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Mac 500 - DMX problems!


lbird08

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I am running 4 mac 500s and 4 mac 250 units. I had control of all 8 units via DMX etc, but 2 of the mac 500 units are now not responding to DMX. When I run a test function on them they work fine, so all the components seem to be working. DMX goes into one of the unresponsive units, through to the next unresponsive unit and then out to the 2 mac 500s that are working fine!

What would be the first steps to finding the fault? I have reset the units, and they reset to the 'home' position, but then move so the head is pointing downwards at an angle. I cannot get them to move from there then!

 

Thanks!

 

Lawrence

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I am running 4 mac 500s and 4 mac 250 units. I had control of all 8 units via DMX etc, but 2 of the mac 500 units are now not responding to DMX. When I run a test function on them they work fine, so all the components seem to be working. DMX goes into one of the unresponsive units, through to the next unresponsive unit and then out to the 2 mac 500s that are working fine!

What would be the first steps to finding the fault? I have reset the units, and they reset to the 'home' position, but then move so the head is pointing downwards at an angle. I cannot get them to move from there then!

 

Thanks!

 

Lawrence

 

 

The first thing I would try is setting the DMX address of the 2 that do not respond to the DMX to the address of the 2 that work to see if they will respond.

 

It would be also nice know what type of desk you are using to control them.

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Also check that the personality of each fixture is the same - ie matches the profile on the desk.

They all need to be either standard mode or 16 bit extended - you cannot run both off the same personality from the desk.

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Lawrence, as you stated in your other post this is all hire equipment, have you contacted the hire company for help and advice as you seem to be having quite a few problems.

 

Have you adjusted the DMX break time on the Pearl as was suggested to you in your Alphapack thread as this may of caused problems with the other items in the DMX chain including your MACs.

 

Have you resolved the issue with the Alphapack yet? If not then I suspect you've got a faulty DMX cable or device in the chain somewhere as you seem to be having a number of DMX related problems. Did you try a terminator on the line as I suggested in your other thread?

 

The fundamentals of trying to resolve this problem are the same as suggested to you about your Alphapack problem. So have you tried running the faulty unit on it's own connected directly to the desk, does this work?

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Once you have satisfied yourself that the fault lies with the macs, not the cables by running a single problem mac from a single known good cable with the correct address and profile settings, then try checking the on board fuses in your mac. Most martin products use a separate, isolated power rail to power the DMX buffer only, all other functions will still work in the absence of this supply.
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Hiya, I have managed to solve the Mac problems - I did a reset and a repatch and reset the address etc and all is working well now. Still no luck with the alpha pack - I adjusted the DMX speed but hasnt helped. I went through the power on/off watching the DMX LED and it would suggest that the firmware is the new verison. Even when it's run on its own it is still unresponsive.

I just got stage manager to operate it manually today as only used for finale!

 

Thanks

 

Lawrence

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