Group dimming with NEO switch

Sounds like a simple or dumb question to ask, but I really don't understand what went wrong with my really simple programming---group dimming.

They are done with NEO switch (Firmware 1.4, toolkit 1.1.6):

case 1: while single group dimming is always working (of course), it just go wrong if I "tick" two or more group addresses. First the lights never stop ramping and dim down to zero even I relased the key seconds earlier, then after a few try (press a few times) it stops, but always dims down and down when we press the key again and again until it goes to zero, then it dims back up and up!

Case 2: Say there are two lights to start with, one at 100% and the other at 50%. I use "Down Key" to dim both channels together. While light A dims from 100% to 20%, light B dims from 50% to 0% and back up to maybe 30%! That means when I hold a down key, one light simply dims down and up!!

I remember that I had some issues with group dimming long time ago, so I avoid that for some time. But this time my client insists to have master dim up key and master dim down key. By common sense, I don't see any problem, but I just can't get it right for some reason. There is no such problem with DLT. (In fact if I can have scene-modify or scene up/down with NEO, I wouldn't need to worry these problems)

(I know there is toolkit 1.1.9, but normally we try not to use new software until we see no report in the forum after some time)

 

Neo Firmware Update

The problems you've observed are related to a firmware bug in the Neo 1.4.0 firmware. The firmware in all Neo's was recently re-released (last couple of weeks) as 1.6.00. One of the bugs fixed is the one you observe.

These units are slowly making their way through the production system so sometime soon you will be able to obtain a Neo that does not misbehave as you observe.

 

Hey Newman,


Is there an upgrade program where I can have my Neo's sent for upgrades or replaced with units of more recent firmware ??

I have 2 x 8-way Neo's both with 1.4.0 firmware in them.

Granted, no problems being experienced at the moment, but I argue to tight-fiested friends that one of the beauties of C-Bus is the programming flexibility. I might want to change the setup sometime and invoke a programming mode that the 1.4.0 doesn't handle, and the older these get, the less likely I am to receive a sympathetic ear from you (?) crow-eaters.



Greig.

 

Greig

There is no upgrade program and to change the firmware in these Neo switches means throwing out the guts and putting new guts in. This means that there's a cost involved so no such upgrade would be free.

The update has simply been done as a running change.