Yes, Bluetooth 4.0 or above. 

If your Android phone can see the DMXcat on the Playstore, then you have it.  If your iPhone is version 4s or higher, you have it. 

Yes.

Generally, phones that are not Android or iOS will not work with DMXcat.  Also,  any Android phone 5.0 or lower, and any iPhones that are IOS 9.2 or lower or older than a 4S, will not work with DMXcat.

Find your serial number on the back of your DMXcat dongle.  Turn on your dongle and turn on your app.  Be sure Bluetooth is turned on in your phone. The app will search for all nearby Bluetooth devices. Tap the gear icon to open the “Settings” menu and Select Device list. You will see your device listed as “DMXcat_your serial number”.  Tap its connect button. After you have connected this way, your DMXcat app and dongle will automatically connect when both are turned on. 

Your serial number is on the back of your DMXcat dongle. 

About 50’ (15m) depending on conditions. 

Your DMX device will behave exactly like it normally does when it loses DMX.  Some hold last look indefinitely, some for a limited period of time. 

DMXcat supports seven apps on Android, but only five on iPhone.  iPhone hardware does not support Light Meter or Spectrum Analyzer.

Yes, check the “Settings” menu (the gear icon on the home page) for all options. 

Since many updates are bug fixes, yes you should accept and load them. 

In “Settings”, select “DMXcat Update”.  It will tell you if you are up to date. 

Turn the app off first, then the dongle power button will be blinking.  Now power down by holding the power button for two seconds.  If you want to power down the dongle while the app is still on, hold the power button down for four seconds. 

You will get over 20 hours of use between charges. Turn the dongle off when you are not using it.

Sure.

No, only for DMX.

DMX is not broadcast from the DMXcat until you load the DMX Controller or Fixture Controller. 

Yes, but only on Android devices. Go to “Settings”, “Connect to device”. Find your device, select “Rename” and type in your new name. Hit OK. You can change this at any time by repeating these instructions.

Although we have hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of fixtures in the database, we may not have the exact fixture you are looking for.  If you inform us, we will add it.  You are two ways you can email us right from the DMXcat app:

On the Fixture Controller app, there is a sub menu in the upper right hand corner that contains several links, one of which is an email directly to CTI.  There is also a “Report Problem” selection on the Setup menu and  in the Fixture Controller app, and once you have loaded any fixture’s personality, you will see a sub menu in the upper right hand corner of the screen that allows you to “Contact CTI.”  Just tell us the fixture you need to add and we will add it to the database.

Yes. In the Fixture Controller app, the Personality Editor lives on the sub menu in the upper right hand corner of the screen.  You can write a new personality completely from scratch, or first load an existing personality and then modify it and save it under a different name. After writing your custom personality it will be stored as a “Favorite” in the Fixture Controller app.

Just select the Favorite, then “unstar” it in the lower left corner of the screen.

First make sure all of your fixture personalities are in your Fixture Controller Favorites list, then click on the Multi Fixture Link.

 You can then click the "+" icon to start adding fixtures and groups to your setup.

Once you have selected the personality you would like to patch you are presented with the fixture setup screen. Here you identify the Universe and DMX Address of your fixture. You can then decide to patch in one of two modes:
• Channel Range – Select the starting channel/fixture number and enter the number of fixtures to patch
• Fixture Count – Select the starting and ending channel/fixture numbers to patch
If you select Fixture Count mode you can also opt to have the fixture numbers done sequentially or with all the same number by clicking on the 123 icon. You can then select to have the addressing automatically spaced by the number of DMX attributes in the personality or by an offset of your choosing.

You can also choose to add the fixtures to a group. A group enables you to control the common parameters of several fixtures simultaneously or step through the fixtures in sequence. You can add as many fixtures of different models to a group as is helpful, but the group can only be controlled as a whole if the fixtures all share at least one common parameter (like intensity).

When you have completed patching you will be presented with the list of fixtures in your setup. Their fixture number will contain the colors of any groups they belong to. You can either select fixtures to control or press the 3-dot menu for more options including sorting, filters, saving the current setup or load a preexisting one, and switching to the group view. The group view can also be reached by swiping left from the fixture list.

In the Group List you can click on a group to control the common parameters of all of the fixtures in that group (for example a group containing different models of moving lights will likely have at least intensity, pan, and tilt in common).  This enables quick checking of a group of fixtures simultaneously.

When you select an individual fixture from within the group you will be controlling just that fixture, but you can step through the fixtures in the group using the right and left arrows. The attributes you change will transfer to the new fixture enabling you to quickly step through the group to test your fixtures. The last show setup you had open will be present when you open the app again. You can save and recall as many setups as you need giving you the flexibility to save your Multi Fixture setups for different applications. Any saved setups are stored locally to your device, so they will persist even if you have to uninstall and reinstall the app.

You can also view this information in the Multi Fixture Feature PDF.

While in the RDM Controller screen if you long press on any of the discovered fixtures it will enable the multiple RDM selection mode. Pressing the RDM Icon will then take you to the RDM Control screen. All RDM parameters that are common between the selected devices will be available to change on all of those devices simultaneously. As an example you can select all of a fixture model and update their personalities at the same time, or select several fixtures to perform a factory defaults.

RDM is complex for manufacturers to implement. DMXcat is a great example of a useful RDM tool so we hope to see RDM more widely used in the future to help make your job easier.

It is probably does not have RDM implemented by the manufacturer.  Check the fixture’s manual to see if it supports the use of RDM. 

Our database must not have this fixture listed. You can report that to us by email on the “Report Problems” line in the “Settings” screen. 

Swipe down on the RDM screen. 

The DMXcat defaults to a low speed DMX mode to preserve battery. Some fixtures do not fully comply with the DMX standard. To fix this issue go to "DMX Tester" > "Transmit DMX" and turn off battery save mode. Most fixtures work in Fast or Medium modes.

Use the male to male XLR5 turnaround that came with your DMXcat.  If you need three pin to five pin adaptors you can get them from your City Theatrical dealer. 

You can start with the “DMXcat Info” icon on the home screen of the DMXcat app. Scroll down to the Fixture Controller section and read about the Personality Editor there.

It is in the Fixture Controller app, in the sub menu in the upper right corner of the screen.

No, it’s pretty easy to use. Give it a try! If you don’t like what you made, you can edit it or delete it.

Press the “+” button, an encoder wheel will appear, press “Edit” and fill in the information for the DMX slot that you are working with. When you’re done with the data for this DMX slot, hit “save”, then hit “+” to add another attribute. Continue on until you are done. In the pull down menu in the upper right hand corner you will add the Manufacturer Name, Fixture Name, and Personality Name. When you exit, the Editor prompt will ask if you want to save your changes.

Yes, just load a personality that is similar to the one you want, then enter the Personality Editor and make the changes you want. You will need to enter a Manufacturer Name, Fixture Name, and Personality Name for this new personality.

Your custom personalities live on your “Favorites” menu in the Fixture Controller app.

Do it the same way you delete any Favorite, click on the favorite on the Favorites menu, and “unstar” it.

Yes, we add new fixtures to the database as soon as we are aware of them. By all means, utilize the email function inside DMXcat to reach us directly to let us know your fixture needs in the database.

When you “Favorite” a fixture in your DMXcat app, it saves that fixture’s personalities to your smartphone. Once your preferred fixture is a “Favorite”, fixtures are not only easier to access, they also become available to you even when you cannot access the internet.

Simply click the chain link icon, which is in the lower left corner of the main screen, to start up a new connection; no need to go into your app's settings.

Use the “Report Problem” option in the settings menu to contact our support and development team with the fixture you'd like to add.

Simply swipe it left and press “Remove”.

The fixture database in the Fixture Controller app has default values for every attribute of each fixture, such as pan and tilt at 50%, which will cause your fixture to move once connected. If you want your fixture to remain static, you can turn off this default setting in the main settings menu through “Load Default Values”. Once off, every attribute will load at 0%. If you find a default value that needs to be updated, please submit it with the contact option in the menu.

Use the 3-dot menu in the Fixture Controller app to reset all the DMX values for your moving light to their default home positions. This menu also offers easy access to your fixture’s user’s manual and a contact option to send corrections and feedback to City Theatrical.

The Analyze DMX function in the DMX Tester app can give you valuable information about the data coming from your lighting controller that can help diagnose the problem. The three sections that are of the most immediate help are “Number of Slots”, “Update Rate”, and “Received Start Codes”.

1. The “Number of Slots” tells you have many DMX values the lighting controller is sending from a maximum of 512. This can help you determine how many unique devices your controller can address.

2. The “Update Rate” is helpful for identifying why fixtures might be misbehaving. The maximum speed is typically 44Hz (it can be faster if fewer than 512 slots are being sent.) If a fixture periodically flashes, or goes out and comes back, then it may not be able to keep up with the full specifications of DMX.

3. In the “Received Start Codes” you will usually only see two possible values: 0x00 (for a regular DMX packet) and 0xCC (when RDM traffic is present). If any other values are present, then there is likely a bad connection or broken cable in the DMX line somewhere. There are some lighting manufacturers that use other start codes for their equipment but running across these is rare.

If you have problems with a fixture flashing every few seconds, it may not be responding appropriately to RDM on the DMX line. Make sure that RDM is off at all consoles, gateways, and wireless receivers until the 0xCC doesn’t show up in a new scan.

You can test individual fixtures with DMXcat by setting the Transmit Speed Preset to “Max” in the Transmit DMX screen of the DMX Tester app. This will send DMX at the fastest rate the DMX512 specification allows. If the fixture misbehaves, slow the speed down until you get consistent control. Most lighting consoles and DMX gateways can have their DMX speeds adjusted. Slowing down the DMX rate rarely affects any output on stage.

Sometimes turning on the “Hold Last Look” feature of the lighting fixture can compensate for the issue. If you need additional help using DMXcat to diagnose problems in your system, please use the “Report Problem” button in the app’s settings screen to send an email, or call 800-230-9497.

The DMXcat app is no longer supported for Amazon Fire tablets.

Most fixtures will let you assign a custom label that will be displayed in the RDM list. You can also sort your RDM devices by Manufacturer, Model, Label, or DMX Address by clicking the 3-dot menu in the upper right of the RDM Controller.

Most RDM fixtures will flash the intensity attribute or their displays when they get an RDM Identify command. You can use the Identify button on the main RDM Controller screen, or use the light bulb icon in the upper right, when already configuring RDM for a specific fixture.

The Android ecosystem recently moved some of the discovery features of the BLE protocol to “Location Services” in phone settings. If you are discovering a device for the first time, enable this feature for the DMXcat to show up in the app device list. Once the connection has been made, then “Location Services” can be turned back off, as they will not be needed again for subsequent connections to that DMXcat.

If you have several fixtures in a DMX chain and experience intermittent issues, especially if all the RDM capable devices in the chain are not being discovered, make sure the end of the DMX chain is properly terminated. RDM requires two-way communication, making it susceptible to corruption by data reflections. Reach out to us using the “Report Problem” link in the DMXcat app if you have questions about RDM.

You can use your DMXcat dongle to check for a DMX signal without even opening the smartphone app. When your DMXcat is turned on and plugged into a DMX line, the power light with flash rapidly if data is present.

There is an occasional conflict between the Bluetooth stack updates that have been implemented in the DMXcat app and the information about the DMXcat dongle that is stored in Android’s Bluetooth Cache. By connecting and forgetting the DMXcat in Android Bluetooth settings followed by a device reboot the cached information is reset.

Steps to resolve:

• Force-close the DMXcat app and turn off the DMXcat dongle

• Turn the DMXcat back on and go into your phone Bluetooth settings.

• If the DMXcat does not show up in your paired devices then click Pair New Device and when the DMXcat shows up connect to it.

• When it is connected go to the pairing settings and click “Forget”

• Restart your phone

• Connect and if it still won’t output try going into settings > DMXcat Update and clicking the 3 dots to do a Force Master Update, followed by a Force Slave Update.

First make sure all of your fixture personalities are in your Fixture Controller Favorites list, then click on the Multi Fixture Link. You can then click the "+" icon to start adding fixtures and groups to your setup. Once you have selected the personality you would like to patch you are presented with the fixture setup screen.

Click on this Getting Started with Multi Fixture PDF, or refer to VIII. DMXcat Frequently Asked Questions: Fixture Controller, question #4.

Use the personality editor to create a 3- or 4- channel fixture. Using the Multi Fixture Controller (Getting Started with Multi Fixture PDF), you can setup that fixture to fill a universe. Add it to a group and then when you control the group you will have simultaneous control of every third or fourth channel.

To get your DMXcat out of an "updating loop", simply make sure your flashlight button is off. You'll know this is your issue if your DMXcat goes through an entire 100% update, reboots, and then starts a new reboot cycle. This occurs if your flashlight button is stuck in, in the "on" position. The flashlight button works in conjunction with the power button, such that when it is held in when it is turned on, it automatically enters boot load mode. Simply rotate the button to make sure it clicks back out, and you'll get out of the loop.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to search DMXcat’s Fixture Controller fixture database:

1. Open your DMXcat smartphone app and connect to your dongle. Make sure your app is up to date.

2. Click on the “Fixture Controller” app.

3. Click “Database” on the bottom right.

4. Click the Magnifying Glass icon at the top right of the screen, rather than using the dropdown filters for manufacturer, personality, etc.

5. Search by the name of your desired fixture.

6. Select your specified fixture from the results.

7. Select your preferred personality from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the screen, and you’re in control.

To get a fixture added or corrected in the Fixture Controller database (ref: DMXcat Tip #19), email: dmxcatdbreport@citytheatrical.com

To report general DMXcat support issues, email:  dmxcatreport@citytheatrical.com

For general Technical Support, email: support@citytheatrical.com (also accessible via your DMXcat app under Settings>Gear>Report an issue)

On Crashes:

Update your app to the latest version through the PlayStore or Apple App Store. If it still crashes, please go to the settings and enable the debug logging.

After the app has crashed, when you open it up again, it will ask you to send City Theatrical a report. The report will help us understand the reason for the crashes.

 

Doesn't Support BT LE

Please go to the settings of your iPhone, select the DMXcat app, and allow access to the Bluetooth hardware.

 

 

On Fixture Profiles:

You can create custom personalities with the personalities editor. You can either start from scratch (Fixture Controller -> 3 dots menu -> Personality editor) or modify an existing one (save it as a favorite -> load it -> 3 dots menu -> personality editor).

 

 

On Pairing Issues / Bluetooth:

The first thing to do is to make sure that your DMXcat dongle is not paired with your phone. Open your phone’s Bluetooth settings and remove the pairing to your DMXcat if it is paired. The next thing to do would be to make sure that the app has access to location. To do that, open your phone settings and go to the apps menu. Find the DMXcat app, open the permissions screen, and deny access to location. Once you open the app again, it will ask you to allow access to location. Go to the settings screen and tap on “Connect to device…” If your DMXcat dongle is powered up and in range, it should show up in the list of devices ready to connect.

 

 

On Sharing Setup Via DMXcat:

Yes, it is possible, but currently, due to some Android restrictions, it is a bit convoluted if you (or the person you’re sharing it with) have a phone running Android 10 or later.

You would need a file explorer capable of opening system directories like CX File Explorer. Once you have that, you will find the Multi Fixture Setup files in the

Android/data/com.citytheatrical.DMXcat/diles/Documents/City Theatrical/DMXcat/dmx patches/ folder.

You can transfer the files with your favorite file transfer method to another phone, and then copy the files in the same path on the other phone and the setups will appear in the list of saved setups in the application.

 

In the case of iOS devices, you can use the Files applications that come standard with iOS devices and you can browse into the DMXcat folder to find the same files.

 

 

On DMX Connection:

 

If iOS:

• If the device is paired in phone settings, forget the device. Make sure Bluetooth is allowed for the DMXcat app.
• Make sure the device has location & file permissions turned on.

 

If Android:

• If paired in phone settings, forget the device.
• Deny all permissions to the DMXcat app, run the app, and allow them when asked.

 

If all else fails:

 

If none of the above options work, delete and reinstall the app. You can download it on the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.

 

If you are trying to use a Fire Tablet or a device that requires an Amazon Store download, we do NOT support it and we recommend using a different device.

 

 You can also read the full list of DMXcat Common Tech Support Questions PDF.