OPERATION : DMX512 OPERATION
02.9812.0001C 39
3
Wheel Control
Every wheel, gobo or color, as well as the gobos within a wheel, follow the exact same method of
control. Select the mode with the associated control channel: continuous [index], discrete [step], spin,
random slow, medium, and fast, with strobe range at the end.
The preceding 16-bit channel sets either your choice (a gobo or color in continuous, discrete, or strobe
modes, indexed position for gobos), or your rate (spin/gobo rotation). The strobe speed range at the
end sets how fast your selection on the preceding 16-bit channel strobes to open. Gobo wheels, color
wheels, and gobos all follow this same logic, and the same control channel ranges.
Setting the Shortest Path: All wheels take the shortest path on a full speed command (instantaneous
change to a new DMX value with timing channel set to 0 or 255). If the timing channel is set to enable
a timed transition, the wheel will travel the "natural" path, i.e., it will not cross over the home position.
Note that many control consoles will execute a crossfade by sending a sequence of incremental DMX
value changes, which will explicitly determine the path that the wheel will take.
Table 3-2: Wheel Control
Range Function Notes
0-9 Continuous Continuous wheel positioning
10-19 Discrete Positioning limited to half panel increments
20-39 Spin Continuous range from full reverse spin to no spin to full forward spin
40-43 Slow random Random strobe - slow rate
44-46 Medium random Random strobe - medium rate
47-49 Fast random Random strobe - fast rate
50-255 Speed range Variable strobe rate from slow to max speed
Table 3-3: Gobo Wheel
Position DMX Value Notes
Open 0 DMX values
are for full
panel positions
(Continuous
mode).
1 7641
2 16023
3 24398
4 32768
541142
6 49511
7 57894
Table 3-4: Color Wheels
Position DMX Value Notes
Open 0 DMX values
are for full
panel positions
(Continuous
mode).
This chart
applies to all
color wheels.
1 8192
2 16384
3 24576
4 32768
5 40960
6 49152
7 57344