Compact sACN source?

As I was traipsing around a site a couple weeks ago, hauling my laptop all over the place, running SACNView as a source to test more than 700 circuits, I thought to myself, "wouldn't it be great if there was something small and compact that spit out and read sACN data on the network?"  (no console, no DMX inputs, 45 net taps)

So my question, fellow technicians, is:  has anyone found a compact tool that will both read and spit out sACN data?  Similar to a DMXter or Gizmo, but for sACN?  Of course POE powered would be great, but a self contained battery would be fine as well.

If not, can someone please develop one? 

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  • Hi Chris,

    This is something I have looked at on and off. I did some research into making a standalone DMXter-like tool for sACN; unfortunately the costs of designing such a tool are quite prohibitive for what would be (for now) a fairly small sales market.

    However - one option to consider would be a smart device (iPhone, Android phone or tablet) plus some software. Currently, on iPhone Luminair (http://synthe-fx.com/products/luminair) has the option to transmit sACN as well as Artnet, so could certainly be used as a channel check type tool. As far as I know it doesn't receive data. You could simply carry a small access point to connect to a net tap, and use the iPhone as a portable remote.

    There are a number of other channel check type tools for Artnet out there, for both Android and iPhone. There are some interesting new Android tablets coming out which are fairly inexpensive and which do have wired Ethernet ports. As of yet I haven't found any applications which send sACN on Android though.

    Anyway, this is certainly an area we are looking at.. so keep an eye out for future developments. And that's all I'll say for now :-)

     

    -Tom

     

  • iView ArtNet will receive ArtNet on an iOS device.  It is a free app.

    The cheapest ArtNet transmitter I can find for iOS is FocusRemote for $11.99.  No reviews, and I don't have it so I can't attest to how well it works.

  • I tried Focus Remote- with a WAP and a Sandbox ( its a DMX in/out ethernet node, takes all sorts of protocols )

    Focus Reote worked fine- pretty basic.  I did keep getting a false error that it wasn't connected to a network.

    2 things I wish it had:

    -a command line display that showed previos entry- just so you could check that you didn't mis-enter something

    - "next "and "last" buttons to step through channels, for a channel check.

    But for $12, it was worth it to avoid runing back and forth to the control booth

    Craig Blackley

    Jack A. Frost Ltd.

Reply
  • I tried Focus Remote- with a WAP and a Sandbox ( its a DMX in/out ethernet node, takes all sorts of protocols )

    Focus Reote worked fine- pretty basic.  I did keep getting a false error that it wasn't connected to a network.

    2 things I wish it had:

    -a command line display that showed previos entry- just so you could check that you didn't mis-enter something

    - "next "and "last" buttons to step through channels, for a channel check.

    But for $12, it was worth it to avoid runing back and forth to the control booth

    Craig Blackley

    Jack A. Frost Ltd.

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