Pearl problems - steps through cue's then crashes

[cedd]

Firstly, I'm a noiseboy who's been roped in to working followspots on this show, so was not involved in programming or the operation of the desk on the night in question. But..... I was hoping to find out if others had experienced a similar problem and if our diagnosis was correct/sensible. In other words, whilst I know a little about lighting, don't ask me anything too complicated, I will tell all I know.

 

Desk is a Pearl 2000 updated to 2004. Driving generics and at least 20 Robe 575's, plus colourblocks. Show has gone reasonably well until now (show 4 of 5) apart from a power cut on the opening night which reset our movers one scene in.

 

Tonight halfway through the first half, the desk randomly started stepping through cues every couple of seconds. At the same time the desk locked us out of any buttons, the lcd went "flatline" and the LED's on the board generally started flashing, flickering and doing whatever else they shouldn't be doing. Clearly this looked a little strange to the audience who suddenly got a lightshow as the movers went through their positions and all the associated blackouts in between. Only way the LX could stop it was to pull the power, reset and then go back to our last cue. The show uses the "go" button rather than submasters and gets reasonably complicated with moves on the Robes. The major problem then was that lamps we had preset were no longer in the correct position and therefore when they were called upon, turned on and then moved for the next few scenes until they'd all caught up with where they should be.

 

Generally not a very happy desk. Followspots got us through whilst the reset occurred, but it wasn't any fun!

 

As we have already had one mains glitch (outage for about 5 mins) earlier in the week which took out the whole town, we're wondering whether our supply isn't as healthy as it should be and maybe there was a spike? Either that or the desk has got itself in a right muddle!

 

Any thoughts/theories or previous similar encounters very much welcomed!

 

C

[niclights]

I've never heard of anything like this. Certainly sounds hardware related on the face of it though. I suggest calling Avo direct.

[cedd]

Luckily for us the desk is hired, therefore we're going to leave it up to the hire company to fix. To be on the safe side we're thinking of taking a UPS plugboard with surge protection tonight. What's strange is that up until now it's been pretty reliable. It crashed on us in the dress rehearsal but we think that may have been finger trouble.

Being a hire desk it has had a fair amount of use. Perhaps it's a hardware issue that's been lurking. Nevertheless we're going to do a fault report for the hire company as it does some pretty high end gigs and shows when it's not with us and if there is a problem, it needs finding.

[Jonny DMX]

IMO I think you may have chosen the wrong desk for the job. Although the Pearl can accommodate theatre stacks, it is certainly not known for its theatre stacking capabilities.

 

However I have never come across that problem before. I have had a few problems with Pearl 2000's after they have been upgraded to 2004 software but none like you describe. Sorry that was no help really.

[niclights]

Obviously there's no harm in opening her up and making sure everything's seated properly.

 

Less practical at short notice might be to separate out intensities from the stacks wherever possible giving you some options if it does go wrong again. Or, if op is confident enough you could simply use takeover on the preset handles to avoid mess.