Working with Devices

Expert Control and Expert Touch require configuration by Expert software. Please see included instructions specific to hardware for information on how to power and network your devices. Other resources can also be found on our Expert Support page.

Connecting the Controller

In the Expert software, which will be running on your computer, you can connect to your Control as part of the New Project Helper or you can create your project and work offline if preferred, then connect to your Control when ready to upload your project.

To connect to your Expert Control first ensure it is on the same network as your computer and select the Control that is detected on your network. There are many different network setups which can be used with Expert systems.

It is possible to connect to your Expert Control, or Expert Touch device, at any time by going to the Network tab in Tools and select the Expert device. Property options include network settings, updating firmware and setting the controller's time.

Once you have selected the Control you will need to click on Select an Expert Control… in the Properties window, a window opens where you can select the controller and then click Commit to confirm the selection.

Controller Properties

Beacon – use to verify and identify a connected device.

Upload Project – a helper opens with The project is ready to be uploaded, press Upload Project so that your project can be uploaded to the controller. You will be prompted with a red text alert, in the Properties window, if the Control is running a different project.

Reload Firmware – a window opens with The firmware is ready to be reloaded, press Reload Firmware so that the firmware matching the software you are using can be reloaded to the controller. You will be prompted with a red text alert, in the Properties window, if the Control is running a different firmware version.

Configure – a window opens with the settings available for the controller.

  • Network – configure the Network Settings with either a static or DHCP IP address.

    • Allows setting the IP routing rules either via CIDR (“/8", for example) or Subnet mask (“255.0.0.0”). which determines what section of the IP address has to be the same for communication to occur.

  • Users – set security passwords and user and guest access to the controller and the web interface. Admin can access all pages, on the web interface and upload projects, and reconfigure settings in the software, Control can access status and control pages, but not any configuration pages, and Status can view information pages, but not do anything to the controller. These permissions can be given granularly.

    • Once an admin account has been created, a new option will appear at the bottom of the page entitled Edit guest user permissions. This menu offers you the choice of which permissions are given to someone who does not log in to the controller. For instance, setting Status as the guest permission means no one will need to log in to view the information pages of the web interface.

  • Clock – in this option you will be able to Set the time and date for Expert Control. It is important to do this for astronomical and time-based events.

    • You can also Configure SNTP to use a network-based clock if available. This will require the controller having an IP address, subnet and default gateway assigned, although this is often set via DHCP, and the Expert Control needs an active Internet link. The Control will then set its time from a given Internet source, checking at the interval set. This is useful for ensuring there is no time-drift on the controller.

  • Storage – here you can format the internal storage for the Expert Control, which will erase any project data. If you select this option, you will be given the option to Format storage or Cancel.

  • Advanced - changing the default settings here is not recommended, but with the advice of Pharos Technical Support you may be asked to change the log level or temporarily turn off the Watchdog if we are troubleshooting an issue with you.

View Log – a window opens with the log details for the Expert controller from when it was initialised.

View Web Interface – a web browser window will open with pages that provide information about the status of the controller, current playback, output, and tag states, and password protected configuration to update settings, firmware and project.

A Control's internal web interface is a very powerful diagnostic and management tool. You can view a controller's web interface from within Expert or, for remote access on the same LAN, browse to the index page at http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/, where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of the controller.

User level access if Security is set: Admin can access everything (only Admin can download project and set up a connection to Cloud), Control can access all pages except Configuration, and Status level allows users to view only the Home, Spaces, Log, Output and Network pages (but cannot affect the controller, so Park functionality in the Output page, and Scene activation in the Spaces page are unavailable without a higher level of authorisation).

• Use the navigation buttons across the top to select these pages:

Home

  • The home page provides general information about the status of the controller including Serial number, controller type, IP address, loaded project details and memory usage. Current time and forthcoming astronomical events are also listed. The bootloader and firmware versions and MAC address are also given for reference.

  • The current uptime of the controller and last Boot Reason are shown to aid troubleshooting.

  • From here, it is also possible to download the project file that is currently running on the controller. (If security is set, only with Admin access)

  • Remote management can be managed from this page, with users able to input Pharos Cloud device connection keys to devices. Active connection information is also available to view, and devices can be disconnected by clearing an existing connection key.

Spaces

  • All spaces are listed with child spaces indented from their parent spaces. Status indicates current active Scene and current intensity level for each space.

  • Space buttons open a new window listing all available Scenes for that Space. Scenes can be activated and intensity levels modified from here (Control and Admin user levels only).

Log

  • The log is a blow-by-blow account of all activity on the controller. There are three levels of verbosity filter: Critical, Terse and Normal, a text search and a show lines selection. The log can be extremely useful when troubleshooting. The log can also be viewed directly from within Expert software over an Ethernet connection using.

  • The log can also be filtered to only view certain message types.

Output

View output

  • Select the Protocol/DMX Port to examine a numerical snapshot of the control data being output, refreshed every 5 seconds.

  • The channel blocks will change Colour depending on how the channel is being controlled:

White Playback
Grey Unpatched
Blue border Output Live
Red border Parked

  • Use in conjunction with Spaces and Log pages to debug an installation.

Park and Unpark

  • Password protected if set. Enter User Name and password (Control and Admin user levels only).

  • Park allows you to lock the value of a particular channel without actually altering your programming. This can be useful to turn off a fixture that is misbehaving temporarily or to make sure a working light stays on while you are programming.

  • Park can be accessed from the output view of the web interface, simply enter the channel or range of channels and the value at which to park. Parked channels are shown in red within the output view. There is the option to Unpark from the same view.

  • Parked channels will remain parked when you upload shows or output live. However all parked channels will be cleared if the Controller is reset or the power is cycled.

Network

  • The Network Page lists all the devices in the project.

Control Panel

  • Project State displays the sets of tags used in the project.

  • The current active tag in each set is highlighted.

  • Each tag is also a button. If pressed, this will override the current active tag and Expert Control will use the new tag selection to determine the live output states.

Configuration

  • All the controller's configuration settings are displayed and can be changed here, including IP, clock and log settings, controller reboot, firmware reload, factory reset, project upload/download and adjusting security settings. For more information see Working with Devices (Admin user level only if security is set).

Remote upload

In addition, at the bottom of the page, is the means to upload a project file remotely via the web interface as an alternative to uploading directly from the Expert software. The main menu has an option Save Project for Expert Control which generates a name.upload file for remote uploading.

IMPORTANT: The control must be running the same version of firmware as the Expert software. Uploading a project file to a controller running different firmware may result in the project failing to load and run. Check the controller's home page to determine compatibility before attempting a remote upload.

Configure Cloud – select and login to a Pharos Cloud portal in Expert to be able to upload directly to Expert Control devices connected to Cloud.

Configure Remote Site

Once the Configure Cloud Helper has been opened you will have to log in to your Cloud Portal to be able to access Sites. Expert will remember some of the following information to make future logins more straight-forward, but users will need to log in each time they open Expert or a project.

The first step of logging in will ask you to enter the URL of the Cloud Portal Expert should connect to for integration. A valid Cloud URL must be provided to proceed.

Next, enter the username and password for your user account. If the account requires it, a two-factor authentication prompt will follow.

Once successfully authenticated, you will be presented with a list of the Sites available to you. Select a Site to continue.

Once selected, the Cloud Configuration Helper will provide an overview of changes which need to be committed to be saved into the project.

Once committed, the controller will report if it is connected to the Cloud Site already. If it hasn’t the Controller Properties will offer a single click option to add the controller to the Site. A name for the device in the Site needs to be added.

NOTE: This function will only work if the account currently logged in has the correct permissions in a Site to add a device.

Once complete, the device will report that it is correctly connected to the Site. If the controller is online in another Site this will be reported in Expert.

Once the controller is connected to the Site and you are correctly signed into the Cloud Portal you will be able to see the controller’s status directly in Expert and upload new project files remotely. When uploading to Cloud you can toggle the option to transfer the file to the device immediately or not.

NOTE: Expert will always prioritise uploading a project file over a local connection over Cloud. If you want to upload to Cloud you will first need to remove the controller from a local connection.