Thread: VSA and a DMX Dimmer

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Hello Folks,

I've done some research in to DMX dimmers after Phoenix_AU and I had a chat about exorcist and showcontrol.

I've purchased a showtec 4 channel dimmer pack. I'm trying to get it to run via VSA but for some reason it isn't doing anything. I've bought an Enttec open DMX to get from USB to DMX.

I've verified that this works. I've used a program called myDMX to activate and dim my lights. I guess that means the whole circuit works. I've ordered a 10meter DMX cable and used it to connect the DMX open with the DMX dimmer. It turned out to be an audio cable. But it still works with myDMX.

I've decided to connect the open DMX directly to the dimmer pack (with a 5 --> 3 pin adapter) with out the use of the DMX cable. Thinking that might screw VSA up.

No change. Still doesn't work. I haven't tried a DMX terminator yet since I've read that this dimmer has one built in.

VSA does detect the enttec open DMX but that's about it. I know about the one channel switch; VSA starts at 0 and DMX at 1. Tried and tested that.

Now it did kinda work for a couple of minutes. But it didn't do what I told it to do. When I activate and dim light 1 it starts flickering and after a while light 2 just stays on. There seems to be miscommunication between VSA and the dimmer. But as I've said, I haven't been able to reproduce this.

VSA is acting weird to, sometimes when I'm not running anything it gets very slow. Dialog popups take a couple of seconds to appear. Settings take a couple of seconds to take effect. And the timeline moves really slowly when activating a routine. (One frame per 2 seconds I guess) My PC should be quick enough to handle the un accelerated Open DMX. (3,4 Ghz Quad 4 gigs of memory)

So what's going on here...faulty hardware? Wrong settings? I'll post a screenshot of how I have it set up....

Any help or suggestions?

Edit: The aforementioned screencap...

If the trouble is not the address/dmx setup on the dimmer itself, my best guess at the problem at this point is how the events are setup. What have you setup Linear bars or pulse? Check the values. Could we get a screen shot of that as well?

Here is a screenshot. Should be correct?

if the screen shot is the settings your using, then from the looks of it you DMX address is wrong (the addr box) it should be set for 0, 1, 2 and 3 to correspond with the start address of your dmx dimmer. assuming you choose the start address for 1. the other settings look right. i havent set up my dmx in a while so im not 100 % sure on the values, but they look right.

hope this helps

Hello,

At the moment devices 0 to 3 have been set to DMX dimmer. Their channel adress' are set to 0, 1, 2 en 3. The dimmer pack itself is set to channel A001, which should be the first DMX channel.

When I start VSA nothing happens. There is no DMX signal generated or sent out because the DMX signal light on my dimmer doesn't light up.

Now when I use a program called Lights On! I can control the dimmer. No problems there, the DMX signal light activates and away we go.

But VSA

BTW this is the dimmer I use; Showtec Multidim MKII

Picture


EDIT:

I can't fire up Lights On! when VSA is running a routine...it says there is no available DMX device. That's logical, yet the DIMMER doesn't receive anything.... Hmmmmm
Could there be an incompatibility between VSA and the beamer...I know it sounds very illogical seeing as it uses the DMX protocol...

It's driving me nuts!

Man, got me here too. Two weirdo ideas but is your dimmer set to have four separate channels? Mine has the flexibility to make all the plugs be controlled by one channel, two channels or all four. Also, in regards to the slow VSA, have you rebooted your computer (sometimes that works for me). Oh, also, what version of VSA are you running?

Hello,

The dimmer is capable of running 1 channel, 2 channels or 4. I've set it to 4, but I've also tried running the dimmer via the other settings which results in no effect when using VSA. (but works fine when I run it through Lights On!

Rebooting the PC has no effect. Also, I've tried on 3 PC's so far. (My fast desktop running Win 7X64, my slower laptop with Win7, and one really old laptop with a Pentium 3 processor running WinXP)

I think I'm running the most recent version of VSA as I've only purchased it a couple of weeks ago. The version I have is 4.030.

I guess I'm in a real fix...

EDIT:

For some reason I get some effect on the dimmer. When I start a routine, the DMX signal light quickly lights up, all 4 channels are activated and stay on. Any further control by VSA is impossible.

Found a couple of things that Phoenix has said in regards to possible problems:

ONE NOTE OF CAUTION.... BEFORE Halloween we were recommending use of the Enttec Open USB module, however, I must now add a note of caution regarding this module. the Open USB module is cheap, and there is a cost associated with this cheapness, and that is if your computer is heavily loaded the DMX stream may become inconsistent and you will experience pulsing and poor performance with some DMX devices.
For this reason Ive now added support for the Enttec DMX Pro Module, this module has its own processor which regulated the DMX signal regardless of the Computers workload.

Here's another entry:

If you are having trouble connecting to a simple light try a broadcast test

lets say your light is set to channel 32 and has 5 channels

In VSA setup channels 32 to 40 (enough to cover the range and then some

For each channel set it to broadcast a continuous signal of 200.. check your documentation that this signal on all channels will give an output of some kind

Check the settings on your device make sure that its set for DMX control and not audio or slave control

Play the VSA routine, ans see if you have light

If no light then check you have a terminator

If still no response you may have a reverse DMX device, open the plug and swap the wires on pins 2 and 3 and try again

Make sure you are using DMX cables not audio cables

If you do get an output then experiment with the channels to check which ones control what, the manual should be treated as a guide, but be prepared to fins that channels are 1 or 2 places out from where you expected them to be

In addition to the things that Phoenix said here's some more thoughts: I know you said there was a terminator in the dimmer itself. But, are you sure? I haven't heard of that before.

Lastly, have you PM'd Phoenix about this? He's been my go-to guy in regards to these weirdness issues. He got me on the right track each time and so I have good confidence he can help. I know just enough to make it work but when it comes to trouble-shooting....eek!

Thanks for all your replies so far!

I've been to my local 'disco' store today and asked for a DMX terminator, they were out of stock! Grrrr

I've tried creating multiple channels as you described, no change.

I will ask Phoenix if he has any idea's....and I'm going to try and borrow a terminator from someone so I can test. (although it is strange that VSA would need one, and the other program has no issues with it ?)

First thing, whatever the problem is, its very unlikely to be VSA itself, the software has repeatedly been proven to generate pretty good DMX signals.

You have apparently also taken into account the 1 channel offset in VSA, that's usually the first thing that confuses everyone, but its always smart to duplicate you DMX output to channels above and below the channel you can t to use when doing this kind of testing.

Check the manual for your dimmer VERY carefully, these dimmers are multi functional and can be setup to work sound activated, slaves, DMX or many other modes, check VERY carefully you have set it up for DMX

Terminators are easy to make but in a simple network you should not need one, just wire a 120ohm resistor across wires 2 and 3

Check you are using DMX cable MICROPHONE CABLE IS UNACCEPTABLE, and anyone who says differently (ie microphone cable retailers!!!) doesn't know what they are talking about... you can usually get away with mic cable for testing, but don't trust your show to them.

watch out for inverted DMX pins, some devices need you to swap wires 2 and 3 at one connector), but if you can communicate with the lights using alternate software then its unlikely to be this