Control/Dimming Merging ETC and Strand Network Architecture

[Peyton]

Hi all,


First of all let me say how great it is to be back here, I haven't been on the forums in years and this is where it all started for me. I have learned so much from this resource that wouldn't be possible without it. It's great to see the same stickies hanging around, but I do wonder what happened to the 5-headphone trophy rankings? Not much more than a post count indicator but it was fun to see. Anyway I digress.

I am advising a facility on their upgrade from a pretty badly-planned strand installation to an ETC ION and a few additional ETC Smart Bar 2s. This is the first time I have been calling the shots on control systems in an upgrade however. What is in place is an entirely Strand backbone, from dimmers and raceways to the board, as well as N21 ShowNet Nodes. The board, a Strand Light Palette Classic, is plugged into an ethernet cable which goes to the dimmers. So my big question is this: If an ION is plugged into that cable, (and assuming I have it set to the correct network address), will the ShowNet Nodes respond to this control? Further - will RDM work over these nodes? The spec sheet has no mention of it.

I haven't seen what sort of brains are in the dimmer room, and I suppose that is my next step.

Speculation welcome.
Thanks!
P

 

[Chris15]

Doubtful.
ETC use a different protocol to Strand.
So it would be like going in a room that's always spoken French and starting to speak German and expecting it to all work

Sorry for the bad news...

 

[Mac Hosehead]

The usual way to make this work would be to setup a two-port Shownet node as inputs connected to the two DMX outputs on the Ion. This would get you two universes to work with but I doubt RDM is implemented.

If your dimmer racks are C21 then they most likely are being worked from Shownet as well.

There is a software project for linux that will input sACN on a universe basis and patch to output Shownet. This is not a commercial product and might be more appropriate at a school setting if adequate support exists.
http://www.openlighting.org/ola/

-MH

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Talk to Pathway. For my money, they have really compatible products and the experience to make them compatible. If you can make them connect with ACN, you'll benefit from more features. The DMX to DMX link should work but kind of the get a bigger hammer approach and won't do more than send data.

 

[JJBerman]

One of the theatres I work at is all Strand minus and ETC ION and some ETC Desires and Selador classics. I have it setup dmx from the board to an N21 node that Ethernets to a switch in the booth then to the system switch in the dimmer room. The board also connects to the switch in the booth which allows me to use the strand network for arfr and laptop work.
I don't get RDM. But we have permanently labeled the fixtures and have a house patch for those fixtures so all I need to know is what fixture number goes to what channel and I'm all set.
I know that ETC doesn't run shownet and Strand doesn't run sACN, and N21 nodes can't run RDM.

 

[Peyton]

One of the theatres I work at is all Strand minus and ETC ION and some ETC Desires and Selador classics. I have it setup dmx from the board to an N21 node that Ethernets to a switch in the booth then to the system switch in the dimmer room. The board also connects to the switch in the booth which allows me to use the strand network for arfr and laptop work.
I don't get RDM. But we have permanently labeled the fixtures and have a house patch for those fixtures so all I need to know is what fixture number goes to what channel and I'm all set.
I know that ETC doesn't run shownet and Strand doesn't run sACN, and N21 nodes can't run RDM.

Right. Just reverse engineer the system, basically. One question though - what sort of switch do you have in the booth?

Since Horizon Pathport nodes are basically rebadged N21 nodes made by Horizon, which Strand owns, I would assume that they are RDM compatible (Pathport C-Series are, specifically). I suppose I'll be making some calls to Horizon soon.

 

[JJBerman]

Right. Just reverse engineer the system, basically. One question though - what sort of switch do you have in the booth?

Since Horizon Pathport nodes are basically rebadged N21 nodes made by Horizon, which Strand owns, I would assume that they are RDM compatible (Pathport C-Series are, specifically). I suppose I'll be making some calls to Horizon soon.

The switch I have in the booth is a Cisco Small Business: SG100D-08P-NA from Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833150153

I know that my N21 nodes are not RDM capable. But they are the original N21 Nodes. The Pathport C-Series look extremely similar to the ETC Net 2 Nodes.
Pathport that I saw:
http://www.pathwayconnect.com/content/view/53/29/
ETC Node:
http://www.etcconnect.com/Support/Articles/ETCNet2-Two-Port-DMX-Node-Information.aspx

From the website, the Pathport C-Series states it is RDM capable. Looks interesting.