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    gareth71
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Button modules

Hi. First of what will probably turn out to be many posts on the forum - we've in the process of pensioning off our Strand control systems and moving across to ETC (two Eos and three Ion in a networked system).

Having finally had a chance to start unpacking the desks, I attempted to fit two button modules to the left-hand touchscreen of an Eos today. Is it just me, or are they a really awkward fit?

I can see how I think they're supposed to fit on, and the lugs on the left hand side locate nicely into the side of the screen, but they don't seem to want to 'sit' easily into the right-hand side of the screen at all. Looking at the way they seem to want to go in, it looks like lifting the release lever slightly away from its bottom-end stop might be required to allow them to locate properly - but I just can't get any of them to drop into place correctly. It feels as though the little edge connectors aren't lining up - I'm afraid to put too much pressure onto the end of the button module, I've pressed as hard as I dare and I'm afraid of something snapping under the pressure :-(.

I've tried all three button modules with no improvement.

On the one attempt on which I did manage to get things to line up and get the connectors mated, the right-hand side of the button module didn't drop in far enough to be sitting flush with the surface of the console as the manual suggests it should, and the top and bottom corners of that side of the module were still sitting proud and able to move when pressed.

Any suggestions?

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  • Update ...

    I got the other Eos out and tried fitting button modules to that one, and encountered the same issues. Looking more closely, I can see that what's happening is that the right-hand edge of the button module doesn't quite clear the little metal tab of the release lever, and therefore won't push directly downwards.

    I eventually managed to get around it by pushing the module to the left as I pushed it home onto the edge connector, but this entailed putting a fairly worrying amount of sideways pressure on the module - far more than I'd expect to have to apply in order to fit an accessory to a well-engineered piece of equipment.

    So I've got all four button modules fitted now - two to the left-hand screen of each Eos - but the fit isn't great. There's a lot of 'give' on the right-hand side of the modules, and the right-hand end rocks to and fro because it's not sitting flat against the touchscreen surround. The blanking plates that I've put onto the top half of each of the right-hand touchscreens also has a rather slack fit - it's pushed fully home, but still wobbles about a bit.

    Is this what I should be expecting on lighting consoles costing many thousands of pounds?

  • in reply to gareth71

    I know this might not help with the physical fit of the button modules, but i find the best place (and its a personal preference) for the button modules is in the flight case,

    (i will have a look tomorrow and see if ours are as hard to fit does seem strange they would be so loose/hard to fit )

    We have recently done the same Strand---Eos migration, and find that using the Eos without the buttons fitted is far easier when moving between the touch screen on the Ion and the touch screen on the Eos, plus you can open extra live displays and place them above the cia,I think you will find bar the button modules you will get lots more for you money with your new consoles.  

    Welcome to the ETC family i think your going to really enjoy being a member. 

    It would be good to hear once you get your consoles up and running how you find the migration from strand. 

     

    all the best

    olly boustead

    Chichester Festival Theatre, UK

  • in reply to ollyboustead

    Thanks for your comments, Olly.

    The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering about the wisdom of fitting button modules to an entire touchscreen. I mean, once a screen has modules fitted, all it can do is direct selects, right? No option to turn that screen into something else, say a cue list, once programming's done and the show is settling into a run.

    Presumably there's a way to populate a screen with direct selects without having a button module fitted? I would imagine there is, I just haven't found it yet. Strikes me that it might be a better way to go.

     

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  • in reply to ollyboustead

    Thanks for your comments, Olly.

    The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering about the wisdom of fitting button modules to an entire touchscreen. I mean, once a screen has modules fitted, all it can do is direct selects, right? No option to turn that screen into something else, say a cue list, once programming's done and the show is settling into a run.

    Presumably there's a way to populate a screen with direct selects without having a button module fitted? I would imagine there is, I just haven't found it yet. Strikes me that it might be a better way to go.

     

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