Paul

The desk does like upgrade disks to be freshly formatted. Just deleting old files from the disk isn't the same - it leaves behind junk which can confuse the desk. It is quite possible that the desk also has a preference about the order in which the 3 files from the upgrade zip file are written to the floppy disk. Not altogether sure on this, I haven't tried all permutations, but I would expect it would prefer the frogupg.osf file went on first. Maybe the method you use to unzip the file and get the 3 files on the floppy affects this? Just an idea to mess around with perhaps, you might find it makes no difference at all! The other thing that sometimes helps is if you format the disk in the desk itself before copying the upgrade files to it on your PC.

Looks like there is a bug when assigning new fixtures, in that it can corrupt data for other already assigned fixtures... Frog Reference 5541 - Assigning Fixtures - corrupts memory data for other fixtures.

This is another manifestation of the same bug, which is addressed in Beta release 10.2. If you want to become a Beta-tester and try out the fix for this, please send an email or PM to K-Nine.

Hi Pipo, Unfortunately the wyg file is no use to us, we don't have wysiwyg. Can you answer the following questions to help us investigate: 1. Changing a fixture from one type to another is actually handled by the desk as 2 operations - unpatching the old fixture followed by patching the new fixture. Can you try and work out which of these 2 operations it is that is corrupting the show? i.e. unpatch the old fixture type, then test the show, then patch the new fixture type, then test the show again. 2. What exactly was corrupted - memories, submasters, SXs, palettes? Did anything survive? 3. Was it other fixtures before or after the one you repatched, that were affected, or both? Cheers, Paul.

Which software version were you using on the desk?

The law that is set with the link wire inside the Beta2 is not your problem. Most likely someone has been meddling with the preheat adjustment pots on the Beta2. Set a control input of 10% on every channel from the Leapfrog (confirm this on the outputs screen), then tweak the pots so the connected lamp just begins to glow. Each pot adjusts a pair of channels.

What you have currently with Version 10.0 software (in partial programming mode) is: - Brightness (HTP) parameters are always recorded. - Only LTP parameters which you have changed are automatically tagged, and hence recorded when you hit 'Program'. - You can record all LTP parameters (regardless of their tagged state) by holding down the Wheel Group button when you hit 'Program'. There are 2 key things missing here to make the desk a full tracking desk: - You need to be able to tag brightness (HTP) parameters. - Memories in the memory stack should look the same when you play them back, regardless of the order in which you play back the memory stack. We have committed to addressing both of these in version 10.X, in order to make the Frog desks full tracking consoles.

I couldn't find the exact Switchpack you mentioned, however the NJD SP10000X manual says <3V for fully off, and >7V for fully on, so it should be OK. If you want to be sure, first connect something that won't mind being dimmed (like a 100W bulb) to the switcher output, and see what happens when you raise and lower the fader on the Fat Frog. What you can find with some disco effects (don't know about datamoons I'm afraid) is that they have a cooling fan which is powered from the same mains as the lamp, so if you keep switching them on and off, you can leave the lamp very hot with no cooling. This isn't going to help any lamp have a long life. Ever noticed how video projectors (very very expensive lamps!) have a fan that runs on long after you press the button to shut it down? Is the same principle... Unfortunately there's no easy way around this if this is the problem, you either avoid switching your effects on and off any more than you need to, or rewire them so the fan can get separate power. Besides, datamoons are DMX controlled, so you shouldn't need to be switching them on and off all the time from a switchpack anyhow...

If you already have a "DMX controlled switcher", then you shouldn't need to do anything special at all on the desk. The switcher will make the decision (usually around 50%) based on the control input, as to whether its output is on or off. You should just be able to control it with a normal desk channel, the switcher will not allow its output to dim. If you have a dimmer and you want to create a switched output (for practicals, not powering non-dimmable things!) there is a trick you can do on the Fat Frog. What you need to do is assign a fixture with just the one LTP channel in it, and then use two submasters - both with the corresponding LTP action set to snap - one to turn it on to 255 and the other to turn it off to 0. I don't think this is what you're getting at though...

Have you got a green light on the power supply? Does the floppy drive grunt when you switch the desk on? Have you metered the +5V and +12V out from the power supply? Have you checked the XLR4 connector on the power supply to make sure all the pins are still soldered fine? Is there anything on the external monitor? If you plug a keyboard in, is that powered? If you plug a desk light in, does that come on? There's plenty of things to try to help work out where in the system the problem is

Unfortunately you can't set a channel to have a switch law on any of the Frog series desks. Really you shouldn't connect any non-dimmable load to a dimmer output and rely on some programming somewhere in the system to ensure it never dims. Moving lights / disco effects etc should always be supplied from hard power or via a dedicated Switchpack, such as the Switch6. It has been suggested many times on this forum to introduce the feature of laws on the Frog series, however the intention of this would always be to create particular effects, for example with practicals, and never to be used to power non-dimmable loads from dimmers. One day someone will change your programming without realising, and blow up your nice new movers / disco effects.

Hi Ray, I've added the 'System Connection Information' document for the LM3600 series to the main support website, CLICK HERE. If I find any more relevant documents for the LM3600 series, I'll add them there too. Best of luck, Paul.

Your friend is nearly right, you need to set the DMX start addresses of each of the Betapack2's. Since the Beta2 is a 6 channel dimmer, you need to set the start addresses to 1,7,13 and 19. You'd kind of hope the company that installed them would have done this, but hey.... The Beta2 has 3 10-position rotary switches to set the DMX start address: hundreds, tens and units. It's as simple as that. If you've taken off the tamperproof plate that covers the 3 rotary switches that set the DMX start address on the front panel, then you've found the right thing. If you've taken off another panel, count yourself lucky you're not dead, and go and find someone who knows what they're doing! Please! Don't remove panels out of curiosity. Read the manual first!

Hi Stu, Thanks for the feedback. Most if not all of your feature suggestions reflect comments we have received from elsewhere, and are items which will be considered for a future release. Can't make any promises at the moment though on when this may be. The only one that would be tricky would be the USB keyboard support. The USB memory storage function in the Jester is provided by a co-processor which can't itself be upgraded from a USB memory stick. This would be a back-to-factory upgrade, but that doesn't mean it won't ever get done, it just means we may have to make a small charge for it. Cheers, Paul.

The idea of excluding brightness channels from programming (for use as working lights etc) has been brought up before, CLICK HERE for one example. Once tracking is implemented, you will be able to exclude any brightness channel from being recorded: Frog Reference 5539 - Ability to tag brightness and tracking for the memory stack. The other stand-by function you suggest is covered by the following: Frog Reference 5351 - Auto Move while Dark.

One way to do this (assuming you're running version 10 software, which allows you to separate movements from positions when recording) is: 1. Program a 2-step chase to get the slow up-down movement. 2. Use the movement effects (as you currently are doing) to get the fast left-right movement. I think if you recorded this into a single memory, you might have issues with the movement effect re-syncing on each chase step and getting in the way of the effect you're trying to create. The best thing would probably be to use a memory (maybe transferred to a submaster) for the slow up-down chase, and then use a position palette for the fast left-right movement. Be careful about what's tagged when you record this. Also beware the bug in version 10: Frog Reference 5531 - Outputting a Memory/Submaster/SX stops the movement effect even if it is not programmed. There is a beta version out currently which fixes this bug, but I think all our beta testers must be asleep or something, since we haven't had much feedback on it yet. Maybe we should sack the lot of them and get some new ones... Sorry for the late reply on this one by the way. Must not have had an answer at the time, however with version 10 now out, this sort of effect starts to get easier to create.

Frog Reference 5529 - Flash/SX buttons to perform Group functions when monitor is locked on Groups screen.

The Frog doesn't have a "submaster playback mode" as such. There is one operating mode, in which any combination of the channel preset faders, submaster faders and playback x (memory stack) can be used together. So yes, you can at any time during the performance just add light using the channel preset faders.

According to our parts management system (which I have to rely on, since I wasn't about in the Beta1 days!), we have used both the BTA25-600A and BTA25-600B variants, so you should be fine. Correct. This is because breakers are slower to react to a short-circuit than a fuse, so the triac needs to be stronger to withstand the increased time before the fault current is broken by the protective device. no no yes Good news all round really, I hope these were the answers you were looking for!

Hi Tom, The memories will only play if there is no DMX input. You need to set the "DMX Fail" to the memory you want to play. Hope this helps, Paul.

Hi Stephen, Unfortunately the Diablo has no facility to perform software upgrades in the field, it would need to be returned to the factory to be upgraded. Even despite the potential deployment issues, there are no immediate plans for any Diablo software releases. I have however made a note of your idea, just in case it ever comes about in the future. Thanks for the feedback, Paul.

It's not currently possible to do this on the Diablo I'm afraid. Sorry

In version 9.8, you have to be very careful when over-programming things, that the fixture tags are correct. They may be different to what is recorded in the thing you're over-programming. This is addressed in version 10.0 (CLICK HERE), since the last thing you played (be it a memory, submaster or SX), sets the tags for you.

In Phantom Frog, you need to make the desk front panel the active window for any of the keyboard keys to work