Want to pile-on two DMX512 sources? You can't just tie the outputs together like you can with 0 to 10 volt analog control signals. Combining two DMX512 sources requires a computer, like the one in our model 221E DMX Combine Unit [221E]. The combiner introduces the minimum delay possible with DMX512, less than 0.02 seconds. Combine units are available in up to six input configurations as standard products. For more than 6 inputs, multiple units can be linked together. These combiners feature terminated opto-isolated inputs which are also protected from AC line crosses and transients. Each input has an LED signal indicator.
The DMX512 Combine unit solves the problem of combining multiple DMX input signals into a single DMX output signal. The most common configuration of the unit allows two consoles to control a single set of dimmers in a highest takes precedence or pile on mode. Examples of where this might be necessary include booth console/stage manager's console, primary console/backup console, and where one console controls intensity of a moving light fixture while a second console is used for color and/or position. Units with up to six inputs are available. More than six inputs can be accommodated using a Master/Slave arrangement. Units that patch and/or route the DMX dimmer channels are available for applications where two consoles control a single dimmer rack with loads in separate rooms. Such units prevent the operator in room "A" from bringing up the lights in room "B". The custom possibilities based on the DMX512 Combine Unit are almost endless. It accepts Colortran Multiplex (CMX) on one or both inputs as well as outputs CMX and can concatenate the two DMX inputs to form a 1024 dimmer look up table and output from that table in any order in DMX or CMX protocols. In fact DFD probably hasn't thought of all the possibilities for this versatile product.