Help With DMX Converters

Golani

Member
Unfortunately (or rather not so unfortunately) my old NSI MC 7532 died a few days ago. I was able to convince the school principle to purchase me a new board and we managed to settle on an ETC Congo Kid (refurbished). I was really pushing to purchase an ION, although that was just outside the amount of money that he was willing to spend.

I got the board in today and went to go set it up and realized that I had made quite a large mistake. I never bothered to check about the DMX that is wired in the theater. After plugging everything else in, I went to go plug in the DMX cable and discovered that my theater is wired with a 4 pin DMX cable. The Congo Kid is a 5 pin console.

I have a decently long 5 pin DMX cable and a 3 to 5 pin converter but that still doesn't really help me. I've tried doing a Google search on 4 to 5 pin or a 4 to 3 pin converter and just daisy chain the converters (yes I know that's not really a great thing to do, but I'm getting a little desperate).

If anyone is able to steer me in the right direction of where to purchase a converter and/or where I can custom order one it would be much appreciated. Also if what I'm asking for is impossible, I'd also like to know that so I can start figuring out what to do now.

EDIT for accuracy: I need a 4 pin female to either a 3 or 5 pin male.
 
The MC7532 should have had two 3-pin Microplex outputs and 5-pin DMX output. Did you require an adapter to get DMX out of the NSI console? What make and model dimmers are you using?

Best,
John
 
I believe the dimmers are Strand Lighting (they're extremely old and the paperwork on them is long gone). The NSI did have the microplex outputs but the only output coming out of the board was a 4 pin cable out of the DMX OUT port that went a foot or two over into the wall outlet. The NSI and the cable that it used have been there since the board was purchased many many years before I have been at the school but I'm positive that there was no converter on it and that it is a 4 pin cable -- which I have never encountered before.

In the last days of the console being functional I was messing around in the settings trying to figure out why the board lost control of some dimmers and noticed that the output settings on the board said that the board was outputting AMX, although the only cable plugged other than the power cord was the DMX OUT which was a 4 pin. I had an IATSE master electrician buddy of mine come in and try and take a look at the school's rig and help me start to fix the place up a bit before I leave and we were both very confused about that.
 
I believe the dimmers are Strand Lighting (they're extremely old and the paperwork on them is long gone). The NSI did have the microplex outputs but the only output coming out of the board was a 4 pin cable out of the DMX OUT port that went a foot or two over into the wall outlet. The NSI and the cable that it used have been there since the board was purchased many many years before I have been at the school but I'm positive that there was no converter on it and that it is a 4 pin cable -- which I have never encountered before.

In the last days of the console being functional I was messing around in the settings trying to figure out why the board lost control of some dimmers and noticed that the output settings on the board said that the board was outputting AMX, although the only cable plugged other than the power cord was the DMX OUT which was a 4 pin. I had an IATSE master electrician buddy of mine come in and try and take a look at the school's rig and help me start to fix the place up a bit before I leave and we were both very confused about that.

I would guess that your dimmers are AMX-192. That protocol uses a 4 pin cable, and it was the protocol of choice for strand dimmers before DMX became the adopted standard.

The gold standard for converters and most things DMX related is Doug Fleenor Design. Their converter is pretty expensive, but it will be rock solid and last forever. Since you only have one cable you would need the
DMX1AMX.
http://www.dfd.com/2amx.html

There are others that make converters much cheaper, but I have no experience with them so I'll leave them for someone else to discuss.
 
I would guess that your dimmers are AMX-192. That protocol uses a 4 pin cable, and it was the protocol of choice for strand dimmers before DMX became the adopted standard.

The gold standard for converters and most things DMX related is Doug Fleenor Design. Their converter is pretty expensive, but it will be rock solid and last forever. Since you only have one cable you would need the
DMX1AMX.
http://www.dfd.com/2amx.html

There are others that make converters much cheaper, but I have no experience with them so I'll leave them for someone else to discuss.

My only concern is that the school district is really pushing for building a new school and really isn't interested in spending a whole lot of money, which is why I wasn't able to purchase the ION. Not to mention the program is pretty broke since we get a whopping $0 per year budget. Is there any other way to get this board to work other than drop over $1,000?
 
My only concern is that the school district is really pushing for building a new school and really isn't interested in spending a whole lot of money, which is why I wasn't able to purchase the ION. Not to mention the program is pretty broke since we get a whopping $0 per year budget. Is there any other way to get this board to work other than drop over $1,000?
Good Morning! Please take a picture of the "DMX" connectors in your space (not on the console - in the wall) and email them to [email protected]. We will see if we can ascertain what you have there and offer suggestions as to a possible solution whether it is a product that we make or not.

Best Regards,
Pathway Connectivity


Van Rommel
Director Business Development
 
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I've got a used Gray 8610 DMX to AMX converter if you're interested. PM me and we can talk.


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You could see if you could find an old desk that has an AMX-192 output to buy used. The Strand 500 series desks have this, I believe a couple older ETC desks do as well.

If we knew more about what dimmers you have, it could be as simple as running new control lines to the dimmer control electronics. It may also be possible to find a DMX capable control module/board for your dimmer racks, depending on what dimmers you have.

If you can't figure out what dimmers you have, take and post some photos of the rack and any manufacturer markings on them.
 

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