Robe DMX Control 512 User Manual

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User manual

DMX CONTROL 512

Table of contents

1. SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS .............................................................................................. 4

2. OPERATING DETERMINATIONS .................................................................................. 4

3.OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 6

3.1.REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS................................................................................ 6

3.2.FRONT PANEL ......................................................................................................... 6

4.MENU............................................................................................................................... 6

4.1.CHOOSE FIXTURES ............................................................................................... 6

4.2.PATCH FIXTURES ................................................................................................... 7

4.3.MULTI FIXTURE ....................................................................................................... 7

4.4.MODIFY FIXTURE .................................................................................................... 7

4.5.COPY FIXTURE ....................................................................................................... 8

4.6.PAN AND TILT INVERT ............................................................................................ 8

4.7.SET MIDI CHANNEL ................................................................................................ 9

4.8.VIEW MEMORY SIZE ............................................................................................... 9

4.9.SAVE MEMORY FILE ............................................................................................... 9

4.10.LOAD MEMORY FILE ............................................................................................. 9

4.11.UPDATE SOFTWARE............................................................................................. 9

4.12.LOCK/UNLOCK MEMORY ..................................................................................... 9

4.13.ERASE ALL MEMORY ........................................................................................... 9

5.SWITCH AND CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................. 10

5.1.NUMBER SWITCHES 1-16 .................................................................................... 10

5.2.FIXTURE ................................................................................................................ 10

5.3.CHANNEL FADERS ............................................................................................... 10

5.4.BANK SWITCH ....................................................................................................... 10

5.5.JOYSTICK ............................................................................................................... 10

5.6.FINE SWITCH......................................................................................................... 11

5.7.TRACKBALL ........................................................................................................... 11

5.8.BLACK SWITCH ..................................................................................................... 11

6.SCENES ........................................................................................................................ 11

6.1.RECORDING SCENES .......................................................................................... 11

6.2.RECALLING SCENES ........................................................................................... 11

6.3.ERASE SCENE ...................................................................................................... 11

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7.PRESETS ...................................................................................................................... 12

7.1.RECORDING PRESETS ........................................................................................ 12

7.2.RECALLING PRESETS ......................................................................................... 12

7.3.ERASE PRESET .................................................................................................... 13

7.4.EDITING PRESETS ............................................................................................... 13

7.5.COMBINING PRESETS ......................................................................................... 13

8.CHASES ........................................................................................................................ 13

8.1.RECORDING CHASES .......................................................................................... 13

8.2.RECALLING CHASES ........................................................................................... 14

8.3.ERASING CHASES ................................................................................................ 15

8.4.EDITING CHASES ................................................................................................. 15

8.5.FACTORY CHASES ............................................................................................... 15

8.6.AUDIO SWITCH ...................................................................................................... 15

8.7.BEAT SWITCH ........................................................................................................ 15

9.SHOWS .......................................................................................................................... 15

9.1.RECORDING SHOWS ........................................................................................... 15

9.2.RECALLING SHOWS ............................................................................................. 16

9.3.ERASING SHOWS ................................................................................................. 16

9.4.EDITING SHOWS ................................................................................................... 17

10.MIDI .............................................................................................................................. 17

10.1.MEMORY BACKUP WITH MIDI ............................................................................ 17

10.2.MEMORY RESTORE WITH MIDI .......................................................................... 17

11.USING THE COMPUTER PORT ................................................................................. 18

11.1.CONFIGURING YOUR PC.................................................................................... 18

11.2.MEMORY BACKUP USING THE COMPUTER PORT ......................................... 18

11.3.MEMORY RESTORE USING THE COMPUTER PORT ....................................... 19

11.4.UPDATING THE SOFTWARE ............................................................................... 19

12.TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................................. 20

13.CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE ............................................................................. 20

APPENDIX A - FIXTURE LIBRARY ................................................................................ 21

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Keep this device away from rain and moisture!

Unplug mains lead before opening the housing!

FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, PLEASE READ THIS USER MANUAL CAREFULLY

BEFORE YOU INITIAL START - UP!

1. SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

Every person involved with installation and maintenance of this device have to:

- be qualilfied

- follow the instructions of this manual

CAUTION!

Be careful with your operations. With a high voltage you can suffer

a dangerous electric shock when touching the wires!

This device has left our premises in absolutely perfect condition. In order to maintain this condition and to ensure
a safe operation, it is absolutely necessary for the user to follow the safety instructions and warning notes written
in this manual.

Important:

The manufacturer will not accept liability for any resulting damages caused by the non-observance of this manual
or any unauthorized modification to the device.

Please consider that damages caused by manual modifications to the device are not subject to warranty.

Never let the power-cord come into contact with other cables! Handle the power-cord and all connections with the
mains with particular caution!

The power plug has to be accessable after installing the device.

Make sure that the power cord is never crimped or damaged by sharp edges. Check the device and the powercord
from time to time.

Always disconnect from the mains, when the device is not in use or before cleaning it.

The electric connection, repairs and servicing must be carried out by a qualified employee.

2. OPERATING DETERMINATIONS

This device was designed for indoor use only.

If the device has been exposed to drastic temperature fluctuation (e.g. after transportation), do not switch it on
immediately. The arising condensation water might damage your device. Leave the device switched off until it has
reached room temperature.

Do not shake the device. Avoid brute force when installing or operating the device.

When choosing the installation-spot, please make sure that the device is not exposed to extreme heat, moisture
or dust. There should not be any cables lying around. You endanger your own and the safety of others!

Operate the device only after having familiarized with its functions. Do not permit operation by persons not
qualified for operating the device. Most damages are the result of unprofessional operation!

Please use the original packaging if the device is to be transported.

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Never put any liquids on the device or close to it. Should any liquid enter the device nevertheless, disconnect
from mains immediately. Please let the device be checked by a qualified service technician before you operate it
again. Any damages caused by liquids having entered the device are not subject to warranty!

Please consider that unauthorized modifications on the device are forbidden due to safety reasons!

If this device will be operated in any way different to the one described in this manual, the product may suffer
damages and the guarantee becomes void. Furthermore, any other operation may lead to dangers like short­circuit, electric shock, etc.

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3.OVERVIEW

The DMX CONTROL 512 is a lighting controller.16 lighting fixtures of up to 32 channels each can be controlled
from a DMX 512 output. Control of up to 512 lighting channels is possible. Support of ROBE as well as other
popular brands is included in the setup menu.
The operating system uses flash memory so that the software can be updated from a computer
Software updates will be made available on the ROBE web site at ww.robe.cz.

3.1.REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS

• Power input for an external 9V power supply. This requires a transformer with a 9VDC output at
500ma. The plug polarity is + center with an inside diameter of 2.1 mm.

• DMX 512 output using a 3 pin XLR connector. There is a polarity switch which swaps pins 2 and 3.
Some lighting fixtures receive data minus on pin 2 and some on pin 3. The more commonly used
polarity is data minus on pin 2 (switch is to the right as you’re looking at the back of the unit).

• MIDI in and out - used for calling scenes in an automated installation.

• 9 pin RS-232 connector - used for connection to a PC to update the
software or backup the memory. It can also be used to connect to a mouse or trackball.

• Audio input - used for syncing chases to an external audio source. This is a line level input for
connection to the line output of a mixing console. Do not connect speaker level signals to this.

3.2.FRONT PANEL

Front panel features include assorted switches for programming, eight 60mm faders for direct control of
lighting fixture channels, a data entry wheel, a joystick for pan and tilt control and a backlit display for
programming.

4.MENU

The menu switch is used to configure the DMX CONTROL 512 for your particular lighting setup. The left and
right cursor switches, the + and - switches, and the data input wheel allow you to select settings for the
various menus that appear on the display. Pressing the menu switch displays the message “Press enter
to” on the top line of the display. You will be given a choice of menu items on the bottom line of the
display. You can cycle through the choices using the + and - switches or the data wheel. Press “enter” to
select the desired menu item. After selecting from the menu, the cursor switches will allow you to select a
field on the display to edit and the + and - switches or the data wheel will allow you to change the value in
that field. An underline cursor shows the selected field. The “enter” switch must always be pressed
following any change to make it permanent. This allows you to look at all of the possible choices first.
Several of the menu items are hidden to prevent unauthorized or accidental changes to the memory. The
“memory lock/unlock” function is hidden as well as the “erase all memory” function. These choices can
only be selected by pressing and holding down the “add” switch while selecting these last items from the
menu list. This is a safety feature for the benefit of installers who wish to protect the memory from
unauthorized tampering.
The various menu items are explained in the following paragraphs.

4.1.CHOOSE FIXTURES

To select from a list of lighting fixtures in the fixture library, use the + or - switch or the data wheel to first
select the fixture number (from 1 to 16). Next, select the type of fixture by moving the cursor to the fixture
type by pressing the right arrow switch and then using the + or – switch or the data wheel to make a
selection. You must press, “enter” to record the choice. You can also press, “erase” to select “No
Fixture” which is one of the fixture choices. If auto patch is enabled, a warning will appear telling you that
some DMX start addresses may be changed. Press “yes” to confirm or “no” to exit. After pressing

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“yes” the message “DONE” will appear for 1 second. If auto patch is enabled, the start addresses of any
fixtures above the selected fixture will be adjusted to accommodate the new fixture.
There is a list of all of the included fixtures in the back of this manual. If a particular fixture is not
included in the list, you can select one that is similar to the one you want and then use the “Modify
Fixture” feature to create it.

4.2.PATCH FIXTURES

This allows you to turn auto patch on and off and also allows you to set the DMX starting address for
each fixture. Auto patch must be turned off to change the start addresses. To turn auto patch on or off,
place the cursor under the word “ON” or “OFF” next to “AUTO PATCH”, then use the + or - switch
or the data wheel to change it. You must press, “enter” for the change to take effect. If you are turning
auto patch on, a warning will appear telling you that some DMX starting addresses may change. Press
“yes” to proceed or “no” to exit. Auto patch will assign an address to each fixture in ascending order
with each DMX address immediately following the last channel of the previous fixture.
You can select from fixtures 1-16 and see the starting address for each fixture. You can then move the
cursor under any of the three digits of the channel number to select a new starting address. If auto patch is
on you will not be able to change the address. You must press, “enter” to record any change. The
message “DONE” will appear for 1 second to confirm.

4.3.MULTI FIXTURE

DMX CONTROL 512 supports intelligent lighting fixtures that use as many as 32 DMX channels. Since most
fixtures use fewer than 32 channels, DMX CONTROL 512 allows you to configure a group of fixtures that are
of the same type, under a single fixture number. For example if you have selected a 4-channel scanner for
fixture number 1, you can set “multi” to 8. When fixture 1 is selected you will be able to use all 32
channels available for fixture 1 to control 8 of these scanners.
NOTE: This feature is for controlling large numbers of small 1, 2, 3 or 4 channel fixtures so that a fixture
number is not used up on one small fixture.
You will be able to control the individual channels of each fixture separately using the 4 banks of 8 faders.
When using the joystick, all of the multi fixtures within that fixture number will respond if they have a pan
and tilt feature. To control individual pan and tilt levels separately you will have to use the faders.
To program the multi fixtures, move the cursor to the fixture number and use the + and - switches or data
wheel to select a fixture number. Move the cursor to the multi number (to the right of “X”) to increment
or decrement this value. You can only choose numbers between 1 and the maximum number of fixtures
that will fit into 32 channels. If it is a 4 channel fixture the multi value can be no higher than 8. You must
press, “enter” to record the change. If auto patch is enabled you will be given the warning that some
addresses may change. Press “yes” to continue or “no” to exit.

4.4.MODIFY FIXTURE

This allows you modify the channel attributes of a fixture. You can also use this to create a new fixture that
isn’t in the library. To do this you must first select a fixture as described above in the “Choose Fixture”
section. When trying to create a new fixture, choose something that is similar to the one you are trying to
create or start with the “Generic Dimmer” which is the first choice from the list. You can later use the
“Copy Fixture” feature as described in the next section to duplicate the new fixture.
There are nine fixture attributes that can be modified. The attributes are: fixture name, number of channels,
black channel, black value, pan channel, pan fine channel, tilt channel, tilt fine channel and crossfade mode.
After you have selected the “Modify Fixture” menu, use the cursor switches to move the underline cursor
to the fixture number to select the fixture you want to modify. Next move the cursor to the “attribute” which is
displayed immediately to the right of the fixture number to select from the nine fixture attributes.Next move the
cursor to the bottom line of the display to select the value for the attribute you are changing.
You must always press “enter” to record any changes you make to an attribute. The message “DONE”will appear
in the display when the change has been recorded. The fixture attributes are described in the
following paragraphs.

NAME is the fixture name that appears whenever you select or deselect a fixture. You may want to modify
this attribute on all of your fixtures to show fixture purpose or location. You must place the underline
cursor on the character you want to edit then use the + or – switch or the data wheel to select a character.

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CHANNELS is the total number of channels for the fixture. This can be any number from 1 to 32. When
you change the number of channels be aware that other things such as fixture addresses and number of
multi fixtures can be automatically changed if you drastically change the number of channels for a fixture
that has already been set up and is in use. Fixture attributes such as black channel, pan or tilt will be
automatically disabled if you select a number that is smaller than the channel numbers that are already
assigned to those attributes. For example if you have already assigned pan to channel 8 and you reduce the
total number of channels for the fixture to 4, pan will automatically be set to “none”. Likewise if you
increase the number of channels from 8 to 9 and you had previously set up 4 multi fixtures using all 32
channels, the multi fixture setting will automatically be reset back to 1.

BLACK CHANNEL is the channel that will be affected when the “black” switch is pressed. You can
choose any available fixture channel as well as “ALL” which will force all channels to the selected black
value.

BLACK VALUE is the DMX value that will be sent to the selected black channel(s). This will
accommodate fixtures that use the gobo wheel for blackout and that use a value other than 0 to set the
gobo wheel to black. You may also want to blackout all channels to a value other than 0 since this is used
as a reset by some fixtures. For some fixtures a value of 1 achieves the same result as a value of 0 for
blackout.
PAN CHANNEL is the channel used by the fixture for pan. This can also be set to “none” if the fixture
does not have a pan feature. This is also the pan coarse channel or pan high byte channel for those fixtures
that use two channels to control pan. This directs the joystick output as well as other pan functions.

PAN FINE is for fixtures that use two channels to control pan. This is also referred to sometimes as the
pan “low byte” channel. Set this to “none” if the fixture uses only one channel for pan. The joystick will
control this channel with “fine” mode turned on.

TILT CHANNEL is the same as described above for pan channel except that it controls tilt.

TILT FINE is the same as described above for pan fine except that it controls tilt.

FADE MODE is used to set the crossfade method for each of the fixture’s channels. Use the + and -

switches or data wheel to select the desired channel, then move the cursor to the value to select the
crossfade mode. The choices are “crossfade”, “snap before fade” and “snap after fade”. You must
press “enter” after each channel has been programmed.
“Crossfade” will cause a channel to smoothly fade from one setting to another when changing scenes.
The crossfade time will vary from scene to scene depending on how that scene was programmed. Use this
setting for channels that control functions like pan and tilt or dimming to achieve a smooth transition from
scene to scene. If you use this setting for gobo or color wheel channels, this will cause the wheels to step
through all positions between the start and end positions of a long fade. This is usually the default setting
for pan, tilt and dimmer channels.
“Snap before fade” will cause the channel to jump immediately to the next scene level as soon as the new
scene is called. Use this setting for channels that control motor speed so that pan and tilt will move at the
correct speed during the fade. You can also use this setting for wheel channels that you want to change at
the start of long crossfades. This is usually the default setting for speed and mode channels.
“Snap after fade” will cause the channel to jump immediately to the next scene level at the end of a
crossfade. Use this setting for wheels and effects that you want to take effect after a long crossfade is
complete. This is usually the default setting for color and effects wheels.

4.5.COPY FIXTURE

This is used to copy the fixture type from one fixture number to another. This feature saves time by letting
you copy the fixture selection rather than searching through the list when setting up a group of fixtures
that are all the same type. Select a fixture number to copy from and to. Press, “enter” to complete the
copy process. If auto patch is enabled you will be given the warning that some addresses may change.
Press “yes” to continue or “no” to exit. If a fixture is already set up at the “copy to” location, you will
be asked if you want to copy over the existing fixture, press “yes” to copy over it or “no” to exit.

4.6.PAN AND TILT INVERT

The joystick can be used to control pan and tilt if a fixture has a pan and tilt feature. Sometimes a fixture is