Randy Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Posting a new software feature here to see if there's any acceptance or agreement before submitting to the wishlist....My son was goofing around with a controller awhile back, err..He was "testing" and had some stuff plugged in, including a strobe light....I was doing some stuff in the garage and he was having a good time doing some testing, and all of a sudden the strobe light quit working because he had hit it with some fading (even though we had discussed only sending on/off commands to it)...It got me to thinking.....Would there be support for a feature on the software to allow a channel to be locked or configured as non-dimming (i.e. only 100% on or off) ?It might save someone else from damaging an expensive device inadvertently....Anyone like the idea?Thanks, Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMeBobO Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Yes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownTown Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I'd rather the programmers work on features that are useful, not ones that keep us from shooting ourselves in the foot.D.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Roberson Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 ItsMeBobO wrote: Yes!Ditto!It would could be useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 DownTown wrote: I'd rather the programmers work on features that are useful, not ones that keep the software from shooting ourselves in the foot.hmmm...not shooting myself in the foot seems useful to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikerz Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I like the idea also Randy as I have several strobes on a particular channel or two and would hate to "smoke" one because I dragged a fade command on one. Good idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Roberson Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I also thought: a way to 'program' a controllers channel to only be full on or full off, may help with this mishap. This 'program' would be on and stay with the controller.We already have the abality to set max. intensity for a controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knute73 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 What about adding to that by giving each channel options. I like the just on or off, but what about setting the fade up and down, intensity , etc...On a side note, I think the just on and off is more of a safety. It will help protect your investment. Mistakes happen. When you get over 100 channels, you could easily miss something during the programming. I would hate to burn out a ton of strobes right at the beginning of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 knute73 wrote: When you get over 100 channels, you could easily miss something during the programming. I would hate to burn out a ton of strobes right at the beginning of the season.I must be missing something....are you guys talking about special strobes? 'Cause the strobes I have just flash 3-4 times per second on full intensity...don't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Roberson Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jimswinder wrote: knute73 wrote: When you get over 100 channels, you could easily miss something during the programming. I would hate to burn out a ton of strobes right at the beginning of the season.I must be missing something....are you guys talking about special strobes? 'Cause the strobes I have just flash 3-4 times per second on full intensity...don't they?No, nothing specialYes..... full intensity.If you accidental program in a 50% on or anything than 100% 'on' the strobes could be damaged.:shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Paul Roberson wrote: If you accidental program in a 50% on or anything than 100% 'on' the strobes could be damaged.:shock:Yikes!!I thought I always read that to have them fire at the exact time you wanted them to you NEEDED to "preheat" them using a less intensity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Roberson Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jimswinder wrote: Paul Roberson wrote: If you accidental program in a 50% on or anything than 100% 'on' the strobes could be damaged.:shock:Yikes!!I thought I always read that to have them fire at the exact time you wanted them to you NEEDED to "preheat" them using a less intensity?I have read that also. Some people do that. I turn mine on 100% a fraction of time before I want them to fire."Accidently" shimmer them for awhile and let us know the results.This kind of accident is what Randy's idea would help to prevent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 jimswinder wrote: I thought I always read that to have them fire at the exact time you wanted them to you NEEDED to "preheat" them using a less intensity?I think you're confusing the reason for pre-charging them Jim. With LED strobes (and ONLY with LED strobes from CDI as far as I'm aware) pre-charging them at a lower intensity helps to randomize them more quickly when they are fired. Personally, I've never had an issue, at least one that my eyes could detect, with any strobes not firing precisely when they were supposed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 George Simmons wrote: jimswinder wrote: I thought I always read that to have them fire at the exact time you wanted them to you NEEDED to "preheat" them using a less intensity?I think you're confusing the reason for pre-charging them Jim. With LED strobes (and ONLY with LED strobes from CDI as far as I'm aware) pre-charging them at a lower intensity helps to randomize them more quickly when they are fired. Personally, I've never had an issue, at least one that my eyes could detect, with any strobes not firing precisely when they were supposed to.Oh okay....I guess I should have mentioned I was speaking of LED strobes...haven't tried my new Xenons yet, but good to know I don't need to pre-charge them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I agree this would be a nice feature Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulanator Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Very good Request!I would like to have this feature also. I am concerned that less than 100% might hit my strobes, and it would be nice to prevent that.It would also work nicely with the DC Board. I have an on/off solenoid for pneumatics, and I do not want it going to anything but on or off.Maybe there is a way on the DC controller to define this, but I am not aware of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 One way you could check channels now, without having to add extra features.Simply select the entire length of the channel in the sequence. Then, with foreground effects turned on, apply an "On" command. Any cell within that channel that has an event in it would be forced to "ON". Channels that are off would not be affected.So, if you accidentally put a fade on a channel, it would be corrected to an "On".When I'm sequencing a display that has some non-dimmable items, this is the quickest way I know if to make sure I don't have a cell/event at less than 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 rikerz wrote: I like the idea also Randy as I have several strobes on a particular channel or two and would hate to "smoke" one because I dragged a fade command on one. Good idea!And most of the time there isn't just "one" on a channel but rather 10, 20, 50, etc. At 6 bucks a pop, that can be costly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marquisite Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Not to mention that in Australia it is very common to have low voltage lights with a supplied adapter (it is the law that outdoor lights need to be low voltage except when they are completely waterproof). Feeding the adapter anything other than 100% intensity has potential to damage it.Very useful suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Don Gillespie Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Yes good idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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