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This is my first post, so hello to you all from the uk.
Having a little trouble so would be very grateful for some help.I have a lighting rig set up starting with..
UFO PRO..QUAD PHASE HP..UFO PRO. (all run by MYDMX 2.0)
They are all set to run on auto if DMX is lost. This happened today. The Quad phase hp ran on auto and the second UFO PRO also worked on auto. The first UFO was just rotating on the Y axis with no light.
I checked all the dmx and auto run and everything was set fine. the only time it went in to auto run was when I switched the quad phase HP off from the mains.
Would appreciate any help as im new to all of this and don't have a clue, just find it odd it worked when the quad phase was switched off??
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Hi Toma and welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure I'm totally understanding your problem. I'm not following what works and doesn't work when the Quad Phase is plugged in or not. Either way, I have a few suggestions you can try. First of all, are you using proper DMX cable or just generic microphone cable? Even though mic cables physically work there is a difference between the two. I'm not familiar with the units you're using but if they don't have a self-termination function, be sure to use a terminator on your last fixture in the line.

Some things you can try:
-Switch the order of the lights and see if the same problem tracks through.
-Change out your cables. If there's a bad one in there it could possibly cause this problem.
-If you have a DMX tester, plug it in to various points along the DMX chain and see what it says.

Like I said, I've never used these specific units but I have used other units that when unplugged cause all the other lights past them in the chain to go nuts. If that's the case, just tie it/them in last or use a DMX splitter. With three lights though that doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room!

Hope this helps!
sorry I didn't explain it well, everything works fine. when the DMX signal is lost the quad phase goes into auto mode and so does the UFO PRO in the last of the chain. the first just goes wrong.
but when the quad phase is turned off the UFO PRO goes into its auto mode.

I will try your suggestions.
thank you for your advice.
Thanks for filling in the details. Just to be sure I'm understanding this right, when DMX is present everything works properly. When you lose DMX signal the three units go into auto mode except for that the first UFO isn't acting right, and then when you unplug the Quad Phase both UFOs work properly in auto mode? I have a few more questions/suggestions:

-Do all three lights function properly in auto mode when not plugged into any DMX chain (i.e. unplug all your XLR/DMX cables - do the lights run in auto okay)?

-What happens if you move the Quad Phase to the first or last unit in your chain? Set it up both ways and see what happens when you add/remove DMX and Quad Phase power.

-What happens if you keep the chain set up how you've had it , complete with DMX running, and unplug only the Quad Phase?

-When you say 'lose DMX', do you mean you turn off your console, or in your case close the MyDMX software, or are you physically unplugging the XLR/DMX cable from your interface? Try both and see what happens.

As you can see it's pretty much a trial-and-error thing to isolate the problem. To answer your question, no, nothing special should ever happen to the first, last, or for that matter any light in the DMX chain. The order you plug your lights in shouldn't make any difference, but as I mentioned before there are some lights even in the professional market that don't play nicely with others.

My thoughts right now are the either the Quad Phase or DMX interface is doing something weird. Switching the two UFOs around seems to imply that the UFOs physically are not the problem. Another thought - do any of the lights have master/slave mode? If you lose DMX, one or more of the lights might be switching into auto mode with master/slave enabled. Having a mismatch amongst them can definitely cause this problem. The units' manuals will tell you how to enable/disable this and with the digital menus versus the old DIP switches it's very easy to accidentally have this enabled and never even know it.

Give these suggestions a try when you get some time and let me know what happens!
yes that's how im explain it, sorry just a bit hard trying to explain without talking.
regards to your questions.
-Do all three lights function properly in auto mode when not plugged into any DMX chain (i.e. unplug all your XLR/DMX cables - do the lights run in auto okay)?

yes they all function fine, the only thing I have to do is put the quad phase in to master mode for it to function to music. when in DMX it is black out.

I think its down to the quad phase. it has 3 settings if it loses the DMX signal..
Master,Blackout and Last (stays in its last dmx setting before losing the signal

when I pull the usb out from mydmx 2.0 you can control the UFO's from the Quad phase...sounds odd, if it is set to master then the first UFO shuts off with a slight spin on the y axis. if its in blackout all of the lights blackout but if its in last mode the UFO's work fine the Quad phase does its last dmx signal and does its thing.

I think its just a bit of a fussy bugger.

Think its me not having much experience with it.
No worries, I understand what's going on now. I'd just hate to give advice to fix a problem I'm not fully understanding!

Good, so since the lights all function fine by themselves I don't think there is anything mechanically wrong with any of the units. I think you're right - the Quad Phase seems to be causing the problem. Adding that the Quad Phase can control the UFOs means that there is definitely some sort of signal or signals traveling through the chain when DMX is lost and that the Quad Phase is trying to be the master. Like you said with the different behavior in the Master/Blackout/Last modes, this might just be something you'll have to live with. Maybe keep it on last so at least you know your UFOs will work properly? How often do you really lose DMX?

One last suggestion though - does the physical order of the units make any difference? Try the order of UFO - UFO - Quad Phase. Do both UFOs act weird now? Then try Quad Phase - UFO - UFO. See if you can now control both UFOs.

I know that typically you'd want to use the shortest amount of cable in a DMX daisy chain, but in this case you might have to use a little extra to get the units to work how you want. Beyond this, you'd be looking at additional equipment (such as a splitter) that can isolate the Quad Phase from the UFOs. Who knows? Maybe ADJ will see this is a problem and release a firmware update for the Quad Phase so it plays nicely with other units. Hope it all works out!
I have this same problem with the RAVE4 causing just 1 light in the chain to misbehave when DMX is off.
Light 2 of 5 goes crazy when revo light 4 of 5 is in auto mode. Funny thing is lights 2 and 3 are the same fixture on different address's of course.
setup is;
1= adj pro 38b address 01
2= adj p36 address 33
3= adj p36 address 65
4= adj Revo4 address 97
5= Chauvet spot duo address 129
Also have laser but not DMX sound auto only.
On DMX all is ok.
The only reason for not wanting DMX is sometimes it's nice to have only the revo running in auto with control by uc3 but with #3 going nutz it wont work.
Not a huge deal as I just have DMX on and ch1 of revo at 255 alone which does the same thing without the uc3. But it still bugs me as to why this error happens. I have tried all the fixes previously mentioned. The only thing that works is to remove the revo4 from the chain.
Any further ideas?
Intruder1400,

Yeah, it sounds like this is a relatively common problem. It seems that the root of the problem is that all the units read data from the same link of XLR/DMX cables. When no DMX signal is present, whichever units are set to 'Master' start generating their own signals over the same cables to control the other units. That works fine and well when the other units are programmed to follow those commands (not sure if it's true DMX or some other protocol). The problems start when other units receive that data and aren't able to understand it or don't act the way you think they should. That's what causes the erratic behavior - same as when you use a bad cable which likewise renders the DMX data unreadable. Unless someone else speaks up that has more experience with these situations I'd say it's something you'll probably have to live with.

Now, being an engineer, I'm sure there's a way to make a cable or box that can optically isolate the Revo from the rest of your lights. There are some isolated DMX splitters on the market, but they're not cheap. You could possibly solder a diode into a cable to keep the signals from going 'backwards' down the chain when DMX is not present (which I suspect is also happening), but now I'm getting into serious speculation! Without hooking this up to an oscilloscope to really see what's going on I can't recommend you try that! Of course if you do, let me know. I'm always up for learning new things! Good luck and sorry I can't be of more help!
Thank You for the reply. I believe You are correct. You would think the MFRs would program into the lights that in the absence of a DMX signal input the output would be a null or off (sort of like midi)signal. Seeing as most fixtures have auto programs for when dmx is not used it makes sense that it should be that way. Like I said I can and will live with it. It just doesn't make sense that fixtures have a output flow with no input. Anyway, thanks again.

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