Lil'DMXter2tm
The Volt Meter of Digital Lighting
Control |
Discontinued
product
|
 |
Discontinued
product
|
For over fifteen years the Lil'DMXter and the Lil'DMXter2
have been the
standard
of DMX512 testing. The Lil'DMXter2 significantly
expanded the unit's memory capacity, providing room for
software
expansion.
- Lil'DMXter2 GENERATES and TRANSMITS a
DMX512
control signal.
- Lil'DMXter2 RECEIVES and ANALYZES
a
DMX512
signal.
- Lil'DMXter2 CHECKS DMX512 cables.
- Lil'DMXter2 VERIFIES system
stability.
- Lil'DMXter2 TESTS multi channel devices (moving
lights).
- Lil'DMXter2 BACKS-UP your console with its
ShowSaver
software.
- Add the ShowPlayer option to use your Lil'DMXter2
as a
164
cue show controller
- Lil'DMXter2 is CE certified for AC mains
operations
- V2.45 software adds several new
features. (release notes are below)
The Lil'DMXter is simple to use.
Only
seven buttons run its menu-driven software. The Lil'DMXter
speaks
to you in plain English using a backlit 40-character display. It comes
in a rugged water-resistant case, tough enough to ride in your tool kit
or cable hamper. It runs on its own internal rechargeable battery. The
AC charger is built in. The Lil'DMXter is the tool you need to
work
with digital lighting systems, color scrollers, moving lights, and
anything
that is controlled by DMX512.
TRANSMIT
The Lil'DMXter offers you four
DMX512
transmit modes. You may ADJUST ONE SLOT. You may ADJUST ALL SLOTS
to
the same level. The Lil'DMXter can AUTOFADE thru a dimmer
system,
bringing each successive dimmer up to full and down again - perfect for
checking lamps, patches and dimmers! It can work as a "one cue"
lighting
controller, allowing you to send any combination of levels to any of
512
dimmers. This feature, SEND/EDIT SNAPSHOT, can be used either by
entering
data from the front panel keys, or by recording a "picture" of the
received
DMX line. The Lil'DMXter provides a signal that may be used as
a
scope trigger, synchronized to the break/mark after break sequence.
The DMX512 standard is widely used in
theatrical
lighting and effects. Different equipment uses the
standard for a wide variety of purposes. The DMX512 standard allows
wide
variation of certain parameters. We allow you to vary five important
parameters
of the transmitted signal to help the Lil'DMXter mimic as many
products
as possible. We group these parameters into presets which we call
"flavors".
The Lil'DMXter provides you with nine flavors, three of them
user-defined.
Those parameters you can vary are:
- Break Length
- Mark After Break Length
- Numbers of slots Sent
- Inter slot Time
- Interpacket Time
The Lil'DMXter allows you to send
and
receive any of the 256 allowed start codes.
RECEIVE
The Lil'DMXter allows you to
examine
a controller's output and indicates whether a valid DMX512 signal is
being
sent. In VIEW LEVELS the unit displays received levels. The unit
displays
levels for four sequential slots at once. If the unit detects a
reception
error, it warns the user. In addition to stepping from slot to slot,
the Lil'DMXter allows the user to jump to the next slot with
a
level equal to or greater than a preset search level. In VIEW
PARAMETERS
the unit measures and displays break length, mark after break length,
break
to break time, updates per second and number of slots per packet. It
also displays all of the start codes being received from the DMX line.
VIEW PARAMETERS also provides the error summary screen. This screen
flags
parity errors, framing errors, break too short, mark after break too
short,
overflow (reception of more than 512 slots) and broken line
detection.
Broken line detection is a proprietary Goddard Design Co. feature that
detects if either of the two data lines is open during reception.
DISPLAY FORMATS SUPPORTED
The Lil'DMXter supports three
display
formats for slot levels. Two of them, decimal and hexadecimal,
display
the full 256 step resolution. The third, percent, provides a 0-100 step
scale similar to that used on most lighting consoles.
FLICKER FINDER
Have you ever had a haunted lighting
system?
Have you had the problem of trying to determine whether it's the
console
or the dimmers? The FLICKER FINDER mode allows you to compare each
received
packet with a stored snapshot of the console's output. It also gives
you
a user selectable comparison window. The unit will count as an error
any slot level falling outside the comparison window. The Lil'DMXter
displays the number of errors and their minimum and maximum values.
Using
FLICKER FINDER allows you to calculate the system error rate.
CABLE TEST
Testing a cable for electrical continuity
is not the same as testing it for data transmission continuity. The Lil'DMXter
tests cables using actual data. It has a mode that allows you to test
cables
when both ends are not available in the same place. This makes the unit
particularly useful in troubleshooting installations. It also tests the
optional link on pins 4 and 5. Although use of these pins is outside
the
DMX512 standard, there is considerable installed base of equipment
using
them, and you'll probably want to test them at some point.
MULTI CHANNEL MODE
DMX512 was conceived as a dimmer control
protocol.
Today many different theatrical devices are controlled by DMX512. Many
of these devices, particularly moving lights, use more than one DMX
slot.. Our Multi Channel Mode moving light software will let you:
- Define a fixture type using 2 to
99
slots.
- Define the number of similar
fixtures
in a contiguous
block. A block may contain from 1 to 99 fixtures.
- Many multi channel fixtures have
an
internal
dimmer but some do not. For fixture types that use an external dimmer,
the software allows patching of the intensity control channel to any
slot.
- If the external dimmers are in
contiguous
blocks, a simple auto patch routine will set up the patch with the
absolute
minimum of key strokes.
- Some multi channel fixtures use
discharge
or arc style lamps. Many of these lamps may not be turned on and off at
will. To make it easier to deal with these fixtures the software can
define
one slot as the arc lamp control slot. This slots's level will
never be changed except by an explicit instruction.
- Enter test values for any specific
fixture.
Consider you are testing a lighting system with 15 moving lights; the
first
light starts at slot 93, each light takes 11 slots, and the iris
is on slot 7. What slot is the iris on lamp 13? Just select
fixture
13, slot 7, there is no need to calculate the absolute dimmer
channel
address. If you wish to view the absolute address a simple key press
will
display it.
- Once you are done testing one
fixture
you
may move to the next one with a single key stroke. As an option the
values
you set for the first fixture may be copied to the next fixture. The
old
fixture is returned to one of three definable conditions.
The above is a brief overview of the
moving
light features of our software. You may download the full manual from
our
Web site.
ShowSaver
How would you like to have a backup DMX512
controller? ShowSaver allows your Lil'DMXter to work as
a
backup device.
- Store up to eight 512-slot
"looks".
Record
the looks from the output of your console or create them using the Lil'DMXter's
keys.
- Assign a 1-16 character name and a
0-30 second
fade time to each look. View and edit stored looks - live or blind.
- During playback, cross-fade
between
any two
looks or a blackout in any sequence, at the assigned fade time - or as
a bump. During playback, adjust individual dimmer levels onstage
without
altering the levels in the stored look.
- During playback, adjust a
proportional
Grand
Master.
- The Lil'DMXter's ShowSaver
is
useful
for testing dimmers and color scrollers too!
ShowPlayer Option
Add automatic changeover-to-backup-mode to
your Lil'DMXter. Store up to 64 cues, assigned to any of
1000
possible cue numbers. Use an external device to trigger a
sequence,
or run cues based on time. ShowPlayer is a software option that
expands
the capabilities of your unit.
(See
separate data sheet)
CMX (COLORTRAN) OPTION
The Lil'DMXter is available with a
factory installed option that allows it to transmit and receive both
DMX512
and Colortran (CMX) protocols in all its functions - including
ShowSaver.
The protocol selection is made and displayed thru the unit's menus. CMX
Option is available for new and existing units.
RECEIVE SCOPE TRIGGER HARDWARE OPTION
All Lil'DMXter's provide a
synchronization
output that may be used to trigger an oscilloscope to view the unit's
output.
Synching a scope to an unknown source of DMX512 is notoriously
difficult.
For occasions when this is necessary, the RECEIVE SCOPE TRIGGER
hardware
allows you to synch to a received DMX512 signal from any source. This
option
provides the hardware; the software is included in all units. The
hardware
is an external scope trigger generator card .
The RECEIVE SCOPE TRIGGER option will
allow
you to:
- Trigger on beginning of BREAK
- Trigger on end of BREAK
- Trigger on beginning of START CODE
- Trigger after any slot - this
may be
set
to be conditional on START CODE and/or slot level
- One shot or continuous modes
available.
The RECEIVE SCOPE TRIGGER hardware option
is not for general DMX512 users. This is an analytical test function
valuable
in the R&D lab and for serious component level troubleshooters.
New Hardware Features of Lil'DMXter2
The Lil'DMXter2 features an
extremely
low standby power consumption of 200µA. This means standby time
between
charges should be greater than 6 months. The Ram memory has been
increased
from 8K to 32K bytes; the ROM from 32K to 64K bytes. Addition I/O has
been
added for expansions and special features. The DMXter2 has room to grow
with you and DMX512.
Links to additional information on the DMXter products.
Some of these files are in PDF format. You will need a PDF
viewer to read and print them.
If you do not have one it may be downloaded for free from
Adobe.
The Lil'DMXter2 is CE certified
The
European Union has established certain requirements that most
electronic
equipment must conform to when used within the EU. It has established
testing
methods to determine that a unit does conform. Units that do conform
may
carry the "CE mark".
Goddard Design Co. is pleased to
announce
that all Lil'DMXters are CE certified for direct connection to AC mains
power.
To our knowledge, this unit is the only professional DMX512 test unit
that
does not require a wall transformer for charging.
Goddard
Design Company
51
Nassau Ave.
Brooklyn
NY 11222 USA
718 599-0170
718 599-0172 fax
http://www.goddarddesign.com
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to Goddard Design Co. home page
© copyright Goddard Design Co. 1998
last updated Dec 4, 2008