Members JustSteve Posted April 3, 2011 Members Share Posted April 3, 2011 Is it common for some of the buttons to stop working? At least one of the channel flash buttons no longer works, and today I was trying to replace one scene. I entered Record mode, set the values and entered 4 steps, then exited. On playback, there's nothing for that scene. I tried this over and over and nothing would get recorded. And now I can't get it to enter Record mode again - in fact, the Record/Shift button seems to do nothing any more. I can't use it as a Shift button to switch between Page A/B in any more. I've powered everything down and let it sit for 5 minutes, thinking maybe I got it into some mode that a power drain would exit. Nope, Record/Shift still doesn't work. I really hate these kinds of buttons - they feel like cheap pieces of crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted April 3, 2011 Members Share Posted April 3, 2011 Is there a master reset for the unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JustSteve Posted April 3, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 3, 2011 Is there a master reset for the unit? Not that I've seen in their horribly written manual. There's an Erase All Programs, but that requires going into Record mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steveosplace Posted April 5, 2011 Members Share Posted April 5, 2011 Too be honest I havent been entirely happy with my stage designer 50 and since replaced it with an obey unit. It doesnt do all the things it is supposed to and for running an automated show (hands off) its much more complicated with stuff I will never need. I dropped it once and now the speed fader doesnt work right but whatever. I cant help you with your problem, it sounds defective, send it back if you can or contact chauvet directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garryheier Posted April 7, 2011 Members Share Posted April 7, 2011 stevo .... which obey unit did you pick up? I'm not entirely happy with my SD 50 either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steveosplace Posted April 8, 2011 Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 Garry, I got the obey 40 and couldnt be happier. It has the option for 6 chases of huge length but also each bank of 8 scenes can be set to work like a chase too (16 banks can be controlled by midi). I am only using the scene/bank chases because my fcb1010 foot controller doesnt like the long chases and they get jammed up or something in the electronics when changing them. The mini ones work perfect though. With 8 scenes you can actually do a huge amount if you are creative and use the autoprograms that a lot of lights come with. Each step can be set to stay on a certain time and the fades can make it seem like theres more going on. I actually prefer doing things this way because I'm leveraging the strength of the fixtures more and my chases are way more interesting. Plus for a climax (or bridge/interlude) I can hit a pedal and get a variation whenever I want, which works pretty damn good imo Edit: Got to add too, its way easier to program than the stage designer, its night and day. If I want to change a scene in any bank I can call it up direct in the program, just change the slider I want (everything else stays) and re-input it. For a simple light setup with control by footcontroller this is the way to go; at least assuming you want to avoid dmx and the potential windows/laptop problems that can come from that. I think this ease is what you get for buying up from the obey 10, well worth the $20 if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigjd Posted April 8, 2011 Members Share Posted April 8, 2011 Steve it's good to see you happy with your lights buddy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundlight Posted April 11, 2011 Members Share Posted April 11, 2011 The physical problems of the controller are the same across the entire line of Chauvet controllers. The buttons, faders, and memory loss are issues that I've seen and/or heard about with the Stage Designer 50 (which I own and like), the entire DMX series of controllers from Chauvet (had a DMX-70 back in the day, got very frustrated when buttons and faders stopped working), and the newer Obey series. They drop memory, they have issues with faders, they have issues with buttons and the sure as hell are all annoying as anything to program on from someone coming from a professional lighting background. If you want a controller that won't have physical problems, buy a Magic 260, it's a much, much, much, MUCH more robust console physically and they come up on eBay all the time for a nice price and I'm sure you can get a good price from a dealer who will cut you a nice deal (say less than $500? $460 if you talk to them on a good day and if my percentages are working out right). Yeah it's a lot more expensive than an Obey series or Stage Designer, but it will be able to dump your programs if you buy the little memory stick for dirt cheap to be able to save your shows to (memory stick won't dump shows), you will have a much more physically robust controller and you will be able to have a lot more flexibility of programming. Oh, and if you want the lights to move in a circle, you just tell the Magic 260 and it does it for you. Same with moving the lights to a band member - you can record preset focuses in to a scene and you can then update those each night so that the lights point at each band member in the scenes they're supposed to even if the lights aren't in the same position. As far as programmability of the Stage Designer 50 - you can make any fader on the Stage Designer a chase when the buttons are working properly. I have advocated the Stage Designer to many people who have wanted to throw their Obey or DMX series controllers out the window (like myself when I had a DMX 70 which eventually broke and I promptly roundfiled), and I have gotten numerous positive responses that essentially say the same "night and day" comment that y'all are saying about the Obey controllers except about the Stage Designer. What can be learned from this? 1) Chauvet has absolutely lousy user manuals. It's true. I had to learn a lot about the Stage Designer by myself and I became an expert at the workarounds for it and the ways that I could trick it in to making it do what I wanted. I loved it. On my list of things to do in my next Band Lighting Guide is provide the genuine users' manual for the Stage Designer since I am the one who advocates it in many situations. 2) Both series of controllers have physically lousy buttons and faders and can drop memory (had both of those happen on both my DMX 70 and Stage Designer 50 and have heard about it with Obey series controllers on numerous occasions). 3) Different people work in different ways and different shows have different requirements. I recommend the Obey series to about half the people that want cheap-as-{censored} controllers and the Stage Designer 50 to the other half. It entirely depends on how the controller will be used, what fixtures will be programmed on it, and what the kind of show is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steveosplace Posted April 11, 2011 Members Share Posted April 11, 2011 SL, the big downside of the stage designer 50 as GarryH and I have found, is that it doesnt work with the fcb1010 footpedal where the obey series does. This alone is the only reason I recommend it, aside from the simplicity, for those people who dont plan to have an operator at the console. I know you really dont like them, but for what I need to do (hands-off small portable light show) they are a better fit at least imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Show706 Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 Clearly no one is reading the manual then. It says exactly how to do a master reset on page 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted August 30, 2015 Members Share Posted August 30, 2015 Is there a memory battery in the SD50 that needs periodic replacement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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