[SML] ETC Sensor Dimmer rack running 120 circuits
faker200 at netins.net
faker200 at netins.net
Mon Sep 4 13:46:46 UTC 2023
Hey Steve,
I am going attempt to explain the lighting system at the new high school
here in town. It may or may not help in understanding of your system.
ETC set it up so that the first 120 'channels' on the board simply
powers up the system. 1-96 is for the lighting grid, 97-120 is for
hallway lights, house light, work lights, & show forth. Then their are
a group of empty channels before you get to ones patched to real theatre
lights. Who ever set the system up left empty channels between
different battens, to help the user know where they were at in the grid.
Hope that helps
Ross
On 2023-09-03 22:41, Steven Mclean via Stagecraft wrote:
> Bill,
> Thanks for the response. You are right that we have 1 sensor rack
> featuring 48 modules/ 96 dimmers. We also have a separate small rack
> containing 5 D15E modules & 1 other (maybe CC15) module. The first 5
> modules are labled dmx 97 through 106. The CC15 module is not labeled
> with dmx address . Connected to this small rack is an etc branded
> architectural box containing what may be 12 relays. These are labeled
> with numbers picking up with 109 through 120.
>
> When I patch the control board 1 to 1 Channel to dmx address and with
> each channel type identified as "Dimmer", the board apparently
> controls the first 96 labeled circuits on the catwalks. When we get to
> channel/address 97, the board seems to pick up exactly as labeled on
> the smaller panels.
>
> The catwalk circuits continue with 24 circuit/dimmer? Numbers 97
> through 120. These circuits do NOT activate through these addresses. I
> have yet to determine if they are merely duplicate outlets for some the
> circuits 1 through 96. However, they are not labeled thus.
>
> I BELIEVE that the ETC dimmers were retro-fit into the venue, replacing
> an earlier dimming system as early as the mid-90s. Therefore, the
> labels on the circuits either pre-date that and have not been
> re-labeled in the intervening 30 years OR the system is somehow set up
> (perhaps through dimmer doubling) to address these circuits discretely
> (and there was no need to re-label).
>
> Now, IF dimmer doubling IS the explanation then we are NOT employing
> the cable-wye/ dongle, but must have some flavor of module capable of
> dimmer-doubling internally. I have seen hint of this possibility in
> various comments and documentation that I have accessed online, but no
> clear explanation of how such a system is identified or addressed by an
> etc console.
>
> This is further confused by the fact that as II understand it, dimmer
> -doubling only works when fixtures employ special, half-voltage (66 or
> 77v as mentioned by Stephe Lee) lamps that are as I recall only
> available for ETC gear. We DO have SOME S-4 fixtures, but we ALSO
> have a LOT of Fresnel fixtures of indeterminate manufacture using BTH
> lamps. Nowhere in inventory can I find any 77v HPL lamps for the ETC
> inventory, nor any equivalent voltage option for the BHT lamps for the
> Fresnels.
>
> So, I continue to be puzzled.
>
> On Sun, Sep 3, 2023 at 2:52 PM Bill Nelson <billn at peak.org> wrote:
>
>> Keep in mind that DMX addresses and dimmers/circuits are not the same
>> thing. For example, you can use one DMX address to control multiple
>> dimmers - but you cannot control a single dimmer via multiple DMX
>> addresses.
>>
>> Those other modules you listed are just dimmer modules - the D15
>> module contains 2 dimmers which are independent of each other - as is
>> true for many ETC dimmer modules.
>>
>> It may be that you have 96 dimmers (in possibly 48 modules) in the
>> main rack and 24 dimmers in the other rack you mentioned. It is not
>> clear to me how many modules you have or which DMX ranges control
>> which dimmers.
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Steven Mclean via Stagecraft <stagecraft at theatrical.net>
>> To: Stagecraft Mailing List <stagecraft at theatrical.net>
>> Cc: Steven Mclean <stevenjmclean at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Fri, 01 Sep 2023 13:31:25 -0400 (EDT)
>> Subject: Re: [SML] ETC Sensor Dimmer rack running 120 circuits
>>
>> <div dir="ltr">I have since learned from someone else who supervised
>> the theatre for a few years that there MAY be something to do with
>> dimmer doubling. However, it does NOT utilize dongles and it MAY
>> involve Dimmers modules 1-12 (dimmers 1-24) ALSO running
>> circuits/dimmers 97-120 as discrete addresses (though we also have a
>> sensor building rack labeled DMX addresses 97-102--populated with D15E
>> , D11 & C45 modules -- whatever the hell those are!)</div><br
>> /><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri,
>> Sep 1, 2023 at 11:57 AM Jerry Durand via Stagecraft <<a
>> href="mailto:stagecraft@theatrical.net [1]" target="_blank"
>> rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">stagecraft@theatrical.net
>> [1]</a>> wrote:<br /></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote"
>> style="margin:0px 0px 0px
>> 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(
>> 204 , 204 , 204 );padding-left:1ex">I forgot about those, put them at
>> the top of my list<br /><br />
>> ____________________________________________________________<br />
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>> /></blockquote></div><br clear="all" /><div><br /></div><span
>> class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br /><div dir="ltr"
>> class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Steven
>> J McLean</div><div>515-480-8461<br /><a
>> href="mailto:stevenjmclean@gmail.com [2]" target="_blank"
>> rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">stevenjmclean@gmail.com
>> [2]</a></div><div><a href="mailto:smclean@grandview.edu [3]"
>> target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener
>> noreferrer">smclean@grandview.edu [3]</a></div><div><a
>> href="http://designandtechtheatre.wordpress.com" target="_blank"
>> rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">designandtechtheatre.wordpress.com
>> [4]</a></div></div></div></div></div>
>
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