Messages

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Do You Need Help? Post it here / RDS Question for EDM-TX-RDS FM Transmitter

« on: December 18, 2023, 05:04:32 PM »

I have my show up and running smoothly in my new house. Now I would like to add RDS capability to my show. I have an EDM-TX-LCD with RDS FM transmitter but have not been able to find any recent information about how to get RDS up and running. I currently use the scheduler in FPP for my shows. Based on research so far it appears like xSchedule supported it at one time but the support was discontinued in 2020 for mac computers.
Is there a current methodology that is available/recommended to add RDS capability using a Mac computer or do I need to use the 2020 xSchedule version and abandon the FPP scheduler?

2

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Differential Receiver port won't turn off

« on: November 25, 2021, 03:44:29 PM »

I had tried powering down the receiver box completely but when I plugged it back in the port came back on solid white.  At that point I just unplugged that port.  Today I plugged the port back in and it is working properly again.  Hopefully it continues working.  Thanks.

3

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Differential Receiver port won't turn off

« on: November 24, 2021, 10:44:07 PM »

One of my F16V3 Controllers has a Differential Expansion Board.  One string-port of one of the Differential Receivers is telling the string to stay on solid white all the time even when no signal is provided.  It never turns off.  When a real signal is sent to the port you can vaguely see it modulating the white but it is still all white.  I swapped things around and confirmed it is definitely a ?white signal? coming from the port.  The Receiver has worked fine for two years until now.  When I powered down the Falcon Controller and the Differential Expansion board the LED string connected to that Receiver port stayed on solid white.  Any suggestions as to a fix or further troubleshooting?

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Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Falcon Controller connections in the middle of a matrix column

« on: November 24, 2021, 10:39:50 PM »

I had problems getting it to display correctly even when I changed to only use two ports.  The image coming from the second port was inverted.  The problem went away when I took Gilrock's advice and configured it as one string consisting of 1292 nodes.  Thanks for the help.

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Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Falcon Controller connections in the middle of a matrix column

« on: November 20, 2021, 09:19:57 AM »

I concluded that there was no software fix to my problem.  I should have done a little homework on how to set up matrices in Xlights before I started instead of assuming I could build whatever I wanted and then get the software to match it.  I reworked my lights so I had two strings of 646 nodes each.  That gives me 19 columns (strands/strings) for each each string and each string has its own Controller output.  I am still struggling to get it to display correctly but I assume I can get that figured out.  I will come back for help if I can't figure it out.

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Do You Need Help? Post it here / Falcon Controller connections in the middle of a matrix column

« on: November 19, 2021, 07:44:03 PM »

I have an ever-expanding show with five controllers now, but this is the first year I have added matrices.  I have a 34 high x 38 wide matrix that I am running off of three outputs from a Falcon F16 V3.  I wired it with 100 node strings in a vertical up-down pattern.  Obviously 100 node strings do not divide evenly with 34 node columns so each string ends somewhere in the middle of a column.  I had planned on having 400 nodes (4 strings) on the first and second outputs, which would leave 492 nodes for the third channel.  I didn?t realize there might be a software problem as a result of having a controller output feed a string in the middle of a column until I started trying to set it up in x-lights. I can?t seem to make it work because I keep getting a mess on the matrix and/or a red highlighted row in x-lights when I enter certain values for the Strands/String row.  Is there an x-lights/Falcon setup solution or do I have to rewire my matrix so each of the three outputs starts a string with even multiples of 34 (i.e., 1, 409, and 817)?  I sure hope there is a software fix.

7

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Missing Assets error message

« on: March 16, 2021, 06:38:30 PM »

So I figured out how to find the problem.  Using the Tools/Check Sequence (as suggested by the error message) I was able to pin point the problem picture.  What I will never know is how it suddenly got there.  As mentioned in the first post, the errant picture file came from an old 2017 folder that I haven't used in three years.  I have not added any new pictures, and certainly not in the location in the sequence where I found this random picture.  At any rate - problem solved by deleting the picture from the sequence.

8

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Missing Assets error message

« on: March 15, 2021, 05:54:23 PM »

I have been working on next year's show adding matrices and yard props and suddenly got a new "Missing Assets" error message.  The location of the missing asset is a photo in a file folder I have not used since my first year in 2018. After 2018 I copied the photo to a common pictures folder which I have used the last two years.  The three sequence locations where I use the photo all correctly reference the latest file location and they all work fine.  How do I fix this?  Is there way to see how/where/why X-lights is generating the message?  FYI - I recently updated to the latest version of X-lights after last updating in December but I had used the new version at least a couple of times before I got the error message.
I am hesitant to continue sequencing in case I have to do something major to correct the problem such as use an old backup. 

9

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Full Screen Preview removed

« on: August 06, 2020, 09:19:43 PM »

When I upgraded my MacBook Pro from 2020.27 to 27.1, the full screen preview button no longer showed for neither the Model Preview or House Preview window.  Subsequent upgrades have the same problem.  The only way I could get full screen previews was to revert back to 2020.27.  Am I missing something or is this a glitch?

10

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Sections of display don't light up except during testing

« on: December 28, 2019, 10:10:31 PM »

Gilrock -  Attached is the requested Log File.

11

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Sections of display don't light up except during testing

« on: December 28, 2019, 08:37:02 PM »

RandyS - I didn't have the overlap box checked but I do now.  Nothing seemed to change and I did not get any error messages.

Gilrock – Not sure what all you need to see but I am providing attachments for what I think may be relevant.  I mentioned I have numerous, similar problems throughout the display but I want to focus on two problems to see if we can make any progress at all.  Since I am still relatively a noobie, I hope my mistake is obvious.

First problem - The last 30 nodes on the fifth group of icicles (universe 56, nodes 130-160) do not light up.  This is a little confusing in the layout because this group of icicles is the last group in Segment 3 which is composed of 4 total groups of icicles..  Segment 3 begins at Universe 53 as shown in the Layout pictures.

Second problem – More straightforward and totally confounding.  The Upper Right Gable strip (Universe 90) does not light up at all (except in test mode when it works perfect).

12

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Sections of display don't light up except during testing

« on: December 28, 2019, 12:31:35 PM »

I don't know what to do to fix them because I don't see anything wrong.  I hav checked them multiple times. The xLights setup matches the xLights models which matches the FPP which matches the controllers.

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Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Sections of display don't light up except during testing

« on: December 28, 2019, 07:35:46 AM »

I forgot to include some additional information that may help in analyzing my problem.  First, all of my models are polyline (i.e., icicles, ridge strips, and windows).  Second, I discovered an interesting phenomenon when I was testing my models directly from the xLights Test Model tab.  I had one model called “Garage window” that was still in my layout that I was not using in my show. By that I mean it does not physically have anything in the field, nor is it included anywhere in the sequence.  However, when I “tested” this model via the xLights Test Model tab, all of the lights that DO NOT WORK OTHERWISE that are scattered across the house in the other various polyline models, DID come on.  Further, those are the only lights that came on and nothing associated with the original “Garage Window” came on.

Even though I had no idea what was going on, I thought I was on to something so I completely deleted that model.  Unfortunately that had no effect on the issue and I still have the same problems with the sections not lighting up.

One last thing, I executed the “Make All Start Channels Not Overlapping” command.  It changed the start channels for each of my models so I had to change those back to their correct locations.  It left all of the other segments of the polyline models alone.  None of this helped with the scattered sections that do not light problem.

14

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Sections of display don't light up except during testing

« on: December 27, 2019, 09:57:39 PM »

I have another problem that has had me stumped for several days now despite spending many hours per day on the problem.  I have multiple groups of nodes (in two cases entire strings) throughout my display that remain dark when I play sequences.  The dark nodes are always in the same locations.

When I test the lights directly from the FPP or the Falcon F16V3 controllers, every node lights up perfectly. I turn on each port one at a time and the correct string of each model lights up as it should.  Similarly, when I test the lights from the xLights Test Output tab, each output turns on the correct string of lights and all the lights on that string light up.

The problems manifest themselves when I test the lights from either the xLights Model Group or Model tabs.  Each model I test has the exact same unlit lights that show up when I play a sequence on that model.

I have reviewed my models multiple times and don’t see anything wrong but clearly I am missing something.  Any suggestions on what to look for?

15

Do You Need Help? Post it here / Re: Falcon Controller output port reverse direction option has limitations

« on: December 23, 2019, 06:56:15 PM »

Chris - Yes text will display fine on the normally wired groups.

FYI - For this year I am leaving ALL groups, yellow and green, in the forward direction on the controllers.  I am deleting all of the whole house effects I had sequenced and am replacing them with the same effects applied to icicle sub-models.  Where it is more conducive to the desired overall effect, I am using the "flip horizontal" transformation in the buffer for the green groups that are wired in reverse.  A lot of work, but at least it's an effective solution assuming I get them all changed before it is time to take the display down.  I will rewire everything next year.