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    stinald
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Ion DMX/dimmer communication issue

I am seeking information on an issue my theatre has with our newly purchased Ion console. When plugged into our dimmers and these are brought up at any value the lamps flicker or pulse. We have two different dimmer rooms and it only applies to one of them. Unfortunately I do not know the make of the dimmer boxes off hand. We have tried uploading the latest system software and changing the DMX rate but it did not help. What could be the possible problems causing this and are there any tests I could make on the console to verify it is one of these problems? Any information on this topic would be greatly appreciated

 

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distressed lighting designer

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    Of course my first response would be to  call Tech Support. (1.800.688.4116) But in the meantime...

    I've run into this twice with my Ion while touring across the country. Both times the building told me that it only occurred with Ion's. Hogs were fine, Older ETC boards were fine, but Ions were the issue. 

    I spent a bit of time with ETC about it, but as I was just a touring company, I could only go so far with the troubleshooting as it got to the point of having to dig though the theaters dimmers.

    In one case, it was as you described. Of the 3 in house dimmer racks, only lights on one rack would start to flicker / pulse a bit. 

    In the other theatre all of the racks pulsed. 

    In the theatre where all of the racks pulsed, at ETC's suggestion, I was able to get around the problem by snipping the common on a DMX cable. It got me through the night and apparently proved to ETC that it meant there was a wiring issue with the building.

    In the building where only 1 rack was pulsing, I ended up using their in house Expression 3 console as a go between. DMX out from the Ion to DMX In on the Insight. Then DMX out from the insight to their dimmers. It took some setting up / config, but it made it so I could do my show that night. 

    So long story short, its probably a wiring issue in your building / racks. Someone with a better comprehension of DMX can probably chime in and give you a better sense of what to look for. 

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    Of course my first response would be to  call Tech Support. (1.800.688.4116) But in the meantime...

    I've run into this twice with my Ion while touring across the country. Both times the building told me that it only occurred with Ion's. Hogs were fine, Older ETC boards were fine, but Ions were the issue. 

    I spent a bit of time with ETC about it, but as I was just a touring company, I could only go so far with the troubleshooting as it got to the point of having to dig though the theaters dimmers.

    In one case, it was as you described. Of the 3 in house dimmer racks, only lights on one rack would start to flicker / pulse a bit. 

    In the other theatre all of the racks pulsed. 

    In the theatre where all of the racks pulsed, at ETC's suggestion, I was able to get around the problem by snipping the common on a DMX cable. It got me through the night and apparently proved to ETC that it meant there was a wiring issue with the building.

    In the building where only 1 rack was pulsing, I ended up using their in house Expression 3 console as a go between. DMX out from the Ion to DMX In on the Insight. Then DMX out from the insight to their dimmers. It took some setting up / config, but it made it so I could do my show that night. 

    So long story short, its probably a wiring issue in your building / racks. Someone with a better comprehension of DMX can probably chime in and give you a better sense of what to look for. 

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