Diy Usb To Dmx Converter
The USB- RS485 converter has the following 3 to 6 connectors:. A or Tx+ or +Data or +ve. B or Tx- or -Data or -ve. GND or GROUND or 0V. (optional) 5V or VCC. (optional) Rx-. (optional) Rx+We only need the 3 connections, the GND,Data+ and DATA- are the only connections required for sending a DMX signal.
These 3 signals correspond to the 3 pins/holes in a XLR connector:The connections of the XLR/ DMX plug as numbered above are:. Ground/ GND. Data-. Data+Now it’s simple, just connect the corresponding ground and data outputs and your DMX Dongle is ready:.
Connect GND of your RS485 to pin #1 of your XLR. Data-/ TX- of your RS485 goes to pin #2 of you XLR. Data+/TX+ of your RS485 goes to pin #3 of your XLRTry to keep these wires as short as possible, long wires may add extra interference if experiencing problems, try twisting the data+ and data- wires.
I used regular cat5e networking cable for the wiring. Here are a few fixes for if your board does not send DMX, Please leave a comment on the fix you tried.
It would be a great help for anyone having problems with this board in the future. Try terminating your DMX chain, this may solve your problems.I recently got a reply from “Pepe” suggesting a new Fix that will fix unstable DMX adapters.I bought and is working, and I see a small modification here on my chip out of the box. There are two shorted pins (as I remember I try to short some pins to get continuous work. Maybe that was that case that was working for me)I attaching a diagram (Make sure to check the orientation of the chip (you can test it by shorting reset and VCC) so maybe this is another Fix (for those wich get it work for few minutes and then it fail)Ps a AGDD+test pin are conected to maing ground ( GDN + PWR Led (a GDN side)Hopefully, this will help. Windows: The best free software available(for windows) is Freestyler DMX, download and install.Now in settings choose the interface “ Enttec open DMX“. This device is based on an RS485 and works with any RS485 device.Now click save, add your fixtures and start programming your show.Other Software:Mac: QLC+, Download. Personally, I find this the easiest, best program there is for free.Other compatible software:DMXControlMartin M-Series Software + (Fixture Library)(Mac Appstore)JV Lightning DmxControl free and pro.
Usb To Dmx Converter
DMX Signal randomly stops:– Try plugging your DMX Adapter in a POWERED! Lageoi have a small project thats ruinnng 5 RBG strips and several white LED strips.
I’ve been using the Dmx master shield to drive my dimmer board. It seemed to be working fine for a day and a half and then the other morning i went to turn it on, the power indicator lit up, but its not sending dmx to the dimmer. Not knowing what else to do, i pluged a new one in, it worked great, problem solved, 10 minuets latter it also stopped sending.
I’m totaly perplexed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Hi I saw this and really needed a DMX interface so I bought the board and put it together just as in the instuctions. When i plug it in,PW light turns on, when i open Qlights, RX light turns on and my mini par that i’m testing it with starts flashing about every two or three seconds. I once got it to work and could control it RGB for a few seconds, but even then it still flashed white every few seconds. Tried the FT-Prog on my old windowsXP but the program doesn’t recognize it.
I wanted to ask if Read more ». Yesterday I received my RS485 – USB thing (first eBay link). I already had a XLR connector for building the complete into a box. I connected the xlr to the rs485 -usb, and plugged it into my PC. There was shining 1 light from the usb thing. I started up Freestyler and I choose Enttec Open DMX. Huh, it says there wasn’t a adapter plugged in.
I plugged a dmx cable in the adapter and putted the dmx cable into a mushroom. It was on te right channel. After I had done that a second light goes on. But still Read more ». Lars, did you make it work in the end? I also bought a converter which was automatically detected by Windows 7 x64 as ‘USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM3)’ and I can’t make it work too – Freestyler says “No USB-DMX found” Since it does not use a FTDI chip, installing the FTDI drivers has no point (though it seems to install the COM driver successfully) it uses different drivers. I’m afraid it won’t work since it’s not a “direct” USB-RS485 converter it’s actually USB-RS232-RS485 converter (it uses the CH340G+MAX485 chips): It’s installed only as a COM port in Windows, but the Read more ».
Hi, first thanks for this tutorial it’s great.Second, i’ve bought and done all things like you say, but i cannot put my led can doing anything.I’ve checked all inside software QLC Plus and with correct addresses and all. QLC+ connects correctly to RS485 without any error. But the led can does not light 🙁Questions:1- I’m not using a XLR terminator, can this be the cause? (i already bought on and is comming)2- Is somehow needed to have more power in USB?
I don’t think so, because RS485 connects ok, but don’t know. We got some problems with FTDI FT232 Chip. The lights on the chip all work and blink when we use the chip, and freestyler also sends out the correct output (or at least some output), but none of the lights we used reacted to the DMX signal. We used two Ibiza Light lmh 300’s and an Eurolite kls 401. Both light are compitable with DMX512. We have actually used both before with a dmx controller and both worked. First time we tried with stranded wires, now we changed the wires and build a case for it, but still no result.
Still no luck making it work 🙁 How exactly are the adapter LEDs supposed to behave? When I connect the adapter to USB, a red “PW” LED lights up – that’s correct, I suppose. When I start FreeStyler or e.g. The KMTronic test software ) a blue “RX” LED starts flashing rapidly – is this correct or not?
Now, whatever I try to do with the DMX channels (e.g. Moving the sliders in the KMTronic test), the attached fixture does not do anything, the blue “TX” LED flashes still the same, the “RX” LED does nothing.
Is there anything I Read more ». I had the same Problem.I found out that the problem is the signal “DE” – pin.3 of 75176.The rising of “DE” is too late. Because of that dmx data packet is not complete.“DE” and “/RE” are connected to “CBUS2” – pin.13 of FT232RL;compare with the schematic of enttec openDMX “DE” and “/RE” are connected to “RTS”.Here is my solution:– lift off pin.2 and pin.3 of 75176 from solder pads– connect these 2 pins to +5v pin.8 of 75176– driver is now always enabledTested with QLC+ on OSX 10.7.5:: OK.See also. First off, Great Guides, this is perfect for people moving from consoles to PC software. I’m having a problem that I’m not seeing anyone else having. I got the RS485 Converter, I connected the XLR panel connector, using CAT5e cable, fired up QLC, connected my lights, and everything works.
I have 2 Chauvet 4Bars, 2 Chauvet 4Plays, and 8 ADJ Mega Par Profiles connected; with a DMX terminator at the end of the chain. Everything works perfectly, until I open Google Chrome or any DAW software. When I open these programs, the 4Bars and the Mega Pars stop working; but Read more ». Ok, so I tried a couple of usb cables with ferrite beads. The rgb lights still stop responding however now, the single pars will continue with whatever signal it was receiving before opening the other software; and the 4bar will turn off the start flashing all white. With this consistent change, does that suggest a frequency problem in my signal? But then again, the 4play effects lights are not experiencing an issue.
This is weird indeed. Oh and the same behavior happens with and without the terminator at the end of the chain. Any new thoughts with this new information? I twisted the d -/+ cables, but nothing changed. I messed around a little more, just trying different things, and it just throws me off.
For example: The rgb’s stop responding when I open google chrome, but work fine if I open internet explorer. They stop responding when I open any of my DAW programs, but not when I open some standalone VST programs.
Diy Usb To Dmx Converter Software
When clicking through folders, they flicker. So, I am wondering how does the activity on the computer relate to the signal from QLC thru the USB cable, thru the converter, and out the XLR, maintaining enough Read more ». Sorry I haven’t posted back, I’ve been on the road. To recap in a nutshell, the interface works fine until I open google chrome my DAW software. At which point, certain lights stop responding to the DMX signal.
So I’ve tested my interface on an old XP laptop, and low and be hold, it worked perfectly. Unfortunately this doesn’t really solve my problem, because all my other software needs to be ran on windows 7; so I need to figure out why I get this behavior on my Win7 computer and not on my WinXP laptop Any suggestions would be Read more ». Hi, I’m having a problem using a FTDI board (like this ), I’m sending data from freestyler, Vixen or any other and without to connect the board to my fixture (an arduino getting the signal) when after few seconds the TX led stop flashing (stop sending data). I tried to use on Windows 7 x86 and x64, Windows 8.1 x86 and x64, and XP x86. I don’t use RS485, just the DMX TTL signal on my arduino to dimmer some leds. I also tried to change to an older driver version, but it not solved. Anyone had this problem?
Well i think we had a very long break which was still inside the dmx requirements and the followed some space and the data packets starting with the one of the first channel.However in another measurement we discovered two breaks right after another. Which could be a problem because after the first break a dmx device could think here follows the first data packet with a whole lot of zeroes which pat extremely long and tv it could probably hang up broadside its missing the end of the packet. Or it could reset itself and just ignore the second break.
USB to DMX Interface Adapter RS485 & DMXThe Digital Multiplex (DMX) protocol (also known as DMX512) is an industry-standard method of achieving intelligent lighting control in discotheques, nightclubs, restaurants, theatres and stage shows. RS485 is a serial transmission standard allows us to put several RS485 devices on a single bus. USB & DMXAlthough USB and DMX is everywhere and quite popular, we certainly need a USB to DMX converter as a ‘translator’ in between the PC and the DMX device. The converter is actually a simple USB to RS485 converter with USB input and RS485 output, modified a bit to follow the rules of the background protocol.
USB to RS485 Converter Adapter USB & RS485DMX is common now these days, and we can buy DMX controlled lights at cheap price. It will be easy to use a common computer to control that intelligent lights but we need the said converter/adapter. Playing with RS485/DMX devices through a PC obviously calls for a suitable USB interface because the good old interface is very rare nowadays. Even though we can buy readymade converters, naturally there is always a better option – make it from scratch.
Following is an inexpensive way to get into the world of controlling DMX devices from a PC. RGB LED Lights USB to DMXHardware of the USB to DMX converter/adapter shown here is realized with the help of two renowned integrated circuits. As can see in the schematic, the design uses an FT230X chip with an RS485 converter chip which outputs to an XLR-3 socket. The circuit also has on board bias and terminator resistors with selection jumpers and indicators to show system activity. The entire circuit can be built on a piece of perforated circuit board of course with SMD adapter PCB for the FTDI chip. It’s however impractical as it’s bulky and heavy to connect directly in to a standard USB port.
So try to rig up your own version on a small customized PCB populated with SMD components only, in demand. Circuit DiagramIt’s assumed that you’ve already installed the FTDI drivers in your PC to make it look like a virtual com port.
If not, go to. The next thing you’ll need to do in order to actually use this beast to control your lights, is to run the freeware DMX controller FreeStyler. Finally, plug in your new converter/adapter and in the Freestyler setup, choose ‘Enttec Open DMX’. Ensure that it will find the device and begin blinking out the TX indicator (watch my quick test video). Wow, you are now up and running, so get ready to sequence some great light shows.