The company has announced the introduction of the Rail-DMX-DALI converter, following on from the recent launch of the Rail-DALI-DMX converter. As reported on a previous edition of the IE newsletter, the two new products supersede the Rail-DALI DMX/DALI converter.
Changing patterns of use mean that clients often require a DMX controller that can control DALI fixtures in the way they have been designed to operate – as opposed to trying to force a DALI fixture to behave like a DMX one. Designed with this consideration in mind, Rail-DMX-DALI allows seamless integration between the two protocols and boasts a specification including: four DALI bus outputs, with each bus capable of controlling 64 ballasts; channel control (broadcast or unicast), whereby a DMX value can be used to control single ballasts or broadcast to all ballasts on a single output; group control (broadcast or unicast), whereby a DMX value can be used to control individual groups on the separate outputs or all groups on all outputs; and scenes (broadcast or unicast), allowing scene commands to be sent out globally or to the individual outputs. Each of the three different control techniques can be set-up and used simultaneously.
Housed in a standard DIN Rail enclosure, Rail-DMX-DALI can be mounted easily within a control cabinet or surface mounted using the integral mounting clips. It complies with the DMX512-A specification and can be controlled with any DMX controller.
For DALI usage, a DALI Bus PSU is required to allow data exchange between the unit and the DALI fixtures. DALI-Scope is needed for the commissioning of the DALI ballast.
Artistic Licence managing director Simon Hobday told IE: “Rail-DMX-DALI has been based on the very popular Rail-DALI and taken it to a new level. We have taken the conversion possibilities from Rail-DALI and made them simultaneously accessible. This means that DMX controllers can now control DALI fixtures in the way they have been designed to operate, and in doing so opens up a new world of control. It overcomes the previously known speed issues and gives the user more flexibility. We have also included a Dimming Curve Translation that means DALI and DMX fixtures can work side by side without the need to compensate for the exponential dimming curve within the DMX controller.”
