User manual

Lights with display and 5 buttons (AL6, AL7-W):

Hold the menu button for 3 seconds, select DMX Setup > DMX Setup > confirm with Enter >

select an address > confirm with Enter. For setting a larger number of lights, set addresses

with ART3 or ARC2 as described above but confirm the address with the light’s Enter button

(not the on/off button).

Channels:

Sets the amount of channels that is used to control 1 unit. 1 RGB channel means that all LEDs have

the same color.

DMX Tab:

Several DMX tables can be chosen. When sending DMX channels from an ART3 in DMX transmitter

mode each Astera light behaves different depending on its amount of pixels. Refer to www.astera-

led.com/DMXtab/ for pdf’s that show the DMX tables.

Strobe:

Defines if each pixel has its own strobe, if 1 channel controls all strobes or if strobe is turned off.

DMX Fail:

Defines what happens if the DMX signal is lost.

Limitations and Troubleshooting

Very low range:

The DMX Transmitter Mode is known to have a lower range than the RC Transmitter. To boost the

range a bit you can move the ART3, even a meter can make a large difference. The best result would

be achieved if it would be in the very center of the room if this is not possible move it a bit up and a

bit into the room, don’t get it tied up in metal structures such as trussing. To increase the range you

can use additional ART3s (see below) so that each ART3 transmits less data. Having a directed

antenna would help in some situations but is illegal in many countries.

Lights sometimes get stuck for 1-2 seconds:

If the DMX signal gets interrupted due to lack of bandwidth some lights will not receive any data for

1-2 seconds and not display the next frame. To get a more stable transmission you can use additional

ART3s (see below) so that each ART3 transmits less channels. Also, having slow fades between

scenes requires less bandwidth than abrupt changes and as long as you only change the value of

some DMX channels and not all channels you should not have this problem.

If you have the impression that your ART3 is sending too many channels you can test this. Press the

Enter button and change the maximum address as described above from 512 to 100. That way you

only transmit 100 channels instead of 512. Have a look if the transmission is more efficient now. If

yes, use additional ART3s to transmit channels the other channels.

Lamps don’t react at all:

If the lamps don’t react and the display shows NO DMX SIGNAL the DMX cable is not connected

correctly or the DMX Controller has a problem. If the lamps don’t react and the display shows

TRANSMITTING...the DMX Controller is set to Blackout.