Technobeam/Lightjockey Issue

[bemalk]

I'm out on tour with a children's theatre company as their stage manager as well as LD. I'm travelling with 2 technobeams that I run through Lightjockey. I have had an issue a few times where they work perfectly fine during focus, I bring up my preset cue and then a few minutes before the show begins the lamps go out. Typically I still can control the mirrors but that is all, I have tried power cycling them and sometimes this works, other timesit does not.

I am not a very experienced technician and really only know the basics to these fixtures as well as Light Jockey. Can anyone help?

 

[TimMiller]

Are both units lamping off at the same time or will one go out then later on another? If they are both going out at the same time they are either losing dmx (computer going to sleep and dropping the data stream) or their is a bug in the programming that is telling them to lamp off. If they are lamping off individually at different times then they could be thermaling off. Make sure the fans are working properly and open the cover up and make sure the unit is not full of dust.

 

[len]

IIRC, some High End products will lamp off if data drops. Or they'll do some crazy stuff if they're powered on before dmx is sent (i.e., computer on and LJ not started).

Definitely shut off your screen saver, any notebook power management, etc. Also, instead of a static cue, make a movement macro or something, to create a constantly changing dmx signal. Or change the intensity up and down 5%.

It could be a lamp off issue, but I doubt it. If the cue you're running only has one scene, a lamp off command would be noticeable in the cue.

This is a remote possibility, but check the global patch. Make sure there's no odd values there.

Trying to restrike from LJ might work. Unfortunately, a hard re-start (i.e., power disconnect) isn't a good option either, because those lamps don't like to strike if they're hot. I would write a cue with just the shutters open. That might help dissipate some heat. Other than that, maybe wait until 10 minutes before show time to start them up.