splitting a dimmer rack between 2 universes?

[Timotreous]

I have several ETC Sensor 96 x 2.4 dimmer touring racks. On my 6th rack the dmx channels would fall between 481 and 576 if I set things up numerically. My question is: can I, and how do I split the universes up between universe 1 and 2 on this same rack back to my board? Is that what DMX A and B is for on the rack? I havent tried this before but if I can then I need to be able to do this. The manual has been of know help and I dont want to continue on with the other following racks untill I figure this out.

 

[tyler.martin]

see my later post...

 

[Footer]

If in doubt, give ETC a call. Depending on your CEM type, there are several different settings that need to be on to get the config right. I'm sure you can do this, however, you might be better off just throwing the last rack in the second universe. Depending on the console you are using, having everything labeled straight through on the racks and then having the universe model in the console is going to cause a major headache. Unless you really need those extra 32 slots, your really just causing a headache over nothing. There is nothing wrong with having a dimmer rack that is patched as 2.1-2.96.

 

[derekleffew]

I have several ETC Sensor 96 x 2.4 dimmer touring racks. On my 6th rack the dmx channels would fall between 481 and 576 if I set things up numerically. My question is: can I, and how do I split the universes up between universe 1 and 2 on this same rack back to my board? Is that what DMX A and B is for on the rack? I havent tried this before but if I can then I need to be able to do this. The manual has been of know help and I dont want to continue on with the other following racks untill I figure this out.

While not the primary purpose of DMX A and DMX B, yes, you can use it to do what you desire. You would map Rack#6 dimmers 1-32 to DMX A/481-512, and Rack#6 dimmers 33-96 to DMX B/1-64. ETC Tech Services at 1.800.688.4116 can walk you through how to configure your CEM.

However, I agree with the above: unless it is a permanent install (and possibly even then), I'd rather "waste" the 32 addresses than have one CEM with a custom configuration. I didn't even know St. Louis had six 96-way rolling racks.

 

[tyler.martin]

It is possible to do this on the CEM or CEM+ but only in advanced mode. You need to call ETC to get the passcode to put the rack in superuser mode.

In Advanced Patch you set the range of DMX Port A to the first address(Important!) and the end address, as well as setting the range of DMX Port B.

DMX port A has to be the first Universe!

 

[rochem]

This is fairly common on larger shows, at least in the New York area, and I've never heard of any Production Electricians who didn't trust it. Most shows will address their racks such that Rack 1 contains dimmers 101-196, Rack 2 is dimmers 201-206, and so on. Yes, you're wasting a bunch of DMX channels, but it's really nice to instantly know that Dimmer 363 is in the module labeled 63 in Rack 3. This means that for any shows with 5 racks or more (not at all uncommon), your Rack 5 is splitting two universes of DMX (addresses A/501-512, and then B/1-84, or dimmers 501-596).

 

[derekleffew]

...Most shows will address their racks such that Rack 1 contains dimmers 101-196, ...

That's interesting, rochem. While I said above I wouldn't mind wasting 32 addresses at the end, burning 100 addresses at the beginning just seems wrong to me. I'd do
Rack#1 Address 001
Rack#2 Address 101
Rack#3 Address 201
Rack#4 Address 301
Rack#5 Address 401

Sort of harkens back to this thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...7-where-do-you-start-numbering-universes.html . It might be noted that here in Las Vegas portable 48-way racks are much more common than 96-ways. Also a production touring with more than 500 (480) dimmers is extremely rare, and I can think of several shows with zero dimmers.

 

[rochem]

That's interesting, rochem. While I said above I wouldn't mind wasting 32 addresses at the end, burning 100 addresses at the beginning just seems wrong to me. I'd do
Rack#1 Address 001
Rack#2 Address 101
Rack#3 Address 201
Rack#4 Address 301
Rack#5 Address 401

I said the same thing when I first learned of that system. But, having worked with both the "starting at 100" numbering scheme and the one you described, I have to admit that it is much clearer to start at 101. We just had a tour leave here that started their first rack at 001, but they called it "Rack 0", and it was just a 24-pack for FOH in case they needed to use their own stuff FOH.

One thing I'm learning here is that people really don't care about wasting DMX addresses. Its not at all uncommon to see shows getting up to universe Q and R. There's a show that recently closed that used two universes for dimming, one universe just for scrollers, a separate universe for each position, and individual universes for atmospherics. Their universe M literally has one moving light on it. Hard to believe sometimes.