Problem Patching Express 24/48 to Chauvet Q-Spot 260 LED ML

I am having difficulty with an Express 24/48 console communicating with a Chauvet Q-Spot 260 moving light.

Here's what I have done so far:

1. I started with 48 Channels and 48 dimmers. Since the Q-Spot requires 14 DMX channels, I added 28 more dimmers and 28 more channels in Setup. I now have a total of 76 dimmers and channels on my console (less than the MAX of 96 control channels).

2. I verified that I am using Version 3.1 software.

3. Installed Personality Editor and created a personality file for the Q-Spot 260. I then copied the personality file onto the console via the 3-1/2" drive.

4. Using the Fixture Patch Menu, I patched the new fixtures into the newly created channels/dimmers using the Moving Lights Menu Item (15). I assigned Fixture 1 to channels/dimmers 49-62 (14 DMX channels) and Fixture 2 to channels/dimmers 63-76. I made sure that I selected the newly created Personality "Q-Spot-260" as the value under "Personality". I set the starting Channel to 49 on Fixture #1 and to 63 on Fixture #2. (I also made sure that the Q-Spot Fixtures were also set to DMX Address 049 and 063 respectively.) I set the DMX512 Start to 1/49 for Fixture #1 and 1/63 for Fixture #2. I set the Intensity Channel to 60 (which corresponds to DMX Attribute Channel 11 - which I verified correct in the manual and also in my personality file.) I set the Remote Dimmer to "n". Swap and Flip were both left alone.



5. When I select (F8) Fixture from the Menu while in "Stage

" I am able to "see" my fixtures as per the diagram above: (picture not from my console - just an example)

I am able to scroll Left and Right using the arrow keys and change parameter values.

The problem is, my moving lights are unresponsive to any signals being sent. I can not get them to do a thing!

6. I am using all DMX cabling - not XLR.

Can you help me with the next step? Is there a way to check continuity (communications) between the board and the fixture?

If I simply "go" "Dim" 60 @ Full shouldn't that bypass all my Personality Profile programming and basically communicate directly with channel 60 (which is Intensity). If I get response in this manner, it would point to a patching problem, or some setting somewhere, right?

Any Ideas?

 



[edited by: Dave_Williams at 12:11 PM (GMT -6) on Wed, Jan 11 2012]
Parents
  • Hi Dave,

    What DMX output on your Express are the fixtures plugged into?  Do you have the DMX outputs set to the correct address range? ({Setup} 2 {Enter})

    You need to make sure that the operating mode is normal and that the start address is 1 for the port you are using.  Both DMX ports can be set to start at 1. 

    Let us know if this helps!

    Take care,

    John

     

Reply
  • Hi Dave,

    What DMX output on your Express are the fixtures plugged into?  Do you have the DMX outputs set to the correct address range? ({Setup} 2 {Enter})

    You need to make sure that the operating mode is normal and that the start address is 1 for the port you are using.  Both DMX ports can be set to start at 1. 

    Let us know if this helps!

    Take care,

    John

     

Children
  • John,

    Thanks for the reply.  Tonight after work, I worked on this problem and I called Tech Support at ETC and one of the Techs was able to determine the problem.  In case anyone is interested, on the Patch screen, the Dimmer values were "00" even when the Channel values were greater than zero.  The Tech instructed me how to set the Proportion for the Dimmers to "Full".  Apparently they were set to zero so that even when the Channel was set to a certain value, the corresponding Dimmer was not tracking proportionately.  Once we made this change everything started working perfectly.

     

    Dave

  • It was good that you called the Tech Support because this kind of query you cannot handle it alone and an experienced Tech can help in a better way!!

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