I just acquired four Technobeams and...

Just recently I purchased four used Technobeams, four Trackspots, a Technobeam LCD controller, and an Intellibeam LCD controller. I've got some questions that hopefully you good people will be able to help me out with.

First, a few general questions:

1. What's the best approach to controlling these fixtures? Should I use the LCD controllers or should I get a USB to DMX interface so I can go PC-based?

2. If I want to use the LCD controllers, is it possible to upload preprogrammed scenes to the controller from an external source, i.e. memory card? And if so, can I get preprogrammed scenes from either someone here on the forum or somewhere else?

Now some specifics:

1. I'm running one version of the firmware on two of my TBeams and another version on the other two. I tried the process in the manual to update from another machine to no avail.

2. On one of my TBeams, the colorwheel seems to be stuck in between two colors. It still rotates, but settles on the border rather than on the color itself.

3. The Intellibeam controller has a problem with the intensity setting. When I try to crank it up, it always drops the value back down to zero.

4. The positioning laser on two of my TBeams work great, on one of them works ok, and on one of them doesn't work at all. Not sure where to even start on this one.


I understand this is a lot to ask and appreciate any information I can obtain regarding these issues. Thanks again.
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  • Just an update here on my progress...

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    RE: Fixture not responding

    I just overnighted the circuit board to LightParts yesterday. I'm hoping it will be a relatively easy/cheap repair.

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    RE: T-Beam Color Wheel

    The problem here was the colorwheel motor. I was able to rule out the color sensor by going to the Info=>Sens=>Sens4 (I think that's the one for the color wheel) and manually rotating the color wheel so that the tab was at "6 o'clock", then toggling it back and forth while watching it switch from "on" to "off" on the screen. Once that was figured out, it was just a matter of pulling a motor out of my non-responsive unit and putting it in this one. Thanks to Don at Light Parts for helping me out on that one. :)

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    RE: Intellabeam Controller

    A couple of things I noticed on this issue - First, I figured my problem might be a result of some previously loaded user setting. But when I went to erase all the settings, I noticed that when I went to Menu=>Setup, the options stopped at "Edit/Copy" (there's supposed to be an "Erase" option to the right of that indicated by an arrow pointed right). It turns out I had v1.01 of the software which lacked some of the features and also was documented to have problems with some of the internal components. Solution? I ordered an old memory card that the good people at Light Parts are going to load with v1.09 of the OS so that I can upgrade the software. Hopefully this will be all I need to get this unit working. (crosses fingers)

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    I know most of you guys use DMX, but I simply don't have the money at this point to drop on Hog 3PC or LJ. I'm trying to work with what I've got.


    The Enttec dongle is looking better and better by the day. It's still my plan to upgrad to DMX, but I figure I should at least get my controllers working so I can sell them to help recoup some of the money I'm dumping into these guys right now. Plus, I'm using these fixtures at the Sturgis Rally this coming week and really don't have the time to learn any software before then.

    I'd love to go with the Hog 3PC but simply can't justify spending that kind of money, especially when I know very little about the software in respect to all the other dmx software available. Any thoughts?
Reply
  • Just an update here on my progress...

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    RE: Fixture not responding

    I just overnighted the circuit board to LightParts yesterday. I'm hoping it will be a relatively easy/cheap repair.

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    RE: T-Beam Color Wheel

    The problem here was the colorwheel motor. I was able to rule out the color sensor by going to the Info=>Sens=>Sens4 (I think that's the one for the color wheel) and manually rotating the color wheel so that the tab was at "6 o'clock", then toggling it back and forth while watching it switch from "on" to "off" on the screen. Once that was figured out, it was just a matter of pulling a motor out of my non-responsive unit and putting it in this one. Thanks to Don at Light Parts for helping me out on that one. :)

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    RE: Intellabeam Controller

    A couple of things I noticed on this issue - First, I figured my problem might be a result of some previously loaded user setting. But when I went to erase all the settings, I noticed that when I went to Menu=>Setup, the options stopped at "Edit/Copy" (there's supposed to be an "Erase" option to the right of that indicated by an arrow pointed right). It turns out I had v1.01 of the software which lacked some of the features and also was documented to have problems with some of the internal components. Solution? I ordered an old memory card that the good people at Light Parts are going to load with v1.09 of the OS so that I can upgrade the software. Hopefully this will be all I need to get this unit working. (crosses fingers)

    [QUOTE=ih303;48878]
    I know most of you guys use DMX, but I simply don't have the money at this point to drop on Hog 3PC or LJ. I'm trying to work with what I've got.


    The Enttec dongle is looking better and better by the day. It's still my plan to upgrad to DMX, but I figure I should at least get my controllers working so I can sell them to help recoup some of the money I'm dumping into these guys right now. Plus, I'm using these fixtures at the Sturgis Rally this coming week and really don't have the time to learn any software before then.

    I'd love to go with the Hog 3PC but simply can't justify spending that kind of money, especially when I know very little about the software in respect to all the other dmx software available. Any thoughts?
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