Hey guys, any of you have experience with DMX lighting? I just bought a Chauvet Techno Strobe RGB and a Chauvet Obey4 DMX controller, and am having some issues with it.
The sliders on the controller aren’t controlling the correct colors (i.e. “green” slider is controlling red, "blue is controlling green, etc.)
After doing a lot of research online (and not finding much), it appears to be because the Techno Strobe is a 5-channel light, and the Obey4 only has 4. Is that correct?
Is there anything I can do to make this work, or a cheaper option? All I’m wanting to do it control a couple Techno strobes so I can get them on auto, then strobe after the drop in a song, etc. Real expensive DMX controllers seem overkill for me…
Page 4 details the DMX channels, you may just be able to get away with using channel 1. 0-24 is RGB mode 9guess it just cycles through preset colours) 025-224 are built in programs (and there may be one or a few which strobe) and then 225-255 is sound active mode.
If one of the presets is a strobe, you can either leave it in sound active mode, or one of the other presets when playing normally, and then switch it to one of the strobe presets when you need it. If you can find the right progrsm, i would probably suggest marking your controller with some tape or something at the appropriate places.
The chauvet obey 4 has the ability to control up to 4 groups of fixtures. So if you select fixture 1 on the controller, it will control channels 1-4. Fixture 2 will controls channels 5-8. So you can use the fixture 1 button to control the RGB/preset programs/sound active and the separate red/green/blue channels using the faders, and then if you unselect fixture 1 and select fixture 2 you can control the strobing/program speed by using fader 1, and the dimming by using fader 2.
Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah, that’s not a bad idea - I’ll give that a shot. The light behaves erratically right now - I can get it to strobe with some luck and hitting the “strobe” button and moving the right sliders, but it’s not consistent enough to use well at a gig. I’ll see what the “Fixture 2” controls do, and also see if I can get it set on auto, with strobe “override” like you suggested, and report back.
If you need anymore help, feel free to pm me. I would definitely suggest getting the manual out and looking at the DMX chart in there to work out exactly what each fader will do though.
Thanks robdquick. I ended up returning the technostrobe and getting a COLORstrip instead. It’s 4 channels, so should play nicely with the Obey4. (Though I’m considering returning the Obey5 and getting an Obey10 just for future expand ability…)
I think the Obey 10 is cheaper than the Obey 4 anyway? If you’ve got any other DMX lights that arent just parcans or floods, the Obey 10 would definitely be a good choice instead of the Obey 4.
It’s only $10 more, so I went for it. The COLORstrip didn’t work correctly with the Obey4 anyway (weird), so the Obey10 should do the trick! (I certainly hope, anyway!) Thanks again for your help - I appreciate it.
Download the app “Dip Switch” as well, it helps with identifying correct channels. Also, look into software controllers, I just switched to ADJ MyDMX 2.0, and I love it compared to physical controllers.
Thanks - I’ll grab the app, and the MyDMX looks sweet - just unfortunately out of my budget.
Another question now that I have the ColorStrip and Obey10 - it’s “strobe” speed is significantly slower than the TechnoStrobe’s, and the reason I was buying one of these lights was primarily to have a good strobe, and a nice wash light was secondary. Since they’re all LED lights, I figured there’d be a way to program the light to flash faster with the Obey10. Since I’m new to DMX, I’m unfortunately lost. Is it even possible to get the Colorstrip to flash faster (14 Hz?) or am I out of luck?
Nothing, and I mean nothing, will beat an actual strobe light at being a strobe. I’m not familiar with the ColorStrip, but it looks like a great unit for color washes. In fact in the interest of future expandability, it’d be worth getting two of those and arranging them like this / \ to have your own little Daft Punk set up.
However, when it comes to serious epilepsy inducing stroboscopic effects, you’ll need a dedicated strobe. I’m sure American DJ make one that’s sub £100.
You can change the “Flash” speed by going to: A000-A023, then the next step is F000-F100, the F000-F100 are the different flash speeds on the colorstrips. You’ll have to master slave 2 of the Colorstrips to make them strobe in unison though.
So is F100 the absolute fastest that unit can strobe then? Because it’s still quite slow (much slower than the Technostrobe). If that’s the case, then I think I’ll just return the COLORstrip and buy a second Technostrobe RGB and stick with that. Thoughts?
Yea, unless you can increase the speed via controller, F100 is the fastest. If I were you, I’d take a couple colorstrips, a coupler techno strobes and some fog all together, that would have a really nice effect. I don’t know what lights you’re working with in conjunction though
I have the Chauvet Obey10 DMX controller, but from what I’ve found (moving the channel slider that controls speed), it will still only flash the same speed as doing it manually on the light. Does that mean I’m out of luck?
Okay thanks. I’ve got an American DJ Galaxian laser, a moonflower, some black lights, an ADJ Vertigo light, and a fog machine. I just bought two TechnoStrobe RGBs based on this discussion, hoping they’ll provide some good wash lighting/effects/the occasional strobe. I primarily use the lights at smaller gigs I put on - generally with turnouts of about 300. DJing is far more of a hobby than a job for me, so I try to keep expenses minimal.
Hello, I’m from France so sorry for the translation.
As our friends, I have 2 Chauvet LED Techno Strobe and I bought an Obey 4 (I did not see this forum before).
I, with perseverance, managed to set the strobe closest to techno with Obey4.
Led techno 1 dip 3 ON, others being off
Led techno 2 dip 3 & 4 ON, the other being off.
Thus, one is led fixture 2 and 2 LED fixture 4
All functions are represented Obey 4 (the colors match) set apart the cursor “WHITE” which serves Strobe (Strobe speed control).
Certe the fixture 1 and 3 thus are not used, but for those who like me has only 2 LED strobe is good enough, in fact, I think trying to find two others, as well, I have 2 lED fixture in 2 and 2 lED fixture in 4.
