Control/Dimming EOS 2.2 & Nomad Puck

[SteveB]

Hopzing: The EOS family (and so I expect Nomad) will do EDMX which also goes by NET2. Upgrading is usually a good thing, but it seems not mandatory.

As per my conversation last Thurs with ETC tech support, Nomad will only talk sACN, thus is not comparable with Net2 devices that are only EDMX capable. You can update the 2 port nodes that were manufactured by Pathway for ETC, as well as CEM+ to enable sACN.

EDIT: As per a thread on the ETC forum, those legacy 2 port Net 2 nodes are upgradable via sACN software from Pathway, not ETC. As such ETC can't support a product using software from a separate vendor. I have not done this upgrade (and don't plan to do so), so can't comment on how well ,or if it works.

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[Lsly]

I have Layers of Light here in Portland on Tuesday. Also updating my consoles. Looking forward to testing all of this, and seeing the new fixtures. Post to come!

 

[Hopzing]

Does anyone know if the DMX King e DMX4 RDM / Art-Net sACN device might work okay with the Nomad EOS Dongle? Has anyone had experience with this?

 

[sk8rsdad]

It ought to work, since it supports sACN and Art-Net. No direct experience though.

 

[LightingGuy89]

I have an old Martin Ether2DMX 4-port Art-Net gateway at home that I used with Nomad 256 dongle. Worked just fine for my LEDs and midi control.

 

[lightingguy1]

As per my conversation last Thurs with ETC tech support, Nomad will only talk sACN, thus is not comparable with Net2 devices that are only EDMX capable. You can update the 2 port nodes that were manufactured by Pathway for ETC, as well as CEM+ to enable sACN.

EDIT: As per a thread on the ETC forum, those legacy 2 port Net 2 nodes are upgradable via sACN software from Pathway, not ETC. As such ETC can't support a product using software from a separate vendor. I have not done this upgrade (and don't plan to do so), so can't comment on how well ,or if it works.

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I was wondering if anyone has experience with this in any shape, form, or fashion of loading Pathway firmware into 2-port ETCnet2 nodes. If so, please send me PM! I am in dire need of an sACN compatible node.

 

[SteveB]

Any particular reason you don't contact Pathway ?, you have to got to them for the software as this is not an ETC supported modification

http://www.pathwayconnect.com/content/view/146/37/


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[lightingguy1]

SteveB,

I have already contacted Pathway. I was told they couldn't assist in the upgrade without written permission from ETC because of the original OEM agreement. ETC people aren't willing to give out that permission.

 

[SteveB]

As per a post on the ETC Forum on 6/23;

"Since we do not actively manufacture or develop software for the original Net2 2-Port gateways, we do not have a mode that would allow it to send/receive sACN data. Because the hardware is similar enough to Pathway's version of the same type, users have reported that they have been able to load Pathway's code that supports sACN. Because you would be loading code that was not manufactured nor tested by ETC, ETC cannot support the product in that state. If asked, we will advise you to restore the ETC code as the first step of troubleshooting an issue."

Presumably, people have downloaded and installed Pathway sACN software on these nodes, just without any support from Pathway to do it. It would then be the task to determine which software from the Pathway site is applicable. So you are back to your original question, "anyone here ever done this"

Sorry I was no help otherwise, but I did learn that I won't be changing my 2 port nodes anytime soon.

 

[JohnD]

Two Nomad questions.
Can a Puck be used with just the Ipad app? There seem to be quite a few people looking for I pad control for simple lighting to add to their smaller sound systems for bar bands and such. Seems like a puck + usb>dmx box + iPad would be very useful for this.
The Nomad software supports Eos and Cobalt BUT for Cobalt the computer running it requires "hardware accelerated OpenGL". Does the puck provide this?

 

[sk8rsdad]

The combination would be iPad -> wireless access point -> Nomad Puck -> Gadget or Net3 node

Since Puck is intented to run Cobalt the answer is probably "yes". It's hard to imagine ETC designing the Puck with inadequate hardware to run their own software.

 

[TheTheaterGeek]

Im excited about the puck. It is a lot easier to move around than an rvi. When it comes to 2.2 Im so satisfied with it. Especially the screen layout options.

 

[SteveB]

Im excited about the puck. It is a lot easier to move around than an rvi. When it comes to 2.2 Im so satisfied with it. Especially the screen layout options.

Curious as to the price difference between a Puck, which is a clean machine with only one purpose and a cheap Win 7 laptop cleaned out (as much as is possible) of all the crap.

Of course I'd be tempted to go with the laptop as I can also tho Adobe reader, Vectorworks and Lightwright on it, which is what I did with an old Win XP laptop. Work pretty well as an RVI

 

[TheTheaterGeek]

I would agree except in a school situation, a laptop is an alluring item. With lots of dorm room compatibility. The puck on the other hand serves only one purpose, but also can output if we don't want to open the real console up for some reason. It's ability to stand alone as well as control the console is an ability worth that kind of money.


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[techieman33]

I would agree except in a school situation, a laptop is an alluring item. With lots of dorm room compatibility. The puck on the other hand serves only one purpose, but also can output if we don't want to open the real console up for some reason. It's ability to stand alone as well as control the console is an ability worth that kind of money.


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It's just as easy to throw the nomad in their backpack and walk away with it as it is a laptop. Then they can throw it up on ebay make a quick couple of thousand dollars and buy whatever they want.

 

[SteveB]

I would agree except in a school situation, a laptop is an alluring item.

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All true in your scenario.

 

[JJBerman]

Just to throw my 2 cents in, working at a college IT department and a student in its Theatre department, many colleges have some sort of tacking software installed on their laptops(in my case computrace) to track any stolen/lost laptops. I know that my old k-12 school district is looking into the same thing. I know first thoughts are to steer clear of managed IT systems but if anything were to happen to the laptop stolen or broken, IT has a policy to try and fix/find it. Just a thought.

 

[alyx92]

Has anyone been able to hook up the Nomad software to a visualizer on the same machine? I tried looking through the manuals but couldn't find clear instructions.

 

[TheTheaterGeek]

Has anyone been able to hook up the Nomad software to a visualizer on the same machine? I tried looking through the manuals but couldn't find clear instructions.

Yes, using loop back.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc708322(v=ws.10).aspx

It's a way to shoot Ethernet from and back into your computer.


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[TheTheaterGeek]

It's just as easy to throw the nomad in their backpack and walk away with it as it is a laptop. Then they can throw it up on ebay make a quick couple of thousand dollars and buy whatever they want.

But not everyone knows the value of that. I agree with your point, but I think that the puck would be less alluring.


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