Use of a non-ETC Streaming ACN capable console?

As far as the IP addressing goes. It depends on what is actually serving the IP's for the network and whether they are set up DHCP or static.

If the ION is being used as the server and the IP's are static ( I believe that ETC recommends this set up ) then you have some serious networking to do.

If the ION is being used as the server and the IP's are dynamic. You should be able to set your console as the DHCP server, then reset all networked devices. Your console should assign IP's to all devices.

If there is a router and its set up for static Ip's. You have to determine an IP that is in the correct range and not taken by another device. Then set your console to pull that IP. ( the range ETC recommends is 10.101.X.X )( if you are taking the ION offline you can just use the same IP it was using)

If there is a router and its set up DHCP. You should just be able to plug your console in to the network and go.

BTW Ive seen some systems where sACN and DMX out off of the console are used.

also most "nodes" can be configured to be DMX inputs you just need a 5pin XLR female to female to turn the output around.

Not sure if you already have your show programmed or not, but the ION is really a lovely board and easy to learn. I would recommend that you give it a try, you might like it:)

Good Luck!

Ah, that information is helpful.

Something is acting as a DHPC server.  It might be the ION console.  It might be the WiFi router.  It might be something that I don't see.  The venue staff seem to be unaware of the IP networking aspects of the system.  I suspect that the installer configured all of this and it hasn't been changed since.

I'm definitely not in the "plug and go" category.   I've tried that, without success.  I've just downloaded a freeware sACN network trace program (SACNview) on my laptop.  I'll take that with me to the auditorium this evening.  Maybe it will tell me something useful.

Is there some "hand-over" signaling or configuration to do?  When we tried the "guest" console, the ION was still up and running.  Perhaps the gateway was still listening to sACN packets from the ION's IP address and ignoring those from the "guest" console's IP address?

As to learning the ION, I did some of that last year.  I didn't get to the level of "proficient" and I've forgotten much of that in the intervening ten months.   It uses a very different user interface paradigm from my personal console, so the learning curve is a bit steeper than it might be otherwise.

dbn said:

Ah, that information is helpful.

Something is acting as a DHPC server.  It might be the ION console.  It might be the WiFi router.  It might be something that I don't see.  The venue staff seem to be unaware of the IP networking aspects of the system.  I suspect that the installer configured all of this and it hasn't been changed since.

 Easy way to test which it is. Turn the Ion off. Try to connect to the router. See if it assigns an IP. If it does then its the router. If not its the ION.

I suspect its the ION since you said you aren't in a plug and play situation. If the ION is the server and you are proficient with networking. I think the easiest thing to do is bring your own router and set that as the DHCP server. Just make sure its set to give out IP's in the same range and starting with the same two octets as the current server. That way if any devices are requesting a static IP, it will get it.

Three months later, I'm back to this issue.  My next show in this particular venue is in April, so I'm getting a head start.  I will be seeking some locall available Ion training, at least as a back-up.  I've learned that I should use the board in tracking mode, even though my comfort is with non-tracking (or hybrid) boards.  Some things don't work well in non-tracling mode.

I'm far more productive with my own board, so I'll attempt to get some time in the venue in advance of load-in to conduct some experiments with networking and sACN interoperability.   I'm told my board supports "r3" of sACN.  I've verified that its output captures correctly in sACNview V 1.3.1.

I think the big issues I encountered were (a) IP networking and (b) leaving the Ion connected to the network at the same time as my board.  I'll probably be back here with more questions once I get some time "on line" with the system.

"r3" of the sACN standard is the 'ratified' version.

As sACNView can see its output, it should work with ETC Net3 DMX Gateways, Sensor+ and Sensor3 racks without any trouble at all.

As to configuration:

Some consoles have two modes for sACN output, "Multicast" and "Unicast".

Pick "Multicast", then it simply doesn't matter what IPs the DMX Gateways etc have.
- Multicast Streaming ACN is known to work with well over 150 Universes on the same network. It Just Works.

There may be a Priority setting. If so, pick the default value of 100.

For IP addressing, it is quite likely that the network is using the ETC defaults, thus the Ion will probably be 10.101.100.101.

I would suggest giving your console a static IP address as follows:

IP: 10.101.100.99
Subnet: 255.255.0.0
Gateway 10.101.1.1

This is outside the default ranges of all ETC equipment so you should be fine there.

Finally, if the Ion is on and patched then it will (by default) be merging its output HTP with your console's output. You might want that as a 'backup', or you could just turn it off to be sure it's not outputting any levels.

Richard said:

As to configuration:

Pick "Multicast", then it simply doesn't matter what IPs the DMX Gateways etc have.

.....

There may be a Priority setting. If so, pick the default value of 100.

Yes, those are the defaults for my console.

Richard said:

I would suggest giving your console a static IP address as follows:

IP: 10.101.100.99
Subnet: 255.255.0.0
Gateway 10.101.1.1

Sounds very straightforward.  Thank you very much for the guidance.  I have Wireshark in addition to sACNview, so I can see that addresses are in use on the link to the Ion.

Richard said:

Finally, if the Ion is on and patched then it will (by default) be merging its output HTP with your console's output. You might want that as a 'backup', or you could just turn it off to be sure it's not outputting any levels.

If both streams are at Priority 100, then it's HTP merging, but if one stream is at Priority 100 and one at Priority 101, then it's HPTP (Highest Priority Takes Precedence), unless the lower priority stream is interrupted.  Is that right?

Thanks again!

dbn said:

If both streams are at Priority 100, then it's HTP merging, but if one stream is at Priority 100 and one at Priority 101, then it's HPTP (Highest Priority Takes Precedence), unless the lower priority stream is interrupted.  Is that right?

Yes, that's exactly right.

sACN Priority runs from 1 (least important) to 200 (most important).

The console with the highest priority for a given Universe (or Address, with ETC's "0xDD" extension) will be in charge. If more than one console is at the same priority, they merge HTP.

dbn said:

If both streams are at Priority 100, then it's HTP merging, but if one stream is at Priority 100 and one at Priority 101, then it's HPTP (Highest Priority Takes Precedence), unless the lower priority stream is interrupted.  Is that right?

Yes, that's exactly right.

sACN Priority runs from 1 (least important) to 200 (most important).

The console with the highest priority for a given Universe (or Address, with ETC's "0xDD" extension) will be in charge. If more than one console is at the same priority, they merge HTP.