://www.aurorashow.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&SID=df4199467f639b46d3b468887z49f6za
 

mschell

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And there in lies the confusion that many folks fall into...

DMX, AL, LOR, D-light all use RS485 as the signaling method on the wire. That's all common, and the various dongles can actually transmit any of those "languages", provided you feed them at a fast enough speed to meet the spec. DMX is more difficult, since it runs at 250K baud.

However the board itself needs to be able to understand the DMX "language" transmitted on the wire. Looks like D-light boards don't understand DMX, but just D-Light and LOR protocols.
 
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