LSC Lighting iSeries - Manual (Page 13)

V1.21 September 2007 iPAK/iPRO Dimmer Operator Manual
LSC Lighting Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd 9
4.2 Setting the DMX512 Address
The dimmer is designed to be controlled by an external DMX512 transmitting device. The
DMX512 protocol allows for the high speed transmission of 512 channels of digital data and
allows for up to 32 devices to be connected to each DMX512 stream. To enable each device to
receive its own relevant information off this DMX512 stream, a DMX512 Start Address is
allocated to each device. In other products, this start address is selectable on the device by
either switches or thumbwheels and the number displayed corresponds to the first channel of the
device.
If the iPAK and iPRO twelve channel dimmers have the start address set for “001”, then the
dimmers will respond to the first twelve channels of information on the DMX512 stream. Likewise
if the start address is set for “025”, then the dimmers will respond to channels 25 to 36 on the
DMX512 stream. If two or more devices have the same address setting, these devices will
respond to exactly the same data. Care must be taken when setting up all equipment on the
same DMX512 network. All data on the DMX512 stream can pass through the dimmer and onto
the next device, when the thru connector is utilised. Similarly the six channel iPRO’s respond in
the same way, except they only use the six channels of information on the DMX512 stream that
pertains to them as set by the address number.
When the dimmer is powered up for the first time, it will automatically be in the DMX512 Address
mode and display channel 1 as its starting address. The user can then set the desired start
address by pressing the increment(
∧) or decrement(∨) Scroll Buttons. If you decrement from
channel 1, the next setting will be 512. To scroll quickly to your desired start address, press and
hold the increment or decrement button. The display will then speed up and scroll through the
channel numbers.
To increase the start address in banks (groups of 12 for 12 channel dimmers and groups of 6 for
6 channel dimmers.), press the button quickly once and then press and hold. If the dimmer start
address is currently at “1”, then to select the next bank (start address number 13 (7) ), press the
increment button quickly once and then press again and hold. The display will then indicate “”b-
2”(Bank number 2) and then it will display channel “13” (“7”). Repeat this step to move to the next
bank. To move the start address backwards in groups of 12 (6), repeat the instructions above
using the decrement button.
Once the DMX512 Address has been set, this will be stored in the dimmer’s memory. (Note: The
DMX512 address will only be committed to memory approximately 5 seconds after the last
address change.) If the dimmer is powered down and then powered back up, the dimmer will
resume at its last known DMX512 setting.
The Data Indicators show the exact status of the DMX512 signal as it relates to that particular
dimmer. When the DMX512 connector is plugged into the dimmer and signal is being received,
the green data LED will glow to indicate good data being received by the dimmer. If bad data is
being received, the red LED will glow. In some instances, the green and red LEDs will
intermittently come on and off. This indicates that the data being received is “dirty”, in that it is
sometimes valid and then becomes invalid.
If the DMX512 input connector is fitted and no LEDs are glowing, this can indicate two things.
The first is that the transmitting device has ceased transmitting and the second could mean that
the signal is no longer reaching the dimmer due to a fault up line. In both cases, the dimmers will
sense the loss of signal and then hold the last known DMX512 state that it received, until the
DMX512 data stream is restored or until the dimmer is powered down.