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Mac 700 Profile strobe channel weirdness

ottotottot Registered User
edited February 2011 in Wholehog 3 General Discussion
Hi there,

I´m working on a musical production which premiere is running on this same moment. For some reason our Mac 700 profiles strobe channel is acting quite strange way. When i set fixtures at full and add strobe nothing happens but after few seconds intensity fades smoothly out. If i knockout strobe parameter, intensity comes back at full. Strobe channel did work at wednesday when i created pallets to our LD. Today, i also tried to create a clean show and i did patch only few Mac 700 but same problem appears.
Any idea what could cause this? All our other fixtures, Mac III Performances, Tw-1s and VL2500 washes are working just fine.

We are using one Wholehog III (3.1.7) with miniwing and one quite fully loaded DP2000.
There are also two monitors and keyboard connected.
_______
ottot

Comments

  • Marty PostmaMarty Postma Registered User
    edited January 2011
    Are you using the correct profile?
    Extended vs reduced protocol is available for the 700s.
    Make sure the physical units are set to the same.

    Hope this helps. :)
  • ottotottot Registered User
    edited January 2011
    All our fixtures are in extended mode. I tried to reinstall 3.1.7 image without any luck.
    But after i created a clean show with my laptop and merged just Mac 700 lib to our
    current show file problem did disappear.

    But today just before show same problem came out. Programmer, output and dmx output
    windows shows that right data has been sent to right channels.

    Is it possible that our show file is somehow corrupted? Has someone at HES to time to
    check out our show file through?
    _______
    ottot
  • Marty PostmaMarty Postma Registered User
    edited January 2011
    Have you tried a "Check Integrity" from the Show Manager window (where you Save and make backups)?

    It could also be something in your programming.

    The best way to determine this is:
    - Release all Cuelists, Scenes, and Masters (Pig + Release is usually sufficient)
    - Check that nothing is Park-ed.
    - Close all windows and editors.
    - Press Clear
    - Select a single fixture and check to see that ALL parameters are behaving as expected.

    If the problem goes away, then you have an odd value somewhere in your programming (Cue, Scene, etc.) that is causing this.

    If the problem persists then either your patch is wrong, you have a conflict between fixture profile and actual setting of the unit, or there is potentially something corrupted in your showfile.

    Hope this helps. :)
  • ottotottot Registered User
    edited January 2011
    Hi Marty,

    I have tried "Check Integrity" and im quite sure this is not programming based issue.
    I tried to create a new show, patched few Mac 700s and problem were still
    there. After that, i did unpatch whole DP and replaced one fixture with desk channels
    and that way i could operate shutter and strobe channel. Of cource i cant do that
    trick to our showfile. :)

    So problem could be in fixture library on in the 3.1.7 software version, but i have
    tried to reinstall them both. Is it possible to run a show file with software
    ver 3.1.6 if it has been programmed on a 3.1.7?
    _______
    ottot
  • Marty PostmaMarty Postma Registered User
    edited January 2011
    Have you tried a full re-image of the desk and then launching a new show?
    Make sure you have a backup copy of your showfile externally before you do this.
  • RonnieRonnie Registered User
    edited January 2011
    Hi Ottot,

    A month ago I had te same problem with 3.1.7. and some Mac 700 profiles in extended mode. Some of them were working well, others had te same issue as you have. All the macs with the problems I've gave a factory reset. After that they worked well!

    I think it has something to do with a the dimmercurve setting of the 700 profile.

    Kind Regards!
  • ottotottot Registered User
    edited January 2011
    I`ll have to try a factory reset as soon as i get back to Finland.
    But thanks for your help Marty and Ronnie!
    ______
    ottot
  • ottotottot Registered User
    edited January 2011
    I Finally located our problem source and it was Mac 700s "studio mode" setting.
    But it would be nice to found out that is it heat, Mac 700 software/hardware or library
    what is causing this error when fixture is in extended mode and studio mode has been switched on?
    _______
    ottot
  • bradpepebradpepe Registered User, HES Alumni
    edited February 2011
    Hi Ottot,

    Looking at the user manual for the Mac 700 profile, there is very little information about the Studio Mode. However they do not indicate a change to the DMX protocol and only state the following:

    The studio mode STUD setting optimizes all effects besides pan and tilt for quietness or speed and sets fans to REG (temperature-regulated operation), overriding FULL the setting if applied in the FANS menu (see “Fans” on page 15).

    So it seems to me that this might be how the Studio Mode operates or a bug in the fixture software. I suggest you check with Martin about this specific problem. FYI according to their site the current fixture software is v1.4.0
  • Ozzy1Ozzy1 Registered User
    edited February 2011
    Hi,

    I used a bunch of 700's last week. Every time I switched the desk on at the beginning of the day I had to change the strobe setting to open otherwise there was no beam even if the intensity was at 100%.

    Once I programmed the show. If I reset the desk and played back the show the 700's would not show up until I open the shutter on the strobe channel. Im not sure if this is related to your issue or not?

    Thanks,

    Oz
  • Marty PostmaMarty Postma Registered User
    edited February 2011
    Sounds like a fixture firmware or menu setting issue as well.

    I've used 700 spots on about 3 gigs since this thread started with no issues with the profile.

    Try the "Factory Reset" from the fixture's menu and see if the problem goes away.

    Hope this helps. :)
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