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[Duane Massey]

Just to clarify: I'm necessarily just knocking the Operator; there are no well-built, well-designed low$$$ controllers out there, but we all (or most of us) have 1 laying around for testing or emergency applications. I've even suggested them to clients at times, but only for simple non-specific situations.

If it's all you can afford, don't feel cheated, but you will truly be amazed at how much more you can do with a decent controller without adding any more fixtures. It's somewhat like buying an audio mixer : if you're only using 2 mics, you don't need a digital board, but if you're using 24 mics, you'd never consider using an 8-input powered mixer with a bunch of y-cords. You can run a light show with wall switches and a drum stick (that's how I got started), but you hit the limits of your system pretty quick....

[Gregory Lawrence]

You have piqued my interest.

What would be a good controller, in the entrance price of a good controller?

In other words, what are the least expensive of the  better controllers out there?

Any links I can check out?

Before I played guitar, I WAS that guy with a drumstick and a wall switch!

[Gregory Lawrence]

Oh, so YOU'RE  the dude who hacked off the expression pedals on the FCB1010?

I heard about that on another forum post...somewhere. heh!

[Duane Massey]

Greg, the least expensive serious controller out there is the ADJ/Elation Showdesigner 1. As with any generic controller the learning curve for a novice can be a little slow, but once you get comfortable with it you can do a lot of stuff quickly, especially live. Street price is under $1k, and you can find them on eBay at times for under $500. The original SD is not as good a choice as the newer SD1, so be aware of this if you're buying used.

[Bob Charest]

Gregory Lawrence wrote on Tue, 23 December 2008 07:02

Oh, so YOU'RE  the dude who hacked off the expression pedals on the FCB1010? I heard about that on another forum post...somewhere. heh!

Hi Greg, yes - that's me. I posted the PDF on the Yahoo FCB1010 forum in the hardware mod section of the files area:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/fcb1010/files/Hardware%20 Mods/

Then the file is FCB1010 Radical Mod.pdf

Merry Christmas,
Bob

[Gregory Lawrence]

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR:

Back from the holidays and with a new controller...well I replaced the Elation DMX Operator Controller with the same unit. It basically does the same thing, and just as poorly:

The Fade Time slider should register values between 0-255, but the lowest numbers I can get reliably are 22-255. It doesn't seem to want to register any value changes until you move the slider in an exaggerated motion, and then you can TRY to come back down and see "How low can you go."

Fade time value of 22 is way too long for a normal smooth fast scene transition. Sometimes I am lucky and can get 18 and very rarely get 14 or 12. You can't program the fade time in the scene settings, so it's very frustrating to say the least.

I set all the LED Par64's to the same channel and still had sync problems. I have yet to call back American DJ/Elation to see what they say about that. I am waiting for a replacement Par64. A DIP Switch on one of the lights was broken. I seriously doubt that would have an effect of the Sync problem. I just set it to another channel.

SYNC PROBLEM:
Out of ten Par LED's - five lights are in sync with each other perfectly, 3 are out of sync with the five, but are in sync with themselves, and the other two are in sync with themselves, but out of sync with the others. WTF???

I am using good new DMX cables.

[Bob Charest]

Hi Greg,

I know the thread is old, but whatever happened with your troubleshooting efforts and the different groups of lights that were in sync with other in their group but not working in sync with all the other lights?

Best regards,
Bob Charest

[Gregory Lawrence]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for keeping things afloat!
Old threads have gotten me through some hard times in the past!

Here is what I have determined...so far:

If I want all the lights the same color or doing the same thing, I can create a patch or preset for that, and it seems to work fine.

When I use the "auto-functions" provided via the Controller, -as in using sliders that control the Par Can's built-in functions, color macro or strobing, changing, fading, etc., the lights do not to sync up perfectly. Some are a little ahead of the others, and a couple are way behind the changes.

I am going to attribute this to the "cheap controller" ($200) and suffice to say, "You get what you pay for."

I have removed all other objects except for the, now 14 each, ADJ P64's - all the same make and model, save one, that has a white background instead of the regular black behind the LED's.

So my question to the forum:
"Has anybody using 10-14 of these ADJ P64 cans, using the same DMX controller, had any luck at perfect syncing when using the functions other than RGB sliders? Do all of your lights sync perfect when it is going through the auto-color palette, or strobing, fading or other auto-functions? (Note: I am not referring to sound activated mode.)

My one year warranty will expire at the end of October!
Anybody out there with perfectl functioning ADJ P64's and Elation DMX Controller?

HEADS UP !!! - I bought a cheap DMX Controlled Dimmer Pack from an eBay vendor, and though it seems to work really well for only $50 brand new, when I plug a "cheap" (my middle name) strobe light into it and dim it down to black, it still flashes every few seconds or so, as if the electricity is trickling through, -not enough to light an incandescent fixture, but enough to keep the capacitor charging in the strobe light, causing it to flash once every few seconds. This may be normal, but I can't use the strobe in this fashion.

At various clubs I will get some RF/Dimmer buzz/hum interference through my stage monitor/amp/gear, but most times it is almost completely noiseless and I usually suspect the venue's wiring/grounding as the culprit.

All in all, I am happy with the NO HEAT, low weight, and very little Amperage being drawn -after almost one year of constant club use.

The MIDI-Solutions box was programmed only once and sits on the floor happily translating the MIDI messages from my PodXT Live "Program Change Numbers to Note Change Numbers", thus allowing foot control using my own FX Pedalboard.

A good question might be, "Where can I get a cheap DMX box to control via a laptop with unlimited scenes and patches?

Thanks again to all!

Greg Lawrence