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selected by pressing and holding down the “add” switch while selecting these last items from the menu list. This
is a safety feature for the benefit of installers who wish to protect the memory from unauthorized tampering.
The various menu items are explained in the following paragraphs.
CHOOSE FIXTURES
This allows you to select from a list of lighting fixtures in the fixture library. First use the + or - switch or the #1
data wheel to select the fixture number (from 1 to 48), then select the type of fixture with the #2 data wheel or
move the cursor to the fixture type and use the + or - switch. You must press “enter” to record the choice. You can
also press “erase” to select “No Fixture”. If auto patch is enabled, a warning will appear telling you that some DMX
start addresses may be changed. Press “yes” to confirm or “no” to exit. After pressing “yes” the message “DONE”
will appear for 1 second. If auto patch is enabled, the start addresses of any fixtures above the selected fixture
will be adjusted to accommodate the new fixture.
The DMX Control 1024 has a built in list of fixtures to choose from. You can also load in “fixture profiles” that
contain more detailed information about a particular lighting fixture than what is offered by the built in list. Fixture
profiles are small files that can be downloaded from ROBE web site. They can then be loaded into the DMX
Control 1024 using the disk drive or through the RS-232 port if you don’t have the disk drive option installed. Read
the section on loading fixture profiles for more information.
When selecting fixtures from the “Choose Fixtures” menu, any profiles will be followed by “(profile)” in the display.
PATCH FIXTURES
This allows you to turn auto patch on and off or allows you to change the output port and set the DMX starting
address for each fixture manually. Auto patch must be turned off to change the start address or port of any of the
fixtures. To turn auto patch on or off, place the cursor under the words “ON” or “OFF” below “AUTO PATCH”, then
use the + or - switch to select on or off or use data wheel #4. You must press “enter” for the change to take effect.
If you are turning auto patch on, a warning will appear telling you that some DMX starting addresses may change.
Press “yes” to proceed or “no” to exit. Auto patch will assign an address to each fixture in ascending order with
each DMX address immediately following the last channel of the previous fixture. The first fixture will be assigned
to DMX output port 1 at address 1. After 512 channels have been used, DMX output port 2 will be used for any
remaining fixtures.
With data wheel #1 you can select from fixtures 1-48 and see the starting address and port assigned to each
fixture. You can move the cursor under any of the three digits of the channel number or use data wheel #3 to
select a new starting address as long as auto patch is turned off. You must press “enter” to record any change.
The message “DONE” will appear for 1 second to confirm.
MULTI FIXTURE
DMX Control 1024 supports intelligent lighting fixtures that use as many as 32 DMX channels. Since most
fixtures use fewer than 32 channels, DMX Control 1024 will allow you to configure a group of fixtures that are of
the same type, under a single fixture number. For example if you have selected a 4 channel scanner for fixture
number 1, you can set “multi” to 8. When fixture 1 is selected you will be able to use all 32 channels available for
fixture 1 to control 8 of these scanners.
NOTE:
This feature is for controlling large numbers of small 1, 2, 3 or 4 channel fixtures. This helps to prevent
wasting fixture numbers on a bunch of small fixtures.
You will be able to control the individual channels of each fixture separately using the 4 banks of 8 faders or with
the data wheels. When using the joystick, all of the multi fixtures within that fixture number will respond if they
have a pan and tilt feature. To control individual pan and tilt levels separately you will have to use the faders or the
wheels.
To program the multi fixture setting for a fixture number, move the cursor to the fixture number and use the + and
- switches or data wheel #1 to select a fixture. Move the cursor to the multi number or use data wheel #2 to
increment or decrement this value. You can only choose numbers between 1 and the maximum number of
fixtures that will fit into 32 channels. If it is a 4 channel fixture the multi value can be no higher than 8. You must
press “enter” to record the change. If auto patch is enabled you will be given the warning that some addresses
may change. Press “yes” to continue or “no” to exit.