Hello all!
Hooray for my first post!
Background:
So I wanted to share a recent issue I found while trying to integrate Meteor ElipScan Mirrors into the ETCnet at my theatre. We use ETCnet2 and Emphasis as a control server, though not as the board's brain. We use Emphasis to program cue lights, worklights, etc. and thusly allow "AMX" (a control surface) to control them through the net.
Instance:
3 ElipScans hung on ETC Source Four fixtures. These are 3-pin DMX input mirrors. I turned them around to 5-pin DMX with an adaptor. These converted 3-pin-to-5-pin runs then went into a ETCnet2 Node--that node connected via ethernet to the ETCnet.
Issue:
CLICKING! Random clicking was heard, loudly. We didn't know what it was. The board was not sending values to the mirrors, they had only been turned on via non-dim circuits. Even when a value, say "FL," was assigned through the board to a channel, say "Pan," we would hear the clicking. Odd. And annoying as all get-out.
Solution:
Our Supervisor of Sound had an idea... "Since they're 3-pin units, can we run them through a sound tieline to the booth--bypassing the net?" I immediately knew at that moment what the issue was: the ElipScans were invented to run off straight line voltage issued through only DMX--NOT ETCnet. Well, it worked. Peace and quiet. Ahhhh.
Conclusion:
Although data was successfully transfered through the net, converted to 3-pin configuration, and understood as commands by the mirrors, there was also background data being transmitted. The mirrors did not move or shake as a result of the "clicking." I attributed this to the fact that they are being bombarded with background signal (ie, binary). Since a network is always sending signal, they couldn't understand what was being whispered underneath the standard voltage currents.
All was well for the show, and although the ElipScans were loud (as always), they were not annoyingly loud. Anyone else experience this "data background" when dealing with DMX-required intelligents?
Best,
Tweedle.
Hooray for my first post!
Background:
So I wanted to share a recent issue I found while trying to integrate Meteor ElipScan Mirrors into the ETCnet at my theatre. We use ETCnet2 and Emphasis as a control server, though not as the board's brain. We use Emphasis to program cue lights, worklights, etc. and thusly allow "AMX" (a control surface) to control them through the net.
Instance:
3 ElipScans hung on ETC Source Four fixtures. These are 3-pin DMX input mirrors. I turned them around to 5-pin DMX with an adaptor. These converted 3-pin-to-5-pin runs then went into a ETCnet2 Node--that node connected via ethernet to the ETCnet.
Issue:
CLICKING! Random clicking was heard, loudly. We didn't know what it was. The board was not sending values to the mirrors, they had only been turned on via non-dim circuits. Even when a value, say "FL," was assigned through the board to a channel, say "Pan," we would hear the clicking. Odd. And annoying as all get-out.
Solution:
Our Supervisor of Sound had an idea... "Since they're 3-pin units, can we run them through a sound tieline to the booth--bypassing the net?" I immediately knew at that moment what the issue was: the ElipScans were invented to run off straight line voltage issued through only DMX--NOT ETCnet. Well, it worked. Peace and quiet. Ahhhh.
Conclusion:
Although data was successfully transfered through the net, converted to 3-pin configuration, and understood as commands by the mirrors, there was also background data being transmitted. The mirrors did not move or shake as a result of the "clicking." I attributed this to the fact that they are being bombarded with background signal (ie, binary). Since a network is always sending signal, they couldn't understand what was being whispered underneath the standard voltage currents.
All was well for the show, and although the ElipScans were loud (as always), they were not annoyingly loud. Anyone else experience this "data background" when dealing with DMX-required intelligents?
Best,
Tweedle.