DMX Question

Hello.

I've been lurking on this forum for a couple weeks now and finally decided to join. I handle lighting for two local church theater groups and I am about as amateur as they come.

In one of the churches, we are working on a slow upgrade of the lighting system (we rely 100% on donations and Memorials when parishioners pass away) . The first step was to convert them to DMX control vs. the old Leprechaun board and dimmers they had previously. We have purchased a ETC SmartFade 1248 board with 2 City Theatrical Show Baby 5 and 5 American DJ 4 channel dimmers (this was all we could afford this time around). We currently run all conventional fixtures that are at least 15-20 years old.

Except the output from the SmartFade, all DMX cables are 3 pin DMX. I'm being told that a local lighting company is donating several LED DMX fixtures (I have no idea what they are as I have not seen them and no one else with the theater group has any lighting experience). What I do know is that they have RJ45 DMX in/out. Question 1. Can I use these donated lights with the current DMX setup (with the appropriate adapter) and 2. Is there anything I should know about using RJ45 DMX fixtures?

Any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Adam

Technically neither 3-pin XLR nor RJ45 connectors are DMX (the standard specs 5-pin XLR connectors); however, the electrical signal should be compatable with DMX. Be sure that the RJ45 is not actually expecting a network protocol (not electrically compatible, can cause damage). As RJ45 is even further from the standard, you'll want to be sure you've correctly identified the pin outs and have a correctly wired adaptor.

Don't put the cart before the horse. Find out exactly what they are, then get the manual and read it. I wouldn't make any further plans until you know exactly what you're getting. And depending on what they are and what your needs are, you might be better served to trade/sell them for something that fits your needs better. You can sell them here, you can try e-bay, etc. Facebook also has a couple AV groups where used equipment is sold all the time.

You should be able to google the model number and find the owners manual for the fixture. As stated above, you need to find out if the RJ45 is really DMX or is it designed to work on a network as a node. If it is true DMX, then you are looking to find out which 3 of the 8 pins are used for the signal. The manual should have this information. If that is the case, it should be easy to make up adapters. You said there was an in and out. The fact that there are two sounds promising.

There are 2 common forms of RJ45 /DMX connections. You'll definitely need to know which to use.