What dipswitches? Where?
IF it's for address assignment, let's start simple. You mentioned elsewhere a non-ADJ dimmer pack, which there's no valid reason why it shouldn't work.
Let's assuming using a 10-position DIP switch. 1-9 are going to be DMX address assignments, most likely.
1 will be ON is 1, while OFF is 0(zero). All off positions are 0 zeros. All on positions are a value. All odds will have position 1 on.
Switch = Value
1 = 1
2 = 2
3 = 4
4 = 8
5 = 16
6 = 32
7 = 64
8 = 128
9 = 256
Add up to get the number you want. 10 is usually reserved for special functions.
And then there are fun things like setting channels to dimming vs switching.
DMX is really simple. Sort of like MIDI: unidirectional signal via any single cable. Just attach the cables and go, you can't go wrong. Just use DMX cables and not mic cables for shows, but for testing, go ahead and use mic cables since I'm sure you have a few of those laying around.
Sounds like you've got the right gear. You are using Parcan's, right? Set your dimmer pack addresses to be identical, starting at 1, go to a 4-chanel mode. Might as well make them match, the FC400 is a 4-channel controller that can call up to 12 scenes.