Control/Dimming Express 48/96 does a time warp?

[hans44]

The theatre I work at uses an ETC Express 48/96 for it's mainstage, and it has a slight "bug". The system clock has been working fine, but recently froze, at 5:38 PM on January 4, 2011.

Other than the clock, the system works fine. Any reason why this might've happened?

 

[techno89]

Try doing this.

Back up your show and patch

Reset the board by holding down 789 while turning it on. See if that does it.

Best of luck,

 

[sarahsliefie]

Ours looses 15 minutes every day. I just do not look at the clock.

 

[hans44]

Update: inputting the current time / date "fixes" the issue. I won't try any resetting or anything at LEAST until our current show comes down.

 

[banjokeith]

Ours looses 15 minutes every day. I just do not look at the clock.

Our Express clock is pretty much worthless too. It loses a few minutes each day, but tends to stop losing time once it hits about 15 minutes behind - which makes absolutely no sense to me. Luckily for me, a TD for a show that came through a few years ago had this really cool device - it's like the clock in the board, only it's stand-alone and has a strap that goes around your wrist. ;-)

BTW, has anyone ever found a good use for the latitude and longitude settings on the board? I know that it calculates when your sun up/down times are, but has anyone ever made any use of this?

 

[derekleffew]

...BTW, has anyone ever found a good use for the latitude and longitude settings on the board? I know that it calculates when your sun up/down times are, but has anyone ever made any use of this?

Yes, several times. Many permanent outdoor installations take advantage of the astronomical clock. I'm waiting for a console with a built-in GPS, so lat./long. data doesn't have to be manually entered.

Perhaps an old computer wives' tale, but if a PC's clock starts going wacky, it may be an indication that the internal backup battery needs replacement.

 

[zmb]

Perhaps an old computer wives' tale, but if a PC's clock starts going wacky, it may be an indication that the internal backup battery needs replacement.

Probably likely, you just don't notice it with newer computers that get time off the internet. I have seen computers before give "Low Battery" messages before loading the operating system.

 

[LavaASU]

Perhaps an old computer wives' tale, but if a PC's clock starts going wacky, it may be an indication that the internal backup battery needs replacement.

Not a wives' tale. I took the computer repair/networking cert classes (nope, didn't bother to pay for the test as a few years ago and we were taught that.

 

[chausman]

Ours looses 15 minutes every day. I just do not look at the clock.

On ours we just use the clock to tell when people need to be ready to start. You need to be in place by the time the board shows the starting time. Even when I reset the clock almost every day.

 

[Grog12]

Yes, several times. Many permanent outdoor installations take advantage of the astronomical clock. I'm waiting for a console with a built-in GPS, so lat./long. data doesn't have to be manually entered.

Perhaps an old computer wives' tale, but if a PC's clock starts going wacky, it may be an indication that the internal backup battery needs replacement.

Yeah totally not a old wives' tale. Ours is completely dead and the clock just stops at whatever time you shut off the board and picks up at the same spot when you turn it back on.

 

[chausman]

Yeah totally not a old wives' tale. Ours is completely dead and the clock just stops at whatever time you shut off the board and picks up at the same spot when you turn it back on.

Good for telling how long you have worked on that show though!