The FEL-CD23 is the constant-current decoder in the family — the one for the bare 1-watt LED fixtures. Where the constant-voltage decoders feed strips and tape through their own current-limiting, this one regulates 350 milliamps per channel and drives the LEDs directly: the wall washers, the underground lights and the point-source fittings that carry no driver of their own. The supply runs DC12-48V — the widest in the family — and the LED count per channel scales with it. The DMX512/1990 line lands on XLR-3R, RJ45 or the terminal block, the same three ways the stage bodies take it, and the 157×65×40mm body at 450g is the same standalone envelope those units use.
Constant current, 350 milliamps a channel
The three channels output regulated current — 350 milliamps each — rather than a fixed voltage. That is what lets the decoder drive bare power LEDs straight: the current stays regulated through the string, so the fixtures without their own drivers connect directly and the brightness stays even across the channels. The trade is the load model: the load is counted in LEDs per channel, not in watts or amps of strip, and the voltage sets how many LEDs the channel can carry.
The LED-count table
The specifications put a number on it per supply voltage: at 12V, each channel drives 1 to 3 pieces of 1-watt LED; at 24V, 1 to 6 pieces; at 36V, 1 to 9; at 48V, 1 to 12. That is up to 36 of the 1-watt LEDs across the three channels on a 48V supply. Work the fixture strings against the table — the supply voltage and the LED count per channel decide the build, and headroom at the top of the range is the safer side.
4096 nivo grayi per kanalo
Each channel decodes at 4096 grey levels — 12-bit resolution. An 8-bit decoder has 256 steps, and the first few of those are visibly chunky when the LEDs dim down; with 4096 steps the same fade moves in increments the eye reads as continuous. On the 1-watt fixtures that matters twice over: the low end of the dim holds its line on the wall washers, and the point-source runs that sit in the camera’s view do not step. Smooth dimming is what the Highlights promise, and the 4096-level decode is the number behind it.
XLR-3R, RJ45 and the terminal block
The DMX512/1990 line lands three ways: the XLR-3R for the stage cabling, the RJ45 for the structured-cabling installs, and the terminal block for the panels where the line arrives on stripped conductors. One decoder covers the three standards, and the daisy-chain continues out of whichever connection the run arrived on. Three channels take three consecutive DMX addresses — red, green and blue in order.
Master mode, memory and the display
Master mode runs 8 built-in colour modes — the standalone looks that hold when no desk is driving the line. The power-loss memory brings the fixture back to its last state after a cut, which is what the unattended installs need after the first outage of the season. And the 3-digit display on the unit shows the DMX address without a laptop in the ceiling void — set it on the decoder, read it off the front.
Laboro envolupon
Working temperature spans -20°C to +55°C, which covers the plant rooms, the ceiling voids and the riser cabinets the installs run the decoder in. The body is L157×W65×H40mm at 450g — the same standalone envelope as the CD206-4 and the CD209, neither a DIN rail body nor a sealed one. It sits next to the fixture, in the dry, close to the LEDs it drives.
Choze la deŝifrobildon en la gamo
The DMX decoder family splits by output type. The CD23 is the constant-current set: 350 milliamps a channel for the bare 1-watt LED fixtures. Everything else in the family is constant-voltage, built for the strips and tape — the slim bodies CD204 to CD208 carry the one-to-four-channel sets, the CD206-4 and CD209 are the standalone stage bodies with the same envelope as this one, the CD203 adds the shutter channel and the DC5-24V supply, and the CD250 is the IP67 outdoor set. The DIN rail family runs the panel installs — the CD261 and CD265 single-channel 10-amp decoders, the CD262 RGB, the CD267 RGBW, the CD264 and CD268 RGBWW, and the CD269 series for the 24- and 32-channel scenes.
