Falcon F-Test User manual

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F-Test
Pixel Tester/Data Analyzer
Owners Manual
The F-Test is a small, handheld all-purpose tester/analyzer to help troubleshoot and diagnose problems in
animated lighting shows. The F-Test can help you isolate the problem to a specific component by being able to
not only send test data to pixels, receivers, etc. but to also analyze incoming WS281x, Differential data, DMX
and other common data types used in animated lighting shows.
There are many more things this hardware is capable of but has not been included in the first release because
we are unsure of demand for those features. If you have something that you would like to have the tester do
and we get enough support for the idea (or it is trivial to implement) then it may well be included in a
firmware update. Please visit https://github.com/Pixelcontroller/f-test_issues to lodge your request.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................... 3
F-Test Modes ................................................................................................................................................................... 3
F-Test Overview............................................................................................................................................................... 4
Front View ................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Back View .................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Side One ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Side Two ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Side Three.................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Side Four...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Main Menu .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Settings Page ................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Save Settings Page ..........................................................................................................................................................10
Testing Modes ................................................................................................................................................................10
Pixel Out .....................................................................................................................................................................10
Smart Receiver Out .....................................................................................................................................................12
DMX Out.....................................................................................................................................................................13
Monitoring Mode............................................................................................................................................................14
Pixel In........................................................................................................................................................................14
Data.................................................................................................................................................................15
Brightness........................................................................................................................................................16
Volts/Current...................................................................................................................................................16
Oscilloscope ....................................................................................................................................................17
Smart Receiver In........................................................................................................................................................17
Data ........................................................................................................................................................................19
Brightness...............................................................................................................................................................19
DMX In........................................................................................................................................................................20
Data ........................................................................................................................................................................20
Brightness...............................................................................................................................................................21
Data Bars ................................................................................................................................................................21
Values.....................................................................................................................................................................22
Reference .......................................................................................................................................................................23
Troubleshooting Practices...............................................................................................................................................25

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Introduction
With the F-Test you can:
Test Pixels- up to 1400.
Send test data to Differential Receivers (Smart/Dumb Remotes typically Falcon, FPP, Genius, HinksPix
and compatible receivers)
Send test data to DMX devices
Send test data to Renard/Basic LOR devices (Renard devices require an adapter cable, refer to the
Reference section of F-Test)
Evaluate and monitor the differential data coming from a “Long Range” type controller (Falcon, FPP,
Genius, HinksPix, Advatek, some Alphapix and other compatible type controllers)
Evaluate and monitor incoming WS281x and compatible pixel data.
Evaluate and monitor incoming DMX, Renard, and basic LOR data.
Save log info to an SD card for more detailed analysis or to review trend data.
The F-Test has a visual display that can show relevant data such as:
Line Voltage on pixel lines
Line Amperage on pixel lines
Connected Pixel counts
DMX/Renard/LOR values for all 512 channels
Frame rate and number of pixels that data is received.
Graphical representation of pixel data received to include the colors.
Basic oscilloscope to evaluate data signals and voltage differences on the data line.
Common wiring diagram for Ray Wu and xConnect pigtails.
Adapter Cable wiring diagrams.
When the F-Test is connected with both Pixel input data and to pixel strings, it will act as an F-Amp and clean
the signal. This can be useful to determine if an F-Amp would help in your situation.
Note: This does not apply when you are in the Pixel Output mode.
F-Test Modes
The F-Test has two operational modes, a Testing Mode to output test patterns and a Monitoring Mode to
evaluate incoming data signals.

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F-Test Overview
Front View
1. xConnect Pixel Data Input
2. Navigation Buttons (function will vary depending on the active screen)
3. xConnect Pixel Data output
Back View
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Side One
1. USB Power jack. The F-Test requires some sort of power. If connected to an energized pixel string, this will
supply the power needed. If you do not have an energized pixel string connected to the F-Test, then you can
supply power through the USB port.
Side Two
1. Smart Remote Input port. This port is used to monitor the Smart Remote data that a controller is sending to the
remote receivers. If using HinksPix controllers, you will need an adapter cable, refer to the References section.
2. DMX Input Port. This port is used to monitor DMX Signals that a controller is sending to your DMX devices. If
using Renard controllers, you will need an adapter cable, refer to the References section.
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Side Three
1. Micro SD Card slot. This is used for firmware updates when needed and for logging if selected.
Side Four
1. Smart Remote Output port. This port is used to output Smart Remote data to Smart Remote to see if they are
functioning correctly. If using HinksPix receivers, you will need an adapter cable, refer to the References section.
2. DMX Input Port. This port is used to output DMX Signals to test your DMX devices. If using Renard controllers,
you will need an adapter cable, refer to the References section.
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Main Menu
When the F-Test is powered on, it will boot up to the Main Menu unless you have configured it to default to another
menu Item
1. Navigation Buttons- These buttons are used to navigate through the different menu items. The function of each
button is labeled above the button. The up and down buttons will scroll through all of the different menu items.
Pressing the Select button will take you to the Highlighted option.
2. Main Menu. This is a listing of all of the sub menu items. The Main Menu consists of the following sub menus:
Settings
Save Settings
Pixel In
Pixel Out
Smart Receiver In
Smart Receiver Out
DMX In
DMX Out
Reference
Flashlight
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Settings Page
The settings page is used to configure your F-Test.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons will navigate through the available options in the highlighted menu item. The Next
button will move the highlighted selection to the next item in the Menu. The close button will take you back to the Main
Menu.
The F-Test has the following settings:
Startup - This is the default mode you want the tester to enter when you power it on. If you always use your
tester for one purpose then set it here. Your options are:
-Pixel In
-Pixel Out
-Smart Receiver In
-Smart Receiver Out
-DMX In
-DMX Out
Frame - This is where you select whether the tester should display frame times in Milliseconds or Frames Per
Second ... e.g. 50ms or 20fps
Logging - In input modes when an SD card is inserted, the tester can log data to a CSV file on the SD card. This
options are:
-Off- turns the logging off
-Summary. This typically logs things like voltages, current and average brightness only
-Detail level. This also logs all the pixel data being received.
Effect - This allows you to choose the effect which is used when outputting pixel data using the effect test mode.
(See the Pixel Output section). The options are:
-Twinkle
-Twinkle Random
-Twinkle Fade
-Twinkle Fade Random
-Sparkle
-Flash Sparkle
-Hyper Sparkle
-Strobe
-Strobe Rainbow

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-Multi Strobe
-Blink Rainbow
-Chase White
-Chase Color
-Chase Random
-Chase Rainbow
-Chase Flash
-Chase Flash Random
-Chase Rainbow White
-Chase Blackout
-Chase Blackout Rainbow
-Color Sweep Random
-Running Color
-Running Red Blue
-Running Random
-Larson Scanner
-Comet
-Fireworks
-Fireworks Random
-Merry Christmas
-Fire Flicker
-Fire Flicker Soft
-Fire Flicker Intense
-Circus Combustus
-Halloween
-Bicolor chase
-Tricolor Chase
-TwinkleFox
-Static
-Blink
-Breath
-Color Wipe
-Color Wipe Inverse
-Color Wipe Reverse
-Color Wipe Reverse Inverse
-Color Wipe Random
-Random Color
-Single Dynamic
-Multi Dynamic
-Rainbow
-Rainbow Cycle
-Scan
-Dual Scan
-Fade
-Theater Chase
-Theater Chase Rainbow
-Running Lights
Palette - Some effects use a color from the palette and this option allows you to select that palette of colors.
Brightness Floor - This is the minimum brightness colors should display at on the UI. By setting this you ensure
when non-zero colors are at least displayed as this value. This is necessary because the LCD screen can be very

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dim for dark colors along with not being a full 24 bit color screen (its 16 bit). Typically a value around 50 gives
the best results.
Note: After you make changes to the Settings, you need to close this menu and then select the Save Settings option in
the Main Menu in order for your settings to be saved.
Save Settings Page
When you save your settings, F-Test does not just save the settings on the settings page, it also saves all the settings on
all the pages to be the default settings when those pages open. For example ... if you want to set a default test pattern
when testing pixels then go to pixel out, choose your test pattern then go back and select save settings. Next time you
start the F-Test and open pixel out that will be the initial test mode.
Testing Modes
Pixel Out
The Pixel Out page is used to output data to pixels connected to the Pixel Output cable. This is useful for testing pixels or
displaying a selected pattern. It will also count the number of functioning pixels that are connected. Only WS2811 and
compatible pixels are supported at this time. There is limited support for 4 channel versions of these pixels with some
test patterns working with them.
Note: You have to supply sufficient power (~5V to ~24V) through the Pixel Input cable that is appropriate for the
pixels being tested. This can be via an energized pixel cable, an appropriate power supply connected to the Pixel Input
or sufficiently sized battery connected to the Pixel Input.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons will navigate through the available options in the highlighted menu item. The Next
button will move the highlighted selection to the next item in the Menu. The close button will take you back to the Main
Menu.
When you first enter the pixel output page the tester will attempt to count the number of pixels attached to the output.
It does this by turning on select pixels and measuring the current draw. It will perform the test several times to ensure

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the count is accurate. This only works if the pixels being tested have no power injection. If you have power injection your
results will be much more problematic (if you are “power balancing” where you are just connecting the power that is
coming into the prop to other sections of the prop, It will work. In other words, all of the power has to be passing
through the F-Test).
If the F-Test is receiving data while in this mode, the tester will suppress that pixel data and override it with the selected
test pattern. When outputting data, the tester sends data for the number of pixels you configured in the Pixel Output
page, regardless of how many are attached. There is limited support for 4 channel versions of these pixels with some
test patterns working with them.
Note: The F-Test assumes the pixels are in RGB color order. If your color order is different it will still work but the
colors will vary.
The screen displays the following data:
Protocol- This displays the protocol that the F-Test will output for the pixel testing. At this point only WS281x is
available. Future firmware updates might include more options.
Pixel Count- This displays the number of pixels that the F-Test has detected when this page was opened.
Volts- This displays the voltage present on the power input line.
Current- This displays the current draw that the attached pixels are using.
Pattern- This item allows you to select what output test pattern you want to use.
Brightness- This item allows you to select what output brightness you want to use for your test patterns.
Count- You can configure how many pixels you want to output up to 1400. If you are using shorter strings this
can make some patterns display better.
You can select the test pattern that the F-Test will output from these options:
Alternate- Lights up alternate channels. On RGB pixels this results in alternating Green/Magenta pixels.
RGB-Lights all pixels up red, green then blue.
RGBW- Lights all pixels up red, green, blue then white.
RGBWB- Lights all pixels up red, green, blue, white then black.
Red Ramp- Ramps the pixels from black to fully red then back down again over a couple of seconds –great for
verifying color order.
Green Ramp- Ramps the pixels from black to fully green then back down again over a couple of seconds - great
for verifying color order.
Blue Ramp- Ramps the pixels from black to fully blue then back down again over a couple of seconds - great for
verifying color order.
White Ramp- Ramps the pixels from black to fully white then back down again over a couple of seconds.
Full White- Turns all the pixels on fully white (this respects the brightness setting).
Dim White - Turns all the pixels on at 25% white (plus applying the brightness setting).
Colorwash- Washes though the colors red, green and blue slowly transitioning from one to another
Chase- Displays a red, green, blue, white chase along the pixel string.
Fill- This will fill in the pixels in red, then green then blue from 1 to the number set in the count value. If you
have only a few pixels attached then it will fill them and appear to hold while it fills in all the unattached pixels.
Groups of 10- This will lights up the pixels in groups of 10 pixels, each group will be a different color for easy
counting.
Groups of 50- This will light up the pixels in groups of 50 pixels, each group will be a different color for easy
counting.
Groups of 100- This will light up the pixels in groups of 100 pixels, each group will be a different color for easy
counting.
Effect- This will runs the effect that has been selected in the settings page.
Count 3ch-This will repeatedly count the number of pixels attached to the tester.
Count 4ch- This will repeatedly counts the number of 4 channel pixels attached to the tester.

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RGBW 4ch - runs the same RGBW pattern but outputs to 4 channel pixels.
Smart Receiver Out
The Smart Receiver Out page is used to output signals to smart (and normal or “dumb” receivers). If you have incoming
Smart Receiver data, this data will be ignored while in this page and output the selected receiver output. Receiver
protocols are very similar to each other in many circumstances. Because of this, seeing pixels light up does not
guarantee you have the matching protocol chosen for the receiver.
Note: The F-Test will have to have a power supply attached, either through the USB port or the Pixel Input.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons will navigate through the available options in the highlighted menu item. The Next
button will move the highlighted selection to the next item in the Menu. The close button will take you back to the Main
Menu.
The screen displays the following data:
Brand- this is the type of smart receiver protocol you are sending out. It determines how many receivers there
are in the chain and the protocol used. You can select the following options:
oDumb- This works with pretty much every receiver on the market. Only one receiver can be attached
and it will test up to 1400 pixels on that receiver.
oFalcon V3- (Typically red or white boards.)This will send 100 pixels of data to each of the 3 receivers.
oFalcon V4- (Typically blue boards.) This will send 100 pixels of data to each of the 6 receivers. This also
works with Genius receivers.
oFPP V1- (Typically black boards.) This is actually identical to Falcon V3.
oFPP V2 - (Typically black boards.) This will send 100 pixels of data to each of the 6 receivers.
oHinkspix- This will send 30 pixels of data to each of the 16 receivers. The receivers are configured every
few seconds and given the nature of the Hinkspix protocol, once you stop testing them and reconnect
them to your controller, you will need to reset the controller to reset the receiver configuration.
Receiver- This selection is used to identify which receivers you want to receive the data. All sends the data to all
receivers in the chain. If you select a specific receiver then only that receiver will receive the test pattern. All the
other receivers will be sent "off" pixel data.
Pattern- This item allows you to select what output test pattern you want to use. The patterns are the same as
the Pixel Out section with the exception that the Count patterns are not available and a Number pattern is an
additional option. The Number pattern uses the first four pixels on the string to indicate what port they are
connected to and the remainder to indicate which receiver in the chain. For example, let’s assume BBB V2 Smart

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receivers, and the F-Test will connect to the first receiver and have the dial set to A and the terminators all off.
This is then connected to the second receiver and the Dial set to B with the terminators all on. Set the F-Test
Brand to FPP V2 and then the Receiver to All and then Pattern to A. The pixels connected to port 1 of the first
receiver in the chain (receiver A) will have the first pixel lit up white (designating port 1) and then the 5th pixel lit
up red (designating the first receiver.) Pixels connected to port 3 of the second receiver will have the first 3
pixels lit up white (designating port 3) and then the 5th and 6th pixels lit up red (two pixels, the second receiver)
Brightness- This item allows you to select what output brightness you want to use for your test patterns.
DMX Out
The DMX Out page is used to send 512 channels of DMX or other test data to your DMX/LOR/Renard devices.
Note: The F-Test will need to have a power supply attached, either through the USB port or the Pixel Input.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons will navigate through the available options in the highlighted menu item. The Next
button will move the highlighted selection to the next item in the Menu. The close button will take you back to the Main
Menu.
The screen displays the following data:
Type- This is where you select the type of test output you want to send via the DMX Out port. The options are:
oDMX- This will output DMX Data
oLOR- This will output Light-O-Rama data. You will need to select the correct output speed.
oRenard- This will output Renard data. You will need to select the correct output speed. Note: You will
need an adapter cable and it is described in the Reference section of the F-Test.
Pattern- This is where you will select the output test pattern. This is a limited set of patterns suited for single
channel controllers.
oAlternate- This will turn on and off the channels in an alternating fashion.
oChase- This will lights up every 16th channel and then moves that lit channel through the next 16
channels.
oRamp- This will ramp up and down all of the channels.
oFill- This will progressively turn on each channel in blocks of 16 channels.

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oChannels- This will allow you to output up to 9 channels of data anywhere in the 512 channel range. This
is useful for testing very specific channels and values. The box in the left side of the group is for the
channel number and the box on the right of the group is for the value. If you enter duplicate channel
numbers, the channel number will be highlighted in red.
Monitoring Mode
Pixel In
The Pixel In page is used to monitor several different attributes to help you determine if you are receiving the
signals/data that you anticipated. In this mode, the pixel data is read from the input but also passed through to the
output allowing you to both monitor the pixel data and see the lights behavior. Pixel input mode assumes the pixel data
is 3 channel and in RGB color order. If it isn’t it may display different colors or look quite different to the actual pixels.
In this mode, the F-Test will also act like an F-Amp and could be helpful in determining if an F-Amp would be beneficial.

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Pressing the Visualize button will navigate through the various view options. The close button will take you back to the
Main Menu.
The screen displays the following data:
Protocol- Only WS2811 and compatible pixels are supported.
Pixels - There are 2 numbers displayed for each port. The first is the number of pixels worth of data the tester is
receiving on the data line. The second number in square brackets is the total number of pixels of “color” data
that the tester is receiving, which is a method to estimate the actual number of pixels this port is configured for.
This is because some controllers will send excess “blank” data to your pixel strings knowing that it is just ignored
by them. When controllers do this, they typically send black to the excess pixels. To try to compensate for this,
the second number is calculated by reducing the first number by the number of end “blank” pixels from the
count. This leads to the second number sometimes being inconsistent with what you might expect. This happens
if the last pixels on your prop are turned black. The tester will also indicate if it suspects torn frames by
displaying the pixel count in red. This should be ignored most of the time but if you are running color fades and
the like it can tell you if the controller is keeping up with your data stream.
Frame Time- This is the time in milliseconds between pixel data frames (or the frames per second if you chose
that option in settings). This tells you how often your controller is actually sending data to the pixels.
Volts - This is the voltage on the pixel input side.
Current - This is the amount of current being drawn by any pixels attached to the pixel output.
There are four viewing modes in the Pixel In page that monitors different data. Pressing the Visualize button will scroll
through the various options and the data will display in the lower half of the screen.
Data- This will give you a graphical representation of the number of pixels that are being sent data and the
colors they are supposed to be (this is assuming that your pixels are RGB order). There are 30 pixels per row in
the display.

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Brightness- This will give you a graphical representation of the overall brightness of your pixels averaged over
time by RGB color order.
Volts/Current- This plots over time the input voltage on a scale of 0-15V and the output current draw on a
scale of 0-5 Amps. The white line indicates the voltage and the red line the current draw.

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Oscilloscope- This screen is useful to both see that a data signal is present but also see that data voltage. The
pink line shows the typical minimum voltage required for a pixel to interpret the data. If the waveform displayed
is not displaying above this pink line, then you probably have a weak signal that will need to be remedied.
Unfortunately the chip used on the tester is not fast enough to fully visualize the pixel data waveform but it can
be used to compare the data to ground voltage.
Smart Receiver In

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The Smart Receiver In page is used to monitor the incoming differential data so that you can monitor/evaluate the data
to help you determine if you are receiving the data that you anticipated. In this mode, the differential data is read from
the input but also passed through to the output allowing you to both monitor the data and see the receiver’s behavior.
Note: The F-Test will need to have a power supply attached, either through the USB port or the Pixel Input.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons will navigate through the available options in the highlighted menu item. The Next
button will move the highlighted selection to the next item in the Menu. If you are on the Receiver option, the Next
Button will toggle to the next display screen. The close button will take you back to the Main Menu.
Receiver protocols are very similar to each other in some circumstances. Because of this, seeing data arrive does not
guarantee you have the correct protocol chosen for the data being received. Pressing and holding the Up/Down buttons
until the screen title turns orange will initiate a probe mode where the tester will monitor the receiver data and suggest
the type of data being received. If it is unsure, it will always suggest dumb data. This probe mode will not work with
Hinkspix controllers due to the nature of how it is sent out.
The screen displays the following data:
Brand- In this option, select the type of Receiver data you are expecting to receive, the options are:
oDumb
oFalcon V3
oFPP V1 - identical to Falcon V3
oFPP V2
oFalcon V4 (also works with Genius controllers)
oHinkspix - when using this mode you must reset the controller after you attach the tester as the
controller only configures receivers during the reset/boot process.
Receiver- This option allows you to select which receiver in the chain that you want to monitor.
Frame Time- This shows you what frame rate the tester is receiving the data.
P- There are four frames, one for each port of the receiver. There are 2 numbers displayed for each port. The
first is the number of pixels worth of data the tester is receiving on the data line. The second number in square
brackets is the total number of pixels of “color” data that the tester is receiving, which is a method to estimate
the actual number of pixels this port is configured for. This is because some controllers will send excess “blank”
data to your pixel strings knowing that it is just ignored by them. When controllers do this, they typically send
black to the excess pixels. To try to compensate for this, the second number is calculated by reducing the first
number by the number of end “blank” pixels from the count. This leads to the second number sometimes being

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inconsistent with what you might expect. This happens if the last pixels on your prop are turned black. The
tester will also indicate if it suspects torn frames by displaying the pixel count in red. This should be ignored
most of the time but if you are running color fades and the like it can tell you if the controller is keeping up with
your data stream.
There are two viewing modes in the Smart Receiver Input page that monitors different data. Pressing the Next button
while the Receiver option is selected will progress to the next viewing mode.
Data- This will give you a graphical representation of the number of pixels that are being sent data and the colors they
are supposed to be (this is assuming that your pixels are RGB order). There are four frames representing each port on
the Receiver with 7 pixels per row in the display.
Brightness- This will give you a graphical representation of the overall brightness of your pixels averaged over time by
RGB color order.

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DMX In
The DMX In page is used to monitor the incoming DMX data so that you can monitor/evaluate the data to help you
determine if you are receiving the data that you anticipated. In this mode, the DMX data is read from the input but also
passed through to the output allowing you to both monitor the data and see the DMX device’s behavior.
Note: The F-Test will need to have a power supply attached, either through the USB port or the Pixel Input.
Pressing the Up and Down buttons will navigate through the available options in the highlighted menu item. The Next
button will move the highlighted selection to the next item in the Menu. If you are on the Type option, the Next Button
will toggle to the next display screen. The close button will take you back to the Main Menu.
The screen displays the following data:
Wire- this allows you to select which wires on the input RJ45 the tester monitors. This allows you to switch
between standard DMX and LOR without having to fiddle with jumpers.
Type- This is the type of RS485 protocol you are expecting to receive. The tester is also able to monitor and
detect the appropriate protocol/speed with reasonable but not perfect accuracy. To do this, press and hold the
Up/Down buttons until the page title turns orange and then wait for the scan to complete.
Channels- This is the number of channels that are being received. The number in square brackets is the number
of channels up to the last channel with a non zero value. This is useful because many devices just send 512
channels even when much fewer are in use. The tester will also indicate if it suspects torn frames by displaying
the pixel count in red. This should be ignored most of the time but if you are running color fades and the like it
can tell you if the controller is keeping up with your data stream.
Frame time shows you how often data is being sent to the DMX device. In some protocols this can be highly
variable.
There are four viewing modes in DMX Input page that monitors different data. Pressing the Next button while
the Type option is selected will progress to the next viewing mode.
Data- The black box at the bottom of the screen shows the data being received with each square representing a channel
starting from top left and going across the screen.