Express patching

M

mstaylor

Well-Known Member
Departed Member
I got called into my building tonight to light a wedding. I only have 24 dimmer channels so it's no big deal. I go in and none of my board dimmers seem to be working.
I have it set up as 1:1 patch with one scene and subs. I got the subs to work but no dimmers. It looks like somebody has screwed the patch up but the band was playing so I just got light on stage. Tuesday I will go in and figure out what happened. Suggestions on where to start? I'm thinking to just reload the patch but was wondering if it was easier to do the factory reset and start fresh with no subs and reset them too.
The problem is I have been in a supervisory role for too many years and don't put hands on enough. The Express is used in a room that I do almost nothing in so I don't use it much and have to rethink the whole process any time I use it.
 
You can reset the patch to 1 to 1 and if the patch was the only thing that was screwed up then you should be good to go.
 
It's frustraing that I have to do anything to the patch. Nobody is supposed to be using it except my hands. Since I haven't had any guys in their for at least 6 months, I know none of my guys screwed with it.
 
if you have a standard patch disc already, i recommend resetting everything (there is a soft key for that) then reloading your disc. if you don't have a disc, it should only take a few minutes to repatch - it's only 24 dimmers.

once you have your patch, subs, and cues in the console, save a disc and put a copy on a hard drive, burn a CD, put it on a thumb drive, email it to several different people - you get my drift.

a usb floppy drive is still available online - not as cheap as they used to be, but I have one for just this very reason.

peace,

Tim O
 
I reset everything according to the post above, which I had already tried. My first dimmer is coming up on 33 instead of one. It isn't big deal but it hasn't been that way in the past. I should be able to reset the patch but it doesn't seem to be doing what I tell it to do. I will contact ETC but thought I would try here first. It was the weekend and it was working just not how I wanted it.

Edited to add:
I got it fixed. Somebody had switched universes on me and I never thought to check it. I'm an idiot.
 
Last edited:
in my experience, the bigger and more system-wide a problem is, the easier it is to find it. you should give yourself a break; sounds like you're in a fixed installatiion and wouldn't expect things to be moved around like they were. in my situation, it's exactly the opposite: all my work is one-offs, and the entire system is built from scratch every time. also, the number of people who a) are capable and b) allowed anywhere near the console are strictly limited. woe to the person caught poking around in my console!

perhaps a common courtesy campaign in your section to teach students how to clean up after themselves would help in the future.

peace,

Tim O
 
You are right, that board is a permanent fixture in a room I do almost nothing in but nobody has a clue how to run it except me and I'm suspect. :mrgreen:
The problem is my maintainence staff feels the need to try and run it with no clue. I have tried to teach them but to no avail. I also think some of the hall renters have had hands on it. I think I have finally convinced my bosses to allow my hands and I to run all tech in the building including the projection gigs. 90% of the time I get called in anyway.
The main hall I work in is a 7000 seat multi use room that I do one offs in. Everything from touring Broadway to circuses, to national concerts. Obviously I'm not running their equipment, just getting all the pieces in the right spots. I.m the SM and head rigger for that space.
 
I have one more stupid question. I understand being in the wrong universe but I still don't know why it was coming up on such strange dimmer numbers. When I was in the wrong universe one was 33 and so forth. I don't see a correlation between the two.
 
If you patch 1:1 on a 96 channel board, which I'm going to guess you have, I believe there will be multiple dimmers on one channel, but will be in order.

Channel 1 will have dimmers 1, 97, 193, 289, 385, 481, 577, etc until you reach dimmer 1024. So if you look at channel 33...

Channel 33 will have dimmers 33, 129, 225, 321, 417, 513, 609

Dimmer 513 is dimmer one on Universe two, thats why 1 was on 33.

Someone check my math or correct me if I made a mistake please
 
Techfiend said:
If you patch 1:1 on a 96 channel board, which I'm going to guess you have, I believe there will be multiple dimmers on one channel, but will be in order.

Channel 1 will have dimmers 1, 97, 193, 289, 385, 481, 577, etc until you reach dimmer 1024. So if you look at channel 33...

Channel 33 will have dimmers 33, 129, 225, 321, 417, 513, 609

Dimmer 513 is dimmer one on Universe two, thats why 1 was on 33.

Someone check my math or correct me if I made a mistake please
Click to expand...

This is only true if you have your Express set up for more than 96 dimmers.
 
also be aware, that in the express/expression/insight boards, you can set any universe to start at any DMX number you want. By setting both of them to start at 1, you can use both outputs much like you would as two outputs from a splitter, in and express and three outputs on an expression. The setup of the universes is performed in setup selection 2.
 
Techfiend said:
If you patch 1:1 on a 96 channel board, which I'm going to guess you have, I believe there will be multiple dimmers on one channel, but will be in order.

Channel 1 will have dimmers 1, 97, 193, 289, 385, 481, 577, etc until you reach dimmer 1024. So if you look at channel 33...

Channel 33 will have dimmers 33, 129, 225, 321, 417, 513, 609

Dimmer 513 is dimmer one on Universe two, thats why 1 was on 33.

Someone check my math or correct me if I made a mistake please
Click to expand...


I think you hit it on the head, Techfiend. there is some part of the setup menu that will allow one to choose the number of active....dimmers? I think it's dimmers. I remember once someone had a console set up with 48 dimmers and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't drive a 96ch rack.

I also remember if there are unpatched dimmers, they are all visible as one giant clump in the patch window. I do believe selecting a 1-1 patch WOULD wrap around.

Mstaylor, you could verify this by going into the setup menu system and telling us how many dimmers there are and if there are any unpatched. It's been at least 2 years since I even touched an express, and most likely 10 years since I've had to suss out patch issues of this nature. Techfiend's answer has the ring of truth; I'd be willing to bet $1 if you look at your patch, you'll see those dimmers TF called out actually being patched to that channel.

peace,

Tim O
 
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