Standalone DMX Controllers and control via over IP from Dolby IMS3000

[Andy Frodsham]

Anyone recommend a standalone DMX controller that can be scene switched over IP from a Dolby IMS3000.

Want to cut down on contact closure via our Jnior, so IP is the way we want to go.

[Bruce Cloutier]

Andy we had the JNIOR Model 412DMX which is a 412 where the AUX serial port is replaced with an isolated DMX output. Unfortunately at the moment we cannot manufacture them due to (the seemingly now standard excuse) supply chain issues. We need to redesign the circuits around the issues (mostly Texas Instruments components). I hadn't planned doing that until September. We've made those changes to the 412 which is now back available, the 410 which will be (hopefully) in stock next month and are just getting started with the 414. No fun.

We have the 412DMX in a number of locations working with the IMS3000.

Now the Model 410 can control a DMX universe. You would need an inexpensive adapter so you can properly wire that from the AUX port DB9. There is an article on our website. https://jnior.com/jnior-412dmx-alternative/ The only caution with this approach is that it is NOT an isolated DMX port.

The advantage here is that you may already have the Model 410. The Model 412 or any of the Series 3 cannot handle this.

[Pete Naples]

Andy,

I've recently seen and used a Pharos LPC controlled from Doremi servers.

One LPC is controlling the lighting in three auditoria.

Once you get your head into the programming, it's qute straightforward, at the level cinemas use it at.

[Harold Hallikainen]

The only caution with this approach is that it is NOT an isolated DMX port.

25 years ago, when I was designing DMX equipment (controllers and dimmers), I only isolated the DMX on the "receive" side (the dimmers). The transmit end (the controller) was ground referenced. I see no problem with ground referenced EIA422 as long as there is only one ground reference in the system so there are not ground loops causing common mode voltages. Since there were lots of dimmers and only one controller, it made sense (to me) to ground reference the DMX at the controller.

Harold

[Carsten Kurz]

It was okay for YOU because you designed the isolation into the dimmer. If you're limited to the controller design, you can not safely assume all receivers are isolated or all wiring is 100% correct. Many of the better interfaces/controllers of today use isolated transmitters/receivers, because on the other side of the line, heavy load or mains switching might take place, and you never know which shortcuts have been taken there.

[Bruce Cloutier]

And there's Murphy's Law.

[Andy Frodsham]

Pete,

I like the look of this system and it has the ability to grow with our needs.

I'll let you know how we go-on.

Andy

[Pete Naples]

Many lighting desks can be controlled over IP or RS232. I've a few clients who drive their houselights that way. You may already have everything you need!

[Ian Freer]

BEFORE the JniorDMX came along to help me out, I briefly experimented with a CueServer product:

https://interactive-online.com/products/cueserver/processors

Disclaimer: My tests were with a Cueserver 1 controlled from a GDC, but I'm sure controlling them from a Doremi would be just fine, and I guess the Cueserver 2 won't be hugely different...

[Marcel Birgelen]

It was okay for YOU because you designed the isolation into the dimmer. If you're limited to the controller design, you can not safely assume all receivers are isolated or all wiring is 100% correct. Many of the better interfaces/controllers of today use isolated transmitters/receivers, because on the other side of the line, heavy load or mains switching might take place, and you never know which shortcuts have been taken there.

Hey, last time I checked, even the cheap crapola from China featured a nice CE stamp, so all must be good, right?!

I recently had one of those little USB charger bricks go up in flames... it took a while before the breaker hit, but it sputtered an arc of sparks for about 30 seconds, before the room went dark. Luckily, nothing flammable was in the vicinity...

I took a non-disintegrated one of those suckers apart and the isolation between high and low voltage was about 2 millimeters on the tiny PCB in there...

[Bruce Cloutier]

Sort of along these lines if you look at things cross-eyed sometimes. I was working on some inventory changes and I noticed that I have a few of these prototype DMX inputs for the JNIOR.

So yeah, it is an input letting a JNIOR act like a fixture on a DMX universe. If you are already running DMX from a panel or something else you could command events on a JNIOR through it. Not that this has any value necessarily in cinema. But I thought I'd throw it out there.

These boards that I have are prototypes for the input circuitry that we might have in a JNIOR with more complex DMX functionality (e.g. inputs and outputs) like a router or something. This issue with an input is that a normal UART based serial port cannot read the data even though the communication is really really close to standard RS-422. It is the break used for synchronization that is the problem. Anyway this article (https://jnior.com/jnior-as-a-dmx-fixture-revisited/) on our site gets into it technically if you want an adventure. You still need a serial port capable of 250 Kbaud and that can signal the presence of a breaking condition. The JNIOR AUX port can do that. And, of course, we have a little application to make use of this.

20180806_154930-700x394.jpg

Just FYI.

Oh, and this 'fixture' circuit is an isolated port.

[Harold Hallikainen]

All the DMX stuff I designed was using Microchip PIC microcontrollers. There was no problem with the UART receiving DMX and dealing with the break. However, the UART could not generate a long enough break, so I ran the UART output through a resistor to the EIA422 transmitter. The transmitter input was tied to an I/O pin that was was programmed low but tristated unless I needed to send a break. I turned the pin to an output to generate the break, then back to input for the rest of the time.

Harold