Is that black box in picture [HASHTAG]#2[/HASHTAG] a DMX input or output by chance? If it's an output, you should be able to connect there as well. If it's an input, that's a no-go.
If it is an input then there is no signal coming from it to daisy to the moving lights or LED's.
You can use a gender changer to tap off that connection if you wanted to, those pins become live with DMX when DMX is fed into the system from the board. The reason for the connector is so that two DMX feeds can’t be applied at the same time. The DMX signal runs on the same internal buss that the input runs off of. Basically all the DMX chip does is take a signal sample off the line. I think the funny part is so many people talk about terminating DMX properly but no one puts terminators in their unused stage ports not realizing that they are running an unterminated system. Unless their dimmers have the termination function built in.
You can use a gender changer to tap off that connection if you wanted to, those pins become live with DMX when DMX is fed into the system from the board. The reason for the connector is so that two DMX feeds can’t be applied at the same time. The DMX signal runs on the same internal buss that the input runs off of. Basically all the DMX chip does is take a signal sample off the line. I think the funny part is so many people talk about terminating DMX properly but no one puts terminators in their unused stage ports not realizing that they are running an unterminated system. Unless their dimmers have the termination function built in.
Just because one CAN, doesn't mean on SHOULD.You can use a gender changer to tap off that connection if you wanted to, those pins become live with DMX when DMX is fed into the system from the board. ...
If scenario#2 above (the most likely), once one changes the input into an output, one has created a Y-cable split. From Doug Fleenor Design - DMX Primer :The gender of the panel-mount connector should have been your first clue. With DMX, "the male always goes home," home being the console. Likewise, "females have all the power, and males always want the power."
The building is likely wired one of three ways:
1) Booth DMX Input goes to dimmers' DMX Input A and Stage DMX Input goes to dimmers' DMX Input B, and dimmers are set to take either or both on an HTP basis. This is the only "proper" wiring, but means that the Stage Input cannot be used as an output.
2) The Booth DMX Input loops through the Stage DMX Input, then onto the dimmers.
3) The Booth DMX Input and the Stage DMX Input are both homerun to the dimmers, where they are two-fered on the same dimmer input.
Both 2&3 are incorrect, but you could, with an A5F-A5F turnaround or cable, use the Stage Input as an Output. IF you're going to do this, it IS STRONGLY ADVISED that you use an opto-isolator immediately after the Stage "output."
Always better to run a long cable from output#2 on the console, to the DMX devices.Splitting
Never split a DMX signal with a "wye" cable. Use a splitter device that buffers each line separately or daisy chain from device to device.
The problem with splitting the signal with a wye cable is that the signal going up one leg of the wye is reflected back down and corrupts the signal going down the other leg. The longer the legs of the wye, the worse the problem. A wye where each leg is 10 feet may work fine but may fail if the legs are increased to 100 feet. A lot has to do with the quality of the cable, the strength of the signal at the wye point, and your relationship with God.
It's not splitting, if it was splitting then every light and dimmer on the market is splitting. ...
See also this and subsequent post.@IAmLumenator,To answer your original question, yes, in most fixtures with a passive pass-through, the DMX actually forms a "T" with the fixture being the third wheel. The very short distance and high tolerance of the protocol allows this to work. ...It's always been a big no-no to split a DMX signal with a passive splitter, but every fixture I repair always has direct continuity between the in and out ports. I understand reflections are an issue, is this possible because the split happens so close to the fixture electronics? ...
Which schematics exactly?... Look at the schematics and tell me what you see.
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