# Help with am Obey 40????



## cyrax037 (Dec 16, 2010)

I need some help with an Obey 40 DMX control box. We have one of these at my church, for use during our contemporary service we have once a month. I don't know much about it, I've been reading and reading the manual, but I can't figure it out. 

Ok, so the company who installed our lighting, programed a few basic scenes for us, standard colors. Red, Green, Dark Blue, A slow color change, light blue, Fusha, White, and a fast strobe with colors. (This is in order of how the are on the scene buttons. 1-8)

Now, we do more then just the service, for example, we have a Christmas play every year. I want to be able to program new scenes with more colors, but this is the part I cannot figure out. When I go into program mode, the LED number thing, goes berserk, and flashes with all kinds of numbers, and all I can manage to get is different levels of strobe. I made a video to maybe show better then I can tell.

YouTube - Church Light System.avi

What I didn't know till just this afternoon, was that all the Lightstripe fixtures are setup as Fixture 1, and all the cans are Fixture 3. (As I mentioned, I didn't set this up, and had absolutely ZERO input on the purchase and installation of this equipment. Even tho I am like, the only tech guy there.) Anyway, I'm at a loss here. I hope someone can help me. I've tried on a couple other forums and have yet to get a single reply over the past week.

Thanks so much!


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## JD (Dec 16, 2010)

Kind of the wrong board for the application as this is an inexpensive moving light controller. (Would have been better with a scene setter 24, or the likes.) In any case, it's there now, so here goes-

Obtain the instruction book as you will need it. Basically, this board (if memory serves me right) has thirty banks of eight scenes, so you can program in 240 total scenes. This should be more than enough as there are only 8 currently set up. As for the flicker, I suspect it is trying to edit the fast-chase scene when you go into the program mode. Since the board has more than enough capacity, you may want to address each fixture separately, or at least the LED pars, so that you can have some independent highlighting on the stage. Looks like the installer just slapped some basic programs in there. One note about chases, on that board, a chase is set up by pre-programing a series of scenes first, so there may be some other scenes hidden in a different bank. (Or, he may just be chasing through the six color scenes he preset on the other six scenes.)

If worst come to worst, you can use a trick explained in the manual to clear all the prior scenes. Use this as a last resort so you don't end up with a blank board and no idea how to program it.

On those boards, you enter the program mode, select the fixture you want to address, then use the faders to to set your channel settings. Next, select the next fixture and change those settings. Once you have all the fixtures where you want them, you assign them to a bank number and a scene button, then "save" it.


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## techno89 (Dec 16, 2010)

Here is some info that might help you:

*To enter programming mode:*
1. Turn on the controller.
2. Press and hold ​​*<PROGRAM> *for three seconds.​
3. When the LED display Program LED lights, you have entered program mode.

*Creating a Scene:*​Use this function to create a static look on stage.
Please see the steps below for instructions.
1. Turn on the controller.
2. Enter program mode.
3. Select one or more fixtures.
4. Using the 8 sliders, modify the value of the desired channel(s).
5. When the desired look has been achieved, press ​​*<MIDI/ADD>.*​*
*6. Use ​​*<BANK UP/DOWN> *to select a desired bank (30 possible) to save the scene to.
7. Once you have navigated to the desired bank, press the *<SCENE> *(1~8) to save the
scene directly to.
8. All LEDs will flash to indicate that the scene has been saved.
9. Repeat steps 3~8 until you are finished programming all scenes.​
10. Exit program mode.

I really don't think you have the right board here. I would rent another one if I were you. Programming moving lights on that thing will be hard than doing it on an Express. It might work better for you to buy a cheap DMX to USB converter with some software. It will work so much better. Or maybe consider getting one of these, Its a pretty good controller for ML's Elation DMX Operator PRO Hybrid Lighting Controller - Intelligent DMX Lighting Board Consoles

Hope This Helps,
Scott


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## derekleffew (Dec 16, 2010)

cyrax037 said:


> ... all the Lightstripe fixtures are setup as Fixture 1, and all the cans are Fixture 3. ...


This is truly astounding, and severely limiting. Changing it will take a lot of work and newfound knowledge, but the flexibility and benefits will be rewarded.

Here's how I would set it up:
Fix# DMX Addr: Type:
1 001 COLORstrip#1
2 005 COLORstrip#2
3 009 COLORstrip#3
4 013 COLORstrip#4
5 017 COLORstrip#5
6 021 LEDrain64#1
7 029 LEDrain64#2
8 037 LEDrain64#3
9 045 LEDrain64#4


techno89 said:


> ...It might work better for you to buy a cheap DMX to USB converter with some software. It will work so much better. ...


*cyrax037*, the controller you have is intended for nightclubs and discos, not for live performance. If you have an old computer lying around, for ~$10, you could get a MagicDMX, download the software, and enter the world of professional stage lighting control, at least for five hours at a time.


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## cyrax037 (Dec 16, 2010)

Thanks for the help. I've already gone through the manual ad nauseum, it just doesn't look like its going into program mode correctly. I'd really just like to be able to recreate what the setup guys did, and make scenes that I can use. There is another chase that has slight color variations, so I know it is capable of more colors then what we have. 


Unfortunately, I do not have the authorization to make purchases or anything like that. I don't even know the name of the company that set all this stuff up. I will find out though, and if worse comes to worse, I will call them myself. Money is pretty tight here, the church can't really even afford an extra $100 for a better video card in the computer. (Which is needed due to Mediashout) 

I suppose this controller was picked, cuz the company said it was the best for our budget, I dunno. I wasn't involved, and I don't know much about this stuff anyway.

I just really want to program new scenes, other then the basic presets we have. Controlling each fixture would be nice, but I wouldn't know how to set that up. Right now, If I can get new scenes, I'd be happy. But I simply cannot get the program mode to work properly. Having programed scenes would probably be sufficient, but I'd like to be able to program those myself.


Not to mention, at this point, I'm ready to get those guys back down here and reset it up correctly


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## JD (Dec 16, 2010)

derekleffew said:


> Here's how I would set it up:
> Fix# DMX Addr: Type:
> 1 001 COLORstrip#1
> 2 005 COLORstrip#2
> ...


 
This board has a fixed fixture width of 16 channels, so, for example:
1 001 COLORstrip#1
2 017 COLORstrip#2
3 033 COLORstrip#3
etc.

When you go into the programing mode, turn off all the fixture buttons. Then, turn on fixture #1.
Move all the sliders up a bit and then back down. Until you move the sliders, they will stay at the last memorized DMX setting. This may be the problem you are having. This board uses LTP or Last/Latest (setting) Takes Priority. Until you make a change, the last value is used.


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## coldnorth57 (Dec 16, 2010)

Hi there,
After watching your youtube video I can see a few things first you need an understanding of basic DMX and a manual for the lights as well as the board.

Each fixture button on the your board controls a set of DMX addresses (channels) that is 16 adresses for each fixture so DMX 1 for fixture 1, DMX 17 for Fixtrue 2 and DMX 33 is for fixture 3 and so on....

So when you push the fixture button 1 you talk only that goup of fixture adressed to DMX 1, so you move the sliders and things happen to those fixtures 
The COLORstrip ONLY use 4 slider while in the fixture buttom mode.
Slider 1 controls- how the COLORstrips funtions so depending the postion of the changes the funtion of the other sliders.
so getting the manual for the lights will help you alot


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## coldnorth57 (Dec 16, 2010)

DMX channels 2, 3 and 4 functions are determined by the current settings of channel 1. For example, while Channel 1 is set between 210 and 219 the following conditions will apply;
 Channel 2 will control the Red LEDs
 Channel 3 will control the Green LEDs
 Channel 4 will control the Blue LEDs


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## cyrax037 (Dec 17, 2010)

Thanks. Alot of that is going way over my head, but I do have the manual for the lights aswell, so I will give it a once over, see if I can make sense of it. 

I do greatly appreciate all the help! Out of 3 boards, this is the only one to give any replies.


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