Reverse DMX?

[BigYinUK]

Hi all

 

We're doing a show tomorrow and have been told that the venue's DMX is "reversed". I'm assuming they mean that for some reason Pins 2 & 3 have been swapped.

 

We have to connect a DMX hazer to their cabling so again I'm assuming that all I'll need to do is make an adapter with Pins 2-3, 3-2 etc and connect up to our hazer?

 

The desk is a Strand 200.

 

Any ideas why thisd is and will my "reverse adapter" work?

 

Regards

 

Jon

[jason5d]

One reason is, some lighting manufactures such as abstract swapped the DMX

pins, probably so you would buy their controllers with there lights.

 

Your reverse adapter should work, mine does.

[the kid]

I would hope they have the bits to fix!

[light-man]

IME, reverse DMX normally means the pins are swapped, as already mentioned.

 

Another thought, though - Is it possible that they could mean that the genders of the DMX ports from FOH to stage are the wrong way around (i.e. female at the control end, and male at the stage end)?

In one of my regular venues, there's an input with the wrong panel on it so is unusable without a gender adapter.

[timsabre]

One reason is, some lighting manufactures such as abstract swapped the DMX

pins, probably so you would buy their controllers with there lights.

 

Total aside, but I designed the Abstract stuff and the reason they were swapped is because Martin made their first DMX products like that, so for a time it looked like 3 pin DMX would standardise on pin 2 hot. Didn't turn out that way in the end...

[BigYinUK]

Tx all for that - I'll make up a Pin 2-3 swapped adapter and I have some gender changers if required.

 

Regards

[Hilary Watts]

While it's unlikely that it's a 5 pin system with pins 2 & 3 swapped, it might be worth taking M & F 5 pin gender changers...

[BigYinUK]

While it's unlikely that it's a 5 pin system with pins 2 & 3 swapped, it might be worth taking M & F 5 pin gender changers...

 

About the only thing I don't have in my tool box :(

 

Regards

[david.elsbury]

Just use 5 to 3's and 3pin gender changers ;)

[paulears]

I'd bet on the wrong gender too - because the tie-lines are very unlikely to have a reverse between one end and the other - and even if they were, they too would need reverser adaptors to talk to their own lighting kit, so I reckon the money's on wrong gender.

[dbuckley]

Originally Martin had pins 2&3 the other way than the most commonly are today because Martin had a RS485 protocol that preceeded DMX512 on some of their kit, and they wired it "their" way round. When DMX512 came out they just reprogrammed their existing klit with new firmware and suddenly they were DMX512 (on the wrong connector) "compatible". Then the world decided that the way opposite to that Martin used was "correct".

[light-man]

Perhaps they're using an audio multi-core, using an audio return for DMX? I've seen this done in installations in smaller venues before.

If this is the case, it'd be 3-pin and would need gender changing at both ends. However, the genders would be the correct way round if you take one of the regular audio sends (from stage to FOH) and use that!