Stairville par 56 and Chauvet obey 3 controller help please

[starlight-party]

Hi,

This forum has proved invaluable in the past, always seem to find an answer to a question already posted. However this time I am lost, frustrated and losing hair by the second.

Basically.

I have just purchased 8 stairville par 56 cans (the ones with the 8 dip switches) and a chauvet obey 3 led controller.

Of course, I try just one can first to see if i can get it to match the controller and no.. I was hoping it would be as simple as setting dip switch 1 to on, the rest off and boosh all working fine. Only its not. The controller works in a weird way, as in nothing seems to work at all. I use the sliders and it flashes, none of the presets work.

I really need some serious help here, please :)

So what i have done is connected, a dmx lead from controller to par can, set the switch to music, and turned dipswitch 1 on, all the rest are off. thats all...

any ideas, what I have done wrong? Have I got the wrong controller?

thanks in advance

Gary

[Corabar Entertainment]

Hi Gary

Glad you decided to come out of the shadows and start posting. When you have a minute, pop on over to the 'Newbies' sub forum and introduce yourself!

Now, on to your problem: I'll prefice this by saying that I don't have any experience of your cans or your controller, but on a quick look, the controller is only able to control 3 channel DMX fixtures; whereas there does not seem to be any Stairville pars with only 3 DMX channels (4,5,6 or 7 channels seem to be the options for the Stairville brand according to the Thomman search facility). If this is the case, then yes, you may well have the wrong controller!

Post up a link to the specific pars you have so that we can be sure. :)

[starlight-party]

Hi,

I will pop over there and introduce myself. Thanks for the swift reply.

As you have guessed I have zero knowledge on DMX or LED Par cans.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_par_56_black_floor.htm?gclid=CLWt7c _6g7QCFXDLtAodMUEAkw these are the cans I have purchased and http://www.astounded.com/chauvet-obey-3-channel-dmx-lighting-par-can-controller.html?cPath=177_191_278 controller.

I got these as a few weddings coming up requested mood lighting and also I have a friend in a band who would like hire them. It would be basic colour washes and sound to light for the evenings at parties and basic washes for the band. Nothing fancy. Just want to keep it as cheap as I can until I understand a bit more and then invest in better. The same way I grew the mobile discos..

thanks in advance

Gary

[Kernow]

Yep, Angela has hit the bullseye ;). The Obey 3 is a 3 DMX channel controller and the '8 dipswitch' parcans you describe are probably these http://images6.thomann.de/pics/prod/193248_manual.pdf which require 5 DMX channels to operate.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Hi,

I will pop over there and introduce myself. Thanks for the swift reply.

As you have guessed I have zero knowledge on DMX or LED Par cans.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_led_par_56_black_floor.htm?gclid=CLWt7c _6g7QCFXDLtAodMUEAkw these are the cans I have purchased and http://www.astounded.com/chauvet-obey-3-channel-dmx-lighting-par-can-controller.html?cPath=177_191_278 controller.

I got these as a few weddings coming up requested mood lighting and also I have a friend in a band who would like hire them. It would be basic colour washes and sound to light for the evenings at parties and basic washes for the band. Nothing fancy. Just want to keep it as cheap as I can until I understand a bit more and then invest in better. The same way I grew the mobile discos..

thanks in advance

Gary


Yep, Angela has hit the bullseye ;). The Obey 3 is a 3 DMX channel controller and the '8 dipswitch' parcans you describe are probably these http://images6.thomann.de/pics/prod/193248_manual.pdf which require 5 DMX channels to operate.Yep :(:(:( Unfortunately, you're trying to control 5 channel cans with a 3 channel controller :(:(:(

[starlight-party]

Yep :(:(:( Unfortunately, you're trying to control 5 channel cans with a 3 channel controller :(:(:(

Damn! I had a feeling it would not be as easy as I hoped.

Right can someone point in the right direction for a beginner led controller, that will work with these lights?

thanks again guys :daft:

[Excalibur]

Yep, Angela has hit the bullseye ;). The Obey 3 is a 3 DMX channel controller and the '8 dipswitch' parcans you describe are probably these http://images6.thomann.de/pics/prod/193248_manual.pdf which require 5 DMX channels to operate.

Et voila, a controller from the same place as you linked to, for under £50, with six channels. (http://www.astounded.com/pulse-dmc-6-6-channel-master-dmx-controller.html?cPath=177_191_278)

I reckon this would make things work. ( But I know next to nothing about DMX. ) The controller I linked to (as far as I know ) would only do static, not programmes at the push of a button. Anything more would need more money spending.

The more money option. (http://s100707185.websitehome.co.uk/ryger/html/fl-p1.html) The canine's dangly bits. The Rolls Royce, idiot proof, with built in programmes. Around £180, so that shows the range of prices.

[chrisj]

Hi Gary, I have Stairville led par 56's and use a 192 dmx controller which I bought off ebay for just over £40. I had to download the user manual which together wth the led par 56 user dip switch settings http://images.thomann.de/pics/prod/115050_manual_en.pdf made it easy to set up. It is not hard if you have a bit of time and if you get a 192 controller with a microphone it will change them sound to light by pressing the Music button. Mine works well so I suggest you get yourself a 192. You can easily set chases and experiment with how many scenes you want for each light. I had never done anything with dmx but within 2 hrs I had a good program and it was running sound to light.
Chris.

[starlight-party]

Thats me totally lost now.. lol

I have looked at 192 dmx controllers, how easy is it to set them up for colour mixing, thats going to be the work horse so to speak, as mood lighting in venues and then sound to light in the evenings.

I have my first gig using these leds next week, so need something i can get the hang of quick. I honestly never realised how complex it would be. I must getting old or something, dip switches, dmx, channels..

Would this do the job?

How hard would it be to set it up for simple functions, please accept my appologies for being such a noobie...

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chauvet-Obey-40-192-Channel-DMX-Lighting-Controller-For-DJs-Disco-Band-/310526883543?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item484cd836d7

as per post above.. dhhhh :rolleyes:

[TONYTIGER]

Would this do the job?

How hard would it be to set it up for simple functions, please accept my appologies for being such a noobie...

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chauvet-Obey-40-192-Channel-DMX-Lighting-Controller-For-DJs-Disco-Band-/310526883543?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item484cd836d7

as per post above.. dhhhh :rolleyes:

Yes this will work,very simple to use you will be able to mix the colors by just adjusting the correct sliders and adjust the brightness with the dimmer slider.You can set the address on each can so they will all work together as one unit or set a different address for each can so you can alter each one ,1st can would be fixture one 2nd can would be fixture 2 and so on.

[starlight-party]

Thank you so much. I wish i had the sense to post the question before i purchased the wrong thing.

thanks for your help, i have ordered one of the obey 40 controllers.

[chrisj]

Glad you have one on the way. Same inside as my 192 and same controls. Read the instructions and do what they say. They are not hard to follow.

http://www.abracadabradisco.co.uk/moodlighting.html is all controlled with a 192 which is programmed for all same colour or colour chase as in the centre of page.

Good luck and any questions just get back on the forum here and ask.
Chris.

[Kernow]

Glad you're sorted Gary :thumbs_up:

Yep :(:(:( Unfortunately, you're trying to control 5 channel cans with a 3 channel controller :(:(:(

The unfortunate thing being that R,G & B are controlled by channels 2,3 & 4 respectively :(

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Glad you're sorted Gary :thumbs_up:


The unfortunate thing being that R,G & B are controlled by channels 2,3 & 4 respectively :(

Hence why i didnt get stairville units. All the UK stuff is ch1-R ch2-G ch3-B..would have been nice to use the Stairville units with the Lil Mix :(