so saturday night was the first real show i've done with my lighting rig. i had it setup for weeks before the show when i was programming everything and it all worked fine...with only a few minor exceptions. but during the show, the lights would all flicker insanely at certain times, but then work fine at others, and then without warning start flickering again. i managed to push it through the entire show, but now i have to figure out why it was doing this.
after the sound crew loaded out, we tried it again, and the lighting was still doing that, so i know it had nothing to do with them..although it did seem to coincide with the heavy bass. i came in last night to spend some time and just take things out one by one until i can figure out what it is......except the problem didn't come back, at all. i still tried reworking some things, i tested all the cables, and i still couldn't get the problem to come back.
i'm 99% sure it's a control issue, since the entire rig is on 4 separate circuits, and all the lights would flicker. although a followspot i had on one of the same circuits did not flicker, since it wasn't controlled from dmx. i didn't have a dmx terminator on, but the rig had worked before without one. i think the problem may have been the fact that i'm using mic cable. it's high quality mic cable, belden, and i made sure the sleeve of the connector wasn't connected to the cable sheild. but just for the hell of it, i went out and bought a resister, and rigged up a terminator, put that on, and everything still worked fine. i'm already planning to buy real dmx cables. do you think this could be the problem or might it be something else? the sound guy thought it was a loose cable, but i checked all the connections and nothing seemed to change the situation at all.
i'm using a behringer board, with american dj dimmers. i know behringer and ADJ aren't the best...but do you think these could be the problem? has anyone had a problem like this with these before?
another thing i've noticed is that even when i've got the master fader down, some lights on stage will still flicker, often to the bass beat. the dmx line is running right next to a whole bunch of heavy duty power cables...but that's pretty much the only route. all the cables have to be hung over the doorway, and there's really no other route not going along the power cables. i'm running the dmx on a separate mic cable, and not through the snake...although we have had other people bring in lighting and run it through the snake, and on regular mic cable, and they've never had a problem. of course they also only have 1 dimmer...i have 5.
any ideas? i need to get this figured out without having to setup the rig again, since that takes a lot of time, and it's a waste if i'm not doing a show.
after the sound crew loaded out, we tried it again, and the lighting was still doing that, so i know it had nothing to do with them..although it did seem to coincide with the heavy bass. i came in last night to spend some time and just take things out one by one until i can figure out what it is......except the problem didn't come back, at all. i still tried reworking some things, i tested all the cables, and i still couldn't get the problem to come back.
i'm 99% sure it's a control issue, since the entire rig is on 4 separate circuits, and all the lights would flicker. although a followspot i had on one of the same circuits did not flicker, since it wasn't controlled from dmx. i didn't have a dmx terminator on, but the rig had worked before without one. i think the problem may have been the fact that i'm using mic cable. it's high quality mic cable, belden, and i made sure the sleeve of the connector wasn't connected to the cable sheild. but just for the hell of it, i went out and bought a resister, and rigged up a terminator, put that on, and everything still worked fine. i'm already planning to buy real dmx cables. do you think this could be the problem or might it be something else? the sound guy thought it was a loose cable, but i checked all the connections and nothing seemed to change the situation at all.
i'm using a behringer board, with american dj dimmers. i know behringer and ADJ aren't the best...but do you think these could be the problem? has anyone had a problem like this with these before?
another thing i've noticed is that even when i've got the master fader down, some lights on stage will still flicker, often to the bass beat. the dmx line is running right next to a whole bunch of heavy duty power cables...but that's pretty much the only route. all the cables have to be hung over the doorway, and there's really no other route not going along the power cables. i'm running the dmx on a separate mic cable, and not through the snake...although we have had other people bring in lighting and run it through the snake, and on regular mic cable, and they've never had a problem. of course they also only have 1 dimmer...i have 5.
any ideas? i need to get this figured out without having to setup the rig again, since that takes a lot of time, and it's a waste if i'm not doing a show.