King Kong 1024

[Robert F Jarvis]

Does anyone have experience with this board? Everything seems to work until we record a scene. Operating the saved scene's fader even a fraction causes the lights to jump on and we can't back them down! This may have something to do with thee R20 profiles we had to build ourselves.

 

[avkid]

A Chinese Avolites knockoff?

 

[RonHebbard]

Does anyone have experience with this board? Everything seems to work until we record a scene. Operating the saved scene's fader even a fraction causes the lights to jump on and we can't back them down! This may have something to do with the R20 profiles we had to build ourselves.

@Robert F Jarvis Possibly your R20 profiles OR, sight unseen from north of lil' Donnie's walls, possibly the lower end of the linear slide pots remain bused together but have become electrically disconnected from wherever they're normally supposed to be thus leaving them serving as simple series resistances instead of the potentiomters they're most likely intended to be.
Purely a GUESS from north of lil' Donnie's Corona virus proof walls.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

Yep I know it's a knock off. Please don't shoot the messenger! Ron do you have any experience with this console, the Showtec Creator 1024 or similar Avolities Pearl?

 

[RonHebbard]

Yep I know it's a knock off. Please don't shoot the messenger! Ron do you have any experience with this console, the Showtec Creator 1024 or similar Avolities Pearl?

@Robert F Jarvis No.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[SS Minnow]

As a former AVO repair and support guy, I can say that the insides of a knock-off console will likely be considerably different to that if a real AVO desk. Though the software may run similar and use R20 fixture profiles, hardware such as motherboards, USB boards, etc in my experience have always been a bit different in design and even in placement/orientation inside the console. You may be onto something with the R20 files you made. They can be a bit tricky if something is amiss. Did you create the file from scratch or did you use a file similar to the fixture you are using?

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

Aha, a real answer. Thank you. And, I totally agree with respects to knock-offs. They showed me the console a while back and scenes when scenes were acting properly. It would appear they are still being saved but operating the scene fader causes the lights to instantly jump on when the fader is merely off the bottom. The little red light intensifies as the fader is raised but bringing it down does not turn the lights (in the scene) off.
The new lamps did not have R20s so I started off making them with Personalilty Editor. However the program would keep renaming some fields etc so I resorted to Notepad. It's a pretty simple business but I have never found a "good" description of the "on", "Highlight", "Lowlight" columns at the end of the DMX rows. Many R20s show 255 in just the 1st one, some only in the 2nd. Most confusing are the Blue light rows! They show 255 0 229 or 000 255 229 !!! If you had any more info on these columns it could help me, or better still if you had somehow kept a R20 that you knew was going into a scene correctly that would be great.
Due to what is happening out there I am going to make a rush trip into the theater, throw the board and a couple of multi address devices into the truck and bring it home. I'll fire them from an Enttech USB/Pro and see if I can hack this out.
Thank you again for the reply.

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

Woops I forgot to ask: Do you know how to factory reset the board? He told me that he once held down two buttons whilst turning the unit on but has forgotten the sequence! If I have to I'll open it up and remove the battery for a while but would prefer the first method. Thanks

 

[SS Minnow]

I was never a master of the R20’s but I do know a Master and will get with him to get you some clarification. As far as the factory reset goes, this goes back to the different component, etc. On the old AVO Boris Motherboards, there is a ‘Wipeall’ jumper which cleared the console, restored defaults and blew the cobwebs out so to speak. Not sure if the knockoff desk you have has this sort of thing. I did look at the manual for the desk you have but did not see anything regarding that. In the past, my Master R20 guru would usually try to find an existing fixture similar in channel count and parameters to create a needed profile for a new light as the R20 editor personality editor was frankly horrible to deal with. This way the meat was there and all you would have to do was change the name and move a few things around. This kept the functionality of the file intact. You could verify the console functionality and determine if your issues lie with the desk or the file by loading in any AVO R20 for a major manufacturer fixture that has been around for a while. Patch and program a playback and either by using a DMX tester or by monitoring the levels somewhere on the desk, you should be able to see how that fixture is reacting. Another thing- any HTP channels will act in the way you have explained, so perhaps that is the issue. What fixtures are you having the issue with? Cheers...

 

[derekleffew]

... operating the scene fader causes the lights to instantly jump on when the fader is merely off the bottom.

I know little about AVO boards, but isn't this the expected behavior with "Go When Off Zero"?

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

Yep, must have gone through a hundred iterations - used published R20's and changed my bits etc etc. Tried every combination of recording a scene. Interestingly I pulled my notes from when I first saw this board 2 years ago and wrote " . .. Having problems recording Scenes. Juggling Clear and Exit around sometimes works!"
So I opened the console up and saw something I've never seen before (and believe me I've seen a lot of PCBs and their problems in my day) I've attached a picture. The "Scene Fader" board had a lot of white goop around most of the solder joints! Looked almost like a fungus. Hydrogen Peroxide didn't touch it but dear old Radio Schack Contact Cleaner did a great job. Still didn't work, so I touched up the solder on about 200 joints! Turning back on it is exactly the same.
I looked everywhere for a CMOS battery to pull but couldn't find one. It must be somewhere but not visible on any board. I would have to remove all the control panels.
So -this is the position - I'm bolting together and waiting to hear from your contact about any possible reset (or other ideas). But that is it. I'm telling them it is beyond repair. the main faders and attributes work fine if someone wants it as a DJ Busker and
can do without saving scenes. I'll ship it for the shipping charge only. Otherwise recycling plant Monday. End Of Story

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

Well I tried every combination in the R20 file. See my communications with Ron. It looks like a bad PCB.

 

[SS Minnow]

There are a few different fader modes on the old Pearls, but I believe in each, the fader still controls the intensity, and you should be able to pull out the intensity with the fader. Be honest, it’s been a while. Though what you mentioned may be an option on Titan, I believe we are dealing with the old school technology, Boris motherboard based. Again, what type of fixtures are these?

 

[SS Minnow]

I hope it’s paid for itself, as this is where one usually ends up with a knock off desk...

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

And I could not agree more. I knew little about any consoles when we got this and would not repeat such a foolish move now. Just to finish the story I pulled it out of storage and thought I'd run it up just for fun. See the results above. The dam thing had furred up inside! Its now gracing a landfill. Bye Bye KK

 

[MichaelFinn]

Hi. Been looking for the r20 library for kingkong. Can anyone share with me please?