Defining a connection in Sequencer

RemoteSign Sequencer allows you to control one or more RemoteSigns.

Each RemoteSign that you wish to control needs accessible on your network, and you need to tell RemoteSign Sequencer where these RemoteSigns are on the network.  They use the Internet TCPIP protocol for communicating. This means that any two computers on a local area network (LAN) or even any two connected to the Internet will be able to communicate with each other. The computers could be a Windows machine running RemoteSign Sequencer and a second Windows machine running RemoteSign, or, the second computer can be a RemoteSign ESP module, or both.

Version 1.1.50 and higher has made making connections very much easier, by being able to search for RemoteSign devices on your network!

Step 1

There are two main types of RemoteSign to which you can connect, the small RemoteSign ESP devices or RemoteSign running on Windows. Connecting to both types is described here...

To start, plug in, or launch the RemoteSign(s) to which you want to connect.

RemoteSign ESP

Power up the RemoteSign ESP, (plug it in to USB or apply 5V to VCC and GND, but not both!)
Once a RemoteSign ESP, gets onto the network via Wifi, it display its IP address and unique network name. In this example, the IP address is 192.168.86.172 and the network name is remotesignc6cf88

This means it is ready and waiting

Windows RemoteSign

1. On the Windows computer, start RemoteSign
2. If the status indicator does not already show two yellow dots, press 'W' to tell it to Wait for remote connection

Step 2

In RemoteSign Sequencer, if you are trying a sample file that has a RemoteSign partially defined like this:

Click the Edit button

It auto runs the search for RemoteSign on the LAN and if your RemoteSign is listening as it should, it should appear in the list. Double click on the RemoteSign and it should fill in all the fields for you.
(If your screen does not have the "Search LAN" button, update your Sequencer using the Fetcher program!)

You can also name the RemoteSign to something more meaningful...

Click OK

Note
Some networks are unable to convert IP addresses to host names. If that is the case with your network, to use a host name, you will need to enter it manually. Here is where you find it:

RemoteSign ESP: You can find the host name on the start screen
Remotesign Windows: Press C to bring up the Connection window. See "This machine"
See notes in "Connection failures" below on host names.

If you are starting a new script file and have no RemoteSigns defined yet, or wish to add additional RemoteSigns, click the 'Add a RemoteSign' button:

Use the Search LAN button to find RemoteSigns as above.
You can also enter the IP address or host name manually.

One you have defined the RemoteSigns, you can manually connect using the 'Connect' button, or if the 'Auto connect' box is checked, Sequencer will connect automatically.

This shows a successful connection... it shows the name and IP address of the other machine and also what software is running there.

Once connected, the top status light on the RemoteSign on Windows will turn green and
RemoteSign ESP signs will switch to a blank screen.

Remember to save your changes by pressing Ctrl-S or using File → Save

Connection failures

If you get connection failures (red status light) press 'W' in the Windows RemoteSign to force it to wait for a connection.

If the signs won't connect, double check the network name. Sometimes the network router uses a slightly different name to the host name. If trying a network name fails, try adding .local or .lan to the end of the hostname. Failing that, from a command prompt,

enter the command:

nslookup 192.168.1.xx 

(where 192.168.1.xx is the IP address of the machine you are trying to reach)
and it should tell you the name of the host you should use. Enter the name exactly and with same casing.

(The DNS setting of your computer should be set to automatic, not to a direct external DNS server)

Note however, that the IP address may change next time the device is started. If you use IP addresses and have a modern router you may be able to configure that device to always be given the same IP address or you can assign a static IP address.

If you are running RemoteSign and RemoteSign Sequencer on the same computer, you can use 127.0.0.1 as the IP address in the next step. It is a special IP address that means "this machine".

Connecting to a computer that is behind a firewall or router

By default, RemoteSign uses TCPIP port 50601. When you try to connect or wait for a connection on a machine that is running firewall software you may get a pop-up asking permission for RemoteSign to access the network (connecting to another machine). RemoteSign will not work unless you allow these operations.

If your RemoteSign that is waiting for a connection is on a network that has a router between the network and the rest of the internet you may have to open port 50601 to allow traffic through. You may also have to forward incoming requests on that port to the machine that is waiting for a connection. For example, on a LinkSys router the forwarding screen looks like this:

Incoming requests on port 50601 will go to the machine on the local network with the IP address 192.168.1.23. Note that if you want outside machines to be able to connect to that same machine it is advisable to allocate a static IP address to that machine.














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