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Sound Reinforcement - Forums for Live Sound Professionals - Your Displayed Name Must Be Your Real Full Name To Post In The Live Sound Forums => SR Forum Archives => Lighting FUD Forum Archive => Topic started by: Adam Feldstain on March 22, 2006, 07:13:20 PM
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Ok. We need to make a wireless DMX bridge from point A to point B we will call it FOH to Dimmer City. I have looked at the following products:
ELC - DMXLan Node 2 + a wireless Ethernet transmitter/receiver.
http://www.elclighting.com
Pathway Pathport + a wireless Ethernet transmitter/receiver.
http://www.pathwayconnect.com
ETCNet2 Two Port DMX Node
http://www.etcconnect.com
Wireless Solution BlackBox S-1 Indoor & BlackBox R-512 Indoor
http://www.wirelessdmx.com
So my questions are: Has anyone ever used any of these products or anything like it. And does anyone know of any other products I might be over looking. I like The ETCnet node 2; But is it something that will only work with ETC product protocol? And is there a product that will send the DMX wirelessly on its own band as opposed to converting it to Ethernet and having to use the already jammed “Wi-Fi” Frequencies?
Thanks in advance to anyone that can help.
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I have only seen one wireless DMX unit that I would trust. It is made by Gilderfluke (www.gilderfluke.com). I think it is called the btDMX, but I'm not sure.
It is not a WiFi solution, but uses a dedicated side band. I'm sure it is not cheap (they specialize in theme park and exhibit markets), but I saw it work in an incredibly noisy (electrical and RF) environment flawlessly.
My two experiences with WiFi based solutions have both ended very badly. It isn't that the products were badly made or implemented, it was just the limits of the technology. The worse was when the box office wireless network (which never ran during rehearsals) started causing lost packets on opening night...
-jjf
Innovate Show Controls
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Looking at this from strictly an RF point of view, the Gilderfluke system would be the best choice as it operates in the less congested 900MHz band. The quality of the unit's design and manufacture aside, 900MHz offers better performance in an obstruction laden environment than 2.4GHz (the band used by 802.11b/g WiFi). And since it's not in the 2.4GHz band, it won't interfere with, or be interfered by, wireless networking devices (access points, client computers, etc.)
The other products all operate in the 2.4GHz band and will thus require a bit of coordination with any other access points and WiFi gear on the production. The Wireless DMX unit from Sweden, although probably the best designed, built and performer is the worst product to have in an evironment with WiFi: It's a frequency hopping device hopping throughout the entire 2.4GHz band knocking out anything it 'lands' on for that split second.
Henry Cohen
Production Radio Rentals