Paul

Are you sure you got the right Position Snap/Fade setting? There are 2! The one you see on the Memories/Submasters/SX screens determines the transition from the current state into the chase when you trigger it. The one you see when you 'edit' the chase determines the transition between chase steps. It is the first one that you want to set to Fade. Make sure you set this on the SX Screen if you're playing from SX's, or the Submasters screen if you're playing from Submasters, since these settings will override the setting you made on the chase on the Memories screen before you transferred it.

Only fields which are directly editable on the LCD display are navigable to using the cursor keys. The idea is that the desk can be used without the external monitor. Names were meant to be an optional feature only to be used with the monitor. However you can see the Submaster / SX names on the relevant LCD displays. I think there used to be a spare line there once, so the name went in it. Not so on the Memories screen though. And as for the palette screens, which only exist on the external monitor... Anyhow I digress... If you press F2 to name, and then hit Memories, the default memory number shown is what you had previously selected as your 'Next' memory. So you just need to do the navigation before the naming. Simple

If the cursor is on the 'Next' memory field, then you can type the next memory number in from the external keyboard (press Enter to complete). In the next software release, pressing Enter a second time from the external keyboard will Go to that cue. Unless Scroll Lock is on, in which case the additional keyboard Go function will be inhibited. Watch this space... Hold the clear button for about 1s. This is to prevent accidental hits from wiping memories. This function is called Auto-Move-While-Dark, and is not something currently supported by the Frog series desks.

Hi, Can you let me know the serial number of your Mambo Frog? Probably best by PM, since some users have concerns about posting desk serial numbers on the public forum. Maybe ebay fraudsters could use them or something, I don't know... Thanks, Paul.

Shouldn't do. But it would be a wise precaution to save your show to floppy disk first, just in case anything unexpected happens or you change your mind :wink:

Hi Jason, Make sure you've got the desk's Program Mode set to Partial (as opposed to Full) in Super User. Then make sure when you hit Program that none of the yellow LEDs on the fixture buttons for the 250+'s are flashing. It's the yellow (tagged) LEDs that indicate whether or not the fixtures will be recorded when you hit Program, not the red (selection) LEDs. Also, remember that the Fixture Brightness parameter is ALWAYS recorded, regardless of the state of the yellow LEDs. Hope this helps, Paul.

Not sure what our prices would be (will check in the morning), but for a ballpark figure, have a look at: http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/par....jsp?SKU=145213 You could always ring up Keith and pretend that 6 buttons just *fell out* of your desk and please could you have some spares? Well, if you think you could sleep at nights after telling such a terrible fib...

The first thing to do is to identify which version of the main board you have in your desk. There are 2 types of main board that are used in the Fat Frog desks. Earlier desks used the STMain1/1B board, which had a 3.6V NiMH battery soldered to the board. Later desks use the STMain2 board, which has a 3V CR2032 Lithium coin cell. You can tell if you've got an STMain1/1B or STMain2 main board by looking at the position of the floppy disk drive on the back panel. If it's an STMain1/1B, the drive is next to the DMX connectors. If it's an STMain2, the drive is next to the Power in connector. In either case, open up the desk and measure the battery voltage with a multimeter to check that it is OK before ordering a spare. If you have the STMain2 main board, the coin cell battery can be probably be found in a high street store. If you have the older STMain1/1B main board with the soldered in battery, you'll need to find a good electronic components supplier. Here in the UK - RS, Farnell, Arrow etc. would be worth trying. Not sure about Canada though. You could order a spare from us, but the postage to Canada is going to be the killer. Try our dealer in the USA (ACT Lighting) if you're sure it's the battery - they may be able to source you a spare. The other thing that may be causing problems on a desk of this age would be the floppy disk drive itself. Search the forum for 'Panasonic', and read all about it! If you have a drive from an old PC that you could *borrow* for some tests, that would be worth trying too. Or while the desk is open, just check that all the cables to the drive are plugged in securely. Let us know how you get on, Paul.

Hi Jasper, Since there are some unfriendly chemicals involved, and we haven't had the chance to see how durable this repair is, we're not going to post repair details publicly. Regards, Paul.

Normally when a chase is running, during the step time, you are watching the fade transition from the previous step of the chase. However the first time you run a chase, there is no transition from the previous step, hence you see no fade transition for the duration of the first step on the first run. Whilst changing the desk software to immediately trigger Step 2 might seem to solve this problem, it would no doubt cause others to complain "Hey where did Step 1 go?". Tricky one this from a point of behavioural definition! If you can come up with a clean definition of how you want it to work, and get it past K-Nine (!), then we may take a look at it. In the meantime, try increasing the LTP fade time on the chase and setting Position to Fade, so that the mirrors move slowly from their current positions into the Step1 position while you're waiting for Step2 to trigger.

If an upgrade failed part way through then your desk will be left without the Frog Operating System installed. However there is still a write protected BIOS in the desk which will always look for an upgrade disk at boot. Have a read of THIS TOPIC for upgrade instructions. If you still have no joy, then it's probably best that you give Keith a call in our service department (contact details on www.zero88.com ), since the next steps in resolving the problem are best talked through with you on the phone. Good luck! Paul.

All very well, but would only be any use on the Mambo Frog. Other desks don't have the Select All / Clear All buttons. Is there really a need for this though? Would any new function really be quicker / easier than just selecting brightness and flicking the wheel? Frog Reference 5500 - New 'Release' function (same as Home function but with brightness set to zero rather than full).

You sure it's not the "Home" and "Group" buttons that are the wrong way round on the Phantom Frog Mambo Panel? Will be fixed in the next release Frog Reference 5474 - Phantom Frog (Mambo Frog mode) - Home/Group buttons swapped.

That's LTP for you :wink: Each channel will continue to do what it was last told to do, until you tell it otherwise. Whether that be a conventional chase, the FROG function, or for Pan/Tilt channels - a movement effect. There are some tricks in the desk software that stop some things for you when the fader is brought down or you move on to the next memory (Playback X), just to make the desk easier to get on with. However the list is not comprehensive, which is what the two FR's are meant to address in the future.

Err, currently you can't However this has already been logged for consideration in a future software update: Frog Reference 5378 - Chases, movement effects and FROG effects on Playback X - should be stopped when the Playback X Master fader brought down. Frog Reference 5422 - Movement Effects and FROG outputs on Submasters - should stop when the submaster fader is brought down to zero. The second FR probably applies to SX buttons too, somehow :wink:

Don't worry, we've not forgotten about this one! We're still chasing the people who make the panels for us to get a definitive answer on the first 2 points. I guess they're waiting for the people who make the lacquer to get back to them or something. In the meantime, we've ordered some lacquer to conduct our own *experiments* on repairing the display window. If they're successful we'll let you know the type of lacquer. I guess you could always cut out the display window carefully with a scalpel and stick a new piece of clear material over it, but that's not going to look great. Hopefully we can come up with something better for you.

I'm not often around at this time of night, but I trapped my finger in a car door yesterday, and the pain is keeping me awake 8O Correct. Just like the good old days with the broom handle for a Grand Master then

On the face of it, this would seem to be a trivial solution. However, the submaster / SX that you are soloing may contain LTP data. When the submaster / SX flash button is pressed, any LTP data that is programmed in it is sent to the outputs. When the submaster / SX flash button is released, if in Solo mode, the desk re-triggers all the other active submasters / SXs to attempt to restore the LTP outputs to something like they were beforehand. There are 2 potential issues with this: 1. The order that the desk re-triggers them may not be the same order that you output them in, hence it may look different afterwards. If you Solo a sub, the subs retrigger in asecnding numerical order of those with the fader above the LTP trigger level. If you Solo a SX, the SX's retrigger in ascending numerical order of those with 'Go' action and LED on. 2. Chases re-trigger at step 1 and lose any live overrides. This sort of thing has come up a number of times before, the old "go back to what it was doing before" problem. To sort this out properly requires each output channel to keep a history list of what on the desk is controlling it / has controlled it, so that it can truly go back to what it was doing before. This is a radical restructuring of the internal DMX calculation in the desk, and in all honesty is not something that we're likely to do on the Frog series in the foreseeable future. If you want this sort of functionality, take a look at the Frog2. This is exactly what the "Release" button on the front panel does. Frog Reference 5525 - Solo function should remove all other brightness contributions without stopping chases or retriggering on release.

The Alcora/Elara come as standard with DMX output only. No DMX input. There are analogue output kits you can fit to the Alcora/Elara, however they're +10V only. No negative option. The trouble is, if your going to do analogue, then to do it properly you really have to offer the negative -10V option too. And negative makes the power supply and electronics for the desk more complex and thus expensive. Analogue is disappearing fast from desks whatever the price, get them while you can :wink: The Demux24 can be programmed on a socket by socket basis to be +10V or -10V output. The Demux48 requires an upgrade card to convert banks of 24 channels to -10V. Please be aware that although the Demux48 is still in production (just), it's getting harder and harder for us to source the components required to build them, and sooner or later we will no longer be able to accept orders for the Demux48. Contact your dealer for further information. I think you'll find anywhere that paying more for a desk doesn't get you Analogue, it gets you Ethernet 8) I can't immediately think of any way of triggering an Alcora from a Frog. I guess if you could decode a single DMX channel from the Frog and use that to close a relay on the Remote Go input to the Alcora, that might work. Probably more hassle than just getting a Demux though

DMX lines should always be terminated with a 120ohm resistor between pins 2 & 3 at the last device on the chain. If you leave the resistor off, it might work sometimes, however sometimes if it's a cloudy day, or there's an 'R' in the month, it might not Best to always fit the resistor and not chance it. Let us know if fitting the termination resistor sorts your problem out. Paul.

Yes you can modify a single SX button, for details CLICK HERE. Please try and use the Search function before staring a new topic, you're filling up the forum with topics that are already well covered edit: fixed links

What do you have the "LTP Trigger Level" and "LTP Fade Time" parameters set to? Are you playing the chase from the memory stack or from a submaster / SX?

Nope, the Colour/Beam/Position programmed flags (Yes or No) apply to the whole chase, not just an individual step.

Hi Jon, Please try to be a little fairer in your criticism of other forum members. Haytech and Laubfrosch are not Zero88 employees and were offering advice in good faith to try and help you get along with the desk. They are both experienced programmers and regular contributors to the forum. I would be interested to hear where you had the training session (probably best not to post it here though if you don't want to upset them!), since it seems to have left you with some gaps in your knowledge of how the Frog series desks operate. Answers to your questions: 1. The fastest way to do a fly-out effect is to program an n-shot chase. It is achievable, I promise you. 2. The fixtures have a set of 'virtual presets', controlled by the brightness wheel, which are mixed HTP with other brightness sources (Playback X, Submasters, SX). 3. Will be fixed in the next software update, very very soon (watch this space!). 4. Yes, we get a lot of comments about the lack of a switch! It's something we may introduce in the future. You've hit the nail on the head. That could be almost a direct quote from the original business proposal for the Frog series! If you're looking for a higher performance desk which can take on the likes of Pearl's and Hog2's, then you should be looking at the Frog2. Hope this answers your questions. Welcome to the forums by the way! Regards, Paul. edit: fixed link

The software limits the maximum brightness of both displays, so you don't set them too bright and burn out the backlights. However with some of the newer fixtures displays, the limit seems a bit too low. Frog Reference 5441 - Increase the maximum permitted brightness of the fixtures LCD display - to be fixed in next software release. Has anyone else noticed that the backlight/contrast values change every time you go into the Illumination menu by the way? This too will be fixed as part of FR5441.