Pathway LR Manual - Manual (Page 6)

DMXPathfinder LR About DMXQConnect
5
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
DMXQC
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 Gray
Interfaces 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