Donner Dongles - Need Help

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TJS

GetSomeJuJu
Nov 8, 2018
350
372
58
Ankeny, IA
www.jujulab.rocks
Issue: Lights (Chauvet slimpar Q12) do not respond at all. Lights don't even turn "on" (though they have power chords plugged in and power is on.

FYI....I've tried reading the donner instructions (several times over)...It's like trying to read broken English from someone who stutters and has only passed the 3rd grade. :-/:laugh:

I've started experimenting with the MyDmxGo and Donners. I first excluded the donners from the equation and tested the unit with hardwired dmx cable. To my knowledge, I've followed all of the pre-emptive advice on the dmxgo (i.e. download program manager, change to channel 11 to increase chances of an uncluttered wifi channel etc). I'm using a 2018 Ipad. I've had good luck using the dmxgo here at home during the hard wired test. The program on the dmxgo surprisingly did well.

Enter Stage Left....The Donners. I purchased the donners that have the rechargeable battery inside and I've made sure the 4 receivers and 1 transmitter are fully charged. I took a 5 foot dmx cable and connected it into the DMX OUT1 on the dmxgo just to eliminate this potential issue from the equation since I read about issues with the transmitter connected directly to the box. Then I connected the donner transmitter to this.

THE TRANSMITTER:
With the dmxgo unit on the transmitter just flashes red. Not sure what this means. For the heck of it, even though supposedly it's fully charged, I plugged it's power unit into the transmitter...The status light momentarily went to a solid green and then starts flashing red.

THE RECEIVERS:
1. I have every receiver with a green led light. The transmitter is also set to green
2. (see pic) I have no idea what the button on the left does. Is this a power button? It appears that this has a red light on when depressed. However as you can see in my pic as well, there is one receiver with no power chord plugged in, the "power button" is depressed and no green light is on on the right. However in my other pic you can see that the power is plugged into the receiver, the "power button" is depressed and I see a green light to the right is on. (actually I have one dongle flashing green...Not sure what this means either. Still charging?)
4. I have all receivers plugged into the dmx-in on each fixture. Nothing is plugged into the dmx-out. My understanding is that in this configuration, the transmitter is transmitting to each fixture individually

So beyond the confusion above, here are some questions:
1. I still see no way to change the color of the receivers (though the default seemed to be green so I went with green on the transmitter). I've tried using a toothpick and push down on the colored light on the right but this does nothing. I did this for the transmitter. Easy.
2. Is that square white button on the left the power button?? There seems to be NO power button on the transmitter. Is this right?
3. I can't tell if and when the transmitter is doing it's job and transmitting
4. Not sure the order of troubleshooting. Is the transmitter supposed to be flashing red? The instructions said it will flash red UNTIL it established connection with the receivers (which will flash green until communication is established). Of course, the transmitter also flashes red when it's charging too so how are you supposed to know which is which? Also... what happens to the lights when everybody is talking the way they should? Everything goes solid green? Clearly, since my transmitter is flashing red, it is receiving a dmx signal from the box (per instructions) but obviously it is not talking to the receivers

Any help is appreciated. Sounds like great tech since a lot of folks use these. Just gotta get past this confusiion.
 

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There is a little indented push button in the side of each unit. You'll need something tiny to push it, like a paper clip. When you push the button, it cycles thru each color (channel). Once you stop selecting a channel, it goes into a mode to show you connection. I believe the red flashing light means it's communicating with the other unit correctly.
 
On the Lixada, which is similar, there are 2 buttons .. 1 for on/off (B), one to set code (D). I've been using channels 4 and 7 (blue and white I believe)




1568676702895.png

Operating manual:
ID code and LED color corresponding relationship:
1: RED
2: GREEN
3: RED+GREEN
4: BLUE
5: RED+BLUE
6: GREEN+BLUE
7: RED+GREEN+BLUE
1) Press momentary switch above the side led indicator to indicate ID setting.
2) Press again to set IC, to the color ID desired, adding 1 each time you press the switch will advance the color ID code.
3) Working condition:
LED constant lit up: No DMX or wireless signal.
Red LED flash: Transmitting.
Green LED flash: Receiving
4) RF frequency 2.400 - 2.525G, total 126 channels, it’s searching automatically.
5) ID Code “1-7” groups ID code, press ‘KEY’ for setting, it only can work under same ID code of transmitter and receiver. (Same LED Color)
 
There is a little indented push button in the side of each unit. You'll need something tiny to push it, like a paper clip. When you push the button, it cycles thru each color (channel). Once you stop selecting a channel, it goes into a mode to show you connection. I believe the red flashing light means it's communicating with the other unit correctly.

Hi Rick,
Thanks for the help. Are you referring to the little indented button on the left that you see in my pics? If so, I push that down and nothing really seems to happen. No change in any color etc. That's why I was thinking it was a power button. Do these things have power buttons or are they "on" as soon as you take them off the charger?
 
On the Lixada, which is similar, there are 2 buttons .. 1 for on/off (B), one to set code (D). I've been using channels 4 and 7 (blue and white I believe)




View attachment 38334

Operating manual:
ID code and LED color corresponding relationship:
1: RED
2: GREEN
3: RED+GREEN
4: BLUE
5: RED+BLUE
6: GREEN+BLUE
7: RED+GREEN+BLUE
1) Press momentary switch above the side led indicator to indicate ID setting.
2) Press again to set IC, to the color ID desired, adding 1 each time you press the switch will advance the color ID code.
3) Working condition:
LED constant lit up: No DMX or wireless signal.
Red LED flash: Transmitting.
Green LED flash: Receiving
4) RF frequency 2.400 - 2.525G, total 126 channels, it’s searching automatically.
5) ID Code “1-7” groups ID code, press ‘KEY’ for setting, it only can work under same ID code of transmitter and receiver. (Same LED Color)


Thanks Steve! This is exact instruction page I found for the donner as well. I don't know what they mean by a "momentary switch". Also is the "charge status indicator light" going to be the same light I look at to change the ID code color?
 
usually there are two holes... one for power one for signal... you press the one for the signal to change the signal color... each press gets you a new color. the light which displays the color is probably inside the body, so it won't be easily noticeable. I have these, but not the battery powered versions, so mine always have to be plugged in... therefore leaving only one hole to press. I can't tell from your pics which hole needs to be pressed, but I'm sure one of them will change the colors (something tells me its the hole further away from the end that goes into the unit that needs to be pressed). Make sure your transmitter and receivers are on the same colors.
 
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Hi Rick,
Thanks for the help. Are you referring to the little indented button on the left that you see in my pics? If so, I push that down and nothing really seems to happen. No change in any color etc. That's why I was thinking it was a power button. Do these things have power buttons or are they "on" as soon as you take them off the charger?

I don't know about the rechargable units, mine are plug-in. The pushbutton that I'm talking about will change the color of the LED, indicating which channel it's working on. After a couple of seconds, it goes to a flashing light to indicate whether it's communicating with the receivers.
 
Thanks all! Steve, the video really helped since I'm a visual learner (lol). I was looking at the smaller led light closer to the tip of the dongle not the light at the power button. n any case, I could only get 2 out of my 4 lights to work. My transmitter has no problem. I've set it to green. It flashes red so I know it's transmitting (and 2 lights work). Every receiver is set to green. The ones that work are flashing green. I could get the other two to flash green for a short time (yet even when the receiver was flashing green, those lights would never work). Then those two receivers would just go solid green. I had no problem getting all 4 lights to work on the dmx go when I had them all hard wired with dmx cable. What I don't understand is why the two donner dongles are sketchy...they'll flash green and then go solid green and no matter what, those lights don't work. I don't know if they're just bad or what. I even tried plugging their power chord in to make sure there wasn't a charging issue. Made no difference.
 
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usually there are two holes... one for power one for signal... you press the one for the signal to change the signal color... each press gets you a new color. the light which displays the color is probably inside the body, so it won't be easily noticeable. I have these, but not the battery powered versions, so mine always have to be plugged in... therefore leaving only one hole to press. I can't tell from your pics which hole needs to be pressed, but I'm sure one of them will change the colors (something tells me its the hole further away from the end that goes into the unit that needs to be pressed). Make sure your transmitter and receivers are on the same colors.


Hey Taso! You mentioned above that you have the Donners that need to be plugged in. With you doing up to 40 lights on a given full blown lighting gig, how are you plugging these things in without running a ton of extension chords around etc. I know you accomplish a very clean look so I'm trying to imagine that. I know some locations in the room will have a convenient outlet but I'm sure not all. This is why I opted for the rechargeable ones (one less need to plug into something and the chords that come with that) but it's sort of hard to tell when they are fully charged etc. If they're plugged in, you can tell (solid green light) but I'm talking about once you have them off the charger. Just made me wonder since you use the plug-in type all of the time.
 
Even my rechargeable ones, I normally plug in .. I got the rechargeable version because they were shorter and less obtrusive .. the battery is a bonus. My older uplights and my Chauvet WashFX2 have an AC outlet on them and I have a number of Hosa power splitters for devices that don't.
 
Even my rechargeable ones, I normally plug in .. I got the rechargeable version because they were shorter and less obtrusive .. the battery is a bonus. My older uplights and my Chauvet WashFX2 have an AC outlet on them and I have a number of Hosa power splitters for devices that don't.

Yeah, a Hosa splitter makes sense. Do you use IEC splitters and plug one IEC into the light fixture and then the other into the power adapter for the Lixada?
 
Yeah, a Hosa splitter makes sense. Do you use IEC splitters and plug one IEC into the light fixture and then the other into the power adapter for the Lixada?
I have this kind ..

1569277535087.png and these 1569277850635.png

my fixtures have a separate iec in and ac out, but have used the adapter cables for other fixtures.
 
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Im lucky that most of my lights have an a/c out... but you really only need one donner per tree or truss tower... everything else can link up with 3' or 6' dmx cables...

cc
 
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Hey Taso! You mentioned above that you have the Donners that need to be plugged in. With you doing up to 40 lights on a given full blown lighting gig, how are you plugging these things in without running a ton of extension chords around etc. I know you accomplish a very clean look so I'm trying to imagine that. I know some locations in the room will have a convenient outlet but I'm sure not all. This is why I opted for the rechargeable ones (one less need to plug into something and the chords that come with that) but it's sort of hard to tell when they are fully charged etc. If they're plugged in, you can tell (solid green light) but I'm talking about once you have them off the charger. Just made me wonder since you use the plug-in type all of the time.
Considering that the uplights have built in dmx, the only thing I’m technically using the donner sticks on is the moving heads. I have a quad box at the top and bottom of each of my trusses doesn’t everything plugs in them. Afterwards there’s only one wire from each truss to the wall.
 
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Donners are quite helpful. I use them with my cold spark machines, hazers and lasers.. With some movers they can feed power from DMX connection only. Thanks to donners you can place your lights everywhere and create impressive light show.
 
One other quick question in using these wireless receivers/transmitters. It has to do with using terminators. Let's say I have 2 lights on one side of a dance floor on a light tree and 2 on another on the other side of the dance floor. Do you put a receiver in the dmx- In of unit 1 ...then a dmx cable in the dmx- Out of unti 1 to the dmx-In of the 2nd unit...then a terminator in the dmx-Out? (and duplicate the set up on the other side). In other words, do you always terminate at the end of ANY chain?
 
One other quick question in using these wireless receivers/transmitters. It has to do with using terminators. Let's say I have 2 lights on one side of a dance floor on a light tree and 2 on another on the other side of the dance floor. Do you put a receiver in the dmx- In of unit 1 ...then a dmx cable in the dmx- Out of unti 1 to the dmx-In of the 2nd unit...then a terminator in the dmx-Out? (and duplicate the set up on the other side). In other words, do you always terminate at the end of ANY chain?
I use terminators for "long" runs of cable .. usually 50 ft or greater. lengths that add up to less than that normally I do not use one.
 
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One other quick question in using these wireless receivers/transmitters. It has to do with using terminators. Let's say I have 2 lights on one side of a dance floor on a light tree and 2 on another on the other side of the dance floor. Do you put a receiver in the dmx- In of unit 1 ...then a dmx cable in the dmx- Out of unti 1 to the dmx-In of the 2nd unit...then a terminator in the dmx-Out? (and duplicate the set up on the other side). In other words, do you always terminate at the end of ANY chain?

You have the proper sequence...

and i use terminators on any run more than 2 lights....its not needed...but i do it... because...why not?!

cc
 
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