BaldrickSwitchy
BaldrickSwitchy Web Interface
Complete configuration and control guide
BaldrickSwitchy Web Interface
The web interface has been designed to be as simple as possible
Quick Navigation
Access: When you first power on your BaldrickSwitchy, it creates a WiFi access point named "BaldrickSwitchy-XXXX". Connect to this network (no password required) and navigate to 192.168.4.1 in your web browser.
Stats Dashboard
System Information
The Stats board gives you a heads up as to what's going on with your controller.
Uptime
Tells you how long your controller has been powered on (this is useful in June to remind you that you forgot to turn it off over christmas)
Frame Rate
This lets you know what FPS (Frames Per Second) the controller is currently outputting (Why would I need this for a relay board you may ask, and we will let you keep guessing)
Network Throughput
Like the FPS, this gives you an indication of the volume of network traffic passing through the controller, this should help with debugging.
Temperature
With a sensor next to the Ethernet connector, this gives you an indication of the board temperature (in Celsius because water freezes at 0, not 32.. how does that make sense?)
Generally, PCBs and components are good for -40 to +85°C. Anything below 60°C on this board is fine and nothing to worry about. If the temp is above that, try blowing on it like you would a hot chip out of the oven.
Firmware Version
Let's you know what version firmware your BaldrickSwitchy is currently running.
(clicking the new version will upgrade it in place then restart the controller)
IP Address
Tells you the current IP address of the Baldrick Switchy.
Test Mode
Quick Testing & Troubleshooting
Test mode is one of the most important features of the Baldrick Board. If it's two hours before switch on and something is going wrong, YOU NEED CLEAR INFORMATION QUICKLY.
Presets
At the moment we only have one preset, Alternate Relay which alternates between on and off every second, but you can see we've made that Presets box into a dropdown as we know we'll think of some later.
Apply to
Select your port (or all ports) you'd like the effect applied to.
Relay Configuration
Manual Relay Setup
Whilst we expect much of the configuration to be pushed from xLights, you can directly add your devices to the BaldrickSwitchy from this section.
It's a simple interface with only a name and a trigger threshold.
Networking Configuration
Good Defaults, Easy Config
Hostname
The default hostname is baldrickswitchy (hence baldrickswitchy.local). If you have one BaldrickSwitchy then it's completely fine to keep this as it is, however if like us you want to collect a few of them, then we'd recommend you change this to something like frontgardenor upstairsroof
(Just a reminder that hostnames should be lowercase without spaces)
DHCP / STATIC
The default option is DHCP (which is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol but you don't need to know that) which basically means your router or computer gives the board an I.P. address. This is great for initial setup but when you want to run a show it's best to switch it to STATIC, that's where your controller tells the router / computer "This is my IP".
IP Address
Set this to the IP address that you want the controller to be fixed to.
Subnet Mask & Gateway
It is more than likely that you can copy the Subnet Mask (the size of your network) and the Default Gateway (the exit point of your network) from the output of an IPconfig check.
DNS Server
DNS wise, typically, your default gateway is your router IP, and that more often than not, can provide your network with DNS. However, some people like to use "outside 3rd parties" DNS like google or cloudflares DNS. If you don't know about this, its probably best just to stick to DHCP.
The Turnip Network
Network Discovery
The Baldrick Boards will keep an eye out on the network for other Baldricks and let you know how they are doing (this is helpful as we don't put an LCD screen on the board).
You can directly jump to their control panel from this interface and when they appear in this list, more board functionality will become available.
Data Settings
Protocol Configuration
DDP Start Channel
Configure the starting channel for DDP (Distributed Display Protocol) communication.
sACN/ArtNet Start Universe
Set the starting universe for sACN (Streaming ACN) and ArtNet protocols.
sACN/ArtNet Channels Per Universe
Configure how many channels are used per universe for sACN and ArtNet protocols.