wireless dimmers versus the ION/EOS RFU.

Question

I have done two shows where we had the City Theatrical Wireless Dimmers and the ION/Eos RFU. The RFU wouldn't work when the wireless dimming system was turned on. Does anyone know a work-around without turning one of the devices off?

Richard · Accepted Answer

The ShowDMX system can be reconfigured to use a smaller part of the 2.4GHz spectrum. 
 By default it stamps on the entire band and shuts down everything else in it. You should always squash it into the smallest space that it still works well in. 
 If you have equipment to 'sniff' and look at the usage of the 2.4GHz band you should be able to find a suitable range to move it to, otherwise it's a case of trial and error. 
 I'd suggest trying something like this: 
 
 Turn ShowDMX and the RFR basestation off. 
 Turn on the RFR handset only and scan for frequencies with two or three stars. 
 Now configure ShowDMX to use one range that had two to three stars, and turn it on. 
 Configure the RFR handset to another frequency that still has three stars, and then move the basestation to it. 
 
 That should usually give you reasonable wireless, hopefully without stamping on other users of the spectrum. 
 The key thing to remember is that 2.4GHz is licence-free. This means that everyone and their dog is using it (even Starbucks!) - you cannot consider it to be yours, and you can't expect the band to stay clear. 
 The other side of the coin is that you should be nice to other users. Don't configure your systems to swamp the whole band. 
 The default whole-band setting of ShowDMX is intended to help you quickly check the hardware is working, because it will almost always get through - but you shouldn't ever leave it set like that, as it will annoy everybody else!