Imagine discovering an incorrect DMX assignment on a somewhat inaccessible unit. Never happens in real life, but hey, let’s pretend. Some newer intelligent lights allow you to reassign the DMX address from the board. [Now that the Remote Device Management or RDM protocol allowing bi-directional communication has been published we will start to see a lot more fixtures with this capability. – ed.] It’s a little tricky until you’ve done it a few times; I freely admit I have to step through it with the manual open right next to me. Setting several channel controllers just so sends a DMX assignment change to the distant unit. Not something I like to do often, but it saves a lot of ladder work. It’s theoretically possible to call this function up by accident, which is why you can turn the option off at the menu if you wish.
– From John Kaluta’s Technopolis article in the upcoming September 2006 issue.
