Intelligent lights randomly shut off.

[FMEng]

I think you said it all:

...but they didn’t shut off at the middle school show where they didn’t have their phones. The show baby website claims that they don’t have interference but is that still a possibility?

Interference is possible to any RF link. They make different versions of Show Baby, one of which uses the 2.4 GHz wifi band.

 

[Eli Vatsaas]

Showbaby runs in the 2.4gHz band, right? I think the ubiquity of devices using this limited amount of license-free spectrum is the enemy here.

While I have great respect for RC4 and City Theatrical... NOTHING is as interference free as copper wire. Period, end of story.

Wireless command/control should be seen as a last resort, not as a first choice for devices that can be served with wire... and if you can get 120volts of alternating current to a device, there's a way to get a DMX line there, too. Maybe not cheap or convenient (piss poor planning, etc), but I can guarantee that a wired DMX signal will not fail because of Line 6/AKG/Sennheiser/Shure 2.4 gHz wireless mics combined with in house WiFi, WiFi used for other show control or monitoring systems, and the 2.4gHz radio station attached to nearly every audience member.

As for brown outs (temporary voltage drop)... yeah, when the ammonia ice floor system started up in our arena the entire building would drop 5-8 volts. The surge demand was so great that until the ammonia system was modified the arena hired in a generator truck for the entire hockey season, to start the system and them transfer the load back to PoCo power after 5 minutes... mostly that was a utility cost savings method, but the dimming lights and unhappy computer printers were the obvious symptom... the cause revealed when the electric bills arrived with a peak demand multiplier.

We also have a projector wirelessly communicating with a router about a foot from the showbaby connected to the board. Would moving the show baby away from the router help?

 

[gafftaper]

The outlets they were plugged into the second time were completely different from the dimmer rack, would they still brown out? Would they still brown out on? On both the dimmer system and the theatre system? We have one other mover on the same wireless dmx as one of the rogues that seems to shut off too, but it’s used only a couple of times so I’m not sure if it is shutting off. I haven’t been able to trigger it but they didn’t shut off at the middle school show where they didn’t have their phones. The show baby website claims that they don’t have interference but is that still a possibility? The board is wasn’t fully updated so we updated it. Will this maybe fix the problem?

I'm still leaning towards brown-out... All kinds of weird stuff can happen to your building wide feed. In my old space you could see the lights in the lobby briefly dim down when a everything at 100% cue fired off in the theater. Intake surge as a fixture... or refrigerator down the hall... first fires up can be a serious issue.

And yes interference or an issues with those Showbaby's is definitely possible. Running a hard line is the best way to know for sure (Super long run? Buy a long Cat5e cable and a pair of DMX to RJ45 adapters... you can do a 200' DMX run for less than $50 on Amazon). It's also a great backup to have around just in case.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I'm in Tim's corner; I was just about to say "run a wire".

 

[macsound]

I don't this exact item exists anymore (free rental from city of berkeley), but we had brownout issues in a school data center before and couldn't figure it out.
The Watts Up pro plugs in the wall and then you plug your appliance into it.
The pro model has a USB port and consistently creates a CSV programmable to be every second or less.
It was very useful to have the servers plugged into these overnight and then would pull the log and see the consistent voltage and in the middle of the night there would be a 10v dip. Not enough for most people to care, but got the UPSs to start the shutdown procedure on the server.
We called the power company to report it and after about 6 months, they replaced a transformer somewhere down the street that was shared by a creek's pump that would cycle once a day to ensure there was no blockage.
https://www.ebay.com/i/112653291168...rk=10&rkt=13&sd=232863144780&itm=112653291168

 

[RC4Wireless]

And yes interference or an issues with those Showbaby's is definitely possible. Running a hard line is the best way to know for sure (Super long run? Buy a long Cat5e cable and a pair of DMX to RJ45 adapters... you can do a 200' DMX run for less than $50 on Amazon). It's also a great backup to have around just in case.

This is the core of good troubleshooting. Isolate one potential problem at a time. Run a temporary wire just to confirm that the problem is or is not the wireless link. When the problem occurs even with the wire, then it's not a wireless problem. And I have to tell you, it's often NOT a wireless problem. Many tech calls I take in a day end up with something else clearly identified as causing an issue. Because of a pervasive distrust of wireless, they call me first, but it's rarely justified.

Just for the record: I have seen MULTIPLE cases where a faulty cable was to blame. Seriously... wire is not perfect either.

Jim
RC4 Wireless

 

[ML.Rice]

I am going to say that its unlikely to be interference with your ShowBabies. In my 680-seat house I have ShowBabies, Blizzard W-DMX, RC4, Company WiFi, Sound WiFi, Tech WiFi, Listening Assistance, 20-30 wireless microphones, 600-800 cellphones, and probably another couple hundred smart devices on any given day. And while I've had my fair share of problems, not a single one has been wireless DMX interference. THAT BEING SAID. If you can get 120v power to your movers, run the DMX cable to them too. Don't use wireless anything unless you have to.

I agree with the others that power seems to be the strongest possibility. Especially if its both at the same time. At a school, it's entirely possible the dimming system is not well isolated from the rest of the building's power. You may be getting close to total amperage on the whole system when you're running a show.

 

[Lynnchesque]

Ha, jeeze, I ran into nearly the exact same problem on my last show. As much as I love the things, the problem was... showbabys.
It seems that the transmitter can go bad over time (or from abuse? I blame the shop.)
Solution was simple though; swapped one of the receiver units with the transmitter unit, and ta-da, no problems. 5min fix, and worth a shot in your situation.
Also, read up on everything from citytheatrical, ie: point every antenna up, higher is better, line of sight... I believe they also provide utilities to scan the area for potential interference.

 

[Eli Vatsaas]

After moving the show baby transmitter and updating the light board, they stopped shutting off. I’m not sure what exactly it was but I’m leaning towards the update. Thank you for all the suggestions and help.

 

[Lynnchesque]

Glad it worked out for ya!