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Losing signal?


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Hi gang...

 

My last two gigs, I've experienced what seems to be signal loss. The lights will be up and working and then - blank - nothing for maybe 2-3sec and then everything's back on. No loss of power to the units... they just blank out.

 

Happened more at last night's show and it was really frustrating.

 

My rig is in my sig (hey that rhymed!) ;)

 

Everything is on one dmx run. I maybe have at most - a 180' run of dmx cable; 50' from controller to the fixture #1 > 50' across stage to fixture #2 > 50' to the backline - and six 5-6' short cables to each fixture on the truss.

 

FYI... shots of the updated rig: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.357719017611093.81003.119251084791222&type=3

 

4bar-tri x2

4bar x2

4play x2

intimidator 300 x2

obey 40

 

I just added the intimidators to the rig and bought a terminator as well. in the past, I never ran into this issue with virtually the same rig (minus the scanners).

 

I am thinking I'll eventually need a 2nd controller for the backline or maybe go PC based.

 

Not sure what to check for so I'm looking for suggestions. I did find one other thread here that seemed similar but not much was solved in it.

 

Ideas?

 

Thanks!

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Yep... I think I specified that in my op. Up until recently I didn't (and didn't' have a problem) but with my last round of purchases as I thought it'd be a good idea.

 

 

That is what I was going to suggest. I found that for some reason the terminator caused more issues when it was on the system then when I didn't use it. I don't know why but I had the same issue with three different terminators. System was rock solid without them and funky with them.

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That is what I was going to suggest. I found that for some reason the terminator caused more issues when it was on the system then when I didn't use it. I don't know why but I had the same issue with three different terminators. System was rock solid without them and funky with them.

 

 

You know, that's a good question. I want to say it started before I added the terminator to the mix but I can't remember. It's definatly been happing after adding it. I've only had the terminator at two shows, an the scanners at one, it's happened at both. Better figure it out now as we have 1mo before the next big show (full rig). I guess all I can do is test each fixture and cable with/without terminator as see what happens.

 

I really appreciate everyone's input!

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FYI....

 

I also shot a note into Chauvet to ask their opinion and got this in reply... let me know your thoughts:

 

By the way it looks, it seems like there is a drop of DMX signal somewhere. All the units are being controlled by the OBEY40. The fixtures you have attached may be too much for the board to transmit the signal through all those fixtures which could sometime result in a blackout.

My best suggestion is to get some type of signal booster that you can use midway through the signal to give it that extra boost of signal to eliminate signal failure. What some of our other customers do with long runs of DMX is get a DMX splitter like our DATASTREAM4. Because the DATASTREAM4 is powered, it takes the DMX signal that is inputted and boost it up before it is sent out the 4 DMX outputs. You can use this or something similar, to boost the signal to your other fixtures.

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If I were a betting man I would say check your 50' main out cable first, If you were losing signal to all the lights. I find that if there is a problem with a cable or one of the fixtures channels got switched by accedent the system works fine up to that point. Everything past it is usually messed up. I recently switched to wireless DMX and love not running the long cables to the front trees and back truss.

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Short update... I did look over my cables last night (as we have a show this weekend that just dropped in our laps) and discovered one of my 50' had a broken female clasp - not sure if that'd do it or not, but it's faulty nonetheless. Replace the cable? Re-end it?

 

Also would like thoughts on Chuavet's response:

 

By the way it looks, it seems like there is a drop of DMX signal somewhere. All the units are being controlled by the OBEY40. The fixtures you have attached may be too much for the board to transmit the signal through all those fixtures which could sometime result in a blackout.

My best suggestion is to get some type of signal booster that you can use midway through the signal to give it that extra boost of signal to eliminate signal failure. What some of our other customers do with long runs of DMX is get a DMX splitter like our DATASTREAM4. Because the DATASTREAM4 is powered, it takes the DMX signal that is inputted and boost it up before it is sent out the 4 DMX outputs. You can use this or something similar, to boost the signal to your other fixtures.

 

Necessary?

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That's not a lot of fixtures nor a lot of cable for DMX.

 

Check continuity on your 50 footer and if its' good, re-end it.

 

A DMX splitter can make life easier for cable routing and would not be a bad investment if you plan on growing your system.

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I added a DMX splitter to my rig, and it makes things very easy to troubleshoot. Instead of one huge daisy chain, I have 4 separate "branches". I divide mine by fixture type or location; branch 1 feeds my front lights, branch 2 controls my colorstrips, etc, etc.

 

If I have a problem, I immediately know which branch to troubleshoot. I also know which 75% of my rig is NOT causing the problem.

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I like the idea of using a DMX splitter for cable routing and to help troubleshoot. Right now, I use a DMX terminator on the last light in my chain. If I were to get a DMX splitter and split the lights into four different branches, does each branch need its own terminator? Or do you put the terminator on the last light of the last branch? Thanks.

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Ideas?


Thanks!

 

 

A DMX Buffer box could sort you out. There is a chance that the signal coming from the desk was struggling with the through on all those fixtures before you added some more. You could borrow or maybe even rent one for a gig and see what happens. It's sounds like a typical problem to me that has often been sorted with some sort of buffer at the end of your 180' run( which would then output to all your fixtures).

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I did purchase a Chauvet Datastream 4 - used some store credit I had from a return a few weeks back. Should be arriving today. If anything, I won't have to daisy chain everything, I can do a send for each branch.

 

I did happen to find one of my 50' cables had a broken female clasp - so that could have had an impact. I'm going to try to re-end it rather than monkey with ADJ warranty replacement.

 

I'll add this. We had a gig that fell in our laps over the weekend and only experienced the drop out once but I *think* it was due to a loose power cable on one of my scanners. Luckily I discovered it before the show started.

 

So my theory seems to be that during the lifting of the truss, the power cable came loose. Now, I'm not sure why that would cause the whole thing to go blank, but after I re-seated the power cord, everything went smoothly. I also DID NOT have the terminator in place.

 

Is a terminator even necessary within a dmx splitter configuration? If so, do you need one at the end of each branch?

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Would wireless DMX sort of take the place of splitter's? If I came out of the board to a transmitter then to three seperate recievers one on each front tree and one on the back truss. I bought these off of ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/270954189444?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 they have four different output power levels, so it might amplify your signal? (not sure) but I have had no issues with these units. I recently mounted each of them on two clamps [ATTACH]345184[/ATTACH] That I can switch between my full band lights and my solo set-up. (Update) I saw you had already purchased the Chauvet datastream while I was putting this post together. I guess the only problem with this type of set-up would be even more DMX cables to run (one to the unit then four out to the different branches). anyway good luck, Doug. P.S. those kids in your sig. ROCK!!!

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Thanks Doug!

 

I was contemplating going wireless but didn't really want to blow $300+ to do so. I'll check out the units you got and maybe in the future I'll upgrade.

 

Thanks for the compliment on my son's band. We're having a blast playing out and turning heads. It's funny to see reactions when they start up. The crowd has NO CLUE what they're about to experience. The jaws just start dropping. They were nominated this year for a WAMI (wisconsin area music industry) award for "Rising Star". They didn't win but it was cool to be recognized. We put on a professional show - the kids really work their butts off. They're still learning the ropes of being on stage and interacting with the crowd and have occasional issues with tempo but that'll come in time. It's a real fun time.

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The attached image in my last post is of me and my son. he sat in on that acoustic gig. he's 15 now and has been playing about 14 years lol. There is nothing better than seeing your kids finally "get it". He used to have trouble with his right hand rythem, and then one day it just clicked. He loves old school rock but there are not that many young players around here. I remember when I was in school everybody played something, or you were a sound man, or a light man, or a roadie, people just wanted to be around it. It seems nowdays most kids dont know or care how to make music. Tell your young ones to keep at it they sound great! Doug.

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