Pathway DMX QConnect Software for CR Manual - Manual (Page 5)

DMXQConnect for CR - User Guide About DMXQConnect
2
Chapter 1: About DMXQConnect
Q
UICK
S
TART
Like most users of new lighting control equipment, you
probably want to get your system up and running and
performing useful work right away. You may already be
familiar with the basic concepts of DMX signal line patching,
or routing as it commonly known. You may be the person
installing and commissioning a new system, not the end user.
If any of these accurately describes your particular situation,
you may wish to skip this chapter and go immediately to
Chapter 2, install the DMXQConnect software and verify that
your PC and the patch system are "communicating". Go on
to Chapter 3 to learn how to use the software. Return to this
chapter and read through at your leisure when and if you are
interested in background information.
W
HAT IS
DMX Q-C
ONNECT
?
The proliferation of DMX512 controlled equipment in the entertainment lighting
industry, and indeed related industries such as special effects and motorized
scenery control, has resulted in various schemes to interconnect this
equipment with control systems. DMXQConnect, together with the Pathway
DMXPathfinder, represents the first fully electronic, software based method of
routing DMX signals to and from control consoles and receiving equipment.
Previous attempts at creating DMX networks around off-the-shelf hardware
usually involved cumbersome cord and plug patches to provide a data path
between control systems and receiving equipment, via optically isolated
repeater units (DMX opto-splitters). A single data path would require one cord
to connect a source jack to the input of an opto-repeater, and another to
connect the output of the repeater to the send jack. By the time all input and
output connections were made for a given production, the patch rack bore an
unsettling resemblance to the old load patch panels that have been obsolete
for almost twenty years.
DMXQConnect is a software tool enabling the user to construct a virtual DMX
data communications network on a personal computer. It will permit the user
to add descriptive text notes and device address information, and then transmit
the resulting interconnectivity data to an electronic matrix patch system, or
crosspoint router, that physically interconnects all of the control system's
elements in an organized, logical manner. High-speed solid-state crosspoint