Falcon 16v4 configuring to smart receivers

[Jack S]

I have a Falcon 16V4 and a dual SRx2 8 port smart receiver plus a single 4 port smart receiver. Last year I only used the dual 8 port smart receiver and it worked fine. I configured the controller as 16 local ports and 2 smart receiver chains. Now adding a 3 smart receiver I assumed I would configure the controller as 16 local ports and 4 smart receiver chains. I set the mode dial on the dual smart receiver to A and on the 4 port receiver to C. However the 4 leds on both smart receivers do not light meaning I'm not communicating to them from the controller. If I go back to  the controller in xLights and configure it as 16 local ports and 2 smart receivers than the leds in both the 8 port and 4 port receiver light up just fine. Of course that way I don't get proper configuration to the 4 port smart receiver.  I need help please.
Jack

[JonD]

How are you connecting the SRs to the F16v4?  The F16v4 only has the two local SR ports.  Are you trying to plug the single 4 port into the DMX port, or are you chaining it to one of the SRx2 8 port receivers?  Each RCVR port will support up to 6 SRs in smart mode (ABCDEF).  The SRx2-8 Port will count as two of the 6 it will support.  You probably want to place the F16v4 back in 2 smart receiver mode, plug two of the SRs into one of RCVR port, and the third into the other RCVR port, or plug all three SRs into one of the RCVR ports and leave the other RCVR port available for a rainy day.  To assist futher we would need to know how you have connected all of the SRs to the F16v4, and how each of the SRs are configured.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1449zGk1HEiQjcu6e98ebWnFBMFKUiXaFzis9QGAnfsk/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.c35trfridm50

The F16v4 4 port receiver chains mode is for the expansion board.  If you are only using the 2 local RCVR ports on the F16v4, the F16v4 should be configured for + 2 smart receiver chains like you originally had it configured.  If you have it configured for + 4 smart receiver chains mode and don't have the expansion board, that could be some of the issue.
https://pixelcontroller.com/store/main/73-f16v4differentialexpansion.html

[Jack S]

I'm connecting the Smart receivers to the 16v4 using ethernet cable plugged into RCVR1. That cable goes to SRx2 the 8 port SR. Then I have another ethernet cable going from the SRx2 to the SRx1 so they are daisy chained. Because of location I cannot run a 2nd cable from the 16v4 to the SRx1.  So should the 16v4 be set to 16 local ports plus 4 smart receiver chains? This is what I did but the communication i.e. the 4 leds on the SRs don't light.

[Jack S]

To add to previous statement the SRx2  mode dial is set to A. The SRx1 mode dial is set to C. I know the SRx2 counts as 2 smart receivers. So a total of 3 smart receivers out of six allowed. How should the 16v4 be configured? 

[allknowing2012]

That is fine .. you said no leds. That is a big clue .. that means the cable from controller to first is not working .. or 1st to 2nd (depending on which lights are not lit). Configuration has nothing to do with it (yet). Is there an in and out on the ports? Swap cables or something. You must get 4 led lights.

[Jack S]

Okay problem solved!! Setting up the controller configuration in xLights does not distinguish between smart receiver chains and smart receiver chains on receiver ports. So when selecting 4 smart receiver chains it did not mean those receivers were connected to the RJ45 ethernet connectors. I guess that mode has to go through a differential receiver. At any rate when you open the controller directly and go to status it shows either smart receiver chains or smart receiver chains on receiver ports. So had to go back to selecting 2 smart receiver chains on receiver ports which seems to mean I can have 6 smart receivers connected to one of those ports or maybe 6 on each port. The key for me was configuring  xLights ports as 17C thru 20C on the 3rd smart receiver in visualize.

[JonD]

Glad you got it working!

So a total of 3 smart receivers out of six allowed.

SRx2 (2) + SRx2 (2)+ SR (1) = 5 smart receivers out of six allowed.

So had to go back to selecting 2 smart receiver chains on receiver ports

Correct.  The mode option is how the F16v4 allocates ports.  Selecting "16 local ports plus 4 smart receiver chains" assigns ports 17-32 to the expansion slot which you do not appear to have.  Ports RCVR1 and RCVR2 are just 2 smart receiver chains.

If the chain order is SRx2 + SRx2 + SR, then the only receiver that should be terminated is the last SR.  The first SRx2 should be set to A, the second SRx2 should be set to C, and the third SR should be set to E.  You have used A-B,C-D, and E and still have F available for later.