4 pin to house system

[nickstar514]

Hi, I was at school the other day trying to figure out how to get a four pin into my house system for the lighting and i just could not figure it out. we are using a etc express 48/96 and both dmx inputs are filled. Help!!!! i was asked tp give more info so here t is it goes four pin o scroller to the brain. the brain converts it to 5 pin. sorry for the confusion. i need to know how to get 5 PIN DMX into my house system there is no dimmer boxes so thats out of the question.


Thanks

 

[dcollins]

I don't know what you're talking about. What is this four pin? You mean 4pin DMX? For scrollers and stuff? Why are you using DMX Inputs on your express? Be a lot more specific about what component you're currently trying to connect, tell us what it is, how you think you should connect it, and what you're trying to connect it to, and we can be a lot more helpful.

 

[Sony]

DMX is not 4-pin...it is ether 5-pin or rarely but sometimes 3-pin. 4-pin would most likely be AMX or possibly another manufacturer protocol.

Your question however is unclear, could you please rephrase it or possibly explain in a little more detail what you are trying to do?

 

[dcollins]

DMX is not 4-pin...it is ether 5-pin or rarely but sometimes 3-pin. 4-pin would most likely be AMX or possibly another manufacturer protocol.

Your question however is unclear, could you please rephrase it or possibly explain in a little more detail what you are trying to do?

You know what I mean, where two pins are used for 24VDC and the other two for a DMX signal, as from the power supply for a scroller. If you aren't going to accept those lines as DMX, then I'm sure you know that 3-pin isn't DMX either, but that's a war for another thread. Since everyone calls the 4-pin lines from a PSU to a color scroller, moving mirror, or one of many other toys '4-pin DMX', I figured it would be easiest for the sake of troubleshooting nickstar's problem to use that term. If he's trying to connect a 4-pin DMX device directly to his board, then the specifics of the DMX spec aren't really going to help him.

 

[MNicolai]

While I completely agree that you need to provide more details, I'm going to presume you're trying to get your Express to talk to some intelligent gear with 4-pin XLR inputs.

Should that be the case, your console doesn't talk directly to those devices. It speaks via 5-pin XLRs (aka DMX) to a power supply. This power supply takes the signal from 2 pins of the DMX cable and tells the power supply what to do. The power supply then sends the appropriate power to the device via one pair of the 4-pin cable, and via the second pair, sends a data signal to the device to tell it what to do.

If you come up with a crafty homemade 5-pin->4-pin cable to get DMX directly to a 4-pin device, it will not work because it lacks power. You need to have 5-pin cables to get Express to talk to the appropriate power supplies, and then 4-pin cables to get the power supplies to talk to the devices.

 

[dramatech]

Well, I realize that I am going to get flamed to death for what I am about to say, but let the negative comments begin.

I have wired my theatre, to have 24 four pin DMX outlets at various locations through out. There is one at every electric and every fixed boom, plus the FOH catwalks and the four corners of the stage. These outlets contain electro/isolated DMX on pins 1, 2, and 3 the same as both 3 pin and 5 pin DMX connectors. Pins 1 and 4 carry 24 volts DC the same as scroller connections. The connections come from three 8 channel distributors that have a 20 amp/ 24 volt supply mounted on top of them and wired into the distros, with the connectors changed to 4 pin.
In this way, we have scroller supply and control at every location, and I use adaptors from 4 pin to 5 pin, or 4 pin to 3 pin as needed.
This system really works great when LDs want to add scrollers at the last minute. I have never had a problem with any of it.
The next stage when I have time will be to add 3 and 5 pin at the most used outlets. I will parallel them together or use a selector switch that is key operated, I haven't quite decided at this point.
I am the only person that makes the connections to DMX operated devices, so it hasn't been a problem so far. Oh and yes I do have returns for the scroller power and each line is seperately fused.

 

[Sony]

You know what I mean, where two pins are used for 24VDC and the other two for a DMX signal, as from the power supply for a scroller. If you aren't going to accept those lines as DMX, then I'm sure you know that 3-pin isn't DMX either, but that's a war for another thread. Since everyone calls the 4-pin lines from a PSU to a color scroller, moving mirror, or one of many other toys '4-pin DMX', I figured it would be easiest for the sake of troubleshooting nickstar's problem to use that term. If he's trying to connect a 4-pin DMX device directly to his board, then the specifics of the DMX spec aren't really going to help him.

I was addressing the OP. It didn't sound to me like he was trying to plug in a color scroller since he used the phrase "house system" it seems like he is trying to plug into the house dimming system which very well could be old and still running on AMX. Sorry if I myself was unclear.