FB3 questions

Don't get me wrong - the FB3 is a seriously good piece of hardware - Does what it's supposed to do, and very well. There's just a few things that could be improved. One is access to chanels. The other is 16bit XY positioning, but there's other solutions to that.

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As long as you stack the channels at least 14 apart (and I would recommend 16), there will be no problem

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DMX chanels in some installations/nightclubs are quite scarce, after 150 RGB led fixtures(450ch)+ some movers, strobes, foggers, dimmers and everything else that gets tacked on, anything that doesn't use chanels efficiently can be quite unpopular.
This is (I think) the primary market for the flashback product driven from DMX.

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Have you ever tried with any other DMX-controlled boards?

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Why yes I have tried another DMX controlled laser board. I think it best described as a novelty.
Truly scary performance (on par with a teddybear stuffed with used hospital bandages). When fast DMX (44 fps) is fed in the output hangs on a single point. When slower DMX is fed in the XY output shudders and jitters, with many *hot* spots in the image. When the DMX is unplugged the output runs smooth as.
And to think that this board is/was supplied with some cheapo Ebay lasers....
Bill, I'll get in contact to talk further.
B.

Bill -

Thanks for posting the info concerning DMX implementation with the FB3.
This is some good-to-know "less documented" info on a VERY nice piece of equipment!!

Thanks for the kudos Randy!

Regarding the comments of Fuz, you know, it's funny. Here we are, working our little hearts out to create something really powerful, with lots of DMX channels, and you want... LESS! :D

In fact, it may be possible for us to do this with alternative firmware for the FB3. The LiveQUICK application allows you to forcibly update the firmware with a file. We could produce a file with "less" functionality -- basically fewer channels as you suggest. This is possible. We just never did it up until now because, frankly, nobody ever asked.

By the way, thanks for confirming my comment about "other DMX laser controllers". We really work very hard at Pangolin to make things safe. Basically, we think of safety first, during a product's design, not last, once something goes wrong... So I am glad to know that "it shows" :D.

Bill

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Originally Posted by Pangolin

The "Access" channel is designed as one several means to promote laser safety. It was not meant to select a "control mode", otherwise we would have called it "control mode"... In any event, we never intended for anyone to allocate fewer than 14 channels for the FB3!

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That's like making a big scary machine with a user-selectable switch: "Very dangerous" - "Just a bit dangerous" - "Not that dangerous".

I would suggest you to take a look at all other DMX-controlled equipment. You call it 'access mode' and NOT 'control mode' but it's the same I think..
On (for example) movingheads there are different control modes, selectable on the movinghead. They change the number of used channels and make some functions available - or not. Not only features, but also "security" functions like being able to switch on or off the gas-lamps remote.

Oh, and please don't get me wrong: I like the FB3 and the DMX implementation is far better then every other DMX-laserboard I have seen/used/programmed. But with my lighting-background (both as an lighting-operator and working for a manufacturer of DMX-controller software) I think there are some things to improve!

Thanks for the comments.

Fuzcub has taken time to write some of this in a private email to me. We are discussing it now...

Bill