I teach Drama, and recently acquired a new ETC ColorSource 40 light board as we begin to transition over to LED (a few new lanterns a year).
I don't want to waste my old board, especially because I teach 8th Grade to 12th Grade, and I see the old board as a valuable learning tool.
My question is: Is there any "splitter" that would allow me to ALTERNATE which board I use to control the lights?When an 8th or 9th Grade class is doing tech, I want them to use the old board, while experienced students in older classes would use the new board but I don't want to have to manually be moving the DMX cable back and forth between the two systems every time class changes. I would NEVER have both system powered and running simultaneously. I just want to be able to power down one, and power up the other, and vice versa.
Can this be done?
Yes, this should probably be okay. Before lighting systems went Network, many systems were designed with 2 or more DMX Input plates, such as one in the lighting booth and one down in the audience area…
If your college has the wherewithal, a simple Y cable could be made up with a double pole double throw (DPDT) switch changing over the two inner cores of the cables should do the job.
Thanks for the suggestion. I contacted a local sound company with your description, and he says he can make a box for me with a switch to serve functionally as you describe - probably a more secure solution to have a box with switch.