DMX lighting - info please

[Designer]

Does anyone own or have used ACME Spot Knight intelligent lights (DMX control 5 channel), I've just ordered a pair as the store did'nt have them in stock but the demo models looked good. Picked up the sweetlight PC-based DMX lighting controller today but hav'nt tried it out yet.

So any useful info from anyone with any experience of these would be most appreciated, thanks.

Also does anyone know where I can find the DMX channel info and DMX level info on those lights as these fixtures arn't available in the controller software so i'm gonna have to configure them manually.

By the way I think they're made by either prolight or jb systems.

Thanks

[DJ Matthew]

Does anyone own or have used ACME Spot Knight intelligent lights (DMX control 5 channel), I've just ordered a pair as the store did'nt have them in stock but the demo models looked good. Picked up the sweetlight PC-based DMX lighting controller today but hav'nt tried it out yet.

So any useful info from anyone with any experience of these would be most appreciated, thanks.

Also does anyone know where I can find the DMX channel info and DMX level info on those lights as these fixtures arn't available in the controller software so i'm gonna have to configure them manually.

By the way I think they're made by either prolight or jb systems.

Thanks



You will obviously need to set the DMX "addresses" for each of your fixtures. This is done with the dip-switches on the back of each of your fixtures. I am not familiar with your particular fixtures but if you look on the back of the fixture where the XLR dmx cables go into it you should see a block of dip-switches, probably numbers 1 thru 10. You will need to set your adresses on your fixtures so that the first light away from your controller is adressed as "01" and the second one for "16" and any subsequent fixtures in 16 channel increments. (This last one may be different with your PC based controller.) I would contact the manufacturer and ask them about the proper addressing for 2 of their fixtures. Hope that helps, and isn't stuff you already know... :)

[Designer]

Thanks for the reply Matthew,

I'm already pretty well versed in DMX with this controller as i've used it before but the problem i've got is that i've got the PC-control delivered already but not the lights and I want to start configuring the fixtures in the software. The DMX cabling is already sorted.

The problem is I cant find any info on the lights i've bought and as they hav'nt arrived yet i've got no user manuals for them yet.

I've google'd the fittings on the net with various descriptions but all I can find is promotional or sales guff.


What I know already: (fixtures use 5 channels)

Channel 1 - Shutter

Channel 2 - Gobo

Channel 3 - Colour

Channel 4 - Pan

Channel 5 - Tilt

As the fixtures arn't listed in the software fixture library i've got to configure them manually, I need to know what levels give different outputs to configure the visualiser, e.g. on channel 3 levels between 200 and 210 will give red etc. and i'll just set the visualisation of the fixture as a standard moving head.

A link to a site where I can download a PDF manual for the lights would be great

Thanks

[DJ Matthew]

Can you contact the manufacturer via email or by telephone? If so I am positive that they will be able to help you. You might even be able to download a manual or something. Unfortunatly, I don't have very much experience with software/PC based control of DMX fixtures. I personally prefer stand alone DMX controller's due to the ease of programming and the reliablity factor. As we have all experienced our PC's crashing or corrupting files I can't imagine how frustrated/embarrassed I would be if my PC crashed during a show/party.

Good luck mate! :)

[Designer]

Thanks for your help Matthew

I eventually found JB systems website, but unfortunately it's all in German with no english button, and my german's terribly rusty and I still couldnt find the lights on there.

Well, I'll try phoning the supplier tomorrow to get some info or get them to fax the manual to me.

The controller I got hold of seems to be quite good. It can store 8 sequences of 127 steps in flash memory, this automatically takes over if the PC crashes or the PC-link fails, so you can use it as a basic stand-alone controller without the PC if required. I know what you mean about PC crashes being a pain, a club I used to work at had a DMX system running on an old PC with MS-DOS. That thing always froze up, the scanners would be moving and then just suddenly freeze mid-scene. and you'd lose all the lighting for a couple of minutes while the system rebooted.

If you wanna have a look at the controller check out the link below

www.sweetlight-controller.com

Thanks again

[Designer]

Thanks