connecting 2 Congo jnrs together

To set two Congo jrs together as Server/Backup, you'll need a standard 100MB capable Network Switch and a pair of Cat5 or better straight-through cables.

If you already have a lighting network, the two simply plug into this network via Cat5 patch cables.

Before plugging in, there are a couple of settings you need to check in "System Settings" from the Welcome screen:

• The IP addresses of the consoles must be different. By default, all Congo Jrs arrive set to 10.101.81.101, so simply change one to 10.101.81.102
• There must be a maximum of one "DHCP" server, so make sure it's turned off on one console.

Once these are set, plug both consoles into the network and turn them on.

Now, take both consoles to "System Settings", and do the following on both consoles:

• Under "Protocols", make sure that "Logical Network" is set to the same number - the default will be zero.
  • The Logical Network defines the 'groups' of consoles that work together as Server, Backup and Clients.
• Under "Backup", tick the "Auto-Transfer Play to Backup" option:
  • You can also select one console to be 'Always Server' and the other to be 'Always Backup', but this is optional.

Finally, start the Server console.

Once it has loaded, the Backup will show "Backup" as an option. Start this console as Backup.

Once the Backup completes loading, it will receive a copy of the showfile from the Server and should get a pale Blue background behind the tabs, and say "Backup Sync" at the top.

The Server will also say "Backup Sync" at the top of the monitors, and you'll probably see "Play sent to backup" in the message box at the bottom.

At this point, the two consoles are in Synchronised Backup mode - as you progress though the play, the Backup will match the playback of the Server.

However, 'live edits' using the keypad, Records and Updates are not automatically transferred to the Backup. This is to make it much less likely that an action that causes issues on the Server can affect the Backup.

At any point, you can use Browser > General > Network > Server > Send Play to resend the updates to the backup.
You can set it to automatically re-sync whenever a Preset is updated by ticking the "Auto-Send play on Record" option in Settings > System.

The console will always automatically re-sync whenever you save or load the play.

Finally, to get the data out to your lighting rig you have a couple of choices:

• Use 'hard-line' DMX.
  • This means that you'll need to manually move or switch over the DMX cables from the Server to the Backup if the server fails.
• Use the network, either direct (eg in Sensor+ racks) or via Net3 DMX Gateways/Net2 DMX Nodes as the DMX output.
  • This transfers control across automatically if the server fails.

Thanks Richard

Thanks Richard