EOS and AutoYoke and Fan Control

I don't really understand what is going on here, I always thought the options on the Control channel for this fixture were just for initial setup rather than anything you'd do in a show.

The AutoYoke personality templates don't include the scroller (or the dimmer either).
You patch those as separate Parts using the type of scroller or dimmer fitted (eg Wybron Coloram II Scroller Fan Enabled).

I just did that in Eos 1.9.11 and the Scroller Fan Speed is on the Color encoder page in the usual position.

How do you have this fixture patched, and could you perhaps attach a show file?

So Marc's plan to park the control channel address at 55% is the only usable workaround I have been able to come across/think up.  It is messy, but usable.  

I've also tried editing the personality to make the lamp control that turns the fan off a Hold time instead of 3 seconds.  This works, but there are 2 problems: you then have to undo that before you can do anything else with the control channel (much like the parking workaround), and also that this is not writable into cues without even messier macros and is thus even less desirable.

To Richard, the fault here lies with City Theatrical, in how they implemented the fan control in their product.  You are correct that control channel functions are usually for initial setup and resets and such, but in this instance it is not, hence the problem.  With the Wybron scrollers, fan control is set at the RAM PSU.  There is no RAM PSU when using an AutoYoke.  The ETC library for a Wybron Coloram II Scroller Fan Enabled assumes you are using the Fan Block function of the PSU to assign the fan control to the DMX channel immediately following the scroll channel.  There is no such option with an AutoYoke.  The DMX channel immediately following the scroll is not fan control.

Thanks!

-Tim

I don't have a console or a Coloram II at hand. But page 36 of the current AutoYoke Manual says that you set the Control channel to 55% for two seconds to stop a Coloram II fan. Can anyone report specifically that this Manual statement is wrong? I mean with a Macro, not with EOS lamp control function.  (45% normal speed, 35% slow speed) All I can glean from this thread so far is that 08% definitely doesn't work as it would with regular Wybron power supply.

If the manual is correct, then you don't lose the other uses of the control channel.

I don't have a console or a Coloram II at hand. But page 36 of the current AutoYoke Manual says that you set the Control channel to 55% for two seconds to stop a Coloram II fan. Can anyone report specifically that this Manual statement is wrong? I mean with a Macro, not with EOS lamp control function.  (45% normal speed, 35% slow speed) All I can glean from this thread so far is that 08% definitely doesn't work as it would with regular Wybron power supply.

If the manual is correct, then you don't lose the other uses of the control channel.

Yes, the manual is correct.  No one is saying that it is wrong.  The problem lies with the fact that the control channel is only accessible through the lamp controls on a EOS (with the default library).  Secondly, the fan is only off as long as the control channel is set to 55%, just like under normal circumstances the fan is only off as long as you set the fan channel to 08%.  When using lamp controls to turn the fan off, it only turn the control channel to 55% for 3 seconds, and then goes back to 00% (because that is how control channel functions normally function).  So, in order to keep the fan off for a controlled time period, you have to park the actual address (the 7th address of the fixture if using 16bit pan/tilt) at 55%.  So long as the control channel is parked at 55% you can't do anything else with that channel, e.g. fixture resets.

I've learned quite a bit during this process, namely, how to "use" the fan control on an AutoYoke, but also, more importantly, never use AutoYokes.  Haha.  They are loud.  They are incredibly slow.  And very not user friendly.  I never thought I'd say this, but the ETC Revolutions I have on this show are a joy to work with!  Comparably. ;-)  Too bad they are huge and unsightly... 

Thanks to Marc for his helpful input.

-Tim