DMX?

StarMan

I've been in the lighting industry for three years now and I still don't know exactly what DMX stands for and exactly how it works.· I thought someone here might know.· Is it something that can be controlled by a BS2?

Chris Isaacson

Dave Paton

DMX is the USITT's standard for lighting control, and is a variant of the RS-485 serial protocol that is used specifically to allow remote control of intelligent lighting instruments. Of course, lighting instruments is now a very broad category of items including, btu not limited to hazers, smoke machines, snow machines, pumps, relay boxes, chain motors, and a numbe rof other things I've seen but forgotten about with DMX capabilities.

There's a really great tech summary at:

http://www.dmx512.com/web/light/dmx512/index.htm

And the official documentation over at:

http://www.usitt.org/standards/DMX512.html (you need to pay them to get an actual hardcopy)

As for BS2 DMX stuff, there was someone on the oooooold stamp-list (back when Chip was a regular) that did it, and somewhere ont he web I found a site that had DMX translator chips. If you want to get really into it, I'm pretty sure the BS2P or -SX could handle it. As I recall, the protocol isn't too wierd, and runs at a reasonable baud rate.

-dave

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
This is not a sig. This is a duck. Quack.

Jon Williams

The DMX protocol is simple, the baud rate, however, is too fast for our BASIC Stamp modules. One could use an SX though, and they're now very easy to program using the free SX/B compiler.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
Dallas Office

Chris Savage

This should help those that are interested in the DMX Protocol.

http://www.lighting-association.com/links/dmx-faq.htm



▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Chris Savage

Knight Designs
324 West Main Street
P.O. Box 97
Montour Falls, NY 14865
(607) 535-6777

Business Page:·· http://www.knightdesigns.com
Personal Page:··· http://www.lightlink.com/dream/chris
Designs Page:··· http://www.lightlink.com/dream/designs
·

Dave Paton

Jon Williams said...
The DMX protocol is simple, the baud rate, however, is too fast for our BASIC Stamp modules. One could use an SX though, and they're now very easy to program using the free SX/B compiler.

Correct. If I'd searched the archives like I was supposed to, I would have remembered the discussion from 2000 that noted that the DMX serial rate is 250kbps and that that's just too fast for a Stamp, even the BS2p.

The SX surely can do it, and with the nifty stuff in SX/B it would be pretty easy I think.

The easiest way out is at http://www.milinst.com/·who makes a DMX-RS232 converter.

-dave


▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
This is not a sig. This is a duck. Quack.

StarMan

Thanks for the input and the links.

I'll look into the SX a little more.· Right now my mind is full with BS2 thoughts.

Chris Isaacson