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    Salazar
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ETC Element 500 and ETC Nomad - Outputs/Parameters vs. Channels

I expect this has been covered before but I'm going to ask anyway.

We have an ETC Element 60-500 in our venue and I'd like to be clear on what the System Capacity is as we are purchasing some new (to us) VL 1100 TSD's and some other movers.

So, SYSTEM CAPACITY for this console is listed as 1024 Outputs/Parameters and 500 Channels.

Is a Channel (in the count of 500 for this console) just the Intensity attribute?

So if we have a Sensor Rack with 96 Dimmers and an additional 45 intelligent lights (of various kinds) does that add up to only 141 Channels used of the System Count of 500?

To run these 141 Channels we use 632 DMX Addresses (as some of the movers use up to 27 DMX Addresses per fixture).  So this count of 632 DMX counts toward the capacity of 1024 Outputs/Parameters for this console, leaving 392 Outputs/Parameters for future expansion?

Have I got this right?

Next.  I'm likely going to purchase ETCnomad to run on a Laptop (and a ETC Gadget USB-to-DMX/RDM) to use as a back up and remote for the console.  So I'd need the ETCnomad256 with an additional ETCnomad512 Up 512 Outputs Upgrade (one universe) to be able to backup this console?

Does this sound right?

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  • A channel could be an intensity attribute but it could also be any combination of Intensity, Focus, Color, or Beam attributes. For instance, a DMX controlled fog machine would use 1 channel but has no intensity parameters. A channel typical maps to a single physical device although it really depends on the patch.

    Your math on channels and outputs (addresses) looks correct.

    To fully back up the element you would need a Nomad 1024 (1/2 universe upgrade + full universe upgrade). Nomad could be used in client mode as a remote with ETCnomad256 but would not function as a backup. Backup mode relies on sharing networked connections so if you're using the local DMX I/O ports on the Element rather than a network node and sACN in the Sensor rack you need to physically swap cables to run the rig from Nomad. That requires additional hardware.
  • in reply to sk8rs_dad
    Great, that is clear now. I especially appreciated this part of the explanation as it make it perfectly clear:

    "A channel could be an intensity attribute but it could also be any combination of Intensity, Focus, Color, or Beam attributes. For instance, a DMX controlled fog machine would use 1 channel but has no intensity parameters. A channel typical maps to a single physical device although it really depends on the patch."

    I've also just realized I'd need a second Gadget to make this all work and that may not make sense. I other words, there may be better way to do all this. I'll have to look into the networking options and the related costs to see how we should proceed.
  • in reply to Salazar

    The programming wing has DMX outputs [:)]

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