64 Ion Operations Manual
Using Output Address vs Port/Offset
The output address is the DMX or network DMX (often called EDMX) address. Examples of output
addresses are 510, 1, and 1024.
Port/offset refers to the DMX universe or port and the offset of the address. For example, since a
single DMX port can transmit 512 addresses (known as a “universe”), the port/offset for address
515 would look like 2/3 because address 515 is the 3rd address of universe 2.
An example of patching by port/offset in patch by address mode is [2][/][1][0] [At] [2][0] [Enter],
which patches universe 2 address 10, or 522, to channel 20.
Replace
By default, if you patch an address to a channel that is already patched, Ion will create a new part
for the new address. If you want to replace the current address with the new, use {Replace}:
•[n] {Replace} [n] [Enter] - replaces the address in part 1 of the selected channel.
Helpful Hints
[At] [Next] [Enter] finds the next available address range large enough to accommodate the
selected device.
Examples of [At] [Next]:
•[At] [2] [/] [Next] [Enter] - finds the next available address range on universe 2.
•[At] [7] [7] [7] [Next] [Enter] - finds the next available address after 777.
[At] [/] [n] [Enter] can be used to patch an address on the same universe that was last used.
{Address} [n] [/]
The syntax {Address} [n] [/] can be used to select a full universe in patch.
•[channel list] {Address} [n] [/] [Enter] - changes the addresses of all the selected channels
to a new universe while using the same offset.
•{Address}[2] [/] [Copy To] [Copy To] <Address> [3] [/] [Enter] - moves all channels with
addresses in universe 2 to the same offsets in universe 3.
•{Address} [n] [/] {Unpatch} - unpatches all patched addresses in the selected universe.
Note:
As it is possible to patch by either address or port/offset, pressing the [Data] key
will move between showing the patch as it was originally entered, then the output
address values, and last the port/offset.
Note:
An address can not be assigned to multiple channels, but a channel can have
multiple addresses assigned to it.
Note:
You can open or merge patch data from other show files, see Partial Patch
Opening, page 53 and Partial Patch Merging, page 55 for more information.