Thread: VSA and electronic firecrackers

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If this thread appears twice sorry but I did not see it posted.

Has anyone used vsa and electronic firecrackers? When I trigger them to turn on with a dmx dimmer pack switched to relay switching it does turn on but then immediately my animatronics shut off and then I get a communications error message in vsa. Any one have suggestions on how to prevent this? I would really like to use this prop but if it causes my show to turn off then I cant use it.

Thank you,

I don't have an electronic firecracker, but from the videos it looks like they work using a strong electric arc. If this is the case, it's likely that your computer is experiencing massive EMI (electro-magnetic interference) from the firecracker. Assuming you're using a USB-to-DMX interface, you might try clipping a ferrite bead to your USB cable. (You can find these at Radio Shack) This fixed the problems I encountered when at the Maker Faire, having my pirate treasure chest set up in the same room as a 500,000V Tesla coil.

Also... if you're powering the firecracker directly from the dimmer pack, you might try using a relay instead of connecting directly to the dimmer pack. This may help to isolate the electrical noise.

Hope this helps,
- Hook

Hook that worked great !!!! Thank you so much for your suggestion. The magnetic clip / ferrite worked on the usb cable which prevented the electromagnetic/noise interference and also the solid state relay for the e firecracker before plugging into dimmer pack worked as well and my animatronics did not even flinch. I bought the 75 amp one from frightprops which was more than enough. Again Thank you !!!

Great, glad I was able to help! Now... if only noise problems at work could be solved so easily...