Sean Meighan
Software => Xlights Setup => Topic started by: rmaddox on August 18, 2018, 01:38:23 PM
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I'm using a Renard TR24 Plus to drive some AC lights in my display. They are C9 LED's & a strobes. I'm sequencing with Xlights and I'm using a Falcon F16v3 & a Holiday Coro AlphaPix16 to drive my pixels. My question is how do I set up the TR24 in Xlights and also how do I physically connect the TR24? My thinking is to connect the TR24 to one of the RS485 jacks on the Falcon and then in Xlights I would set it up on the layout tab with it's own universe and with the same IP address as the Falcon. Will that work or is there another way?
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It should work. It doesn’t even need its own universe but most people do allocate one because it is clearer.
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OK Thanks!
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I'm still having trouble getting this to work. Basically, I think my Falcon and my Renard aren't communicating and I don't have my settings in FP & Xlights correct. I have attached screen shots of my set up in the Falcon interface and my set up in Xlights
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This might require a crossover cable.
Rj45 pin 4 is data- pin 5 is data+
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Also in your Falcon you have DMX set for your output protocol.
What did you program your Renard's to accept?
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I'm not sure about this. Mac Macmillan built the controller for me and I'm not sure how it is programmed. I've sent him a message and waiting for a reply. As soon as I can find out I'll post it.
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You only have 2 protocol options Renard or DMX
If you have communication between the falcon and your Renard board your green RX TX will be blinking rapidly and the red heart beat LED will be blinking every few seconds.
In order for your Renard board to work with the falcon you will have to make a custom cable between the two.
The two jumper output configurations available on the Falcon will not work with a straight through cable.
Take a look at the assembly instructions on the Renard site and towards the bottom of the page will show you the data connections for making a crossover cable.
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OK, thanks! I did find out that it is setup to receive the Renard protocol with a 57.6K baud rate.
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Also, how do I set this up in Xlights? What port do I use and what connection?
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If the TR24 is being run by the Falcon then you just setup a universe in xLights like any out output on the Falcon. Sounded like you already suspected that was the right way in the very first post.
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OK, thanks! I did find out that it is setup to receive the Renard protocol with a 57.6K baud rate.
Okay, those settings are done in the Falcon serial output page.
Once you have a cable made, and have communication between the Falcon and the Renard board with the universe set to that serial output, xlights is easy.
And don't panic if the test mode from the Falcon doesn't do anything with the Renard board there's a bug in the Falcon serial output during testing that I'm not sure is fixed yet.
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Ok, thanks all! I'll try getting the cable made and set everything. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't have other questions. I'll let you know if everything works out.
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I've been looking at the crossover diagram on the Renard TR24 manual. My first thought is that I need to modify a Cat 5 cable so that the W/Blue wire from first end of the Cat 5 would connect to the W/Orange wire on the other end; the Blue wire from the first end would connect to the Orange on the other end; the W/Orange wire from the first end would connect to the Brown on the other end and the Orange wire from the first end would connect to the W/Brown wire on the other end. The first end would be the Renard end and the second the Falcon. None of the other wires would matter. I would need to label each end to keep it straight. Am I thinking correctly?
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Renard uses pins 4 & 5 falcon uses pins 1 & 2.
Renard side pin 5 White and blue connect to falcon side pin 1 white and orange.
Renard side pin 4 blue connect to falcon side pin 2 Orange.
Connecting the ground is optional
Make sure you label the different ends and set the jumpers on the Falcon to DMX.
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I just thought I would mention the wire colors really don't matter, what matters is getting a twisted pair of wires connected to the correct pins on either side.
You should be able to go to your local Home Depot or equivalent store and pick up the tools to make up network cables if you don't already have them.
It's not a good idea to try splicing the wires in the middle of the cable if that's what you were thinking of doing.
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Got it. Thanks!
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Well I made a crossover cable, Renard Blue/White to Falcon Orange/White and Renard Blue to Falcon Orange. They communicated, for a while, then the communication stopped. While they were communicating, a couple of strings of lights (out of 4) worked properly, but two never came on at all. I tried doing some reconfiguring in Xlights & on the Falcon Interface, but nothing helped. Then, they stopped communicating. The cable looks correct, I even took the cable apart and rewired, but nothing. I don't know where to go from here. All I need is something that will work with Xlights and the Falcon 16v3. All of my lights are smart RGB except the roof line and the strobes, these strings are C-9 LED's and the strobe is just 4 LED floods on one strand. I have the roof outlined in 3 sections and then the strobes. All I need is something that will turn those 4 strands of lights on and off. What can I find that will do this and works with Xlights & the Falcon controller? I'm sorry I'm getting wordy on this, but I've been doing my light show for 4 years and I've never been able to get these 4 strings of lights to work. I've got an LOR controller that I've tried and couldn't get them to work, so I've just been leaving them on during the show. I bought this Renard this year and was hopeful it would work, but I don't think it's going to. Any advice on setting the Renard up or just buying something that I can plug into the Falcon and make it work.
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I missed the post about cutting the cable, it was on the next page and I responded to the post before it. I just saw it. That's exactly what I did, cut the cable in the middle and spliced them. What did I mess up?
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The communication it uses through those wires is a balanced digital signal, by splicing the wires you can throw things off but I don't think you can damage it unless you cross the wires in an unusual way against power.
Try making a proper cross over cable and test again.
You might want to put your location in your profile so maybe you can get together with somebody more experienced in your area to help you out.
You can also hop on Zoom and talk with people most nights.
There's usually one or two people on there who might be able to help you out.
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Will do on both suggestions. Thank you for your patience!
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You have an Lor controller?
You could try the Lor controller on the Falcon because you can change the jumper settings for Lor and use a straight through cable.
The controller should accept DMX so you would just set that in the serial output page on the Falcon.
This would depend on how old the Lor controller is in what firmware is loaded into it.
You would use Lor Hardware utility to set the unit ID to 1 and check on the firmware.
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I had an Electrical Engineer that works at the same company I do, make up the Renard - Falcon crossover cable for me. He has the tools and the knowledge to do it. He made as specified. I brought it home plugged it in and no communication. I tried my LOR, but it's not recognizing any of my ports. This happened last year and I was able to play my LOR sequences with my mini show director / mp3 player, so I didn't worry about it. Short story is, I can't change any settings. I'm pretty well tired of messing with crossover cables and the like. When I bought it, I didn't realize that I would need a crossover cable. Is there anything that I can buy, say from Faclon (or anyone), that I can just plug in to my Falcon 16v3 and go with it?
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I'm going to mention Zoom again because I think it's your best option.
If you use a computer with a microphone and Camera we can talk to you in real time and try to help you understand how this stuff works.
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I created an account with Zoom. Let me know what to do from here. I'm also pretty much of a novice on social media stuff.
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You didn't necessarily have to set up an account.
Go to xlights. Org and click on the blue Zoom icon to be connected to the xlights zoom group.