User guide

Page 14
StormChaser Manual Rev. C Copyright (c) 2012 Blizzard Lighting, LLC
5. APPENDIX
A Quick Lesson On DMX
DMX (aka DMX-512) was created in 1986 by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT)
as a standardized method for connecting lighting consoles to lighting dimmer modules. It was revised in
1990andagainin2000toallowmoreexibility.TheEntertainmentServicesandTechnologyAssociation
(ESTA)hassinceassumedcontrolovertheDMX512standard.Ithasalsobeenapprovedandrecognized
forANSIstandardclassication.
DMXprovidesupto512control“channels”perdatalink.Eachofthesechannelswasoriginallyintendedto
control lamp dimmer levels. You can think of it as 512 faders on a lighting console, connected to 512 light
bulbs.Eachslider’spositionissentoverthedatalinkasan8-bitnumberhavingavaluebetween0and
255. The value 0 corresponds to the light bulb being completely off while 255 corresponds to the light bulb
being fully on.
TherearevepinsonaDMXconnector:awireforground(cableshield),twowiresfor“Primary”commu-
nication which goes from a DMX source to a DMX receiver, and two wires for a “Secondary” communication
which goes from a DMX receiver back to a DMX source. Generally, the “Secondary” channel is not used
sodataowsonlyfromsourcestoreceivers.Hence,mostofusaremostfamiliarwithDMX-512asbeing
employerovertypical3-pin“miccables,”althoughthisdoesnotconformtothedenedstandard.
DMXisconnectedusingadaisy-chaincongurationwherethesourceconnectstotheinputoftherstde-
vice,theoutputoftherstdeviceconnectstotheinputofthenextdevice,andsoon.Thestandardallows
for up to 32 devices on a single DMX link.
Eachreceivingdevicetypicallyhasameansforsettingthe“startingchannelnumber”thatitwillrespond
to.Forexample,iftwo6-channelxturesareused,therstxturemightbesettostartatchannel1soit
wouldrespondtoDMXchannels1through6,andthenextxturewouldbesettostartatchannel7soit
would respond to channels 7 through 12.
Keeping Your StormChaser™ As Good As New
Keepingthefansfreeofdustanddebriswillkeepthexturerunningcoolandpreventdamagefromover-
heating.Intransit,keepthexturesincases.
Commonsenseandtakingcareofyourxtureswillbethesinglebiggestthingyoucandotokeepthem
running at peak performance and let you worry about designing a great light show, putting on a great
concert, or maximizing your client’s satisfaction and “wow factor.” That’s what it’s all about, after all!
Returns (Gasp!)
We’ve taken a lot of precautions to make sure you never even have to worry about sending a defective
unitback,orsendingaunitinforservice.But,likeanycomplexpieceofequipmentdesignedandbuilt
byhumans,onceinawhile,somethingdoesn’tgoasplanned.Ifyoundyourselfwithaxturethatisn’t
behavinglikeagoodlittlextureshould,you’llneedtoobtainaReturnAuthorization(RA).
Don’tworry,thisiseasy.Justsendanemailto[e-mail],andwe’llissueyouanRA.
Then, you’ll need to send the unit to us using a trackable, pre-paid freight method. We suggest using
USPSPriorityorUPS.Makesureyoucarefullypackthexturefortransit,andwheneverpossible,usethe
originalbox&packingforshipping.
Whenreturningyourxtureforservice,besuretoincludethefollowing:
 1.)Yourcontactinformation(Name,Address,PhoneNumber,Emailaddress).
 2.)TheRA#issuedtoyou
3.) A brief description of the problem/symptoms.
Wewill,atourdiscretion,repairorreplacethexture.Pleaserememberthatanyshippingdamagewhich
occurs in transit to us is the customer’s responsibility, so pack it well!
Shipping Issues
Damage incurred in shipping is the responsibility of the shipper, and must be reported to the
carrier immediately upon receipt of the items. Claims must be made within seven (7) days of
receipt.