Showled Starcloth

Hi Andy,

I ran into some flickering LED scenario recently and we determined it was caused by the DMX speed being too fast. They ran flicker free through the house Express, but the EOS was just giving them data way too fast. What console did you switch to that made the flicker stop?

If you are running DMX through the hard ports straight out of the back of the ION, you can change the DMX port speed in the shell under the ION tab. If you are running DMX over Ethernet through a node you would need to use NCE or GCE to change those port speeds. 

I don't know what the rest of your rig is like, but faster DMX is generally better, so if you could isolate the stardrop to its own port and then try to slow that one port down see if that doesn't solve the flicker.

For sake of full disclosure slowing the port down didn't, in the end, solve the problem for us, (the LEDs we used were of surpassingly poor quality) we ended up passing the DMX through a DMXter which has a very slow speed (that Victor is one smart guy), but it can't hurt to try slowing the port speed down.

Hope this helps.

-M

Hi.

Thanks for the responses, as a workaround have set them both up with their own dmx input. The desk we tested it on was an old desk so will look into the dmx speed as well.

Hi Guys,

If you DMX control the 2 Classic starcloths you cannot set them in master-slave mode, this you can only do when you manually control them (stand alone mode). In master - slave mode you can't have any DMX control at all.

If you DMX control the starcloth (over 5 channels, addressing the build in patterns) you should set the first controller to mode 10 and the next (slave) to mode 1.

Then you should also change the base address of the first controller. Please note that if you want to add another device to this control network, it can only be put before the first controller! 

You can download the Classic manual here FYI  http://www.showled.com/products/classic-LED-starcloth

This issue has nothing to do with DMX refresh speed, the LEDs can handle that...My guess is wrong controller settings or lighting desk issue.

If you ever encounter an issue with a ShowLED starcloth or you need more technical assistance feel free to send me an email directly

jan at showled dot com

Good luck with the show Andy!

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the info. Apologies for not being clear in my first post. The starcloth is 2 x 5x7m cloths with separate controllers. The controller with the DMX input from the desk is set to MODE 10 with a DMX base of 440. The Link to the second controllers is set to MODE 1 (as per your manual). There is no further DMX controlled instruments after the 2nd controller because, as you say, the output is not DMX. The first controller operates the starcloth as it should (5 channel operation) as does the second. However there is a random flicker of half the channels on the second (slave) cloth only (can't remember whether this is green or orange cct). The 1st cloth doesn't flicker at all.

So this is still a mystery and if you're saying its not the starcloth then maybe I need to talk to ETC direct about the DMX output on the desk. As I said, for this production I've done a workaround by giving each controller its own dmx, address and setting them both to mode 10.

From the description Jan Blomme has given, as the data link to the first unit is working properly then the console is proven to be working correctly and therefore the fault can only be in the starcloths or data link between them.

This is because the DMX data from the console stops at the first starcloth and goes no further.

The data link between the starcloths is not DMX and is therefore nothing to do with the console.

I would suggest trying the following:

• Check the data link cable between them, eg by using it to control a DMX device.
• Check each starcloth in the DMX mode individually to see if one cloth has an underlying fault.
• Try each starcloth as Master and Slave, to see if one has a faulty Master or Slave operation.

This should help you isolate the fault.

One other option may be a 'touch-and-go' between the Inputs of each cloth individually - this should make each one beleive that it is at the start of the chain. However whether this would work depends entirely on how these devices are internally built - it's clear that they are very strange internally.

Hi,

I presumed that there could be an issue with the lighting desk because Andy has tried with another lighting desk (as stated in his first post) and this works fine.

We would think that maybe the DMX signal is cut off preliminary so adding a virtual patch behind the starcloth might help. The link between the 2 controllers (especially the timing) relies on the signal from the lighting desk.

Andy if you check and one of the controllers has an issue we'll be glad to replace the unit, I'm sure ETC has the same policy on this. 

Richard if you have any idea's on how to make our system more straightworward please send me an email, we're always interested in feedback from professional users.

Regards,

Jan

Hi,

I presumed that there could be an issue with the lighting desk because Andy has tried with another lighting desk (as stated in his first post) and this works fine.

We would think that maybe the DMX signal is cut off preliminary so adding a virtual patch behind the starcloth might help. The link between the 2 controllers (especially the timing) relies on the signal from the lighting desk.

Andy if you check and one of the controllers has an issue we'll be glad to replace the unit, I'm sure ETC has the same policy on this. 

Richard if you have any idea's on how to make our system more straightworward please send me an email, we're always interested in feedback from professional users.

Regards,

Jan

Quote: The link between the 2 controllers (especially the timing) relies on the signal from the lighting desk

That means that it is likely to be worthwhile slowing down the DMX update rate in the Ion, as it sounds like these starcloths may be having difficulty operating at the "Maximum" DMX update rate.

I would suggest trying the "Medium" or "Slow" update rates - "Fast" is unlikely to be much improvement.

However, as JPalmer said that he could not get his to work properly on his Avolites console, I don't hold out much hope.

Hi folks,

Thanks for the interest in this. As far as controllers and cabling, we've had them in every conceivable combination...

Swapped over controllers
Swapped which was running in mode 10 and which was in mode 1 and cabled accordingly
Changed every lead that was connected between desk and controller
Removed any daisy chain on the DMX as well as splitters
Got hold of replacement controllers
Tried using another desk (backup state desk at various values)
Swapped DMX universes over

Must admit I haven't looked at the speed of the dmx output because, as I mentioned earlier, we've worked around the issue. But if I get a chance I'll try that.

All I can see is that there seems to be something the ION is doing (or not doing) which is upsetting the Showled Controller to give erroneous flickering. Might have to call in columbo to solve this one!!!