kgallen

Yes it's the colon. Let me see if I can find the Fixture Editor document (and if it mentions this!). ETA: The Documentation is a pdf in here. I don't see it mentioning the colon though: https://www.zero88.com/storage/downloads/c77be706-29ab-4c26-85dc-ad29ca324f37/Zero-88-Fixture-Tools-2.6.zip I'll have a dig back through some Forum questions as I've asked several questions in the past on "defacto" standards for fixtures... well I would, but of course the Fixtures sub-forum has been closed...

External monitor is the same as the internal touchscreen. You are using FLX S48? I don't know about Z monitor (I don't use it), sorry!

No. You only see the detail lines for fixtures selected in the programmer. And by "detail lines" I mean the lines in orange on the first image with "[1] CARO", "[2] CARO", "[3] SAM" and "[4] MAT" in them. If you're in the state of the first image, then click fixture buttons 1,2,3,4 you will see those "detail lines" disappear.

On the first image, fixtures 1-24 are selected in the programmer - see the orange box around them. Hence the fixture detail shown. In the second image, no fixtures are selected in the programmer.

Been asked lots. Nah.

Even if Z88 can give you the speed-to-BPM figure, this is going to remain an issue for you, that the resolution of 100 steps will be too coarse to match the music BPM sufficiently accurately and you will still see drift as your music track progresses (assuming it's longer than a handful of seconds). I wonder if there is even a fixed relationship between effect speed and BPM or if it depends on the base waveform of the effect. Maybe Edward is away asking the software team right now!

Sorry Edward I was a bit too quick (the email just popped up!). Your answer is much preferred 🙂 (much better touchy-feely!!!). Sorry Ceri, yes indeed, welcome! Sorry my initial response wasn't intended to come across frosty! (Ooops!). Regards, Kevin ps Edward - am I wrong about Phantom ZerOS in this context? (Yes I know I should probably know!!! 😛 )

Well you can't! Not physically anyway. You can plug one touch monitor in to the console with DVI-D plus USB. You can run "any number" of ZerOS Monitor apps on things like iPads. Also I think you can link "any number" of PCs running Phantom ZerOS. These will both need you to establish some kind of ethernet wired or wireless network to connect the ZerOS Monitor/Phantom ZerOS clients.

However you've done the strobe you need to set it to "release" when you unlatch the strobe. This will mean whatever is controlling the PARs will take over again - in your case the red/blue. I use the "full" FLX and often set one of the UDKs to be a strobe that I trigger manually when needed. The UDK is set the "release" the channels when the button is released. In your case on FLX S I guess you're using a standard playback. If you Setup+Playback button and configure release-on-lower (which I thought was the default anyway), then when you drop the fader (or release the button if that is what you've configured) your strobe should go off and your red/blue chase should take over again. Relevant section of the manual: https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/cues-playbacks/playback-settings/raise-and-lower

Indeed 😉 and cost... It is a real pain. That's great if your current LED lamps are behaving ok. Just beware when you need to replace them (because we all know they don't actually last for the claimed number of hours) then the replacements might not be so well behaved. If you are able to choose a branded type (e.g. Philips) then it's worth making a note of the model that seem to behave in your particular scenario. That doesn't of course mean that model will continue to be available in even a few months time. Such is the world we now live in... Good luck!

Hi, Yes, it's called "preheat" and is a feature that allows halogen lamps to dim up smoothly from 0% - and conveniently also helps with avoiding thermal shock (the "bulb damage" you refer to). Dimming LEDs with a conventional leading edge dimmer is a complex discussion and results are very dependent on the LED fixture. The issue with LED fixtures is they contain some active electronics which needs current to operate. Trying to dim a "d0mestic" or similarly constructed LED lamp often gives disappointing results with dimming because of the electronics in the LED lamp housing. You will probably find the LED lamps flicker at low dimming percentages and will probably snap on/off ungracefully around 10-20%. You dimmer has "houselights" scribbled on it. Maybe your venue have blindly removed the halogen lamps and plugged in LED lamps as a direct replacement. In which case you've come across the all too familiar situation, that whatever their purported green credentials, I'm afraid LED lamps are not a direct plug in replacement for such applications... If you want nicely dimmable LED houselights then you're potentially up for a wholesale redesign of your houselight installation. To answer your original question, on the Betapack1, the preheat current is set on some potentiometers behind the back cover. Removing the back cover should only be done with the power to the dimmer isolated. See the manual here: https://www.zero88.com/storage/downloads/8970adda-b944-4fa8-b13b-8339d25f7571/Betapack-1-Manual.pdf See page 2 left column and diagrams on page 3 - in your case "Hardwired" version.

Fantastic, thanks for the update! Have you managed to source a new PSU?

Are they fixtures you’ve created yourself? It means there isn’t an ‘official’ one found in the library. This is not an issue you can still keep the ‘red’ fixtures. Pretty much all the ones I’ve created myself stay red.

The manual is very minimal, but I would expect the DMX light on the front of the unit to flicker very rapidly (almost imperceptibly). If it’s more noticeable with the FLX then it’s possible your other (budget) consoles don’t send a DMX break time of a length (possibly out of spec for the minimum) that causes the LED to blank. These cheap splitter units aren’t sophisticated, the LED is just driven from the output of the input side RS485 receiver chip. They aren’t decoding the DMX at all. My Showtec splitters are the same. I’m assuming your connected lights are receiving the DMX ok? Note this splitter will not support RDM but I suspect it’s unlikely you’re using this anyway.

@Ian Garland where are you in the UK? @iank99 is in the Midlands, I'm in the South West and @KWR88 is South Wales. Do you have access to another Frog/Jester PSU? They are still purchasable as a spare as far as I know although I think they are around £90 (Stage Electrics used to list them but it seems not now). When you say above you "checked the PSU" was this using a voltmeter across the PSU XLR pins whilst not connected to the desk? @iank99 is the external PSU a linear regulator or SMPSU? If linear then I'd expect you to measure 12V. If SMPSU then without a load (or the very small load of a DVM) then the output voltage might be unstable. @iank99 speaks with authority but I wouldn't be prepared to write off the machine just yet.

Rails are commonly +/-5% so the 5V is ok but the 12V is on the low side. I suspect the 12V is only used for the disk drive. We need Keith @KWR88or Ian @iank99 here now with schematics to advise on the next debug step.

Getting printable output of fixtures/cues etc for documentation is not well (at all) supported unfortunately. Various enhancement requests have been filed over the years, but as yet nothing much in the products... FLX will happily gobble ASCII cues written out by e.g. ETC/Strand desks but doesn't honour that in the other direction (boot on the other foot and all that) [a little naughty/slightly immoral].

Sorry Edward, you are right and you mentioned the remote switches earlier. My bad. Full FLX would seem overkill though (functionality and price). Sounds like the existing Fat Frog is a good match. Let us know how you get on @Ian Garland and if you need any vendor or user input.

99% of the time it’s a silly fault easily rectified! Great news. You can still look at a new console but in your own timeframe now rather than forced to act. On which note I do highly recommend the FLX range although it looks from your OP that you don’t need anything too fancy. I would have thought the FLX S24 would be more than adequate unless you need absolute individual control over those 36 dimmers. Fat Frog lives to fight another day/year/decade!

I would doubt that very much. I have Z88 product far older than FF (which I also have) which still works perfectly. And this is not by chance, these are very well designed and manufactured products. It depends whether you have the will/inclination/skills to debug this further or whether you have your heart set on a new console. I understand Z88 will of course be interested in you buying a new product. If you want to look into repairing the Fat Frog then having a dialogue with Keith @KWR88 at Zero88 or Ian Knight @iank99 in Coventry for example would be worthwhile. It depends on your location.

Wow that looks a fantastic job! You’ll have to post more details and pictures of your mod and your whole setup with synths!

Fantastic! I will be looking up the initials on the made/test label in all of my kit now and hope I find some "KR"s 😄

Yes, we're talking about the same piece of circuitry. From the left of your picture, output terminals, diodes (1N4148 or similar), then there is a transistor and resistor pack (base current limit?), then the row of chips is a mix of LM324 quad op-amps and 4051 8-channel analogue demuxes. Fairly standard time-division multiplex output stage from a processor-based desk outputting analogue control channels. There is that transistor in there and I don't have an example schematic with that component in the mix. If you ask @KWR88 (Keith) really nicely he might provide that sheet of the Sirius schematic so you can see what's going on. However since you're after this golden 0V output then you are probably going to need to design/implement an offsetting circuit. It sounds like you only need one channel of CV? An op-amp with an offset comparison voltage to take out that 240mV you're seeing. You will need +/- supply voltage rails so you can generate -240mV and your op-amp can drive down to 0V. Analogue electronics is not my speciality but if you google around the above ideas you will find "stuff". Come back and share here if you want. It's the sort of thing you could implement on a piece of Veroboard, no need for a custom PCB. (Random point - your desk was built in March 1996, but those 4051 chips have a 1997 date code (9735, 35th week 1997), so they've been replaced at some point).

Probably within spec. Likely to be caused by that series diode and that the output opamps are probably quad LM324 single rail types so can't go all the way down to 0V. In lighting control this slight offset would be masked by dimmer preheat for tungsten filaments. If you're using as the CV for a synth, I take it you would be using this more around middle-C so the CV is likely to be around the 2V-8V region? Although I'm intrigued how you use a lighting desk that "fades" channels with a synth - some kind of theremin emulator?!

That's not an easy one for the Zero88 chaps to answer - after all these products are designed to drive thyristor dimmers not analogue synths! So you might have to make your own assessment of the electronics unless there is another forum member who has tried this. Is there a specific desk you have in mind? Often the output drive will be an op-amp follower with diode as shown below. This will give a low-impedance output which will give a good quality control signal that might suit your application: Some desks, like the Mk1 Level series use a simpler circuit that has a higher impedance output. However this might still be fine. You'll have to do your own investigations/experiments with the kit you have. If there is a specific desk you have in mind, then the Zero88 guys might be able to help you out with the specific output drive circuit used. One issue you might have is needing to common the 0V of the lighting desk and the synth. This may or may not be ok. For example MIDI uses an optoisolator to ensure there is no common electrical path between each musical instrument. I'm not familiar with synth CV electronics so this may or may not have a similar requirement and if it does, you will need some interface electronics. Good luck! Kevin