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Forum Home » Sound Reinforcement » Lighting » Please help me!

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Please help me! [message #309689]

Sat, 05 April 2008 22:43

Rey Damian is currently offline

Rey Damian
Messages: 3
Registered: April 2008
Location: Texas

Newbie

Ok So
Someone broke into my church and stole our lightboard.
We have 4 dimmer packs that LMX
our pastor bought a board that is DMX
we bought a converter because someone told me that AMX is the same as LMX
out converter is an
NSI i/f 501
Interface UNit

our DMX board is a Elation Professional board with 12 fixtures 8 scenes 8 faders its black and says nothing else.....

for some reason we can't figure out what to do, we suspect that someone at full-compass told us taht LMX and AMX were the same, we were sold a product and cannot find a way to make it work...

thanks

Rey

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Re: Please help me! [message #309692 is a reply to message #309689 ]

Sat, 05 April 2008 22:58

Duane Massey is currently offline

Duane Massey
Messages: 1348
Registered: January 2006
Location: Houston, Tx

Has No Life

Rey, I've never heard of LMX; the normal protocols you find are DMX, Microplex (MPX), and AMX, which is rarely seen anymore.

What brand of dimmers do you have? What type of connection?

Duane Massey
Houston, Texas, USA

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Re: Please help me! [message #309694 is a reply to message #309692 ]

Sat, 05 April 2008 23:01

Troy Gwin is currently offline

Troy Gwin
Messages: 242
Registered: January 2006
Location: Columbia, SC

Has No Life

LMX and MPX are the same thing and both are still very common in some less expensive dimmers. If I'm not mistaken, MPX is trademarked by NSI. Lightronics uses LMX (which is the same thing).

AMX and LMX/MPX are not the same.

[Updated on: Tue, 08 April 2008 00:31]

ACS Sound and Lighting
Sound - Lighting - Video - Staging
www.acsweb.com

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Re: Please help me! [message #309698 is a reply to message #309689 ]

Sat, 05 April 2008 23:04

Phil LaDue is currently offline

Phil LaDue
Messages: 3587
Registered: June 2005
Location: Owego, NY USA

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LMX is a proprietary language developed by Lightronics inc.

http://www.lightronics.com

You should probably sell your console and get a Lightronics desk.

Philip LaDue
RFL
"The loudspeaker has more of an effect on the sound we hear than anything else in the audio reproduction chain"- Alan Frank

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Re: Please help me! [message #309701 is a reply to message #309698 ]

Sat, 05 April 2008 23:11

Troy Gwin is currently offline

Troy Gwin
Messages: 242
Registered: January 2006
Location: Columbia, SC

Has No Life

Phil LaDue wrote on Sun, 06 April 2008 00:04

LMX is a proprietary language developed by Lightronics inc.

That is not correct. LMX and MPX are the same. Lightronics just wasn't allowed to call it MPX because of trademark.

ACS Sound and Lighting
Sound - Lighting - Video - Staging
www.acsweb.com

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Re: Please help me! [message #309704 is a reply to message #309701 ]

Sat, 05 April 2008 23:31

Phil LaDue is currently offline

Phil LaDue
Messages: 3587
Registered: June 2005
Location: Owego, NY USA

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Troy Gwin wrote on Sun, 06 April 2008 00:11

Phil LaDue wrote on Sun, 06 April 2008 00:04

LMX is a proprietary language developed by Lightronics inc.

That is not correct. LMX and MPX are the same. Lightronics just wasn't allowed to call it MPX because of trademark.

Why would anyone not give them a license?

Maybe because they copy things a little? Rolling Eyes

Rolling Eyes

http://www.lightronics.com/fxtrs.html

[Updated on: Sat, 05 April 2008 23:41]

Philip LaDue
RFL
"The loudspeaker has more of an effect on the sound we hear than anything else in the audio reproduction chain"- Alan Frank

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Re: Please help me! [message #309705 is a reply to message #309704 ]

Sat, 05 April 2008 23:33

Troy Gwin is currently offline

Troy Gwin
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Location: Columbia, SC

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That's funny. Laughing

Laughing

It is true that AMX is rarely seen anymore though.

ACS Sound and Lighting
Sound - Lighting - Video - Staging
www.acsweb.com

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Re: Please help me! [message #309731 is a reply to message #309701 ]

Sun, 06 April 2008 07:32

Kevin Wright is currently offline

Kevin Wright
Messages: 14
Registered: February 2008
Location: DFW, Texas

Here Often

Regarding the assertion that "LMX and MPX are the same":

This was true for a long time. However, I recently asked Lightronics if LMX and MPX are compatible (for a project of mine). The surprising answer was that at some point in the recent past, NSI changed something about the timing in MPX. This change causes gear that speaks LMX to not work with newer NSI gear. So, according to Lightronics, the answer is that it depends on the age of the LMX and MPX gear you're using. The Lightronics person I spoke to did not know exactly when NSI made the change to the MPX protocol. That would be a very helpful bit of info for those of use that use MPX/LMX gear.

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Re: Please help me! [message #309733 is a reply to message #309689 ]

Sun, 06 April 2008 07:45

Karl P(eterson) is currently offline

Karl P(eterson)
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Registered: April 2004
Location: Atlanta, GA

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Rey, give us the model numbers of your dimmers.

I have used that I/F 501 box on a number of occasions it may do what you want depending on what the model numbers of the dimmers are.

Note: That IF box has like 20 switches on (and inside!) it. If you haven't opened it up yet, you probably haven't set it up right (although whether it will work or not is a different question)

Karl P

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Re: Please help me! [message #309734 is a reply to message #309689 ]

Sun, 06 April 2008 07:49

Kevin Wright is currently offline

Kevin Wright
Messages: 14
Registered: February 2008
Location: DFW, Texas

Here Often

The NSI I/F-501 does DMX -> MPX conversion.
You'll have to look at the manual to determine the correct jumper switch and dipswitch positions. In other words, the NSI I/F-501 is not a "plug n play" unit. It requires manual setup, and that setup depends on the conversion you want it to perform.

Also, be aware that the manual may lie to you. I spent a lot of frustrating time with my first I/F-501 experience, in trying to get a MIDI -> MPX conversion to work. NSI's regular tech support folks didn't know how to help me. I was finally put in touch with an NSI engineer who emailed me an updated .pdf file of the I/F-501, and he talked me through the setup. Now it all works swimingly Very Happy

Very Happy

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Re: Please help me! [message #309738 is a reply to message #309733 ]

Sun, 06 April 2008 08:20

Kevin Wright is currently offline

Kevin Wright
Messages: 14
Registered: February 2008
Location: DFW, Texas

Here Often

You also may want to check out the DMX-lator converters.

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Re: Please help me! [message #309800 is a reply to message #309738 ]

Sun, 06 April 2008 12:14

Duane Massey is currently offline

Duane Massey
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Registered: January 2006
Location: Houston, Tx

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The box you purchased will probably work if set properly. The manual is confusing and there were discrepancies in the settings (wish I could remember, as we used one several times to go from DMX to MPX), but it would be worth contacting NSI dirctly.

Thanks for the info on LMX; I knew Sunn and Lightronix used the same protocol, but I didn't know it actually had a name.

Rey, you are using a 3-pin to 5-pin cable to go from the DMX controller to the 501?

Duane Massey
Houston, Texas, USA

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Re: Please help me! [message #309981 is a reply to message #309689 ]

Mon, 07 April 2008 00:36

Rey Damian is currently offline

Rey Damian
Messages: 3
Registered: April 2008
Location: Texas

Newbie

Dimmer Info: Lightronics AS-40L (0148-09861) 4X600 Watts, 3 pin I/O connectors, LMX 3 protocol.

Elation Professional DMX Operator, 3 Pin DMX Output (1-Grd, 2- data (-), 3- data (+).

Converter: NSI I/F 501 Interface Unit.

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Re: Please help me! [message #310059 is a reply to message #309981 ]

Mon, 07 April 2008 11:59

Phil LaDue is currently offline

Phil LaDue
Messages: 3587
Registered: June 2005
Location: Owego, NY USA

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Info and sheet for N0501:
http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=180 7&section=15449

Philip LaDue
RFL
"The loudspeaker has more of an effect on the sound we hear than anything else in the audio reproduction chain"- Alan Frank

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Re: Please help me! [message #310159 is a reply to message #310059 ]

Mon, 07 April 2008 17:01

Duane Massey is currently offline

Duane Massey
Messages: 1348
Registered: January 2006
Location: Houston, Tx

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Rey, where in Texas are you? If you're anywhere near Houston I might be able to help if you can't get it to work.

Duane Massey
Houston, Texas, USA

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Re: Please help me! [message #310267 is a reply to message #309689 ]

Mon, 07 April 2008 23:42

Rey Damian is currently offline

Rey Damian
Messages: 3
Registered: April 2008
Location: Texas

Newbie

Hey Guys, thank you SO much for your info. I gotta be honest and say I'm a tad confused. I am also the messenger not the culprit. So anyway, our church is located in kingsville texas which is 1 hour south of corpus christi, which is around 5 hours from houston and about 4 from austin. I will repost news as soon as i've tried out everything that i've read.....thank yall again SO much yall are just great!

REy

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