The Lighting Controller

***Complete Beginner***

I’m using an Xpress512S interface and a PC with Showxpress software. I’m programming two 24 channel decoders. The first decoder works fine with 8 RGB led strips with decoder dip switch set to channel number 1. I have the second decoder dip switch set to channel 25 and can’t get any lights to turn on using the fader. DMX blinking light shows active on both decoders. I built 16 separate RGB fixtures starting on channel one in showxpress.

Sorry if this is an obvious question.

After days of frustration I figured out what my issue was. I’m brand new to the DMX world. I was using a DMX calculator I downloaded from the App Store to set the manual dip switches. The calculator showed the switches up for on and down for off, totally backwards from the actual dip switches. Is this a normal way for a DMX calculator to show dip switch positions? Everything is working perfectly now once I realized the issue.

It all depends on who is creating the fixtures and how they'd like to read the settings of the dipswitches.
We've all been there. The learning curve is huge in the beginning. What is what and where is where. What can and can't be done.
Smart and not so smart solutions.
For others reading this, i've found an APP called "DMX Dip" in AppStore (iOS) that's free. You can enter the value you need, and it displays the dip switch (with a clear arrow showing ON state), or you can tap the dip-switches in the app to find current dmx address.