Ken Benedict Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 Imagine you working on last minute adjustments of your Fire Breather and you or somebody steps on a loose DMX connection (like the Cat5 are prone to); the sudden disconnect causes DMX garbage on the line and you get a tummy full of unexpected fire. At least put a Dead Man switch in series, like they do in the big concerts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric walls Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 I really appreciate all the input, and I agree less red tape is better. Seems like government wants to have a hand in everything, and it's all about making money off it. I've seen a few videos of other people's displays with this and I love the idea.I am concerned tough about making the purchase and then having someone come and make me get a permit. I was going to use it just for Halloween night, and all my neighbors want me to do it. I did emil our local fire department and I have a feeling I know what the answer will be. Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission. Still I don't want to cause problems.The setup was going to be in my front yard where it's level and away from everyone and cords for my lights. I think I would plug it in only for the song I wanted. Guess I'm on the fence about it now....... Ya, it sounds like a few of us from the Portland area. I may be interested in going to the CLAP if anyone else is. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I was looking at CLAP and thought it would be fun to go. But having 2 kids who play baseball you can imagine what I will be doing that weekend and every other weekend until mid- July.I will keep looking to see if I can squeeze it in but I don't have high hopes. Sax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwhitehead Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 All there a few more of us in the Vancovuer area as well. I been doing my show since 2008 but didn't do one the last two years. I took a year off to take a break and spend time with family. It was the best choice I could have ever made. It ended up be the last Christmas with my mom as to why I didn't do a show last Chirstmas. Anyways if you need any help. Let me know. I will do my best to help ya out. I'm working on to do a great show this year. The Clap mini is a lot of fun. Mark and Kevin do a great job. Its a very relaxing atmosphere too with A Big thanks to Nancy for allowing us to come to her home.-Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver State Rich Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 OK, so I got the Acti Dongle # 53 from Holiday Coro along with a couple of RGB Flood kits, they are up and running with LOR. Cool. Got the Fogger from UPS today and I'm trying to get it to work. I didn't use a RGB channel in the LOR as it only should need one channel correct? Set the channel to 21 to not overlap with the floods and I'm not getting it to fire. Used a dip switch chart to ensrue my numbers were correct. Fogger seems to be working good and the light on the machine reads it's getting a signal from the DMX when the cord is plugged in. I'm missing something here-any ideas what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 That fogger is a DMX device. It has channels of its own and they operate a little different. If I read up on that device, that is, then it has it's own set of rules. Once you get it into the universe, and hopefully it is just by dip switch, then you need to see how it triggers. Most DMX devices will require a value to do something other than pure on or off. For example, to turn on red may require a dmx value of 4. I am just making an example so be sure to read the manual on what this value is and or does. But if it requires a 4 then you dim the value to a 4 in LOR software. Or make an intensity of 4. So if you want to FOG and have red led on maybe it is value 14. So now you set intensity of 14. Full on is intensity 255 for reference. So see what that does or is supposed to do according to the document. In DMX these intensities are how you control things with LOR. It is similar with macros on the CCR and other CCDs. I put my fav or most used intensities in the clipboard so I had quick reference to them. An intensity of 1 is hard to see. So are all the low intensities. You have to move your mouse over the line to see what is in the box. Errors are easy so be sure to check and recheck. Good luck,Sax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Ah, it is an 8 channel device. You setup channel 1 and the next 7 follow suit. Channel one controls the fog. A value between 11 and 255 will turn the fog on it appears. 0-10 appears to do nothing. Channel 2 is red color. 0-10 does nothing. 11-255 is brightness of red. It is all in the quick ref guide. You have to setup your channel in the menu and then control the device through those 8 channels. In LOR setup 8 new channels and label them fog, red, green ,blue, etc to match what they are. Be sure to match the dmx addresses. Then you control it by setting the intensity in the LOR software. Example, you have dongle setup for universe 1. You connect the fogger. Go through the menu and set the starting address. I would use 500 or something high so I can use other RGB devices low. So in menu select starting address of 500. Now, 500-507 are the fogger. Match that in LOR software. Make channel fog a dmx device universe 1 id 500. Make channel red a dmx device universe 1 id 501. Same for the other channels. Now, to make the device turn red, program 255 or full on to the red channel. It should output red. Now, LOR software requires advanced license to control DMX. You must have the LOR dongle as well as the holiday coro dongle connected and LOR control panel running. Then it should control the fogger as long as you have control devices checked. Hopefully that helps. Sax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver State Rich Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 The intensity was the part I didn't have set up, that was what was needed. Thanks! Sorry, forgot to mention that I didn't get the Chauvet fogger, I found a 1500w vertical unit from a China importer on eBay that was only 127 bucks to my door without the LED lights. It's the same unit a halloween company is selling for $399- markup is insaine on some of this stuff. I'm going to use the LED flood or maybe even buy another kit from HolidayCoro and just stick the LEDs around the output to mimic the $400 unit for less than $150. Made the mistake of testing this in the living room last night and that sucker pumps out a LOT of fog. A quick 2 second blast filled the room like I had a house fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 For floods, I would look at the LOR floods. They are much better than the holiday coro ones IMHO. I have floods from Ray, holiday coro and LOR. LOR are by far my favorite. And they don't cost much more. They are small and compact which allow them to hide in the yard better. They come in a casing already. I put magnets on the handle and they can hang from inside my gutters. In the yard, they hide in the grass. Don't get me wrong, I use the holiday coro ones too, but they are not as pretty nor do they have the same brightness. The LOR floods come with all connectors and cables too. They are as plug and play as you can get. Can you link the fogger you bought? I was looking at getting the chauvett 1100 for $99. But it requires a relay and modifications to get to work. I built the relay box already but it was cheap. If I can get a DMX fogger from the start maybe that will make my life easier. Thanks,Sax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver State Rich Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Here is the link to what I purchased off of eBay. The Chauvet first got my attention as an alternative to fire, but further research found that I could likely do better on the price of $400. While they are a name brand I have had an issue with them in the past on a fogger-I can forgive problems what burned me was the poor service/response to a simple fix with a remote. Now, I hate to say this because I got a lot of useful help from a vendor in the midwest on a haunt forum but this unit from china appears to be the identical machine a lot of the halloween stores/sites are selling for $300-$400. I had a vendor actually shoot the internals of their machine on youtube and when compared to the unit I purchased they are exactly the same. The specs the vendor listed on their website were a direct cut/paste from this unit (even same font) I always try and support stores that provide good service. However, the difference between 399 and 127 is too much to overcome. At 127 bucks including free shipping I figured I couldn't loose and rolled the dice. I know nothing about the seller but the item shipped on time and arrived exactly as advertised. It shoots fog over the roof of my house. In this case I think I won. I'm placed the rgb flood light I built this weekend next to it and got a pretty good effect. I think I can mount the LED's on top and for a total of $160 have something that should be functionally like the $400 name brand unit. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Updated-1500W-Fogger-UpSpray-Smoke-Fog-Vertical-Machine-with-Remote-Control-DMX-/190891845735?_trksid=p2054897.l4276 So... any of you guys going to the haunt convention in PDX?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sax Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Haunt convention? When/where? If possible I will head to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver State Rich Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 The West Coast Haunters Convention is in Portland every year. I have yet to actually make it but it's a pretty big deal. They have an entire section dedicated to the home haunter. It's May 16-18 and the keynote speaker is from the makeup artist show on Syfy network. A few of us from Corvallis are planning to go on the Saturday. I really wanted to do the CLAP event in WA but that week is booked solid with meetings in tornado alley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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