Connecting and configuring your PAL drivers and lights to The Attendant is a fairly straightforward procedure. After you’ve completed the physical wiring connections from the lights to the driver – following the appropriate installation instructions for your model of course – you will need to ensure the DIP switch settings are appropriately set and that the correct addresses are entered into The Attendant’s software.
Each light zone you have wired on your PAL drivers must have a light device configured on The Attendant. Every zone has its own set of addresses for red, green, and blue – and its these addresses that The Attendant uses to display the colors and shows available to you.
Addresses are derived from the combination of the DIP switch settings within each PAL driver. There are two banks of switches – Module Config and Other Config – that define the addresses for the two zones that each driver supports.
Compare the settings with our online chart located here, and you will find the values that need to be input into each light device in the Poolside app.
Basic Configuration Example
For many installations, there will be one PAL driver installed, controlling two zones – usually the pool and spa.
The DIP switch settings should be:
- Module Config – 1 ON, 2 ON, 3 OFF, 4 OFF
- Other Config – all 4 OFF (down)
Referencing our table, you’ll find the Red/Green/Blue addresses for each zone, and depending on the model of your driver, you’ll need to use the values for either v1 or v2 of the schema.
As v2 is the most recent update from PAL Lighting, we will assume we have the latest model driver, so we will use addresses 1 through 6 to setup the lights in the app.
When you create a new light device in the mobile app, you will need to configure it as follows:
- Brand: PAL
- Expected Colors and Shows: DMX
- Off/On Timing: DMX
The Port Type will be BUS. The Port Number is the BUS port on The Attendant that you’ve wired the driver to.
The Address Mapping section is where the addresses get input.
For the first zone, input 1 in the Red field, 2 in the Green field, and 3 in the Blue.
When creating the second light for the second zone, you would enter 4 for Red, 5 for Green, and 6 for Blue.
Advanced Configurations Using More than One PAL Driver
When you have more than one driver wired to provide lighting to additional zones, you will need to tie each driver together using the provided In and Thru terminals on the communications board.
Ensure power is disconnected when working with devices
It is imperative that devices are not powered on when changing DIP switches or when connecting them to one another. You could accidentally damage or make them unusable!
From driver 1, wire D+, D-, and Shield from the Thru output and connect those to the In input on driver 2.
Remove the Thru terminator jumper from driver 1. Do not remove it from driver 2!
Ensure that driver 2 is not using the same DIP switch settings as driver 1. This is required. If the second driver has the same DIP settings as driver 1, the lights will not work.
Using the reference chart, find the matching addresses that correspond to the DIP settings of the second driver, and configure the lights using those values in the Poolside app.