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The Keys

0 - 9 keys
Numeric keys used for providing channel and level values.
"+" key
Used for selecting multiple channels, not in sequence.
"-" key
Used for removing channels from a sequence of selected channels.
Thru" key
Used for selecting a sequence of channels in numerical order.
"@" key
Used to signify the end of channel selection, to be followed by a level value.
"Rem. Dim" key
Is short for "Remainder Dim". Zeros all the channels except the one(s) that you supplied a value for - used mainly while focussing.
"On" key
Puts the selected channel(s) at full.
"Off" key
Zeros the selected channel(s).
"Enter" key
Marks the end of a command and executes it.
"Backspace" key
Removes the last digit or command from the sentence.
"Clear" key
Clears the sentence.

The Syntax

A general command sentence is built with the following parts.

[Channels] @ [Level] Enter

There are however some exceptions to this rule.

The following keys do not require the "Enter" key to be pressed afterwards, as it immediately executes the command.

  • "Rem. Dim"
  • "On"
  • "Off"

To select multiple channels, there are several ways.

[Channel A] + [Channel B] + [Channel C]
is the way of selecting channels that are not in numerical sequence with each other.
[Channel A] Thru [Channel B]
is the way of selecting a whole sequence of channels (in this case, all the channels numerically between Channel A and Channel B inclusive).
[Channel A] Thru [Channel C] - [Channel B]
is how you exclude a channel from a "Thru" sequence (in this case, all the channels numerically between Channel A and Channel C inclusive, but not Channel B).

Examples

Here are some examples of commands and the result that they would have...

2 @ 80 Enter
Channel 2 at 80%
3 + 5 @ 60 Enter
Channels 3 and 5 at 60%
4 + 16 + 23 @ 30 Enter
Channels 4, 16 and 23 at 30%
1 Thru 5 @ 20 Enter
Channels 1 to 5 (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) at 20%
1 Thru 5 - 3 @ 40 Enter
Channels 1 to 5, but not 3, (1, 2, 4 and 5) at 40%
1 Thru 10 - 3 - 7 @ 50 Enter
Channels 1 to 10, but not 3 and 7, at 50%
1 @ 50 Rem. Dim
Channel 1 at 50%, every other channel at 0%
1 + 7 @ 80 Rem. Dim
Channels 1 and 7 at 80%, every other channel at 0%
2 Thru 5 @ 10 Rem. Dim
Channels 2 to 5 at 10%, every other channel at 0%
5 Rem. Dim
Channel 5 at 100%, every other channel at 0% (Rem. Dim can be used as a "solo" button)
12 On
Channel 12 at 100%
13 Off
Channel 13 at 0%
Rem. Dim
All channels at 0%
Off
All channels at 0%, but remember previous values
On
Restore previous values before Off was pressed

Notes

  • Rem. Dim commands should not zero attribute channels, only intensity channels.
  • Rem. Dim when used by itself should clear all intensity channels, used to build a new scene or state from scratch.
  • Off when used by itself should act like a temporary blackout, with the values being restored by pressing the On button by itself.
  • After a command is completed (by pressing Enter, Rem. Dim, On or Off), starting a new command should overwrite the old one. It should not be needed to clear the old sentence.
  • Attribute channels should be scaled between 0 and 255, unlike the intensity channels which are between 0 and 100%.

Most of this is pretty-much standard. I've added a couple of bits myself to make it more useable.

James Uppington