Page 74 - Lighting & Sound America (December 2019) Magazine

TECHNICAL FOCUS: TOOLS

Transmitter and the Multiverse Node 900MHz, but it was actually 2.4GHz,
as a receiver was very easy. I already and I was using the omnidirectional
had the DMXcat app on my iPhone, antennas that came with the units. If
and since the transmitter has a built-in you need greater transmission dis-
DMXcat, I was able to connect it to my tances, you can always use directional
phone via Bluetooth and discover it antennas.
using RDM. It was so intuitive that I The reception was strong and
never had to break out the user manu- steady, despite the crowded frequency
al, with one small exception. When I band. There are a few reasons for this.
accidentally connected a device to the First, I was using the highest power
input of the node instead of the out- setting. You can dial it down if you
put, it automatically went into transmit don’t need to transmit over extremely
mode. I didn’t realize my mistake until long distances and this will lessen the
I read the manual. As soon as I dis- likelihood of interfering with other wire-
connected it, it went back into receive less. This is an important feature in
mode. today’s production environments,
Then I walked it away from the where other crews are working hard to
transmitter to see if I could get a signal get their own wireless (audio, monitor-
in the middle of the trade show. At a ing, lens focus, etc.) to work. Second,
distance of about 175', transmitting Multiverse also has user-selectable
through dry wall and two sets of glass adaptive spread spectrum rrequency
walls, the handy signal strength icon hopping, which changes the transmis-
on the backlit LCD screen on the face sion frequency several hundreds of
of the node was showing three out of times every second, and it monitors
four bars, which means 50% or better. the spectrum to avoid frequencies that
I thought I was using 900MHz but have a lot of interference. Third, it uses
when I later looked at the pictures I forward error correction.
took, I realized it was actually the There are many more features in the
2.4GHz band. I would likely have got- system; one of my favorites is the
ten much better results with 900MHz, built-in Wi-Fi that allows you to con-
because the lower frequencies travel nect to it to a tablet and use Luminair
farther and penetrate obstacles better or any other tablet-based app to con-
At a distance of approximately 500' or
more, I had good signal strength using than 2.4GHz. There is also a lot less trol your lighting system. One thing hat
the 2.4GHz band in a crowded space.
interference in the 900MHz band. makes its configuration easy is that it
Next, I walked the node all the way has RDM. It gives you quick access to
spectrum with other wireless sys- down the hallway, as far as I could go, a number of settings and options so
tems—like audio, Wi-Fi, wireless moni- which I estimate was about 500' or you can, for example, turn DHCP on
toring, etc.—it’s not a very effective more. It was easy to do because the or off, change the IP address and sub-
use of bandwidth. node is only about 4" tall by about 2- net mask, assign DMX universes, label
But how well does it actually work? 1 /4" wide and weighs about 6oz. I did the settings, and more.
That’s the question I set out to answer have to find an AC outlet to power it. Another component of the
when I received the demo package. In a perfect scenario, I would have Multiverse family of products that I
As with all wireless systems, one of elevated the transmitter and receiver think is really interesting is the
the biggest potential problems is inter- about 8' above the floor, because Multiverse Module, which is an inte-
ference. Trade shows are the worst. that’s the best location for the grated circuit chip that manufacturers
Fortunately, I happened to be in the strongest signal. The transmitter and mount on a tiny circuit board to inte-
Boston Convention and Exhibition node both come with an attachment grate wireless DMX into their fixtures.
Center during a medium-sized trade plate that makes it easy to mount on a It’s inexpensive enough that it’s likely
show, so I could test the system in a grip stand, truss, pipe, or some other to become ubiquitous. The wireless
fairly harsh environment. I scanned the structure. In this instance, I just set the revolution will not be televised, but it
2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and found transmitter on the floor and the receiv- will be broadcast, and it’s now under
that they were both very crowded. er still showed three out of four bars of way. Stay tuned.
(See illustration.) Perfect. reception.
Setting up the Multiverse Again, I thought I was using

74 • December 2019 • Lighting& &Sound America