[porkchop]

You have really good questions, there's no shame in asking. It sounds like you have a good idea of the basics you just need a few more details.

First of all DMX is the signal. Basically there is a 5-pin XLR cable (could be 3-pin but it's supposed to be 5-pin) running from the board to the dimmers and to any intelligent fixtures you have. It transmits 512 values between 0 and 255. I believe it does this 40 times a second but I could be wrong. The 0 to 255 value represents the intensity of any light plugged into the respective dimmer, or if the cable is plugged into an intelligent fixture is a data instruction to make the light do something (this is the only data source so all light functions are communicated this way). This can be expanded upon if you search for DMX you will probably find some very in depth information.

As far as the numbers they are the number dimmer controlling that plug. If you plug a light into dimmer 42 say and then send the DMX signal to the dimmer rack that you want dimmer 42 at full you will see your light come on (Or at least that's what's supposed to happen).

What you will probably notice is that channel 42 on your lighting console may or may not control dimmer 42. This is because of something called the patch. Which is stored on your lighting console. The best way to think of the patch is like a giant spreadsheet where the first column is the channel number and the second column is the dimmer(s) that the channel controls. Other things that you will see on different boards are: universe number (if you don't type that in with dimmer number), a maximum level to send to that dimmer, and a profile for an intelligent fixture. I'm sure there's others but that's what I can think of off the top of my head. The presentation of this varies widely from manufacture to manufacture and even between the same company's consoles but with that idea you at least get the idea.

Hope that covers it, feel free to ask more if it doesn't