Happy DMX Day 5/12

[dvsDave]

Happy DMX Day!

What's your best and worst stories about DMX and also post any DMX Memes you might have run across online. The best ones we'll post on the CB Facebook page throughout the day!

 

[Aaron Clarke]

Did the logo just change today or have I been that oblivious to the "O" all this time?

 

[TNasty]

Best: When I found out my school auditorium was loaded with DMX.

Worst: When my supervisor/director had to have his mom drive about an hour and a half to Jersey City to pick up two 25ft 5 pin DMX cables (on a Saturday, specifically the first day of tech for Jesus Christ Superstar) to connect the star curtain we rented.

 

[dvsDave]

Did the logo just change today or have I been that oblivious to the "O" all this time?

Logo just changed today

 

[Aaron Clarke]

Logo just changed today

Whew... I still have a small portion of my brain!

 

[EdSavoie]

Best: when we rented a ton of fixtures and had one long DMX run going from bar to bar. For our so called 'oscars' event

Worst: when I realized the 'Oscars' this year was at the same time as my current trip, and my poor lighting tech had to deal with DMX going haywire. (8 movers all doing different things with the same commands)

 

[Mac Hosehead]

At this time I would like to give a shout out to the guy that screws up my web searches.

 

[Mac Hosehead]

There's even a video. Yoohoo!

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[derekleffew]

Okay, seems an appropriate time to repeat this story...

One day, a 3pin XLR jack labeled "DMX" in a single gang box appeared in the dimmer room, near the dimmers. ???
Turns out, it was supposed to have been installed in the amp rack room. DMX stood for Digital Music Express, a Muzak competitor. Engineers got the rooms mixed up.
In order to prevent future confusion, I installed a blank faceplate. I wonder if it's still there?

5/12/17.

 

[Van]

Field commissioning a system in Arizona, in the summer, coming from my base in Oregon.
The EC had just made sure to "match all the same colors to all the same terminals" completely ignoring all the material we had sent in advance.

 

[JohnD]

Field commissioning a system in Arizona, in the summer, coming from my base in Oregon.
The EC had just made sure to "match all the same colors to all the same terminals" completely ignoring all the material we had sent in advance.

I once knew a color blind electrician, red wire/green wire, they both looked the same to him.

 

[Mac Hosehead]

To really appreciate DMX, you have to look at the situation before DMX existed. Multiple lighting manufactures each had their own multiplex protocol. Manufacturers did not always publish the details of the protocol they used. Control connectors were different for each protocol. If you wanted some console to work with another's manufacture's dimmer panel you often needed a box, along with the proper connecters, that was set up to specifically convert one protocol to the other. On top of that, some of the multiplex designs the manufactures came up with did not work so well.

Before DMX was widely used I spent a lot of time maintaining analog control cable. I was happy to see that go away.

 

[EdSavoie]

Our school happens to use an analog system for the drama room in the basement. Mercifully, the dimmer box is right next to it, so the one-line-per-channel analog bundle only has a short way to go. (Only having 12 channels also helps)

The dimmer box is this ancient thing that makes mildly concerning fan noises, with an old orange Ontario Hydro sticker completing the package.

 

[John Palmer]

DMX, CMX, D192, AMX192, K96, Microplex, Analog 0-+10, 0-+24, 0--10, AVAB, Martin protocol with pin 2 & 3 swapped from DMX, Morpheus color fader control, DHA Light Curtain control.
If you were in a pickle, you needed the ETC Response 2212.
My goodness, it was through the snow uphill both ways to walk to school.
I'm going to go mow my lawn.

 

[EdSavoie]

There was also Strand's little documented (that I can find) SMX protocol advertised with the advert for the Strand MX in our theatre. I wonder how many products ever supported it?

 

[derekleffew]

... I wonder how many products ever supported it?

Strand's own products didn't support it, let alone any other manufacturers'.

 

[RonHebbard]

I once knew a color blind electrician, red wire/green wire, they both looked the same to him.

During my time in Hamilton Place, we had an electrician with color blind problems inadvertently cross connect blue and green 400 Amp Cam-locks. My how wiring in circuit troughs hummed when the travelling production's dimmers powered our FOH transferred circuits. There was a great deal of noise but not for long. Yet another case for reverse sexed neutrals and grounds.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[JohnD]

In other DMX news, there is this thread over at BlueRoom.
http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=69203
The main issue is that an article in LS&I states that 3 pin DMX is ILLEGAL!!!

 

[RonHebbard]

In other DMX news, there is this thread over at BlueRoom.
http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=69203
The main issue is that an article in LS&I states that 3 pin DMX is ILLEGAL!!!

Works for me. Throw the three-pinners in jail and throw away the key.
No termination on the line and no termination on their sentence.
Fi on 3 pinners, fi!
(Fi I say, Fi!!)
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Kind of a sign of the times that the jocular thread on dmx and the date turns into a brouhaha. I think people need to dial down their sensitivity settings.