Zero88 Jester 48Ml discontinued

[SanCarlino]

Hi there, 
I'm looking to buy a used Zero88 48Ml board and I would like to know if the support still is active since the webpage mentions that the produced is discontinued. 

I will need to lern how to operate the board and will struggle in programming fixtures. 

In our theater we do only have very basic LED lights, some washers and PARs. 
I assume, that the library that comes with the Jester has some generic LED fictures to assign, is that right?

Another question: will the Jester be working properly with the latest update 4.1 or will I have problems in the very next future?

I also found a reference that this board can be programed remotly by a PC. Is this software still available and will it run on most recent windows systems?

Thank you

Manuel 
Teatro San Carlino (Roma, IT)
 

[Edward Z88]

Hi @SanCarlino

Welcome to the forum.

32 minutes ago, SanCarlino said:

I'm looking to buy a used Zero88 48Ml board and I would like to know if the support still is active since the webpage mentions that the produced is discontinued. 

Jester consoles were discontinued back in 2017, and stocks of spare PCBs have now run out. So we can support from the user/software side, but cannot guarantee that the console can be repaired if something goes wrong.

34 minutes ago, SanCarlino said:

I will need to lern how to operate the board and will struggle in programming fixtures. 

 I would recommend working through the Jester ML Training Playlist here...

 

35 minutes ago, SanCarlino said:

I assume, that the library that comes with the Jester has some generic LED fictures to assign, is that right?

Yes - the latest fixture library for Jester ML consoles is v41, and is available to download from the Jester webpage...

https://www.vari-lite.com/global/products/jester-series

If you need to control a fixture that is missing from the library, you can create a fixture file to load into the console using "Zero 88 Fixture Tools". This application can be downloaded here...

https://vari-lite.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/software-firmware/Zero-88-Fixture-Tools-2.6.zip

36 minutes ago, SanCarlino said:

Another question: will the Jester be working properly with the latest update 4.1 or will I have problems in the very next future?

JesterOS 4.1 is the final version for Jester ML consoles, and is very stable.

37 minutes ago, SanCarlino said:

I also found a reference that this board can be programed remotly by a PC. Is this software still available and will it run on most recent windows systems?

"Phantom Jester" is a Windows software package, that allows you to program and edit Jester show files on your PC. These show files can then be transferred to the console via USB. This can be downloaded from the link below...

https://www.vari-lite.com/b-dam/vari-lite/discontinued-products/jester/english/phantom-jester-4-1.zip

Hope this helps.

[iank99]

The Jester series was a sturdy little desk - the most common failures were the internal battery, faders, LCD panels and the external PSU. I have faders in stock and a compatible PSU - the only thing I don't have in stock in quantity are the LCD panels.

The proviso though is I'm in the UK so getting spares to you might be an issue, there might well be a dealer in Italy who has some spares stock too.

Support for the desk is still fab - the only issue you'll likely have is if you use 'complex' fixtures that have more than 40 DMX channels in the future - there's only one DMX universe but for a simple desk and simple LED's - can't beat the Jester if you can't afford an FLX or FLX S  

[SanCarlino]

Hi there, 

thank you for all your detailed replies. 
I've now bought the board Jester ML48, and I'm super happy.

The current software version is 4.0.
So I do now want to update. 

I've found 2 different versions of 4.1 on the webpage shared:
https://www.vari-lite.com/global/products/jester-series#_english
jester41.zip and jesterML41.zip. 

In the training video it says to use the 4.1 version. 

Could you please confirm, which JOS version to use?

Thank you
Manuel

[kgallen]

You must use the ML one if you have Jester ML!

[SanCarlino]

Dear all, 

Thank  you for the info on the upgrade.
I did run the Jos file and the board is not with Version 4.1

I'm trying to patch a LED Fixture. 
I've tested the Fixture and it does work. 

Setting the fixture, I've set the fixture RGBW to address 256
Unfortunatly, testing the fixture it does not turn on. 

Why can this be?
The DMX mode is Chans+Subs with a wing width of 024

The board does exit with a 5 pol DMX
Our system is 3Pol. I've added a common reduction from 5 to 3 pool. All first 48 DMX do work. 

Any advise?
Thank you
Mannuel

[iank99]

Can you provide a link to the makers website for your LED that you have so that we can see a manual & the channel assignments?

Often, there are some control channels in the LED that need to be set before the LED will respond to a desk - seeing the manual will help folks to help you.

[Edward Z88]

1 hour ago, SanCarlino said:

Thank  you for the info on the upgrade.
I did run the Jos file and the board is now with Version 4.1

Glad to hear the Jester is up to date with JesterOS 4.1 software.

1 hour ago, SanCarlino said:

The DMX mode is Chans+Subs with a wing width of 024

This setting lives in Setup > DMX Input Setup. You will not need to configure the DMX Input in order to simply output DMX.

[SanCarlino]

Dear all, 

thank you for all your advise. Really helpful. 

I'm now stuggeling with two led devices I have that I can't identify a predifined fixture for:
These LEDs are low cost and they are not provided with a manual... 

1) LED Type number 1:
1 - Dimmer / Intensity
2 - Red
3 - Green
4 - Blu

2) Led Type number 2:
1 - Dimmer / Intensity
2 - Strobo
3 - Color changer
4 - unknown (does not do anything)
5- Red
6 - Green
7 - Blu
8 - White

For the last one, I could assign the dmx chanels on the board (I only need 1 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 but this would still occupy 5 chanels. I would prefer to insert the LED as a Fixture. 
But I could not find a fixture to address this sequence of parameters. 

Any advise?
Thank you
Manuel

[iank99]

@Edward Z88 will have better advice than me but the first fixture could likely be patched using a generic RGBW fixture in the library - the second fixture might be similar to another fixture in the library (or a definition could be made for it) the unknown channel 4 is likely to have some sort of macro function.

Don't give up yet - there's a solution not far away!

[KWR88]

Hi,

Have created the two attached profiles for you to cover this.

i think the mystery channel maybe a speed control for the colour change channel so may only work when that is set to certain values.

LED 4 & 8ch.ift

[Edward Z88]

5 hours ago, iank99 said:

the second fixture might be similar to another fixture in the library

ZerOS (and therefore Phantom ZerOS on PC) has the ability to search for fixtures that feature the same DMX map as the light you are trying to control. This then tells you the alternative fixtures you could patch to control the fixture, one of which may already be in the Jester's library.

Please see the links below for more information...

• https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/phantom-zeros
• https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/patching/add-fixtures/searching-filtering