Pathway DMX Manager Plus! #6301, 6302 User Manual
Page 4
DMXManager Plus!
User’s Guide
- 4 - Manual Version 3
P
ROTOCOLS
S
UPPORTED
DMX Manager Plus supports the following lighting industry communication
protocols:
DMX512 – Probably the most widely used protocol for controlling lighting and
effects equipment, DMX512 was the first industry standard digital multiplex
protocol. The DMX signal consists of 512 8-bit control packets sent
asynchronously over a two-pair shielded cable at 250K Baud. The standard
connector type is 5 pin XLR. Since its inception in 1986, there have been two
revisions: USITT DMX512/1990 and the newer ANSI E1.11 DMX512-A (2005)
version. DMX Manager Plus is designed to work seamlessly with these and all
manufacturer-specific variants of the protocol.
RDM – A recent (2006) addition to the DMX512 protocol is ANSI E1.20 RDM
(Remote Device Management), a separate, optional standard which is
intended to enhance the value of DMX by adding command/query-and-
response functionality on top of the basic streaming data structure of DMX.
RDM requires that DMX ports are bi-directional. Features include remote DMX
device addressing and status reporting.
Ethernet – DMX Manager Plus is compatible with Ethernet-based control
networks using Pathport
®
Protocol, Strand Shownet, ArtNet and the new
streaming ACN protocol based on ANSI E1.17 ACN (Architecture for Control
Networks) Ethernet communications standard.
DMX
P
ORT
C
ONNECTIONS
DMX Manager Plus provides the user with two connections, both male and
female 5-pin XLR or terminal blocks, for each of its four DMX ports. Each pair
of connectors is hard-wired in parallel. This feature allows any port to be used
as an input or output without the need for gender-swapping adapter cables.
Or, if a male-male or female-female cable is all that’s available, it will always
be a compatible cable!
It is also possible to use the second connector as a direct pass-thru for ports
configured as inputs. All five pins of each DMX connection are supported.
All connections on the four DMX ports are fully optically isolated and protected
from fault voltages. Please note that, except for the IEC chassis plug marked
for AC input, all ports on the DMX Manager Plus are intended for connecting to
low voltage data lines only.