Store bought cluster led

[Marko]

Hi all,
Not sure if this has been addressed previously but I have been unable to locate anything yet...

I have an X lights sequence playing a pixel mega tree through a falcon f16v3 which works fine.

I am wanting to add in a cluster string led light into the show as a roof outline...

Has anyone got advice on best way to incorporate this string light into my pixel controller?

 

[djgra79]

Hi Marko.
Not sure exactly what you mean by cluster string? Are these pixel lights or store bought such as Kmart/Big W/Bunnings?
If the later then you will no doubt need additional hardware controller to make them work.

 

[Marko]

Thanks for the reply...
Yes they are store bought....
I have run out of time to complete all my pixel lights props for the year so looking to add some store bought lights to add to my show for this year...
I believe I will need a DMX controller to do this!

Not sure if anyone in Sydney are has one spare or knows where I can get hold of 1 quickly??

 

[David_AVD]

You can buy DMX DC controller from ACL member AAH. ( hansonelectronics.com.au )

What type will depend on how the strings are wired.

 

[videoman3857]

Store bought lights usually have two wires from the plug in controllers.
A standard DMX controller will only illuminate half of this type of string due to the alternating DC power design.
You need Allan's DMX2-18 To get both strands of the string to operate.

 

[Marko]

Do I simply connect Alan’s dmx2-18 tonfalcon f16v3 or do I need a special connection?

 

[videoman3857]

I don't have a falcon board, but Both of those boards are DMX so to the best of my knowledge its a matter of connecting between the two
and assigning dmx channel for each part of the string of lights in exlights to match up with Allans board

 

[djgra79]

The falcon board (f16v2/3) has RJ45 connectors which are DMX outputs, so you connect that output to the input of Alan's board, then the lights to the output of Alan's board.
More info here for Alan's board: http://www.hansonelectronics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/DMX2-18-user-manual-1.0.pdf
Use this program to assign the DMX start channel for Alan's board: http://www.da-share.com/software/da_start/

 

[Marko]

Thanks djgra79 and videoman3857!!

Exactly the answer I was hoping and looking for!!

 

[Marko]

So I got Alan’s board and connected it up...
All working but have a problem!!!!
How do I correctly assign the element in xlights to play through DMX board?
The element is currently playing the same output as my mega tree channel!!

 

[Goliath]

Are they assigned the same address?

 

[Marko]

I think I have myself totally confused with channels, universes etc for all of this!

I have assumed 12 outputs from f16v3, being one for each of my 12 strings on mega tree....

I have a string of led lights around the roof line that I want to control via Alan’s DMX 18 board which is currently noted as output 26 on falcon and xlights setup...

Even if I change start channel it still runs string lights as part of output for mega tree...

Totally lost!!! - I thought I had it sorted but....

 

[djgra79]

If you are using Alans board which has DMX input, then you need to set these up in xlights (and on the controller) as a separate Universe to your pixel megatree.
If you click on Check Overlaps in the Layout tab of xlights, each time you click on a model it will highlight in red if the channels overlap another model(s) to help you figure out where the overlaps are.

 

[Marko]

Well I have tried and tried but no luck.
I have my roof line string of lights connected to DMX2-18 board. They work...except they run the whole show as if replicating an output of the mega tree.

This is what I have:
Xlights - Pixel Mega Tree - 6 universes, start channel 1 on each universe (2 strings per universe) with F16v3 running zigzag so 6 outputs being used for a total of 12 strings.

I have set up roof line string as Universe 7, start channel 1 in Xlights

In F16v3 control I have the 6 mega tree universe correct. Universe 7 shows as a E1.31 output.

I have tried adding this in the Serial Port settings as DMX universe 7, start channel 1 but is seems to copy one of the mega tree outputs for some reason.

Am I missing something? I have sequenced the roof line lights to only come on at certain points in the show but they run through the whole sequence.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[David_AVD]

Maybe try using da_E131 to send data to the various universes one at a time to work out if it's an xlights or controller setup issue.