Enttec DMX Pro USB Dongle

[keysplayer]

Hello Folks,

This is probably [to you guys] the stupidest question known to man and most likely common sense...
BUT I'm an musician, not a DMX/lighting guru let alone an amateur, so spare me the dumb remarks that senior/frequent members usually make when someone new to forum and new to this subject matter asks a question...

Now that I finished my disclaimer, THE QUESTION:

I have 4 colorstrips. 4 Tri7 Pars, and 4 ADJ Comscans
I have an Enttec Pro Dongle
I have Free Styler

I already tried hooking up the 4 color strips (Master/Slave each of them together and taking the output on the DMX dongle into the IN of the master)
so I got them communicating and being controlled by the software via the dongle....BUT: How do connect ALL of my lights together to be controlled by the dongle (not just the colorstrips)

Do I need to first connect all of the lights to a DMX controller (e.g. Obey70?) or what?

What are my options and alternatives? (most economically viable)


Thank you very much for your assistance

--Joe

[dobby10]

You just daisy chain them all together, in whatever order they are in. Color Strip to the Par to the Scan to the colorstrip to the par and so on. You can't use master/slave when doing this, you need them all in DMX mode and all in a different range. The colorstrip can be on 1 and if that takes up 9 channels (check the manual) then the pars can all be on 10 and if that takes 4 channels the comscans can be on 15. Of course you can have them on different channels and then control them individually, but this is a good way to start.

[keysplayer]

Thanks dobby,

My follow up question would be, if I want all of my comscans doing the same thing and my color strips doing the same thing and the tri7s doing the same, how do I go about programming that?

[Jason Cathcart]

You just daisy chain them all together, in whatever order they are in. Color Strip to the Par to the Scan to the colorstrip to the par and so on. You can't use master/slave when doing this, you need them all in DMX mode and all in a different range. The colorstrip can be on 1 and if that takes up 9 channels (check the manual) then the pars can all be on 10 and if that takes 4 channels the comscans can be on 15. Of course you can have them on different channels and then control them individually, but this is a good way to start.

Not entirely true because the Colorstrips are a different beast.

You can Master/Slave the Colorstrips, because the Colorstrips have a seperate slave out and dmx out. So master/slave your colorstrips, and then, from the DMX out of the same colorstrip that you're running your DMX in to you can daisy chain the rest of your fixtures.

[DJjj]

Its not that hard actually cause i do it all the time with 3 colorstips mini and 2 Mega Par Profile. You first Master Slave the colorstips with the cord running to the first slave hooking into the master/slave xlr out. Next set the master to DMX mode and plug the DMX cable in to the DMX in plug of the master and plug cable to the next none slaved light into the DMX out of the master. Now the colorstrips will act as one light. It this is not clear let me know.

[Steve Lynch]

There are 2 ways to go about this:

The color strips will automatically matrix and act as one big light if you go from your DMX dongle into the first color strip. Simply hook the other three up by going from the slave out (the output on the far end of the light) Into the input of the next light, then slave out to input, and so on.

Now, if you want your color strips to all do the same thing, but not spread the pre-programmed effects across all 4 lights, you can simply set all of them on the same channel, and hook them up with the standard dmx in / dmx out daisy chain. All lights addressed the same will do the same thing.

If you opt for the aforementioned matrixing mode, you will simply add a single color strip to freestyler, and hook them up in master / slave mode. you can still come out of the dmx out on the color strip, and continue down the line adding all of your other lights to the chain.

Your freestyler is going to be far easier, and far more powerful than any little obey controller, so stick with it. You do not need a hardware controller.

Did this answer your question?

[NickyB]

There are some good aids to helping you understand DMX in the DJU area.

[dj_kevin_f]

I would first think about the benefits of having every fixture with its own unique starting address. If the four strips are simply lined up across the upstage truss and you are using for a straight color wash, then there really is no point to having unique addresses.

If you want to be able to control each fixture individually they need to have a unique starting address. Since I do not know how you are setting these fixtures up I can not offer you a solution other than the fact that if you still have to link the fixtures, why would you consider master/slave, when the same can be accomplished with DMX and you never have to remember which of your lights is the "master".

[keysplayer]

Thanks for your help guys, you've been more than helpful!