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[Erik Jerde]

This works fine.  I hade 70m of CAT5 with XLRs on each end for this.  It was a nightmare to coil up though! So we changed to wireless.




Steve.

Any solid core install cable is going to suck to coil.  For temporary use you should be using stranded cable with a more durable rubberized (think mic cable) jacket.  That coils just fine.  I believe the OP was talking about existing installed catx runs.

[Matt Davis]

Thanks so much for all the replies.

Our main intention is first to move the control capabilities to the A/V booth, but also to make it more volunteer friendly. I’m the only person at our church that knows how to program lights at all, and my knowledge in it is essentially 1st grade level. I’d like to get it to a place where I can program it, and any person can run the lights without much training. I was drawn to iOS Luminair due to the seemingly easy to understand interface. I haven’t seen any programs for Windows or MacOS that are as intuitive. None of our volunteers want to even touch the physical controller, and I’m actually a musician, so I’m playing 95% of the time, and can’t run lights.

While ideally I’d prefer to keep our live stream PC just handling livestream, it is a pretty beefy computer. We have an RTX 2070 Super, SSD, and 32gb of ram. We only run vMix to YouTube and Facebook, so it could probably handle a lighting software without much strain, but ideally it would be separate.

TL;DR
We want something that is super intuitive for volunteers who have never heard the term DMX before.

[Jeff Lelko]

Thanks for the clarification Matt.  My thoughts are this:

Running control to the tech booth over your existing CAT 6 should be easy using the techniques described - there's no need to switch protocols and buy hardware to utilize that.  Your system also isn't of the size/type that would benefit from something like ArtNet. 

Switching to a tablet or PC doesn't necessarily mean a better user experience.  I personally prefer to program on a full-sized console when possible versus the software/app with wing equivalents.  It's tough to beat the ease of pushing faders around once the proper programming has been done. 

If what you have isn't fitting the bill anymore, the ChamSys QuickQ is a promising choice along with other options such as an ETC ColorSourse board or even a used ETC Smartfade.  Software and tablets can work in certain applications, but when working with volunteers having minimal experience and knowledge you can't go easier than pushing up a fader to get lights.  No networks, apps, or wifi issues to deal with.  Good luck!

[Scott Hofmann]

There are a lot of "CATxxx snakes" on the market that will allow you to use a single CAT 5/6 cable with a box or tails to turn it into (4) channels of DMX cabling for four DMX universes.  A Universe is 512 control channels.  I think at this time you will only need one universe.  There are adapters that will take DMX 3 or 5 pin XLR plugs and let them run a single DMX universe through CAT 5/6 cable terminated in RJ45 connectors.  The VRLDMXRJ45-3P SET from Elite Corp is one such adapter set.  By the way, you were very wise to have run spare CAT 5/6 cable.  Its a digital world out there!

I've found that the "gotcha" on the Cat snakes is the need for shielded Cat5/6 cable. The shield is for a common Pin 1 on all four twisted pair lines. Not installed as often as unshielded unfortunately.

[Mac Kerr]

I've found that the "gotcha" on the Cat snakes is the need for shielded Cat5/6 cable. The shield is for a common Pin 1 on all four twisted pair lines. Not installed as often as unshielded unfortunately.

If you are sending/receiving a "balanced" signal where only XLR pins 2&3 are used it is not an issue. If pin 1 is the "low" side of your signal, yes, it won't work.

Mac

[Scott Hofmann]

If you are sending/receiving a "balanced" signal where only XLR pins 2&3 are used it is not an issue. If pin 1 is the "low" side of your signal, yes, it won't work.

Mac

The discussion was in reference to DMX.

[Jon Dees]

We started a brand new install in 2018 with M-Pc (now onyx) because I couldn't find any hardware controllers that a volunteer could figure out.

I downloaded every app under the sun (M-PC, EOS, Chamsys, Jands, etc., etc.) and it drove me nuts that even figuring out patching required a trip to Youtube. I think most of the apps are horrid for volunteers. My recent experience with lights has been limited and my long-term experience was with ETC boards like Expressions. ETC's problem is that they have yet to realize that hardware dedicated controls for moving lights (that aren't modal) are important. Also they need to add motor faders and scribble strips to their hardware.

The lighting desk world decided in the deep dark past that motorized faders have to cost and arm and a leg compared to sound boards where the incremental cost appears to be <$100 per.

The other problem I had at the time was that Win10 was breaking most lighting apps with the every 6 month update cadence. This has slowed down a bit with Win10 getting more mature; however, the safe thing is to buy a computer with Win10 Embedded LTSC and not use lottery ticket windows updates issues.

Eventually I found the Pathway Connectivity Cognito. I wrapped my head around this fairly easily, and, when I had a question, I emailed the support line at Pathway and the guy who designed it from their Youtube video series directly responded. I have talked a n00b through busking a show over the phone from the Philadelphia airport. The touchscreen has a really dumb mode you can lock it into as architectural style controls.

The current board, Cognito2, is older hardware, so I might inquire on when they are going to replace the 'guts'. This board, like all the rest, needs motor faders and scribble strips.As others have said, you should be able to put an XLR-5 on the end of a catx line and send it to your lights. Otherwise, if your FOH lights don't accept Streaming ACN or Artnet then you'll need a gateway to translate back out. Pathway has gateways that they integrate with the Cognito, like the 'Uno'. Haven't used these.

The QuickQ looks like an OK alternative to the Cognito, but I can't speak to support. Trying to learn the big brother MagicQ software was not something I would wish upon a volunteer.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for all the replies.

Our main intention is first to move the control capabilities to the A/V booth, but also to make it more volunteer friendly. I’m the only person at our church that knows how to program lights at all, and my knowledge in it is essentially 1st grade level. I’d like to get it to a place where I can program it, and any person can run the lights without much training. I was drawn to iOS Luminair due to the seemingly easy to understand interface. I haven’t seen any programs for Windows or MacOS that are as intuitive. None of our volunteers want to even touch the physical controller, and I’m actually a musician, so I’m playing 95% of the time, and can’t run lights.

While ideally I’d prefer to keep our live stream PC just handling livestream, it is a pretty beefy computer. We have an RTX 2070 Super, SSD, and 32gb of ram. We only run vMix to YouTube and Facebook, so it could probably handle a lighting software without much strain, but ideally it would be separate.

TL;DR
We want something that is super intuitive for volunteers who have never heard the term DMX before.

[Steve M Smith]

Any solid core install cable is going to suck to coil.  For temporary use you should be using stranded cable with a more durable rubberized (think mic cable) jacket.

I know. But it was free - one of my favourite prices!




Steve.

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