My first Efired show

[PyroGyro]

This was my first attempt at an Efired fireworks display. I used a Bilusocn firing system with about 48 cues. 3 forward firing stations spread 35 feet apart.

This was shot in the the mountains of New Hampshire, and it rained for over an hour prior to the show. The air was very muggy and the ceiling was very low with no wind, hence all the smoke in the video. I had no time to even think about recording the show and this video was shot by a spectator from their phone.

Overall the show was a success and all cues fired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPR8FNc8YrY

[Mattp]

Hey man,, great show.. especially for a first time.. how nice is it to use a firing system?? Total game changer !!! What were those fast pace cakes going off right at the beginning.. then at 2:13, 4:33, 6:10 I’m looking for something just like that.. fast paced, straight up and lasts for about 20-30 sec

[PyroGyro]

Hey man,, great show.. especially for a first time.. how nice is it to use a firing system?? Total game changer !!! What were those fast pace cakes going off right at the beginning.. then at 2:13, 4:33, 6:10 I?m looking for something just like that.. fast paced, straight up and lasts for about 20-30 sec

Yeah as everyone has said once you go to Efiring there's no going back. They were right and having instant fire is awesome. The open was (8) 200 gram Raging Willows quick fused together and duct taped together like 1 giant brick and fired from an ematch along with (1) 500 gram Willow Explosion over the top. Both cakes last 21 seconds and are from Raccoon. 2:13 was (12) 200 gram (Brothers) Magnificent Festival cakes quick fused and duct taped together and efired with Magnus Appballs shells over the top. 4:33 was again (8) Raging Willows but this time I also had (2) Willow Explosions over the top and (1) Willow Explosion on the left and on the right. At 6:10 that was (12) 200 gram (Brothers) Great Naval Battle cakes quick fused together and fired from an ematch.

I really like those Raging WIllows a lot. A case is 8/1 and I got them for $74. Next time I will pair them with a better Nishiki 500gram NOAB or something that breaks higher and bigger for a better effect. I was also pretty impressed with the Magnus Appballs which were nice looking with tails and cheap at 144 shells for $133.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Good job! Especially for a first attempt. Great use of the 200G cakes too. You really can put on a nice show with just 200G cakes if you get creative with them.

[Mattp]

Ahhhh... yes,, ok,, that is what I also do with some 200g cakes.. but was hoping to find a single cake that can have the same effect.. probably doesn’t exist in 1.4g

[PyroGyro]

Good job! Especially for a first attempt. Great use of the 200G cakes too. You really can put on a nice show with just 200G cakes if you get creative with them.

Thanks Rick, every show is a learning experience and yep, if you get creative with 200's you can put on a good show and keep costs down. One thing I figured out about combining all those 200 gram cakes was that I really didn't need as many as I used. For example in the open I used 8 cakes and there was more definition and less smoke. When I switched to using 12 for 3 other times it was overkill and it just became a big blob of light with too much smoke. In fact I can see situation when I might just want to use 3 or 4, with more focus on bigger stuff over the top. I'm going to experiment more with this in my next show.

This was my first club shoot too. I met some cool fellow pyros and got my first taste of what Class B is up close. After the shoot I got an email from the owner of a Pyro company asking me if I was interested in helping with setup of a B pyromusical in October which is pretty cool. I'm already looking forward to a club shoot in May 2020 too, and not only being able to get in on group buys, but getting my hands on 1.4 AOP stuff for my shows as well.

[esgrillo]

Well done... Looks real good. You're speaking my language taping 200g cakes together for unique effects and cue efficiency. My 90 cake Bump Bear finale starter is a staple for me every year lol!

Keep it going!

[morrison2951]

Another fan of mixing it up with 200g cakes here. My last show had 200g Brothers Bling Bling and Wild Card along with Winda's Gold Rush among the 500 banger cakes and I received good feedback on them.

Good way to save some $$$ also.

[PyroGyro]

Well done... Looks real good. You're speaking my language taping 200g cakes together for unique effects and cue efficiency. My 90 cake Bump Bear finale starter is a staple for me every year lol!

Keep it going!

Looking at your 2019 video, is this at about 21:34? This is 90 Bump Bear? Basically what I see is 2 Bump Bear stations simultaneous/side by side, happening twice in a row. So this must be 45 Bump Bear per station/2 = about 22 per station at a time? If so I'm not sure why my measly 12 at a time looked so crappy? I guess the smoke and overexposure of the camera would explain it but I'm surprised how defined yours looks compared to mine. See here, this is 12 Bump Bear back to back. https://youtu.be/gPR8FNc8YrY?t=324

[Mattp]

getting lost in the smoke definitely does not help... i lost 1/2 of my show this year to it

[esgrillo]

Looking at your 2019 video, is this at about 21:34? This is 90 Bump Bear? Basically what I see is 2 Bump Bear stations simultaneous/side by side, happening twice in a row. So this must be 45 Bump Bear per station/2 = about 22 per station at a time? If so I'm not sure why my measly 12 at a time looked so crappy? I guess the smoke and overexposure of the camera would explain it but I'm surprised how defined yours looks compared to mine. See here, this is 12 Bump Bear back to back. https://youtu.be/gPR8FNc8YrY?t=324

This year the left platform match did not fire so that was a miss. I have 3 sets of 10 on each platform with a 10 sec fuse delay between set of 10... right platform timing was a bit goofy for some reason. Last year 2018 it worked perfect. Look at 21:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HHxPOnlRD8&t=474s

[esgrillo]

Looking at your 2019 video, is this at about 21:34? This is 90 Bump Bear? Basically what I see is 2 Bump Bear stations simultaneous/side by side, happening twice in a row. So this must be 45 Bump Bear per station/2 = about 22 per station at a time? If so I'm not sure why my measly 12 at a time looked so crappy? I guess the smoke and overexposure of the camera would explain it but I'm surprised how defined yours looks compared to mine. See here, this is 12 Bump Bear back to back. https://youtu.be/gPR8FNc8YrY?t=324

Ok maybe 2017 was the better one.... 2018 had some problems in the middle lol. 22:10 https://vimeo.com/296060757

[PyroGyro]

Ok maybe 2017 was the better one.... 2018 had some problems in the middle lol. 22:10 https://vimeo.com/296060757

I see now...I was wondering why you only did 2 Bump Bear stations in the 2019 show but I wasn't going to say anything. LOL 3 stations(LCR), 30 Bump Bears per station/2 or 15 per station firing at one given time. Now I got to see what this looks like without tons of smoke and it looks great. Throw in some Whacky Tobackys over the top and it's killer. I will definitely do the same thing in my next show and do this at all stations. I had thought about doing it for my show I just did but I didn't have the $$$. I was limited to about $1k and couldn't even afford any 9 shots to throw over the top of my show. Damn next year is going to be expensive....but a lot better LOL.

[esgrillo]

.... Damn next year is going to be expensive....but a lot better LOL.

lol get used to it.... Between the hardware and fireworks...

I got those bump bears for $2.93 a cake ($70.28/cs of 24) so that effect cost about $260 but for 3 platforms for a solid 30secs of rapid firing... not too bad I think

[PyroGyro]

lol get used to it.... Between the hardware and fireworks...

I got those bump bears for $2.93 a cake ($70.28/cs of 24) so that effect cost about $260 but for 3 platforms for a solid 30secs of rapid firing... not too bad I think

$3 is a good deal. I paid about $4 a piece, but it was because this was a last minute show and I had to go local wholesale which is not nearly as good as what I can get elsewhere. And yeah, now on my wish list is a Cobra system (after one freakin use of the Chinese system I just bought LOL) and a GoPro 7 so it looks like I'll be spending another 2k soon.

[esgrillo]

$3 is a good deal. I paid about $4 a piece, but it was because this was a last minute show and I had to go local wholesale which is not nearly as good as what I can get elsewhere. And yeah, now on my wish list is a Cobra system (after one freakin use of the Chinese system I just bought LOL) and a GoPro 7 so it looks like I'll be spending another 2k soon.

lol... I used the chinese system I bought one time

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Damn next year is going to be expensive....but a lot better LOL.

ROFLMAO... I think you just cracked the code on this thing buddy!! lol...

For the record, I used the Chinese system I bought just once too before I bought the Cobra. So don't feel bad. It's like a rite of passage I think.

[morrison2951]

So far I'm still good with my Quantum Fire 12 cue system for my little neighborhood shows....

But who knows, watching all these other great shows, the Cobra bug might still bite me!

[Robbro097]

So far I'm still good with my Quantum Fire 12 cue system for my little neighborhood shows....

But who knows, watching all these other great shows, the Cobra bug might still bite me!

The cost to get in2 cobra is kinda scary but you do get every penny worth out of it, i loved having my show scriptedthis year just started it and kicked back and relaxed and enjoyed the show. They have some good deals on blackfriday. Last year they had an amzing deal for a remote and 18m mod for 1st time customers.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

The only thing I would add to what Robbro097 said is don't be a moron like me any buy a bunch of firing modules. Buy a few firing modules and some slats. Slats are much MUCH cheaper and will allow you to spread out your show and fire the same amount of effects for a lot less money.

[Robbro097]

I went the slat route myself 72m with 12 18s slats i shoot cakes 3 at a time spread out as far as im comfortable with and am loving that setup. Little to no scab, slat+cable is def cheaper than additional mods.

[rfgonzo]

I went the slat route myself 72m with 12 18s slats i shoot cakes 3 at a time spread out as far as im comfortable with and am loving that setup. Little to no scab, slat+cable is def cheaper than additional mods.

I did the same 72M with 12 18S minis. It was great seeing everything fire at the same time from 50 feet of space between slats. I'm going to to pick up a 36M with slats next. Any one know if their is a limit to how many slats you can run on a bank? or longest distance from module?

[Robbro097]

Im also planning on adding more this year im still trying to decide exactly what im thinkin either some 18m or another 72 im wanting to try a pyromusical so still deciding what will work best but prob 72m. I screen shot thhis froma cobra pdf doesnt exactly pertinent to slats exactly but is still based on wire so should b close4476

[rfgonzo]

Thank you Robbro097, I knew I seen that somewhere but couldn't fine it again. I need to buy more also. I did my first pyromusical on Labor day. Well just a one song test using a 72M and a 18M. I have already scripted out my 2020 4th show 17 min's long, so now I'm going to pickup another 72M w/slats, 36M w/slats and 3 more 18M's without slats. Apparently I've become addicted real quick.

[Robbro097]

I can see how easy it is to become addicted with cobra the only limitation is your imagination and wallet gets in my way as well lol

[PyroGyro]

I'm sure if I searched this site I could find 100 threads on the Cobra and figure it out myself but I'm going to throw this out there anyway. I'm thinking that a good start for me would be to go with 72 cues. Picture my shows as being 3 separate firing stations, L, C, R 50 ft apart from each other for now. That said, based on what I've read about slats and such, I think it makes the most sense to buy a 72M, and then run slats from the 72M to the 3 firing stations? Am I right?

If I am right above...I noticed that their the largest size slat is a 36S. DOes this mean you can connect (2) 36s to a 72M and 1 36s will be cues 1-36 and slat 2 will be cue 37-72? Or does this mean you can only get the 1st 36 cues to be connected to a slat on the 72M?

Maybe the best question is just this. What would be the most efficient Cobra setup for me, where I have L C R positions, 50 ft apart, and I want 72 cues per position? The 72 cues are shared by each position, in other words firing cue 1 fires cue 1 at all 3 positions simultaneously.

[Robbro097]

A 72m and 6 36 slats or 12 18s slats, youll also need 4 50ft centronics cables and probably at least 1 5m cable and a 1m to connect from mod to 1st slat. to give u a lil seperation between your 2 rowss of slats. U dont have to put seperation between them but having say 72 cakes all right next to eachother with no space between them at each station would make for 1 tangled mess to setup, or double that for 18s slats. I like the 18s slats if u like to match ur product ahead of time u can then wire them in your slats and shunt both ends (essentially the same as shunted ematch) and place them on boards and take boards out to shoot site set each 1 in place spread em out connect your cables and your ready to rock. U could do the same thing with 36 slats but lifting that would take a fork lift or a ton of man power if ur doing a ton of single shots the 36 would b easiest

[rfgonzo]

It doesne't matter if you have a 72m, 36m or 18m, all cues will be 1 through 18, Only diffrence is the number of channels. 72m would be ch 1, ch2, ch3 and ch4 all 1 - 18. No cues 37 - 72. Hope that made sence.

[PyroGyro]

It doesne't matter if you have a 72m, 36m or 18m, all cues will be 1 through 18, Only diffrence is the number of channels. 72m would be ch 1, ch2, ch3 and ch4 all 1 - 18. No cues 37 - 72. Hope that made sence.

I think I see, and looking at a picture of a 72M for example, it has 4 banks of 1-18 connectors labelled A,B,C,D. And I assume you can assign each "bank" to any "channel"?

[PyroGyro]

A 72m and 6 36 slats or 12 18s slats, youll also need 4 50ft centronics cables and probably at least 1 5m cable and a 1m to connect from mod to 1st slat. to give u a lil seperation between your 2 rowss of slats. U dont have to put seperation between them but having say 72 cakes all right next to eachother with no space between them at each station would make for 1 tangled mess to setup, or double that for 18s slats. I like the 18s slats if u like to match ur product ahead of time u can then wire them in your slats and shunt both ends (essentially the same as shunted ematch) and place them on boards and take boards out to shoot site set each 1 in place spread em out connect your cables and your ready to rock. U could do the same thing with 36 slats but lifting that would take a fork lift or a ton of man power if ur doing a ton of single shots the 36 would b easiest

Let me see if I understand this correctly. You are suggesting (6) 36S because I would want to have (2) 36S per station? And there is no problem chaining all those 36S together? I think in the case of the 36s, on the 72M itself, it has 2 connectors, 1 for Bank A & B, and then 1 for Bank C & D. So basically I would connect (3) 36s to the Bank A & B connector, and the 36S's would be chained together with 1 36s per station? And then I would do the equivalent thing for Bank C & D, giving me 72 cues at each station?

Btw, now I see why you would want to go with 18S instead, thanks for explaining that. This might be the best way to go because of the reasons you mentioned, and that it allows for more cue flexibility as well.

Damn those DB25 cables are expensive. Assuming I for the 18S mini slat route, I'm looking at (4) 50ft cables X $50 = $200, then (3) 16ft cables per station to chain those slats together = (9) cables for chaining X 27 = $243. Then (12) 18s mini slats X $42 = $504. Then the 72M at $790. Then the 18R2 Remote at $300. Grand Total = $2,037. Damn! I kknow they do a Black Friday deal, I wonder if they will throw a Club discount on top of that?

[rfgonzo]

I think I see, and looking at a picture of a 72M for example, it has 4 banks of 1-18 connectors labelled A,B,C,D. And I assume you can assign each "bank" to any "channel"?


Yes, you are correct.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I wonder if they will throw a Club discount on top of that?

The answer to that is - no.

At least that's been the case the past few years.

[shonuff]

Great show. Was nice to see it in person though the weather was not ideal.

[shonuff]

Let me see if I understand this correctly. You are suggesting (6) 36S because I would want to have (2) 36S per station? And there is no problem chaining all those 36S together? I think in the case of the 36s, on the 72M itself, it has 2 connectors, 1 for Bank A & B, and then 1 for Bank C & D. So basically I would connect (3) 36s to the Bank A & B connector, and the 36S's would be chained together with 1 36s per station? And then I would do the equivalent thing for Bank C & D, giving me 72 cues at each station?

Btw, now I see why you would want to go with 18S instead, thanks for explaining that. This might be the best way to go because of the reasons you mentioned, and that it allows for more cue flexibility as well.

Damn those DB25 cables are expensive. Assuming I for the 18S mini slat route, I'm looking at (4) 50ft cables X $50 = $200, then (3) 16ft cables per station to chain those slats together = (9) cables for chaining X 27 = $243. Then (12) 18s mini slats X $42 = $504. Then the 72M at $790. Then the 18R2 Remote at $300. Grand Total = $2,037. Damn! I kknow they do a Black Friday deal, I wonder if they will throw a Club discount on top of that?

My suggestion would be to start out small and borrow what you need if you need to go bigger. A lot of NHPA members have cobra stuff, and are willing to lend it out. Particularly at club shoots. So if you are only doing a couple shows a year, might be worthwhile to start out with an 18M and 18R2 and build out from there.

Also - while they take up more storage space, I personally prefer to have the smaller 18M mods versus the larger mods. Primarily because it gives me a lot more flexibility when it comes to positioning product. Three 18Ms allows you to do a pretty good (albeit small) 3 position show. To do the same thing with a 72M would entail using a lot of scab wire or expensive slats and cables (as you already found out) - which is both a pain in the butt and adds yet another potential point of failure.

[PyroGyro]

My suggestion would be to start out small and borrow what you need if you need to go bigger. A lot of NHPA members have cobra stuff, and are willing to lend it out. Particularly at club shoots. So if you are only doing a couple shows a year, might be worthwhile to start out with an 18M and 18R2 and build out from there.

Also - while they take up more storage space, I personally prefer to have the smaller 18M mods versus the larger mods. Primarily because it gives me a lot more flexibility when it comes to positioning product. Three 18Ms allows you to do a pretty good (albeit small) 3 position show. To do the same thing with a 72M would entail using a lot of scab wire or expensive slats and cables (as you already found out) - which is both a pain in the butt and adds yet another potential point of failure.

I've decided to go with (1) 36M with onboard quickplugs, and (2) 18M's with onboard quickplugs. Moving forward I'll be doing mostly 3 positions shows with most of the action coming from the center position.