ETC nomad, Stand alone

To answer your question properly, no - you do not need the USB to DMX gateway (Gadget) as well as the dongle. I work with a wide range of rigs - from theatre with many desks and dozens of gateways to small touring shows with 24 lanterns. For the smaller shows, I have a 256 dongle and a networked 6-universe node. The node was around £80, though I did need to add a PSU (£5) and and XLR connector (<£2). If you have some basic electrical skills then this is a really cheap option to get a small show running.

Also, where are you based? There may be friendly people around who can loan or hire (cheaply) to you.

To answer your question properly, no - you do not need the USB to DMX gateway (Gadget) as well as the dongle. I work with a wide range of rigs - from theatre with many desks and dozens of gateways to small touring shows with 24 lanterns. For the smaller shows, I have a 256 dongle and a networked 6-universe node. The node was around £80, though I did need to add a PSU (£5) and and XLR connector (<£2). If you have some basic electrical skills then this is a really cheap option to get a small show running.

Also, where are you based? There may be friendly people around who can loan or hire (cheaply) to you.

And to add to the confusion, the client dongle is step one and is required for the Nomad software (on a computer) to enable the output of a base 256 addresses. Then you need either an ETC Gadget which connects via a USB port and gives you a 5 pin XLR port, OR you can use any device that outputs DMX and can read the sACN network on the computers Cat5 jack. A couple of different companies besides ETC make nodes/gateways that'll see the sACN signal.