Anidea Innovations Gadget

If you’ve ever spent any time chasing down DMX data problems, then you’ll appreciate this little Gadget from Anidea Innovations, Inc. I once went to a job site at a permanent installation to program a console after being assured that all of the automated lights were installed, powered, cabled and working. When I got there I found all of that to be true except for the “working” part. Oops.

The installers spent the next day and a half chasing down what turned out to be problems with the data cables they built. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that they were using an audio cable tester to check the integrity of their soldering job, despite my admonition against doing so. DMX is a high frequency digital signal and a simple DC tester doesn’t always find problems with data cables, so it’s almost a prerequisite to have a DMX tester when you do installations. And it’s not a bad idea to have an alternate means of control in case you want to generate or capture DMX data. That’s where the Gadget comes in.

The Gear

The Gadget is a very compact (3-5/16” x 3-5/16” x 1-3/8”, 6.2 ounces) lighting control interface and tester. As a DMX recorder, it has 16 MB of storage, or over 30,000 individual DMX scenes that can be stored across 64 sequences. What’s that in real time? That depends on the number of channels of control and the complexity of the programming, but it can be anywhere from about an hour up to ten or more hours for an average show. The “gas gauge” feature allows you to monitor the available memory while you’re recording so you won’t be surprised if you run out of storage. There are three ways to play back the programming: from the menu display of the device itself, from a USB connected PC, or by using the builtin real-time clock/calendar. Scenes are captured in real-time from another console.

In Monitor Mode, the Gadget displays the incoming DMX data for any selected channel. It can display in hex, decimal or percentage. It also gives you the ability to manually send individual channels or DMX data (or all channels at once) in order to test your data system and DMX devices. And if you really want to get down to the nittygritty, in Diagnostic Mode it analyzes individual DMX packets of data, including the frame rate, packet length and data level.

The menu display looks an awful lot like one you would see on an automated light, which makes it very intuitive (if you’ve ever worked with automated lights) and easy to use. It has a four-digit, seven-segment red LED display with four membrane switches labeled “Menu,” “Enter,” “Up,” and “Down.” (Sound familiar?) Besides the “Power On” indicator it also has a USB Activity indicator, a Play indicator, a Timer indicator, and each of the two DMX ports has an activity indicator (red = transmit, green = receive). It comes with a wall-wart external power supply and a lithium-ion rechargeable battery so you can operate the device without having to be chained to the wall with a power cable. The battery also charges when the unit is connected to a computer through the USB port. The operating time is five to seven hours on one full battery charge.

The USB interface serves as a link to a PC in order to run the Gadget- Mon software and to get firmware updates. The GadgetMon software allows you to set DMX parameters such as packet frequency, packet length, break length, inter-packet gap and interframe gap. It also allows you to store shows on your PC and use them as backup or for additional storage. Lastly, GadgetMon allows you to program time of day settings to play back your recorded shows. The playback feature also allows you to repeat cues a number of times, and you can also repeat the entire set of cues. You can have up to 32 scheduled events, each with their own start and stop times for any day of the week. It’s great for stand-alone applications like amusement parks, museums, airports and exterior lighting.

The Gig

Recently, I went to an install job with the Gadget in my ATA briefcase, confident that, should there be any problems with the cabling I would be able to troubleshoot it very quickly. Unfortunately, the automated lighting system, cabling and all, worked flawlessly the first time. That almost never happens. Nevertheless, I was able to try out the Gadget.

There were a couple of instances where we had some automated lights acting funny during programming—changing color and gobo and moving around seemingly by themselves. After confirming that the problem was not caused by a missing DMX terminator in the data run, I pulled out the Gadget, plugged it into the data line and in a few button pushes I was monitoring the incoming DMX data from the console. Changing the data cable around, I then switched modes, set the outgoing DMX address and was able to send a DMX signal to the fixture. By setting the level of each parameter, I was able to confirm that the fixture was working properly. It turned out to be a fixture mode problem—it was in audio active mode.

Though I didn’t use the Gadget extensively on this particular job, I can definitely see its potential and I think it would be a very valuable asset on any lighting gig. It’s a versatile DMX tool. Not only does it magically prevent cabling problems just by carrying it in your briefcase (that’s my theory anyway), but it’s also a great diagnostic tool should any of those pesky problems defy you and make themselves known in its presence. And should you need a real-time DMX recorder and playback device, it is the most compact one that I remember seeing.

What it is: Anidea Innovations Gadget Lighting Control Interface and DMX Tester.

Who it’s for: Anyone who uses DMX— installers, programmers, techs, operators.

Pros: Very compact, lightweight, powerful, versatile, plenty of storage, easy to operate.

Cons: Setting individual DMX levels channel-by-channel takes a while.

Retail Price: $599 

Anidea Innovations – 561.383.7311 – www.anidea-innovations.com