Dove Systems Starport DOS User Manual

STARPORT DOS MEMORY CONTROLLER

OWNER'S MANUAL

Dove Lighting Systems, Inc.

3563 Sueldo Street Unit E

San Luis Obispo, Ca 93401

[phone] fax [phone]

[e-mail] / www.dovesystems.com

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 3
A. General 3
B. Receiving your Equipment 3

2. SETUP AND CONNECTION 3
A. Plugging it in 3
B. Control 3
C. Dimming 4
D. Software 4

3. QUICK START 5
A. General 5
B. Boot up 5
C. Setting a patch 5
D. Setting a cue 5
E. Loading a cue into a fader 6
F. Setting a fade rate 6
G. Loading and saving shows 6
H. Screen Displays 6

4. PATCHING DIMMERS TO CONTROL CHANNELS 7

5. WRITING CUES 7

6. SETTING FADE RATES, RUNNING THE SHOW 9

7. SUBMASTERS 10

8. THE SOFTWARE DISKETTE 10
A. Contents 10
B. System configuration 11
C. Making copies of the diskette 11

9. IN CASE OF TROUBLE 12
A. Troubleshooting 12
B. Obtaining Service 12
C. Warranty 13

10. SCREEN DISPLAY EXAMPLES 14
A. Cues 14
B. Patch 15
C. QSheet 16
D. Subs 17
E. Q/Subs 18
F. Main 19

11. STARPORT I/O CONNECTIONS AND PINOUTS 20

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INTRODUCTION

The StarPort Memory Control System for PC computers automates the control of television and

theatrical lighting systems. The StarPort software runs on most PCs, from the 8088 to the Pentium. The

minimum system requirements are: 640K memory, an open parallel (printer) port, 3.5" diskette drive,

color monitor, and a MicroSoft compatible mouse. The StarPort can accept input from DMX controllers

and an optional submaster console but does not require one for operation. The output is DMX,

As soon as you have received your equipment, open the boxes and examine the contents. If any

damage is noted, contact the carrier immediately to file a claim for damages. You can be sure that

when the equipment left the factory it was in good condition, properly packed, and thoroughly tested.

If you find the equipment to be in accordance with your order and the packing slip and also in good

physical condition you may read on to the section covering SETUP AND CONNECTION. If, for some

reason, the equipment in the carton does not agree with your order or the packing slip, contact the

Control and dimming equipment should be de-energized before installing the StarPort. The StarPort

installs between the manual control console (if any) and the dimmers. The control console plugs into

the male 5 pin XLR connector on the included I/O cable. The dimmers plug into the female XLR. The

I/O cable plugs into the male DB9 connector on the end of the StarPort. See the riser diagram on the

Plug the StarPort into a standard parallel printer port on the PC. Plug the power supply into the StarPort

A. General

controlling up to 480 dimmers.

B. Receiving your Equipment

factory immediately and we will be happy to help you.

SETUP AND CONNECTION

A. Plugging it In

next page.

and an AC outlet. The transmit light should flash, indicating the StarPort in transmitting DMX.

B. Control

The StarPort accepts DMX-512 input. The connectors are shown below:

5 PIN XLR (DMX) DB9 (DMX)

PIN 1 Common PIN 1 Common
2 Data Not 2 Data Not TO DIMMERS
3 Data 3 N/C
4 N/C 4 Data TO DIMMERS
5 N/C 5 N/C
6 Data FROM CONTROL
7 N/C
8 Data Not FROM CONTROL
9 Common

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C. Dimming

The software will run from the factory supplied diskette or from a hard drive. On startup, a menu allows

you to configure the system, run the software, copy the software or view this manual. The configuration

portion of the menu generates a batch file containing appropriate command line switches. See section

The software runs under DOS only (a copy of DOS is included with the system). It does not run under

Windows. Do not attempt to run it under Windows, as it may cause Windows to "freeze" unexpectedly.

The simplest way to start the system is to boot the computer from the software diskette. Put the diskette

If you cannot boot from the diskette, exit Windows (if the computer is running Windows) and get to the

DOS prompt. For computers running Windows 3.1, exit to the DOS prompt before running the StarPort

software. In the Program Manager, select File-Exit. For computers running Windows 95 or 98, boot the

computer, press <F8> when the "starting Windows" message appears, then choose "command prompt

only" from the menu of startup options. You can then load an appropriate mouse driver, then run

starport.exe with appropriate command line switches (see section 8). It's generally easiest to just "boot

Dimmer output is DMX-512 only.

D. Software

8, "The Software Diskette", for details.

in drive A, then turn on the computer.

from the floppy!"

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QUICK START

Dove Systems memory controllers employ a "point and click" user interface similar to that of many

popular applications for personal computers. To select a command, roll the mouse to place the cursor

on the desired command and press either mouse button. To select a group of channels, cues,

submasters, or dimmers, position the cursor at the upper left of the block to mark, hold the mouse

button down, and drag the mouse to the bottom right of the block, releasing the button at the end.

As a general rule, channels or cues must be selected before a command option can be performed on

them. The program also may require the user to select a cue, submaster, or channel before selecting

dimmers or channels to assign to it. The prompt window just above the bottom of each screen displays

instructions or other information should the program logic require another operation be performed first.

Insert the supplied floppy disk into the A: drive and turn on the power switch. The computer will take a

minute or two to run the P.O.S.T. tests, then load DOS, then displays a starting menu. Choose item A

to run the StarPort software. If the software has not been previously configured, you'll be asked a few

questions about your installation. These questions include: Are you using a StarPort (attached to a

printer port) or a StarCard (an internal card)? Which printer port is the StarPort attached to? Are you

using the optional Dove Systems DMX submaster panel? How many DMX channels (dimmers) should

the StarPort output? How many channels are on the optional manual controller? The StarPort is faster

with lower numbers of channels and without a submaster. Once all the questions have been answered,

The cue screen color display should appear and near the bottom of the screen will be a message that

states the version of the program and the current input and output settings. Take note of the version

StarPort boots into the "Cues" screen. There are 96 control channels which are default patched to the

first 96 dimmers of the 480 possible. This default patch is a 1 to 1 patch at 100%. To change a patch,

roll the mouse up to the top of the screen and click on "Patch". This brings up the patch screen. Click

on the channel to which you wish to patch some dimmers then click on "Live" or "Blnd" at the bottom

of the screen. This shows which dimmers are patched to that channel. Mark the dimmers you wish to

patch to (up to 24 per channel), then click on "Levl%". The patch defaults to 100%, but other levels can

be set by rolling the mouse up and down or right and left. Click again to accept the levels. Click on

"Load" at the bottom right or left of the screen to save the patch for the current session. You must save

StarPort boots into the "Cues" screen. Click on a cue, then on "Live" or "Blind". This shows the levels

of the channels are in that cue. To set a level, click on some channels, then on "Levl%" at the bottom

of the screen. Roll the mouse up and down to set channel levels. Click again to accept the levels. Click

on "Load" at the bottom left of the screen. Levels in blue are set by the mouse. Levels appearing in red

A. General

Several channels or dimmers may be selected at a time by marking each one in succession.

B. Boot up

the StarPort software will start.

number and settings.

C. Setting a patch

the show to disk from the Main screen to save the patch for the next session.

D. Setting a Cue

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are set by optional manual controller. When these levels are loaded to a cue, they will appear in yellow.

You must save the show to disk from the Main screen to save the cues for the next session.

Click on a cue, then on "StgQ" to load it into the X fader, or the look on stage. Click on "NxtQ" to load

The third and fourth lines from the top of the screen represent the XY and AB crossfaders. Click on

either or both of the cues loaded into faders, then on "Down" at the bottom of the screen. Roll the

Up to four shows per diskette may be saved. The first show is the "default" show and is loaded upon

boot-up. Click on "Main" at the top of the screen, then on any of the "Save" options shown to the left.

Click on "Execute" at the bottom of the screen to save the show to disk. Click on any of the "Load"

There are six displays with a variety of cue, patch, and channel information. There are features

common to all six screens. The top line of each screen contains the playback controls and the names

of the screens in blue. The second and third lines display the status of the XY and AB crossfaders. The

bottom line displays the commands available from within that screen in blue, the rest in gray. The next

line up displays prompt messages, facilitating use of the program during the learning process.

This is the default screen when the program first loads. It is used primarily for setting channel levels to

save as a stage "look." The upper window shows cue levels, the lower active cues and their fader status.

This is the screen for setting patch levels. Up to 24 dimmers may be patched to any one channel, all at

different levels. It is used most often to establish a "house" patch table that will change little from show

Cue information including fade times and labels occupy the upper window. The lower window displays

This is similar to the patch screen. Any or all channels may be set to any combination of the 18

submaster sliders at any proportion, defining 18 manual stage "looks" in addition to the 252 memory

E. Loading a Cue into a Fader

it into the Y fader, or the look to which the console will crossfade.

F. Setting a Fade Rate

mouse up and down to set fade rates. Click again to finish.

G. Loading and Saving Shows

options shown to the right, then on "Execute" to load a show from disk.

H. Screen Displays

Examples of all six screens can be found in section 10 of this manual.

1. Cues

2. Patch

to show.

3. QSheet

active cues and their fader status.

4. Subs

cues.

5. Q/Subs

Similar to the QSheet screen, this one displays submaster information below the cue information.

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