Pyro and Chain motors

[Van]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

A cool note on Pyro controllers. Typically the controller is hard wired directly to the pyro device for safety reasons. However when I was taking my backstage tour at Cirque Du Soleil: Ka last year they told us their controller is wireless. It's a military grade control system. It sends multiple encrypted signals at the same time and only when all signals line up correctly on both ends does it fire. Crazy Cool!

Oh Sure! Then the Defence Department finds out you're doing a crazy Rock Show, subverting the minds of all those young able-bodied men and they secretly send a cover black-ops team to infiltrate the concert, then activate the pyro system via means of .......
Hmm time to change the foil in my hat.

[FatherMurphy]

One of the provisions of the post-9/11 Patriot Act-type laws was that ALL explosives manufactured, loaded, and detonated in the US had to be done by individuals licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. The laws were written in consultation with the mining, construction, and demolition industries, but did not consider the pyrotechnics industry, with resulting wording that included pyro by default. One immediate result was that every single 4th of July fireworks shooter now needed a FBI/BATF background check before being issued their license. One fireworks company based near me has over 4,500 shooters on the 4th... the paperwork required was staggering.

The upshot is that it's not just a good idea to call a professional pyrotechnician, it's the (federal) law.

[MNBallet]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

A cool note on Pyro controllers. Typically the controller is hard wired directly to the pyro device for safety reasons. However when I was taking my backstage tour at Cirque Du Soleil: Ka last year they told us their controller is wireless. It's a military grade control system. It sends multiple encrypted signals at the same time and only when all signals line up correctly on both ends does it fire. Crazy Cool!

yes, very cool. I have one such system myself.

[AdamBair]

If you don't have a Pyro license then you don't do it. Because "A guy explained it to me in a internet forum" isn't going to sound very good the local Fire Department Chief.

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by AdamBair

If you don't have a Pyro license then you don't do it. Because "A guy explained it to me in a internet forum" isn't going to sound very good the local Fire Department Chief.

It also isn't going to keep you out of jail when the Feds arrive.

[carlmnz]

Advanced Entertainment serivces out of Las Vegas can do any pyro you need. The system is called Surefire from LeMaitre and can do wired in or Wireless. Your main can console can be how ever far away you need it to be from the stage and it uses slave units that actually send the electrical current that sparks the pyro. The main control bored and the slaves are conected by cat 5 I believe. With the main control you can fire everything by hand when ever you need to. What I had in place on Cruise ships was a program called Showman that recieved a timecode signal and fired cues from the program. The program was linked with the Sure fire console and when Showman fired cues Sure fire fired cues. The surefire console has a pickle than can be used as a fireing device or a deadman switch. We used it as a deadman when running the showman program. If the deadman wasnt pressed the pyro wouldnt fire as the shoman program was firing it. This program made it easy to have your cues right in sink with your music.

[carlmnz]

And yes AES can set it up for you but you would still need a license to fire.

[TupeloTechie]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

"If you have to ask...you shouldn't be doing it."

I'm sorry, but how did these "professionals" learn if they didn't ask first?

[cprted]

Originally Posted by TupeloTechie

I'm sorry, but how did these "professionals" learn if they didn't ask first?

What we mean is, if you have to ask an anonymous internet forum, you shouldn't be doing it.

The professionals we encourage you to seek out have gone through accredited training programs and have formal certifications. Believe me, professional pyrotechnicians didn't learn their trade by watching how-to videos on youtube.

[photoatdv]

Of course not, they learned in science class, duh!

Couldn't resist... and totally kidding!