thelatinist
Member
First of all, thanks to all of you for your suggestions. I'm sorry my first post has to be such a head-scratcher. You guys have been great, though.
Rebooted three times, plus was off and completely pulled from the rack for an hour yesterday, dusted and contacts cleaned, then reinserted.
I will check for a resistor on the DMX line in the rack tomorrow. There are two 4-output Pathway 1002 Octo-Splitter modules in the enclosure. One has its its termination switch on, the other off. Is that a problem? But then, yesterday was the first time that enclosure has been opened in the four years I've been here, and we've not experienced this problem in the past.
The rack is three-phase capable, but three-phase is not available in our area so it was configured for single phase. The affected channels are scattered across all of the bus bars.
We've got a previously-ordered DMX-over-Ethernet box on its way, and will use it to cut the console out of the chain when it arrives. Meanwhile we have tried opening a couple of old show files but have had the same issue. If it does turn out to be in the console I will start fresh and re-patch everything.
If we can narrow it down to a single fixture/dimmer or set of fixtures/dimmers we will certainly check that. Thanks!
It also would not hurt to reboot the dimmer rack. Even the most stable, microprocessor based system can get a snit and need its head cleared. Always try the simple, easy stuff first.
Rebooted three times, plus was off and completely pulled from the rack for an hour yesterday, dusted and contacts cleaned, then reinserted.
Since you have an active splitter, that eliminates the movers and their cabling. It narrows the search to the console, the splitter, the dimming rack, and the DMX cabling between the three.
Is the DMX cable from the splitter terminated at the dimmer rack? There should be resistor across the DMX line at the terminal strip inside the rack. I would also check that the switch for termination is turned on for the splitter input.
I will check for a resistor on the DMX line in the rack tomorrow. There are two 4-output Pathway 1002 Octo-Splitter modules in the enclosure. One has its its termination switch on, the other off. Is that a problem? But then, yesterday was the first time that enclosure has been opened in the four years I've been here, and we've not experienced this problem in the past.
It could also be a power problem. Are all of the lights that cause it to act up powered from dimmers on the same phase? Assuming this is a three-phase rack, phases are bussed to columns of dimmer modules, in the pattern left to right A, B, C, A, B, C. If the culprits are all on the same phase, then consider having a qualified electrician inspect the feeders to the rack and the circuit breaker for it.
The rack is three-phase capable, but three-phase is not available in our area so it was configured for single phase. The affected channels are scattered across all of the bus bars.
You could try re-patching the board / trying a different board? If the same channel in the board is doing it it might be the board, but if it does the same instruments / circuits its outside of the board... Idk if that makes sense...
We've got a previously-ordered DMX-over-Ethernet box on its way, and will use it to cut the console out of the chain when it arrives. Meanwhile we have tried opening a couple of old show files but have had the same issue. If it does turn out to be in the console I will start fresh and re-patch everything.
If we can narrow it down to a single fixture/dimmer or set of fixtures/dimmers we will certainly check that. Thanks!