New to Stellar. Need help skypanel Ethernet Gateway setup

[jcundy]

Hello!
currently, our studio has a light grid with all ARRI Lights.
Grid:
3 skypanel s60-C
3 lp-7
2 lp-5
Floor:
4 more skypanels and a LP-5.
Everything on the grid/floor is daisy-chained DMX and running into a lightboard dmx controller.
We are interested in trying the Stellar App but are a bit confused on how to wire this up.
We would like to do the skypanel gateway setup as shown on the Stellar app website.
Is it as simple as connecting A host skypanel into Ethernet and then daisy chaining all the other devices off of that skypanel gateway via DMX?

[Mike Wagner]

Hi jcundy,

Thanks for your post.

First, I assume that when you say LP-7/5 you mean L7-C and L5-C from the ARRI L-Series?

It is as simple as you mentioned. You simply need to connect one SkyPanel to ethernet and then daisy chain DMX 5-pin XLR out to the rest of the fixtures. You can then connect your tablet or phone with Stellar directly to the ethernet using some adapters or you can connect a WiFi router to the ethernet which would allow for wireless operation.

One other note, you want to make sure that you have the latest firmware on the SkyPanels and L-Series or you might have some issues with connectivity. Ensure you have FW >=4.1 on the SkyPanels and >=2.5 on the L-Series.

Hope this helps and let us know if you have more questions.

- Mike Wagner
Senior Product Manager, ARRI

[jcundy]

Thank you Mike for your quick reply!
Yes, my apologies that is correct, we have the L7-C and L5-C series lights.
Yesterday I updated all firmware on all skypanels and L-series lights to newest available (4.1 on the SkyPanels and >=2.5 on the L-Series.)
Does the gateway skypanel need to be in a specific network mode for this?
How about the other lights?
any specific DHCP or art-net settings?
Thank you so much mike!

[jcundy]

Still having trouble when the app searches for the lights.
We are located on university with a large internet network structure. so it is a bit tricky to tell what system the gateway skypanel is connected to when we plug into the ethernet connection in the wall.
When the same ios device running stellar is connected to the university wireless internet network and I use safari to type in the IP address of the light, it will let me use the arri skypanel web controls, so it must be on the same network...right?

[Mike Wagner]

jcundy,

All the default settings of the SkyPanel should allow you to connect right away. The network settings of the SkyPanel should be DHCP so that the router is generating the IP address for the SkyPanel - you shouldn't need to worry about this unless you are setting up your network in a special way.

If you are using an existing network in a university, it could be that something about the network setup is interfering with the communication between Stellar and the SkyPanel. One way to check this would be to plug the SkyPanel directly into the table/phone (via ethernet adapters) or to use a separate WiFi network without any special configurations. This would eliminate the variables of the university network. Speaking to the IT department of the university might provide clues as to why it is not working.

If you are still having issues, my suggestion would be to do a factory reset on the SkyPanel and power off and on the unit. Of course, you can always give us a call to discuss the particulars of your situation and we can troubleshoot a little faster.

I hope this information helps.

- Mike Wagner
Senior Product Manager, ARRI