I've uploaded the new version of the Helix Network Supervisor that supports the Helix Ether-Node. If you don't have one of the Ether-Nodes then I wouldn't recommend updating to this version yet. There no new features that would provide much benefit for the Helix Main Board users only. Since the current version of the HNS is stable, I didn't have any reported problems from the users last year, then I would recommend continue using it.
For the Helix Ether-Node users you can install the new HNS from:
http://www.helixlightcontroller.com/downloads/V3_2/HNS_V3_2_INSTALL.HTM
When you install it the set up wizard will run. Point it to a Vixen v2.x instance and you can use the same directory that you used for the HNS V3 for the working files.
The main changes for the user are in the Channel Map area. This isn't very bullet proof yet so you have to be careful with what you put in there. To add a new Helix board you press the Blue Plus button on the menu bar. The first board will always be your Helix Network Controller. When you press the Plus button a form will pop-up that will allow you to specify the version of Main Board that you have and the communication mode. Once you press OK on the form then it will populate the board in the Channel Map with some basic default settings. You can now make some changes to many of the settings; such as, change the board name, add a board description, name each of the Channel Banks, specify the function of each Channel Bank and the channels it uses and provide a description for each Channel Bank. These new names and descriptions are just to help you keep things straight when you are creating the Channel Map. You can leave the default values if you wish.
To add a Helix Ether-Node you would press the Blue Plus button again. Now the pop-up form will have the Ether-Node as an option in the drop down for the Board Version. Be sure to select the same communication mode as your HNC. Now when you press the OK button it will add an Ether-Node board to the Channel Map. This time you will notice there are several more settings. The Ether-Node can communicate with up to four E682 boards so it has four sockets. Each socket has up to 12 DMX universes. There are various IP addresses that are pre-set. The default for all Ether-Node boards is for each board and its associated (up to four) E682 boards would be a standalone network. The Ether-Node board would have the IP address of 192.168.10.10. The first E682 board would be 192.168.10.11, the second 192.168.10.12, the third 192.168.10.13 and the fourth would be 192.168.10.14. I set my PC to be 192.168.10.2 and the gateway is set for 192.168.10.1 (however, since this is a closed private network it should never try to reach the gateway). You can change these IP addresses to whatever you would like, but unless there is a compelling reason I would recommend leaving them as the defaults as I know they work.
If you add a second Helix Ether Node then it would use the same IP addresses. But as I stated above, I envision each group to be a standalone network so the second board and its associated E682s should be connected together on a separate switch. I use an inexpensive Rosewill 8 port Fast Ethernet switch I picked up from Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166035. It goes on sale for $9.99 w/free shipping every so often. It has worked well for me so far.
You select the different boards by selecting them in the tree view of the Channel Map. The HNC will always have an upper case "C" next to it. The Helix Network Nodes will have an upper case "N" and the Helix Ether-Node will have an upper case "E". Each of the sockets on an Ether-Node will have an entry in the tree and have an upper case "S". The name that you give each board and socket will be reflected in the tree view of the Channel Map. This will help you find what you are looking for once you start getting larger systems.
All of the other tabs in the HNS work the same. So once you save the Channel Map (and create your show/playlist/trigger/schedule) you can go to the Tools tab and use the Upload Wizard to create the necessary files. One word of caution, if you use the wizard to help you load the files on your microSD cards be aware the it will load the various cards in alphabetical order based on the board name. So be aware of which system is being loaded by looking at the name of the Helix System that it is trying to load.
As always if you have any questions, have problems, find bugs please let me know and I'll assist as soon as possible.
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