YouTube subscriber question.

[displayfireworks1]

New fireworks enthusiast sometimes have questions. Particularly when they transition from import firing systems to an advanced system like a Cobra. I answered this question but I'm curious how some of the forums members would answer this type of question.
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Good afternoon Dave,

Sorry to bother you just had a question I’m using a cobra and I’m using a mix of tallon igniters and MJG initiators during my show do you think that would be fine or should I just use one or the other

[jdels]

I used talons with my Chinese system for two years. The success rate is decent but no where near initiators, especially when poked. That said if a talon failed on the first try sometimes you could hit it a second time and it would go. The Chinese systems are well suited for talons because you can get a long draw of current. As long as the nichrome doesn't burn out there is still a chance. Cobra has talon mode which fires I believe a two second pulse. If you need resolution higher than that on any given module you cant run talons. Its a timely question for me as I just liquidated my last 118 Talons. If the question is one or the other I don't see any Cobra user choosing talons.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I would say that there's a different tool for every situation, and you need to use the best tool available to get the job done. If that means you have to mix talons with initiators and set up your firing modules accordingly, then that's part of what being an "advanced enthusiast" is all about.

That would be my politically correct answer.

In truth, I would NEVER use a talon unless there was absolutely no other alternative available. The failure rate is just too high and you can't guarantee the effect will fire when you want it to. Certainly not compared to an initiator. But that would be injecting my own bias into the answer, and it's probably unfair to do that. Let the man make his own decision later on.

[Robbro097]

So long as the module is in talon mode it will work but i would not mix the 2 on the same cue

[MontanaMike]

I would just say:
You can mix talons and initiators so long as you make sure you don't space your cues too close together. Keep cues on the same module at least two seconds apart, set modules to talon mode, and mix away.

Are talons crap these days? We started with our Cobra in 2015 before MJG initiators existed, so we used talons for the first 3 or 4 years, and I don't think we ever had a failure on one. With initiators if you don't poke in the right spot, or your initiator blows out of the hole OR the shroud touches the opposite side of a tube OR the flame misses the fuse or the powder, you run a risk of a non fire. There's definitely an initiator learning curve. We usually have two or three that don't go off. It's my major area of nervousness. Getting better at it every year though.

[BMoore]

Initiators will fire in Cobra talon mode. The issue is the pulse times. For initiators it's .1 seconds and talons it's 2 seconds. You don't want to overlap cues because an issue with one cue could prevent the overlapping cue from firing. As MontanaMike says, you'll want to keep cues on the same module at least 2 seconds apart. Not a big deal if you are just pushing buttons firing one thing after the next but if trying to script anything that 2 seconds is going to feel like an eternity.

[barehm]

BMoore/MontanaMike covered it, but here's the Cobra direct answer:
https://help.cobrafiringsystems.com/hc/en-us/articles/5514807510811-Can-I-fire-e-match-MJG-Initiators-Talons-Clip-on-Igniters-on-the-same-module-