My cliffnotes on
DMX: Basically all that's happening is that zillions of times a second the control device is sending signal saying "
CHANNEL X AT
LEVEL Y" where X is a number between 1 and 512 and Y is a number between 0 and 255 (there's a reason for the 256 different values to do with the way numbers are represented in
binary).
So, the CME in those Sensors reads the entire datastream, looking for the channels that it knows that it owns. When it sees one, it tells the corresponding individual
dimmer unit to go to that
level. It passes the entire signal back out again for daisy-chaining.
When a
DMX signal hits a moving light, that one
fixture is looking for a
block of channels, starting at the one you select with the menu on the
fixture. It then pipes the
level information into its little CPU and controls all its functions based on what value the channels take.
Side Note: Some
DMX moving lights have "16-bit" pan and tilt. What this means is that they use two channels each for pan and tilt, where the first selects from 256 positions for the motor, and the second selects from 256 positions within each of the previous positions (if that makes sense) giving you much more precise focus control.
Warning for the future: Many moving lights use "3 pin
DMX". This marvel of technology is essentially
AES/
EBU audio cable (data grade 3-core) and is good enough to carry
DMX without those nasty extra pins. Unfortunately, this means people want to use audio
XLR cable in them. This will not work. Guitar Center, PSSL and just about every "pro" music/lighting retail store carries 3pin
DMX because it's what all the silly DJ lights use.
Of course, if you use NSI
Microplex as a
dimmer connection, then you can use audio
XLR
MAN. So,
DMX is a very fast serial link that spits and endless stream of channels and their associated levels.
BTW, with that 48/96, you have
DMX B which is marked as "513-1024" - if you use that as a moving light feed, you'll need to do two things. First, when assigning channels on the
fixture, remember that what's coming down that
DMX B cable is "1-512" not "513-1024". Second, when in the
fixture patch
screen, you'll need to enter channels as "2/1" not "1/1" so signify the 2nd
DMX output.
Cheers!