Thanks for the recommendations. I looked at the Fleenor for a single input to 3 output and they want $563.00 Elation wants $130 for the same thing and it even gives me both 3 pin and 5 pin connections. Where as the fleenor give one or the other. From looking at the specs they look pretty much the same. But that is a monstorus price difference. What makes the fleenor worth an addition $430 more? It just does not seem like a good value.
the fleenor is worth it cause this is one of those single point failure places that can make your day very bad, very quickly.
Just as i choose my console in mind as to how stable it is, so to do i choose i my splitters.
Will the elation splitter take the jolt if some audio guy runs phantom down a 3 pin line?
Ive never had a problem with fleenor products, and thats all that they do...make boxes for dmx...
im speaking outa my butt here...but does elation even make their own products, or do they just reliable? I know that that patend scanner they were selling for a while was a euro manufacturer, same with all their controllers.
josh wabaunsee lighting designer/director Mystic Lake Casino
Some of the low cost DMX splitters are not optically isolated, the just buffer the signal. That means a power fault or ground loop on one leg of the circuit can damage gear on other ports of the splitter.
For any reasonably large rig, you want true isolation from input to output, as well as between isolation between each output.
With DMX distro gear, you really do get what you pay for.
I mostly use ELC splitters, in combination with ELC-nodes. Also very reliable and stable. I always see DMX as rigging: It is as strong as the weakest link.
You can have a brand new expensive desk, and huge rig with many expensive movers, why take the risk of having problems for just 400usd? While you're working with probably a multi 100k worth of equipment?
Josh really hit the nail on the head. "Single point failure." A few hundred bucks is cheap for peace of mind.
Honestly I have no experience with the Elation splitters. I have always had Fleenor opto's around and have never had a single issue. Why fix what ain't broke?
Not to beat this issue into the ground, but here is a real world example:
This summer Rush was on tour with a Wholehog 3 console and several DMX splitters. All but one were Fleenor models. They had a problem where some of their LED strip lights would get "locked on" in some looks for aobut 10 seconds. After lots of troubleshooting we were able to determine the problem was caused by this one splitter in the run! It was not an Elation model, but it was a cheap brand and not the quality Fleenor as all the rest. And thus I bet this is why the problem occured...
As stated in this thread... you should always protect the data as best you can, and this means using good cables, splitters, etc.
[quote=Timothy Burke]Thanks for the recommendations. I looked at the Fleenor for a single input to 3 output and they want $563.00 Elation wants $130 for the same thing and it even gives me both 3 pin and 5 pin connections. Where as the fleenor give one or the other. From looking at the specs they look pretty much the same. But that is a monstorus price difference. What makes the fleenor worth an addition $430 more? It just does not seem like a good value.
Everyone else seems to have covered the technical reasons....:D
DFD will certainly build splitters with a mix of 5&3 pin ports...give them a ring and let them know the config you want and they will be more than happy to build it for you.:)
Remember that you ALWAYS get what you pay for....don't expect much for cheap.;)
[QUOTE=Woodj32177]But Brad, On the Lightnetwork, Scott told me I could run dmx down Barbed wire
You can, provided you use high quality barbed wire specified for use with RS485 and a characteristic impedance of 110ohms +/-10%.
Avoid metal fenceposts and under no circumstances try to use the same barbed wire with an electric fence... Then again, that would be a way to keep the noise boys from messing with your cables...
