I have seen a lot of stage equipment that is listed as being "DMX compatible" or "DMX-equipped".

What is DMX?

Amos McCormick

DMX is short for "digital multiplexer," and is a control protocol - primarily for lighting and dimmers, smoke machines etc. There's a rather technical analysis of it on Wikipedia. If you're looking at kit for yourself, and you aren't sure what DMX is, chances are you don't have the necessary hardware to control the kit via DMX, and, unless you work in theatres regularly, it's probably worth ensuring it has other control options. (For example, some of the Rosco / Le Maitre smoke machines have remote / wireless control, as well as on-board / bolt-on DMX units.

I thought it might mean "digital multiplexer", but I didn't know how it pertained to snow machines. I am looking for a snow machine that we can use with our outdoor trains at Christmas, and I ran across this description during my search:

"The SM-150X produces 10 cubic inches of artificial snow per minute, which it can blow considerable distances. Includes wired timer remote control. No warm up time required. DMX-512 is on board."

Remote/wireless would be nice, but I know absolutely nothing about snow machines. any advice?

Thanks,

Amos McCormick

I haven't used a snow machine in some time now, but, in terms of the DMX, it basically means that there's the capability of linking it up to a dimmer, so you can control it through the lighting desk, and use the faders to control the power etc. You'd need to check how many channels it needs, if you are planning on using DMX - my guess is just the one (no snow (off) up to full output on the one channel), although, if you can control the fan separately (for example, small amount of snow (1 channel) projected over a large distance (second channel)), then you might need two free channels.

In terms of using a snow machine outside... I've never tried, if I'm honest- I advised on snow machines for a club environment, and they went for a "confetti" style snow, projected from essentially a box with a fan in it. Other snow machines use a liquid, and shoot a more realistic snow (some are more wet than others, which is worth bearing in mind in terms of safety requirements etc- probably why the club went for the "solid" system, although, that left a huge amount of debris to tidy up.

Other than that, I've not much to be able to offer, I'm afraid