DMX tester

Nate12387

Member
Hi guys,

I'm looking into getting a DMX tester since I'm doing some freelance lighting work. Currently I'm looking at getting either the swisson X-MT-120 DMX Measurement Tool, MicroTech DMX, or Doug Fleenor Design's DIZMO. Can anyone give me a recommendation on a test tool? Feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Nate
 
Depends what you need to do with it and how long you intend to keep it. If you won't be troubleshooting large, multi-universe DMX rigs on a regular basis, something like the MicroTech might be your best option from a cost standpoint. If you're looking to make a significant investment, my favorite of those three is the Swisson. However, my personal preference would be something like the Goddard MiniDMXter4, which provides RDM capabilities in addition to DMX testing. I'm still thinking (hoping) that RDM will become much more prevalent in the industry over the next couple years, and if it does, you'll want to have a tester that can also test RDM.
 
Depends what you need to do with it and how long you intend to keep it. If you won't be troubleshooting large, multi-universe DMX rigs on a regular basis, something like the MicroTech might be your best option from a cost standpoint. If you're looking to make a significant investment, my favorite of those three is the Swisson. However, my personal preference would be something like the Goddard MiniDMXter4, which provides RDM capabilities in addition to DMX testing. I'm still thinking (hoping) that RDM will become much more prevalent in the industry over the next couple years, and if it does, you'll want to have a tester that can also test RDM.

Thanks Rochem.

All I am looking for is a DMX tester that would suite my needs as a lighting freelancer. Thanks for the info.
 
I'm not sure if I would go as far as to buy any DMX tester as a freelance tech, but if you're committed to buying something like what's been mentioned I'll say we use a DMXter from Goddard Design. It does everything we ask it to do and more, and is pretty much indestructible. It looks like the new DMXter4's are even RDM compatible. List price on the Goddard Design website is $975. A bit spendy, but next time I'm told to but something to test equipment with it'll be a DMXter.

EDIT: the MiniDMXter 4 is listed at $495 and does everything I would ever need, that might also be a good idea.
 
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I have the Swisson unit and I am a big fan of it. Runs about $300-$350.
 
It's crude, but I use a pseudo termination plug that I soldered a two colour LED on. Each LED lights for either the hot or cold (ie, the the red is on the hot and the green is on the cold). I can tell right away if something isn't sending properly, and all it takes is to plug it into a fixture or cable to see where the break is.

I'm assuming you're looking for just a "checker" here, not something you could actually control the system with to test it...
 
Hi...I've used and continue to use, the MicroTech DMX tester. Good price, very flexible, not fancy but very functional and a real time saver for checking lines and running simple tests.
 
I have heard the Swisson is super nice for the price. I have the leviton tester. Its not very user friendly but it will run an out put on a channel from 0 - 255 and back down continuously, which I use regularly.
 
I had a GAM command 2 until it just died. Then I got a Swisson at LDI a couple of years ago and now I travel with the thing! Add a 1' DMX cable and it rocks! It also comes with a full set of XLR3->XLR5 Adapters & a case!
 

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