Connect two boards?

[Moch1]

I have 2 MC 7008 lighting boards set up using MPX connections. Is there anyway I can hook up the two of them in parallel so one board controls 1-8 and the other controls 9-16?

[JD]

Short answer is there is no inexpensive way to do it. You need a merge unit (DMX example- Doug Fleenor Design - 221-621 Enhanced Merger ) that has a microprocessor that reads both inputs and then creates a data stream output. I suspect Doug Fleenor Design can come up with something for MPX.

Actually surprised that China-Co. hasn't come up with something yet for any format.

[jhdesynz]

Originally Posted by Moch1

I have 2 MC 7008 lighting boards set up using MPX connections. Is there anyway I can hook up the two of them in parallel so one board controls 1-8 and the other controls 9-16?

Short answer is no, you can't combine them on the same data stream. MPX (or Microplex) is an analog (M)ulti(P)le(X) signal that carries 24 volts on the line with it. There is nothing currently on the market that would merge the data signals and still nominalize the voltage back to 24 volts. The secondary difficulty is that both consoles start at 1 by default and I don't believe that the 7000 series has a way to change that.

You can however split your data stream into 2 runs and hook the first 8 to one console and the second 8 to the next console. Just be sure to reset the second 8 channels to start at 1 so their talking to the console correctly.

The DFD idea is not a bad suggestion, but based on the cost of MC-7008 consoles, it would be less expensive to get a MC-7016 and sell the two MC-7008's if you can.

Hope this helps a little.