can someone explain the efiring stuuf for me

[Icooclast]

i am thinking of eventually getting one, but i don't know anything about it. what i mostly need to know is how to set them up and where the best place to buy them is? any tips or thoughts are help full. and are the talons i see on other sites for them? kinda walk me through how you use them, step by step if you guys don't mind.

like do they just clip onto the fuse? what's the range? and if i want to set up a lot of them how would i make sure my signals won't just light everything?

[Kenny East]

Search Dave's videos he answers most of your questions... And as far as consumer igniters to efire stuff... I wouldn't recommend talons, they can work but can fail quite often as well. Used them a few times and after trying ematch i wouldn't go back to talons. Without a license you can buy FireWire initiators that are just as good as ematches

[Rick_In_Tampa]

OMG... That's a topic that would take significant time to explain in detail. However, the view from 50K feet is this...

Electrical firing systems compliment or replace the standard fuse (visco) that you normally light to set off your cakes.

The two most common methods to electrically fire a cake is using a talon or an e-match/firewire initiator.

The talon has a nichrome wire on the end inside a clip that clips onto the visco of the cake. When you hit the fire button the wire heats up and burns through the visco to ignite the fuse.

The e-match/firewire initiator replaces the visco altogether. The tip of the e-match/initiator has a compound on it that explodes when fired, and the resulting fire ignites the lift charge in the cake. You poke a hole in the cake and insert the e-match/initiator. When you hit the fire button the cake fires immediately. So if you want to control the exact time each cake fires during your show, e-match/firewire initiators are the only way to go.

Regardless of which media you choose (talons or e-match) you need a system that has many "cues" in order to use either. A cue is basically the piece that provides the electrical current to fire the talon or e-match. The type of cue and how it's powered will determine how many effects (cakes/mortars/etc.) you can fire. Some cues use AA batteries. Some use LiPo batteries. Some are (can be) hooked up to direct A/C power.

Here's a link to the Cobra system user guide. It will tell you everything you need to know about electronic firing. Each manufacturer is a little different, but all of them operate off essentially the same (electronic) principals.

http://www.cobrafiringsystems.com/static/userguides/COBRA18R2DetailedUserGuide.pdf

Hope this helps.

[PyroDre]

not sure if we are allowed to post brands names on here (if not dave please delete)

but for entry level firing systems the guys at "rfremotech" make great starter systems. it's well made stuff for a hell of a good price.....

[Icooclast]

what about "Red Dragon Igniters" on pyroboom.com? are they the same as talons? would they work?

[Cerus]

what about "Red Dragon Igniters" on pyroboom.com? are they the same as talons? would they work?

They're the same basically yes. I've only ever heard good things about them and have had no issues with them myself.

[displayfireworks1]

I am sure I have at least 100 videos showing how to electrically fire fireworks using various fireworks firing systems. Don't as you put it eventually think about it 10 days before July 4th. Think about it in February. You need a ground up education, you need to watch my videos on this page. Now go get a can of Red Bull and watch the videos.
.
http://www.pyrotalk.com/fireworks-projects.php

[MontanaMike]

I ordered my initial Cobra system in February 2015, and spent the next months watching his videos and a lot of other videos, before we put up our first electronic-fired show in 2015. It's amazing how much we didn't know in that first show, compared to now.

The bottom line question you need to answer before proceeding is "how many cues do I want." If you want to fuse your show together in segments, then you could get a simpler firing system with 6 or 12 cues. If you want more precise control or to work out a pyromusical, that's when you need more cues. We have 108 cues in our system and for us that's just right, but your needs might be bigger or smaller.

But Dave is definitely right, "now" in late June is not the time to start on this.....you might want to do your show the old-fashioned way this year, and get your firing system for next year. That way you have the whole winter to learn, plan and dream.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the customer service given by Scott and his team at Cobra Firing Systems. Any system you buy, you want to make sure the service is there to back you up. I've never had experience with the other companies but I can tell you Cobra is definitely top notch in that department.

[Icooclast]

this isn't for this year, i am planning ahead. i'm gonna try and get fireworks next year. lol. i am fireworkless this 4th :( but i'm used to it now.

[Num1contender]

Hi Dave,
While were on the subject, do you intend on making a New Pyrotechnician Tips#2 video in the future?

[Icooclast]

i was looking on pyroboom.com and watched the video on their P1200 Control Desk. and it seems right for me. now all i need is to find a video that documents setting up the P4 Firing Module and the fireing system as well as hooking the talons up to the P4 Firing Module (clipping the ends in, basically) and clipping it on the fuse of cakes and shells and seeing how well it all works out is there any video for that or close to it?

[Kenny East]

i was looking on pyroboom.com and watched the video on their P1200 Control Desk. and it seems right for me. now all i need is to find a video that documents setting up the P4 Firing Module and the fireing system as well as hooking the talons up to the P4 Firing Module (clipping the ends in, basically) and clipping it on the fuse of cakes and shells and seeing how well it all works out is there any video for that or close to it?

Pyroboom has some videos about their products... The p1200 control desk is about the same as what i have... Only minor differences... Works good but it has it's limitations

[adultuser]

Before spending the money on a full system, I would check these out:
http://pyroworks.us/phoenix-mr-12-multi-receiver-firing-system.html
They are really simple to use and in my opinion, give you so much more flexibility than a single multi slat box. You simply place one receiver where ever you want to shoot a particular FW from. You can also program as many as you want to shoot off of one cue, so they are great for my shows as I like to vary the locations of what I'm shooting. Maybe a Cake from the far left of the field and some racks from the far right, etc.
I have a Cobra System, but I still rely heavily on these each year.

[PYRODAN]

Scott at Cobra will definitely return your calls! Had a few questions this year and he returns calls asap.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Before spending the money on a full system, I would check these out:
http://pyroworks.us/phoenix-mr-12-multi-receiver-firing-system.html

That's the system I used last year. It was very reliable. Before I bought the Cobra I even bought more MR cues to use this year.

The only problem I have with it is the antenna is held down by a very small screw that's screwed into soft plastic that strips easily. So a few of the antenna have come loose. Other than that, it's a cheap reliable system. The owner of Pyroworks is also customer service oriented. I've talked to him a number of times and he's a man of his word.

[adultuser]

Hey Rick, that's strange. I have about 20 receivers and never had an antenna problem. My only problem is the nipple on the battery cover seems to snap off on at least half of mine. I just tape them shut, but it is a PITA.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Yeah.. A few of the antenna were really screwed down tight when I received them. So when I turned them up and extended them all of a sudden they were really loose. So after the show I opened the cue and found that there was only one really small screw that was holing it in place. The screw pulled out of the plastic hole it was in, and there's no way to tighten it back down.

Definitely the weak point in the design. But... They all still work! So for the money I can't really complain. Like I said, I ordered more cues to use this year.