kgallen

Hi Keith, thanks for taking the time to look into this. Cheers, Kevin

Hi, I just defined a fixture for an Apollo RightArm (pan, tilt) [plus a brightness channel for the attached lamp]. This was defined from scratch, not by copying another fixture definition. In the fixture editor, this definition looks fine. However when I load it into my Fat Frog (10.12) and set a fixture (#10) to this profile, I get some other attributes showing on that fixture, that look like attributes from a MAC500 type fixture - Effect, SizeX, SizeY, Rotn etc. I don't have any MACs set as fixtures on the desk, although MAC fixtures do exist in the CFT on the desk. Ideas? Or how stupid have I been...? Screenshot of FF and FE, Fixtures file attached. Thanks, Kevin

Hi Paul, Is it correct that the SMPTE kit can only be fitted to the larger Frog series desks? i.e. it *can't* be fitted to the Frog and Fat Frog? Thanks, Kevin

Hi Jon, Have you any other suggestions for how we might make a 'setup disk' that contains palettes for a number of (led) fixtures that will be variably assigned to fixtures on the desk? I have several models of LED fixture that don't have identical DMX maps and it would be good to be able to set up and store colour palettes once rather than have to set up each time the desk is reset and the fixtures configured for a particular show. Thanks, Kevin

Peter, Maybe the following clarifications for your users on your sentence: The colour palettes on the Fat Frog are *palette* programming time options which means that you must select which fixture types and numbers (1-12) will use a colour palette WHEN the *palettes* are *programmed*. Kevin

Hi Peter. Just wanted to say thanks for the comprehensive response! I'll digest that all now! Thanks, Kevin

Peter, did you get anywhere with this? I also now have a similar requirement to want to save a palette library not knowing now what combinations of fixtures I will map for a given show...

Hi, As you found in your para 3 above, the palette is programmed with the data for the fixtures that are selected at palette programming time, so if you ever wanted to apply a palette to fixture 4 then the palette needed to be programmed with fixture 4 selected having dialed up the required "look". I haven't tried this... but maybe if you have spare palettes (FatFrog has 48 colour palettes if I remember correctly assuming you have recent software **) you could programme a set with the PL1s configured on all 12 fixtures, then redefine the 12 fixtures as your other LED type then reprogramme another set of palettes (again all 12 selected). Then if you have a mixture of fixtures configured you can apply the PL1 palettes to those fixtures (or the subset you wanted) and the other palettes to your other units. Creating the floppy as you suggest is a good idea. Remember a palette is a specific look of a set of fixtures colour/beamshape/position (as appropriate) and is much more powerful than just storing a setting for "red" which you apply to one or more fixtures. When I first started using the console I thought I stored a palette as e.g. "red" then applied that to one or more selected fixtures at "runtime", but this is not how palettes actually work. Your para 2 reads like you also had the same (incorrect) perception as me at that time. Hope that helps, or if nothing else something to try (with a couple of simple palettes to start with!) Kevin **Edit: FatFrog has 48 of each palette from software 10.8, see release notes: http://zero88.com/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/GetAttachment/56/554

Hi Jon, Seems to work so far on Win8.1... Risky - yes, I attached a safety bond to my belt before "launching"! Thanks, Kevin

Thanks, Keith. I'm going to try it on Win8 at home now. Risky?!

Hi Ian (long time no-see!). Interesting - I wasn't aware of that feature! Anyway, it suggested running under XP-SP2 settings. The FE started, Win7 survived, but the FE is completely locked itself now (can't even promote the window to the front!). Will try and get rid of it and try another setting (although I was forced to save the settings for this program which seems a little premature for maybe intermittant issues...) Cheers, Kevin Hmm, same behaviour with XP-SP3 compatibility. It seems what happens, is the FE starts, the dialog comes up asking whether you want to open an existing fixture or start a new one, but then closes itself straight away. Then the FE itself is locked. Just started the FE 5 times from the start menu (as I was before the OP) and no problems (as in Win7 doesn't crash and the FE appears usable). But I'm not sure now if it's running with some compatibility settings Win7 has burried under the hood. Jon - if you could comment if Win7 is supported then I'll put it down to bad luck, or try and note symptoms if the issue reoccurs. Thanks, Kevin

On 2 out of 3 invokations of the Fixture Editor 2.6.0.0 on my Win7 laptop, the splash graphic appears then the laptop has been completely locked up, requiring a 5-second power button to reset the machine. Is 2.6.0.0. compatible with Win7? Thanks, Kevin

Hi jaylees. Just to elaborate on what Keith says, you will need to drive the remote input from something like an open-collector transistor, not a push-pull output stage. I don't know what the Pi has for GPIO and whether this can be configured push-pull or open-collector/open-drain. Whatever the stage, it would need to be 12V tolerant and you will end up needing to common the 0V of the Fat Frog with the 0V of the Pi. Given that both pieces of kit are powered from switch mode supplies and their grounds could be floating or at different potentials I'm not sure a direct connection would be the best idea. Maybe better to use an opto isolator like 6N139 to isolate the Fat Frog from the Pi (which is what I did with my wireless remote control, details of which used to be on this forum but have since disappeared over the various migrations...). Here is some very useful information I got from Paul way back that elaborates on the input stage so you can come up with a reliable interface circuit between the Pi and remote inputs: "The remote inputs on the Frog series have a 10K pull-up to +12V, then a 10K series resistor and some clamping diodes, before being fed to a 4051 mux and on to a micro A/D pin. The software simply looks for a voltage < 2.5V at the A/D pin to determine a remote switch closure. A simple open-collector NPN transistor will be fine to trigger a remote input. The maximum collector current will only be 1mA or so, and maximum Vce is 12V, so really any old transistors you have lying around will do. You might want to put a current limiting resistor in your circuit too, to protect your transistors a bit in case someone plugs your remote thing in to a standard analogue control connector which may have a low impedance +10V supply on the pins. 100ohms or so should do, this will limit the maximum collector current through the transistors in case of a fault, and won't affect the voltage read by the Frog significantly in normal use. " Hope that helps. Kevin

Flat battery? Contact Keith at Zero88 who can help identify if this is the case and how to replace the internal memory backup battery.

Hi Matt, This sounds to me like the electronics in the "control box" have failed - it would seem the control circuit is not switching the mains supply properly any more. Maybe Keith can suggest some falure modes since this "control box" appears to be a dimmer circuit. You can rule out a problem with the Frog, by repatching the channels used to control your house lights to a different set of faders. If with a different set of faders you still see the problem then I would suspect the "control box". If the problem goes away then maybe there is an issue with the faders you were originally using. If you need help repatching the channels, either see the manual (downloadable from this website) or ask again. Good luck, Kevin

Hi, You need to edit the fixture definition (using the Windows Fixture Editor utility) to modify the HOME parameters for the fixture types you are using (then reload them into the desk from a floppy). http://support.zero88.com/main/en/download/13 http://support.zero88.com/main/en/download/302 Regards, Kevin

I've just had a play with the desk (s/w v10.12) and you don't need to program the memories. Just set the fixture dimmer at 100%, select Submasters screen, select the required submaster and click Program. The Fixtures library already contains a single dimmer fixture under <CONVENTIONALS> DIMMER, so this can be used to assign to fixtures the extra number of generic channels required.

As an addendum to my posting, users may wish to set the Fat Frog into "Full" mode (Desk Setup->Program Mode) rather than "Partial" mode so that the console does not do tracking with the extra generics (if you don't know what tracking is then definately set the desk to "Full" mode!). Users experienced enough to use Partial mode and tracking or those with movers in their rig can make up their own mind which setting to use!

This is well after the event for Ian, but I thought I'd have a go at working this through in case anyone else has this issue. I suspect this topic has already been covered somewhere else on the forum so I may be regurgitating existing ideas. So assuming Ian just wants more channels of conventional dimmers, he could get up to 12 more channels on a Fat Frog by creating a dimmer-only "moving" fixture. In the standard fixture list there is a Lamp+Scroller, but you could create a new fixture using the off-line Fixture Editor that just has a dimmer. Using the 10.10 Off-line editor for Fat Frog I was able to allocate the standard Lamp+Scroller to two fixtures and with the DMX patch, allocate Ch49 and Ch50 to the "lamp" section of the fixture (I didn't need to allocate a channel to the scroller). Since the dimmer part of a fixture uses HTP rather than LTP then the submaster should be able to control the brightness. It will be necessary to program a memory stack location beyond the end of the show's cue stack (maybe add a Jump to Q1 at the end of your show) for each of the fixtures, one at a time, with dimmer at full (select the fixture so the yellow LED is on then first finger wheel to dimmer 100%). Then the submaster will need to point to that memory entry with "Transfer No Time". When programming the memory make sure the Ch49 lamp is the only one that's on so that's all the memory contains, and after programming, wheel the fixture dimmer back down to zero otherwise that channel will remain at 100%. The Outputs screen is useful to see this. I tried this using the off-line editor with a cue "onstage" and the submaster had the desired control over the fixture. When building a show cue stack the submaster will have control of the channel just as if it was a Preset A/B fader and can be programmed into the show. I tried this with a show loaded and programmed the Ch49 into the cue using the submaster and it played back as desired, fading in and out with the rest of the cue. This can be seen on the Outputs screen under the Fixture Brightness Outputs banner. So you've got 48+12=60 generic channels to play with. Probably cleaner to use the Fixture editor to create a "Lamp" fixture type with just a dimmer attribute. Maybe Peter will do that for us for the next Fixture release If Ian's LED lamp was RGB then there is a fixture type specifically for these luminaires and I believe "virtual brightness" concept is supported on the Fat Frog to handle these RGB LED units.

JMH, The FatFrog does not have a macro function. The macro function is only avaialable on the newer desks - Frog2, ORB, maybe the new LeapFrog. The fixture editor is common to all of the Zero88 desks supporting moving lights, but some of the attributes and functions (like macro) only relate to the newer/higher spec desks. The fixture file written out for the FatFrog excludes the data items that desk can't use. Regards, Kevin

Hi Morten, I'm really guessing now because I don't know the insides of this desk, but from posts #3 and #4 above, I suspect the rotary switch will be available off the shelf from an electronics supplier, and may be something like this: http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Switches/Rotary-Switches/PCB-Mounting-rotary-switches/30305/kw/79-0205? Hopefully Keith or Paul will pick up your post next week and confirm a suitable part... if not, have a look yourself and compare it to my suggestion. Good luck. Regards, Kevin

Hi Si (Welcome to the Forum!), Your question is slightly confusing as the Betapack 2s are already portable units! I would have thought you just need to install them into a wheeled 19" rack and you're away! (For example http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/32066-samson-srk-8-universal-rack-stands.html) I suspect your biggest issue is having a suitable 32A or 63A outlet at the location where you take the rack to - you could run a Betapack from a single 13A socket but that would severely limit the amount of lighting your could attach (3000W total, say 500W per channel). If the Betapacks don't already have a cable tail and plug fitted then you will need to get some advice from someone competent/qualified with electrical installations. For example you might want 2 metres of 6mm2 TRS cable and a 32A IEC plug (single phase) wiring into the Betapack supply inlet (behind the back cover). This will all depend on what electrical outlets are available where you want to use the dimmers. Please ask again with some more specific ideas/requirements and we'll try to flesh out a bit more what you might need. Ultimately you'll need to find someone competent to do the electrical work. Regards, Kevin

Fuses: 1/4" x 1 1/4" (6.35mmx32mm) 10A quick blow HRC fuse e.g. SIBA 70-065-63 10A Farnell: 117-5122 RS: 413-248 CPC: I could not find a suitable part (Dec 2009). The appropriate SIBA range is not stocked. FF01781 was the closest I could find but has an inadeqate breaking capacity. Betapack 1 UK 15A replacement front panel sockets: Stage Electrics order code 658-4621 (£3.91+VAT ea. at Jan 2010) According to Keith, this socket is also used on early BP2's. Later BP2 and BP3 use a Zero88 custom-made socket - contact Paul/Keith. Also for Betapack: Triac BTA40-600B is Farnell code 980-1715 (£6.39+VAT ea. at Jan 2010) - Fuse-protected Betapacks can use BTA25-600B which you might find slightly cheaper at some suppliers (e.g. CPC SC07588 £4.84+VAT). BTA40 must be used for MCB-protected Betapacks. Triac board opto-coupler MOC3052-M (6-pin DIP-W) is Farnell code 146-7848 (£1.18+VAT ea. at Jan 2010). (This part is a suitable replacement for the obsolete MOC3021 used on early BP1's). Betapack 1 fuseholder: RS 197-9519, Farnell 121-4783 (cap), 121-4782 (spade rather than solder terminals)

Hi Matt, To source a 2nd hand dimmer that will accept analogue control and/or DMX depending on your Level Plus as per Keith's response, you might want to look here: http://www.usedlighting.co.uk/category/1/11/13 If your Level 12 Plus is analogue (it will have two 8-pin sockets on the back) then you should look for a Zero88 Betapack1 or Betapack2. You could also look at the Strand Act dimmers but you might want to query the seller that they can take a +10 volt control voltage (Strand used to use -10 volt signalling). As per the mains supply for your new dimmer, I (like Keith) suggest you take some advice from a genuinely qualified electrician for how to reconfigure your supply to handle two dimmers. In principle it looks like you have a 63 amp supply and in an amateur context this could probably be reconfigured to two 32 amp supplies for your two dimmers - you should get a proper electrician to do this for you (maybe about £100). You might like to spend a few minutes working out how many and of what type of lighting instruments you use, since by splitting the available supply to two dimmers you may need to restrict how many lights you plug into each dimmer - although the total number of lights can be the same as you use now and I suspect as you only currently have 6 channels of dimming, you could probably increase your lighting stock further. Hope this helps; post/PM/email me if I can help any more (even if I am a month late responding to your original post!) Regards, Kevin

Hi Peter, Interesting. You were right (obviously!); DMX Allocate was set to 3. I've corrected this and will try in the desk the next time I setup. Thanks, Kevin Edit: This fixed the problem. Thanks, Peter.