The Only Thing I Hate About Choreographed Shows

[wizard7611]

Whenever I see people doing choreographed shows, they normally spend lots of money for the equipment itself and get a smaller quantity of cues. Why can't other firing systems allow you to choreographed shows with them? Don't you think it's a huge waste of money buying a large module with only about 12-24 cues? Usually these shows have a large span of wiring involved, but the more wiring, the more synchronized the show will be. Before anyone says anything, is it possible to hook up a Cobra Firing System 18R2 Remote to a 32 cue module or do I have to buy the Cobra Firing System Module?
-Thanks!

[Playingwithfire85]

I am not a pro with the Cobra firing systems but I have done a lot of research for more cues and the only options I have found other than buying multiple modules is to simply buy cheaper sequencing units and have them wired into a cobra module cue.

[mguerra]

This is one thing you can do with a Cobra that may be of some help. If you want to shoot multiple products with one cue, you can use Cobra slats. I like to set off multiples of the same cakes, spaced 25 to 30 feet apart, on one cue. Two, three, or four cakes at a time spread out on a front . To set off four of the same cakes spaced this way you can use one module and three slats. The slats are 59 bucks, way cheaper than modules. Check out the slats video on the Cobra website. So you could shoot 72 cakes with one 18 cue module.

[PGH_Pyro]

i am personally, a big fan/proponent of the multiple-cakes-at-once concept .
it's a great look/spectacle and doesn't have to cost a fortune .
you multiply the intensity / cool-ness factor of smaller 200-gram or mediocre 500-gram cakes, if you're talking 1.4.
even with 1.3 cakes, not all of them are so spectacular, shot by themselves .

[wizard7611]

This is one thing you can do with a Cobra that may be of some help. If you want to shoot multiple products with one cue, you can use Cobra slats. I like to set off multiples of the same cakes, spaced 25 to 30 feet apart, on one cue. Two, three, or four cakes at a time spread out on a front . To set off four of the same cakes spaced this way you can use one module and three slats. The slats are 59 bucks, way cheaper than modules. Check out the slats video on the Cobra website. So you could shoot 72 cakes with one 18 cue module. But would if you wanted to synchronize something like a nice spread out line of comets and have delays in between each one of them so that one goes off at a time?

[Northern Sky]

Depending of timing delays can be done with fuse if you are limited on cues. Some people just series in product on a long wire. There are multiple ways to work the same process depending on what you have to work with. Personally I prefer to match everything. But you have to start some where.

[mguerra]

When I only had a small number of scriptable cues, I got very creative with fusing to set off a lot of product. However, it is hard to get accurate timing this way. Ultimately I decided that it is better to err on the side of having a slight gap between products than to have them overlap. The audience does not mind a brief delay of dark sky. Brief. They usually let out big cheers during those intervals, and that's what you like as the pyrotechnician! I want every effect to be seen and appreciated for what it is and not overlapped with another. You just have to be patient and add cues over time as you can afford them. I was able to put on a well scripted and timed 20 minute show using one 32 cue Sequencefire and creative fusing and wiring. This included three and four station cake fronts all wired to one cue as well as chain fused mortar racks. A Sequencefire programmable 32 cue unit can be had for less than $600.00. And the beauty of this system is that you can chain Sequencefire units so that the next 32 cue module will execute its sequence after the first one finishes. It is (relatively) affordable and you can put on one hell of a show with it. I just got a Cobra system but will be using the Sequencefire units as well going forward.

[wizard7611]

1. I was planning on fusing my shells together using the quickmatch they have attached to them. That way I can save several cues by not electric matching every shell.
2. Would if I wanted to create a giant barrage of a certain cake having 4 stations? Each station contains the cake itself and is at a good distance from the other stations. How could I do this without using quickmatch, yet saving cues? All I have right now is a Cobra 18R2 remote and two Cobra modules.

[pyrohioman]

You could scab wire all 4 stations to 1 cue,wired series for e-match or parallel for consumer igniters or use slats and db25 cables.Slats and cables are nice,use over and over as you build up your system.I find them usefull even when I have extra cues on my mods.

[mguerra]

I have three videos here:
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/showthread.php?3431-how-do-you-put-ematch-ports-on-consumer-items&p=25712#post25712
post #18, that show how to do this. The videos show a three wire setup but you can do four. I parallel wire these. If you wire them in series and have a bad match or bad igniter, none of the products on that cue will fire. This is exactly the same as having slats, you just have to fool around with more wire. With slats, you just use a single DB25 wire going from slat to slat. With the 32 cue module shown in the video, if you shot only cakes, you could shoot 128 cakes! I use reuseable wire but you could just scab it all from scratch every time, if you like.

[NYJoeD]

i see this is an older thread as i am new to the forum but recently emailed with scott at cobra and they do have plans to be comming out with a modular with more then 18 cues.

[PGH_Pyro]

worst thing bout most (not all) pyro-musicals is the shitty / bad choice of songs
very little originality