Mega 2560 and Vixen 2.1 SSR relays flicker when vixen runs

**LightUp** · 11-07-2017, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by thecanadiandaily

sorry man i still have no idea what to add there. whats a header? im too new to this.

Look in your Generic Serial setup where you add the tilde and exclamation mark as the header.
Vixen Header.jpg

**LightUp** · 11-07-2017, 07:20 PM

Originally Posted by thecanadiandaily

this code here you directed me to by Victor_PV does not work at all, it random flashes and vixen does not even do anything with it.

Most likely an issue with your implementation. The sketch works for many, many users, without bugs over the past years.

**bkcoughlin** · 11-08-2017, 03:14 PM

...

**darko886** · 11-30-2017, 12:31 PM

I'm having a flickering issue and I'm not sure if it's related to this but figured I'd post. I'm brand new to this stuff, and don't know much about electricity haha. So I followed a tutorial and built my first setup with a Mega 2560 and two SainSmart 5V 8 Channel SSRs. I'm using the newest version of Vixen (~3.4).

I haven't had the chance to mess with it much as I have just finished, but when I tested it out yesterday each time a light was supposed to come on, it did but flickered very very quickly. It was almost like a very fast strobe instead of being solid. Same went with the lights on the SSR itself, when the specific channel was supposed to come on, the status light on that channel flickered very quickly.

Anyone know what the issue might be? I have the Arduino powered by plugging in the USB cable into my laptop, and the SSRs are powered by one 5V DC adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Thank you all in advance!

**bkcoughlin** · 11-30-2017, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by darko886

I'm having a flickering issue and I'm not sure if it's related to this but figured I'd post. I'm brand new to this stuff, and don't know much about electricity haha. So I followed a tutorial and built my first setup with a Mega 2560 and two SainSmart 5V 8 Channel SSRs. I'm using the newest version of Vixen (~3.4).

I haven't had the chance to mess with it much as I have just finished, but when I tested it out yesterday each time a light was supposed to come on, it did but flickered very very quickly. It was almost like a very fast strobe instead of being solid. Same went with the lights on the SSR itself, when the specific channel was supposed to come on, the status light on that channel flickered very quickly.

Anyone know what the issue might be? I have the Arduino powered by plugging in the USB cable into my laptop, and the SSRs are powered by one 5V DC adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Thank you all in advance!

What code are you using on your Arduino? What baud? As others have pointed out, did you ensure you have necessary headers?

**kev** · 11-30-2017, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by darko886

I'm having a flickering issue and I'm not sure if it's related to this but figured I'd post. I'm brand new to this stuff, and don't know much about electricity haha. So I followed a tutorial and built my first setup with a Mega 2560 and two SainSmart 5V 8 Channel SSRs. I'm using the newest version of Vixen (~3.4).

I haven't had the chance to mess with it much as I have just finished, but when I tested it out yesterday each time a light was supposed to come on, it did but flickered very very quickly. It was almost like a very fast strobe instead of being solid. Same went with the lights on the SSR itself, when the specific channel was supposed to come on, the status light on that channel flickered very quickly.

Anyone know what the issue might be? I have the Arduino powered by plugging in the USB cable into my laptop, and the SSRs are powered by one 5V DC adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Thank you all in advance!

Do you have the -DC on the SSR boards connected to the GND pin on the MEGA?

A couple of pictures of your hardware setup will help. Also what sketch you are using.

**LightUp** · 11-30-2017, 12:48 PM

Does your sketch have a "power-on" test? If so, does it flicker also?
Does your Vixen sequence use rapid changes?
I'm trying to discern whether the source of your flicker is from Vixen, or your Arduino - SSR setup.

**darko886** · 11-30-2017, 02:24 PM

Code:

#define MEGA_VIXEN
//#define UNO_VIXEN

#ifdef MEGA_VIXEN
  #define MAX_CHANNELS 52
  int channels[MAX_CHANNELS] = {2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53};
#endif

#ifdef UNO_VIXEN
  #define MAX_CHANNELS 18
  int channels[MAX_CHANNELS] = {2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,A0,A1,A2,A3,A4,A5};
#endif

int incomingByte[MAX_CHANNELS];

void setup()
{
  int i;
  
  Serial.begin(9600); // set up Serial at 9600 bps

  for ( i = 0; i < MAX_CHANNELS; i ++ )  pinMode(channels[i], OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
  int i;
  
  if (Serial.available() >= MAX_CHANNELS)
  {
    for (i=0; i < MAX_CHANNELS; i ++)      incomingByte[i] = Serial.read();
  }

  for (i = 0; i < MAX_CHANNELS; i ++ )    analogWrite(channels[i], incomingByte[i]);
}

That is the code I'm using. If I remember correctly, the baud is 9600. I did plug the -DC into the GND.

I'm also trying to figure out if it's Vixen or the Arduino & SSR that are causing the issue. Is there a way to test the Arduino & SSR without Vixen?

**LightUp** · 11-30-2017, 02:54 PM

You could try bumping up your baud rate, say to 57600 and try again.
9600 baud is 960 bytes per second. Since you have 52 channels, your update is about 18 times a second. Could this be your flicker rate?

**darko886** · 11-30-2017, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by LightUp

You could try bumping up your baud rate, say to 57600 and try again.
9600 baud is 960 bytes per second. Since you have 52 channels, your update is about 18 times a second. Could this be your flicker rate?

I actually only have 16 channels, I accidentally posted to original code prior to me changing it to 16. Should I still adjust the baud rate?