# Hello



## LightingMonkey (Mar 19, 2009)

Hello, I am new to the site but I also have a question that maybe someone could answer...is it possible to run two lighting consoles at the same time? I have one stationed in my booth but I would also like to place one downstairs for more accessible operations (cleaning crew use, stage notes, etc). I of course tried to hook the two boards up at the same time and everything went crazy! I'm sure the answer lies in have two controls on one universe...is there anyway to override this? Thank you!


----------



## cdub260 (Mar 19, 2009)

Oh, it can be done, but you need an additional piece of equipment. You need a DMX Combiner.

We use one down in Pageantland, though not so we can use multiple boards on one universe, but so we can patch our light board in to the system in different locations without having to re-patch.

Oh, by the way, welcome to controlbooth.com!


----------



## derekleffew (Mar 19, 2009)

Some dimmer racks (most notably the ETC Sensor line), support two DMX inputs. 

1) Otherwise, a DMX Combine Unit (aka merger or merge box) from Doug Fleenor Designs, or other fine company, will cost between $500-$1000.



Doug Fleenor Design - 221-621 Enhanced Merger

2) For a slightly more manual and less-expensive solution, a switch box (A/B box) will suffice, provided one remembers which way the switch is thrown.

Doug Fleenor Design - DMX512 Console Switch

3) The least expensive option is a patch panel: a male 5pin XLR which can plug into either the output from the booth console or the stage console. Again, care must be taken to remember which output is patched.


----------



## icewolf08 (Mar 19, 2009)

LightingMonkey said:


> Hello, I am new to the site but I also have a question that maybe someone could answer...is it possible to run two lighting consoles at the same time? I have one stationed in my booth but I would also like to place one downstairs for more accessible operations (cleaning crew use, stage notes, etc). I of course tried to hook the two boards up at the same time and everything went crazy! I'm sure the answer lies in have two controls on one universe...is there anyway to override this? Thank you!



What consoles do you have? many of the higher end consoles (ETC Obsession, Strand 300/500, Hog, GrandMA, Eos, Ion, etc.) Allow you to network the consoles and run with multiple users. If you have a console like this, you simply need some cat5 cable and an ethernet switch (which you can pickup at any office supply store). You can then link the consoles together, and on most of them you can even assign access rights such that your secondary console could only control certain features.


----------



## lieperjp (Mar 19, 2009)

derekleffew said:


> 2) For a slightly more manual and less-expensive solution, a switch box (A/B box) will suffice, provided one remembers which way the switch is thrown.
> 
> Doug Fleenor Design - DMX512 Console Switch
> 
> 3) The least expensive option is a patch panel: a male 5pin XLR which can plug into either the output from the booth console or the stage console. Again, care must be taken to remember which output is patched.



Couldn't one build a DMX-switch? Or are there secret fancy designs that Doug Fleenor has that the average person wouldn't be able to use...


----------

