Martin Atomic Colors User Manual

Atomic Colors

user manual

Atomic Colors Unit

Atomic 3000 DMX and Atomic Colors Unit combined.

© 2003 Martin Professional A/S, Denmark.

All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced,

in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from

Martin Professional A/S, Denmark.

Printed in Canada.

P\N 35000143, Rev. A

Atomic Colors User Manual 2

SAFETY INFORMATION.................................................. 4

INTRODUCTION................................................................ 5

PREPARATION FOR USE............................................... 6

MOUNTING THE UNIT..................................................... 9

CONNECTING THE UNIT.............................................. 10

OPERATING THE UNIT ................................................. 14

CHANGING THE GEL STRING .................................... 20

SERVICE .......................................................................... 24

SPECIFICATIONS........................................................... 25

Atomic Colors User Manual 3

SAFETY INFORMATION

1

Before using this unit please read this manual completely,

refer to the user manual for Atomic 3000 DMX strobe.

and

Warning: This product is for professional use only!

It is not designed for household use.

This product is designed exclusively for use with the Martin Atomic 3000 DMX unit. Use the
device only as intended.
The Atomic 3000 DMX presents risks of lethal or severe injury due to fire and heat, electric
shock, ultraviolet radiation, and falls. Flashing light is also known to trigger epileptic seizures in
persons who are photosensitive. Please review the important safety information in the Atomic
3000 DMX user manual.
Read this manual before powering or installing the fixtures, follow the safety precautions listed
below and observe all warnings in this manual.
If you have questions about how to operate the fixtures safely, please contact your Martin dealer
or call the Martin 24-hour service hotline at [phone].

Atomic Colors: Safety instructions.

General

• Read this manual fully before starting to use the unit.

• Ensure that no objects or items are near the front aperture, or can get trapped in the roller

mechanism.

• Make sure the power supply for the Atomic Colors is connected and switched on, before
operating the Atomic strobe.

To guard against falls

• When fitting the unit to the Atomic 3000DMX, ensure all screws are thoroughly re-tightened.

• When rigging the unit, use the safety wire attached to the unit as a means of secondary

attachment.

Note: This safety wire is designed solely for use with the Atomic Colors unit. Use a
separate safety wire for Atomic 3000DMX strobe, and any other pieces of equipment.

• When suspending the fixture above ground level, verify that the structure can hold at least 10
times the weight of all installed devices.

• Verify that all external covers and rigging hardware are securely fastened and use an
approved means of secondary attachment such as a safety cable.

• Block access below the work area whenever installing or removing the fixture.

To guard against epileptic seizure

• Do not operate the fixture near stairways.

• Provide advance notice that strobe lighting is in use.

• Avoid extended periods of continuous flashing, particularly at frequencies of 10 to 20 flashes

per second, or with the color red.

Atomic Colors User Manual Safety Information 4

INTRODUCTION

2

The Atomic Colors is a dedicated add-on unit for the Martin Atomic 3000 DMX strobe. This unit
enhances the versatility of the Atomic 3000 DMX by adding the extra dimension of color changes
that can be controlled and programmed with any standard DMX controller.

Color changing is achieved by moving (or scrolling) a string of colored ‘gels’ (theatrical grade,
plastic color media) in front of the strobe unit. A processor controlled, low voltage DC motor
drives the movement of the gel string, with the processor receiving instructions from a lighting
controller. The internal processor also determines the positions of the individual colors and
controls the speed of the cooling fans. The lighting controller can be any device that outputs the
widely used USITT DMX (1990) data protocol (‘DMX’), including the one that may already be
controlling your Atomic 3000 DMX strobe.

The Atomic Colors requires an external power supply that is not included. Standard scroller
power supplies are available in various unit sizes. Each Atomic Colors requires one unit of power.
The size of power supply required is dependant on how many Atomic Colors you are using. Eight
Atomic Colors, for example, can be driven with a standard 8-unit scroller power supply.

The scroller power supply combines the low voltage and the DMX data for the Atomic Colors in
a special four-wire cable with XLR-4 connectors. The Atomic Colors features a ‘through’ XLR-4
connector that allows multiple units to be connected in a ‘daisy-chain’ to a single external power
supply.

The unit comes supplied with a gel string installed. This gel string has 10 color filters joined
together with special high temperature tape, to form one continuous piece. The colors in this gel
string have been chosen to offer a wide choice of color and intensity, and various other gel strings
are also available from your dealer. Custom made gel strings can be supplied, to special order.

It is possible for the user to manufacture their own gel strings for use in the unit, although this
must be done with great care. Poorly constructed gel strings may contribute to the unit failing to
work properly.

Mounting the Atomic Colors unit onto the Atomic 3000 DMX strobe is easily achieved using
existing hardware from the Atomic DMX 3000, and a permanently fixed steel safety wire is
supplied for secondary attachment.

Atomic Colors User Manual Introduction 5

6

PREPARATION FOR USE

3

Unpacking

The Atomic Colors comes with the following items:

• 5 M (16.4 ft) XLR-4 connecting cable

• Standard gel string (factory installed)

• User manual

The packing material protects the fixture during shipment; always use it to transport the fixture.

System overview

(Detailed connection diagrams are given in Section 5.)

Power supply

The Atomic Colors requires a separate external power supply. These are supplied separately and
come in various standard unit sizes. Each Atomic Colors requires one unit of power.

The Martin Atomic power supplies, MPU-02 and MPU-08 will function on any standard
worldwide voltage/frequency electrical supply.

You may need to attach a plug on the mains cable for power supply.

To install a plug on the mains lead

The mains lead must be fitted with a heavy-duty cord cap with ground connection. Consult a
qualified electrician if you have any doubts about proper installation.

Following the cord cap manufacturer’s instructions, connect the yellow and green wire to ground
(earth), the brown wire to live, and the blue wire to neutral. The table below shows some pin
identification schemes.

Wire Pin Marking Screw color

Brown Live “L” Yellow or brass
Blue Neutral “N” Silver
Yellow/green Ground Green

Atomic Colors User Manual Preparation for use

Control data

7

Any device that outputs the DMX512 (1990) data protocol (including the one that may already be
controlling your Atomic 3000 DMX strobe) can be used to control the Atomic Colors. ‘DMX’ is
an industry standard data protocol, which allows up to 512 channels to be controlled through one
serial data link. These 512 channels may be used by up to a maximum of 32 devices on only one
cable run by ‘daisy-chaining’ the devices together.

To work on the DMX system, each device is assigned a control address, also known as the start
channel, which is the first channel used by that device, to receive instructions from the controller.
The Atomic Colors uses 1, or 2 DMX channels depending on which control mode it is set for.
The first DMX channel (start channel) controls the movement of the gel string, and the second
channel, if selected, allows for remote control of the cooling fan speed. Details of the address
setting procedure are given in Section 6 of this manual.

Cables

The power supply combines the control data and low voltage power into one XLR-4 cable that is
then distributed to the fixture(s). One 5M (16.4 ft) XLR 4-pin cable is supplied with each fixture.
The power supply connects to the DMX data link with 3 or 5-pin XLR cables.

The type of cable used in this system has specific design requirements. Failure to use the correct
type of cable can lead to malfunctions and/or damage to the system. Further details about cable
construction are shown later in this section.

Atomic Colors User Manual Preparation for use

XLR-4 Cable Construction

Notes:

• It is very important to ensure that the drain wire from the cable shield is connected to both
XLR connector cases.

• Damage will occur if power connections short to the data, ground, or shield connections.

• When assembling XLR 4-pin cables, heat shrink should be used on each individual pin to

prevent short circuits. (See diagram below)

• Please take care when constructing these cables. A high percentage of problems are a direct
result of poor cable construction.

Detail of connector wiring (typical)

The correct wiring between male and female connectors is ‘one to one’.

XLR-4

Connector

(Pin No.)

1 Ground (0 V) 2.50mm² (14 AWG)

2 Control data minus (-) 0.35mm² (22 AWG)

3 Control data plus (+) 0.35mm² (22 AWG)

4 24 VDC (+ve) 2.50mm² (14 AWG)

Chassis Cable shield/Drain wire 0.25mm² (24 AWG)

Function Minimum Cable size

Twisted data pair, with foil
shield and drain wire.

(See above)

Atomic Colors User Manual Preparation for use 8