Smart Receiver random behaviour when turning ON

[TPK]

I wanted to check with you about this.

F48 with Smart Receivers.

I have 2 clusters of LED strips connected to a Smart Receiver.
Port 1 : 600 LEDs
Port 2 : 600 LEDs

When I turn on the Smart Receiver without connecting to the F48 the LEDs will have a scramble colours here and there. Have you seen this?

Sometime I have to turn off and on again to get it out.

Is there an order of turning on (e.g- Turn on F48 before the Smart Receiver)?

Thanks

 

[Jorge Bolivar]

By "Turn on" you mean Test Mode?

 

[TPK]

By "Turn on" you mean Test Mode?

No. Just powering ON from the power supply.

 

[lithgowlights]

Thats pretty normal - there is no data, so there could be a chance when you turn them on that they just output garbage. I have one here that does that sometimes, and as soon as I turn on the F16 the lights go out. Oddly none of the others do the same and it's the middle on a string of 3 smart receivers

 

[Jorge Bolivar]

Mines remain off until I press the test button. Last time I saw color here and there(on the strips) when not in test mode i accidentally pull the Data wire out the connector while the smart receiver was power on.

 

[BAZMick]

I had this too, but my smart receiver wasn't powering up properly and it turned out for me I was powering it with a 5V plug in pack which output 5.0V but most of the Smart Receivers need a minimum of 5.3V.
There has been talk that this has been/will be changed to minimum of 5.0V but one of our resident electronics guru's (TerryK) had a look at a v1.03 model and it still was 5.3V minimum

 

[Dreamin]

I had this too, but my smart receiver wasn't powering up properly and it turned out for me I was powering it with a 5V plug in pack which output 5.0V but most of the Smart Receivers need a minimum of 5.3V.
There has been talk that this has been/will be changed to minimum of 5.0V but one of our resident electronics guru's (TerryK) had a look at a v1.03 model and it still was 5.3V minimum

I've had this a few times, and running 5v too as that's what I thought was correct. I might up the voltage and see if that improves the odd issues I was having. If you up the voltage to 5.3v into the receiver s that going to be ok for the 5v pixels? ie does the port then output 5.3v or does it downstep to 5v? I just don't want to cause issues with my pixels.

 

[TPK]

Mine is powered with 12v.

Smart Receiver powered with 12v just for it and LED strips powered separately.


Thanks

 

[lithgowlights]

I had this too, but my smart receiver wasn't powering up properly and it turned out for me I was powering it with a 5V plug in pack which output 5.0V but most of the Smart Receivers need a minimum of 5.3V.
There has been talk that this has been/will be changed to minimum of 5.0V but one of our resident electronics guru's (TerryK) had a look at a v1.03 model and it still was 5.3V minimum

All mine are running fine at 4.95-5.0V. Only one of the 6 in use has some lights that illuminate on turning on the power, the other 5 do not, and as stated above, turning on the falcon causes the lights to go out and behave correctly. I extensively tested mine at voltages down to 4.9v, a level thats possible to drop to under load, with no issues, and all mine are 1.03 versions.

 

[BAZMick]

I've had this a few times, and running 5v too as that's what I thought was correct. I might up the voltage and see if that improves the odd issues I was having. If you up the voltage to 5.3v into the receiver s that going to be ok for the 5v pixels? ie does the port then output 5.3v or does it downstep to 5v? I just don't want to cause issues with my pixels.

Yeah no worries, you'd be surprised how much they can take. At one of the minis a few years back (search on YouTube) they pumped in 28-30v into a 12v strip and it got so hot that it failed because the solder let go. After 5-10 mins of cooling down they plugged the strip back in and it ran again!!

 

[lithgowlights]

Yeah no worries, you'd be surprised how much they can take. At one of the minis a few years back (search on YouTube) they pumped in 28-30v into a 12v strip and it got so hot that it failed because the solder let go. After 5-10 mins of cooling down they plugged the strip back in and it ran again!!

That was my strip at a canberra mini

Dumb strip is a little different to smart pixels though

 

[BAZMick]

That was my strip at a canberra mini

Dumb strip is a little different to smart pixels though

 

[TerryK]

A bit aged but, I read this post several days past, wanted to respond but not quite sure how, plus with 5 grandchildren bunked over a couple nights following the US holiday I've been a little sidetracked.

I powered one of the two v1.03 Smart Receivers I have and it pulled approximately 110 mA at 12 volt. No strings or communications cables were attached so the amperage is logic circuitry alone in a more or less quiescent state. I would expect this to increase just a tiny bit when actively controlling pixels; several mills perhaps. Anyway, measured amperage dropped to 80 mA as voltage was decreased from 12 volt to 5 volt. There seems to be a couple test points on the Smart Receiver and one measured 4.94 volt and the other 4.96 volt. They both maintained until the board supply (Power Connector) went from 5.1 volt to 5.0 volt. The 'assumed' test points both decreased approximately 100 mVolt; obvious that at 5.0 volt the LDO regulator was below its maintain threshold.

To help clarify, the voltage on the Smart Receiver's power input terminals is passed through to the port voltage terminals, all four ports as noted in the device's manual. The 5.3 volt minimum that David Pitts of Falcon has speced is high enough for the board's regulator to keep the voltage at the 5 volt level for all the logic ICs to work properly and provide the correct Data Line amplitude signals for attached strings. Supply 5.3 volt to the Smart Receiver and any connected strings will have the 5.3 volt supplied to them too.

Last thought regarding 5.3 volt and pixels; most pixels, 5 volt pixels that is will be OK. World Semi specs a WS2811 or WS2812 at 6 to 7 volt for VDD. A WS2801 is a VDD of 6 volt; no listed range for some odd reason. A WS2813 is a little iffy with a listed VDD of 3.5 to 5.3 volt.