As soon as I plugged the cable into a USB port, Windows 10 automatically downloaded drivers and configured it. I'd avoid other USB to RS485 cables that use FT232R clones.įirst, I tried this on my Windows 10 desktop. Note that the unit I used is based on a genuine FTDI FT232R chip and an RS485 interface chip. Simple soldering skills and a soldering iron are required for this, but FTDI sells other USB to RS485 cables that can be used for this purpose that have screw terminals, so it would be a simple matter to build one using a cut DMX cable connected to the interface via screws.

I also built a DMX terminator from the plans described using a male XLR connector and a 120 ohm resistor.

This provides a very nice description about how to construct a USB to RS485 interface with a female XLR connector that functions perfectly in sending DMX signals via USB, as DMX is a subset of the RS485 communications protocol. I also found the following Instructable on how to build a USB to DMX interface using an FTDI USB-RS485-WE-1800-BT: After doing a bit more reading, I found references to FTDI RS485 USB cables that might function better than uDMX cables. Having done some reading here, I was able to modify the uDMX parameter for the number of channels to 128 and this helped some, but clearly limits the capabilities of the interface. However, I noticed that simple color changes and fades were very choppy, with an apparent refresh rate of about once a second or so. Using the uDMX setting on the Input/output tab, this controller worked without any problems on both my desktop running Windows 10 and on my MacBook Pro running Sierra. Wanting to do some lighting control for my church, I purchased a Lixada USB to DMX interface to connect to a bunch of American DJ Mega Par Profile Plus fixtures.

How to use udmx on light jockey