7
Wiring the System
The Solo Performer Show Controller system may be wired in a variety of ways, depending on the complexity and impact desired. In its simplest configuration, nothing needs to be wired! Just run the software and play backing music on your computer!
To add more functionality to the system, use the 6-button foot pedal to control the starting and stopping of the show with volume control. The foot pedal is wired to the computer by the included USB cable.
Connecting Lights
To take advantage of the dazzling light show possibilities of the system, a three-pin XLR cable can be hooked up to the foot pedal to send DMX512 signals to lighting fixtures. The Solo Performer Show Controller foot controller requires a standard 3-pin XLR style male connector wired to the lights as shown below:
Note that the ground pin, pin 1, is connected to the cable's shielding, but never to the connector's housing or a chassis ground in any way. Doing so could cause erratic behavior.
DMX512 signal cables must be daisy chained from light to light and never split without using a specially designed splitter unit.
Line Termination
All DMX512 chains should be terminated with a 120-ohm resistor terminator to eliminate data transmission errors due to signal reflection. DMX512 terminators are small plug-in devices that connect a 120-ohm resistor between pins 2 and 3.
5-Pin DMX512 Connectors
Some DMX512 light fixtures use 5 pin XLR connectors. To use these lights, a 3 pin to 5-pin adapter cable can be used wired as follows:
| 3 Pin to 5 Pin XLR Conversion |
||
| Function |
3-Pin XLR |
5-Pin XLR |
| Ground / Shield |
Pin 1 |
Pin 1 |
| Data Ð (Cold) |
Pin 2 |
Pin 2 |
| Data + (Hot) |
Pin 3 |
Pin 3 |
| Not Used |
Pin 4 |
|
| Not Used |
Pin 5 |
|
The Conversion from 3 pin DMX512 signals to 5 pin signals is done very often in the lighting industry. Adapter cables can be found for this purpose in most lighting supply stores.
High Performance Audio
Most people will not be satisfied with the audio merely coming through their computer speakers. It is recommended that a cable be inserted in the computer's audio out jack (headphone jack), and be routed to an amplified system, or to a mixing board. The following diagram shows such a system:
The important thing to note in the above diagram is that all of the audio, both from the computer and the stage microphones, gets routed to a mixer. The combined audio signal is then amplified and sent to the PA speakers. For additional convenience, there are many PA systems that have the mixer and amplifier combined into one integrated package.
