What It Is
SHoW Baby is a plug-and-play wireless DMX and RDM transmitter and/or receiver — a cute little box with ultra-simple control and setup with power built inside.
Typically with any wireless DMX product, the first thing that comes to mind is the extra setup and configuration that is needed just to make the system work correctly. SHoW Baby takes those fears and throws them out the window. There is no setup. If you can plug in a power connection and DMX cable, you can set up a SHoW Baby system.
While benefiting from SHoW DMX Neo’s 2.4 GHz frequency-hopping spread spectrum wireless technology, SHoW Baby is positioned to be affordable enough to play a key role in smaller-budget staged productions, where a full-bore SHoW DMX system might seem too complex or costly.
Setup and Configurations
SHoW DMX Show Baby units are used in pairs. But you don’t even have to puzzle out which one is the transmitter and which one is the receiver. Any SHoW Baby DMX device can be configured to run as either.
Want to set up a SHoW Baby front of house as the transmitter? No problem, give the device power and plug the DMX cable into the DMX In Port. Then, set up another SHoW Baby as a receiver, using the same simple steps, only this time, plug the DMX into the Out Port.
If you require multiple wireless receivers, the SHoW Baby makes it super simple. You can add as many SHoW Baby units to the wireless system as you want to run as receivers. Just follow the simple setup outlined above. The SHoW Baby unit that has been set up as a transmitter will find all receivers within range and transmit that full universe of DMX to them.
Range Limitations
With any wireless system, there are limitations on range of the signal. When I asked about the maximum range between the transmitter and receiver, CTI responded with, “How long is a piece of string?” It’s the old response when talking about radio. With line-of-sight between the devices, it could easily reach 500 meters. But in production world, how often do we have line of sight? Indoors, and with the standard antennas offered from CTI, the SHoW Baby DMX can still reach 100 meters. Of course, walls and obstructions can limit the radio reception.
Reliability
While incorporating the new SHoW DMX Neo system from CTI, SHoW Baby is keyed to one and only one of the four Neo Adaptive hopping patterns. That’s what makes it so simple and easy to set up. So you would use SHoW Baby in an environment where you want a single universe of wireless DMX.
If you want to use multiple wireless DMX universes in one location, you would need to use several of the SHoW DMX Neo Transceivers as transmitters. The full Neo system supports 132 SHoW IDs; 64 Classic, 64 Neo (with new super low latency and data healing features) and four Neo Adaptive SHoW IDs. SHoW Baby uses one of these four Neo Adaptive SHoW IDs.
The SHoW Baby may look a bit too simple, but don’t let looks deceive you. In a world were putting together a production is already complicated enough, CTI has simplified wireless DMX transmission while not losing any of the power or function. “If you can plug in a DMX cable, you can use the SHoW Baby.” Couldn’t have put it better myself!
City Theatrical’s
SHoW DMX SHoW Baby
Pros: Small size, easy setup, transmits/receives a full universe of DMX
Cons: Only one transmitter can be set up per location.
How Much: MSRP: $350
