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Post by huggyd on Jan 27, 2016 3:51:11 GMT -5
Does anyone know much about: www.rfremotech.com/
I was searching around and found that site, I always figured for a system that you can do 'stuff' with it would run more then $1000.00 but these guys have a system for ~$400 + shipping + exchange ..
Just wondering, slowly getting parts & info together to build my own system but still so many projects on the go and I told the wife the basement should be done by March, still not sure why I gave myself a dead line, not smart.... really not smart.... 
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Post by khogan on Jan 30, 2016 12:51:08 GMT -5
I have a MB32Q from rfremotech which has some programming featues. It's a pretty nice system for the cost, but the software is bad. If you want to get one the cheapest way is probably ebay. They had a sale on their new system recently but I think its over now. Let me know if you have any specific questions.  |
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Post by huggyd on Jan 31, 2016 8:45:58 GMT -5
Bad software, how so? I take it you got this one: 
From what I see it even lets you DEMO your firing show in a PC, that's a nice feature that and its 32 cues wireless 200M = 600Ft. Reading more into it I guess if you wanted to fire off to music one would have to buy the: FSK & OOK Multifunctional Firing Systems Transmitter TCF200-U option for an added $280.US 
I am guess Khogan you did some research on these systems before picking one up?
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Post by khogan on Jan 31, 2016 13:58:25 GMT -5
I have what you posted in the first picture (minus the external battery)
The software is not really intuitive and there is not much documentation. It does do what its supposed to do though. You can even load music into it and set your queues to the music, but there is no lift time delay though so you would have to workout the lift time of shells and calculate that in yourself. The demo mode is not really that useful, it basically shows an image with random fireworks going off at the times you set your queues.
You don't need that second remote to fire to music but I believe it would help. I think with that remote you hook your sound system into it and it starts the script from the remote at the same time the music starts. You could play the music and start the script manually if you wanted but it may be harder to get them both started at the same time.
I did not really do a ton of research on it, but I did see they were active on pyrouniverse and it was not a one off firing system from some random company. It was hard to find out much as not many other people were posting about it so I just bought it as the price was much cheaper than a cobra and I though the software may be a little better or be improved. Unfortunately it seems they have moved on to their new system and there will not be much else done with this one. I did reach out to them on pyrouniverse about some improvements they could make and they responded about new stuff coming, but I think they were just referring to the new system they came out with.
What I have used it for mostly is step firing which works well. I also used the programming function do my finale with a few items going off with a few seconds delay and that worked well. What I did was use step fire at the beginning then fire the finale with the step fire.
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toejam
New Pyro Member
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Post by toejam on Dec 17, 2016 7:27:36 GMT -5
I already have a SequenceFire32 and was going to invest in another unit, but, found this unit (MB32Q) and thought it pretty much had all the functionality of my SequenceFire32 plus additional features at a significantly lower price. The comments above about the RFRemoTech folks abandoning the MB32Q are a bit disturbing. I'd like to get an update to see if that product is indeed abandoned or if they are still doing development on it?
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Post by khogan on Dec 17, 2016 13:37:57 GMT -5
If you go on their site (http://www.rfremotech.com/FiringSystems.html) they have a new system OmegaFire which they seem to be focusing on now, and it looks to be a lot more complicated and expensive. It looks like they are charging $300 just for the software and it looks like the same software I got for free. The software was last updated Apr.26, 2016 but I can't find any changelog. I will install it later and check it out but looks like I need to boot into safe mode to install the driver in Windows 10 because their drive is not signed. There used to be firmware updates for the MB32Q on the site but I can't find them now. There are firmware updates on the OmegaFire page. From your PM but I'll answer here in case anyone else knows more. I don't have 2 units to test so this is from my interpretation of the documentation and using the software. First I am almost certain you can't connect the units together with wires. The ports are there but they are not used. If you use the software to make a fully scripted show you should be able to setup cues to go off on different modules at different times or multiple modules at the same time. You load the script into the Modules and as long as they are all in range when you hit start they should all go. You can see here how they explain it www.rfremotech.com/ADV.files/ADV151215.pdfThen you could also get the FSK & OOK Multifunctional Firing Systems Transmitter TCF200-U which I believe allows you to control multiple Modules with the one Transmitter. There is a video about it here www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjKhQaiIBaALet me know if you have any other questions. I may sound a little hard on it but it is pretty good for the price. Not sure the transmitter is worth the extra money, but if you have lots of modules and want to shoot to music maybe it is. |
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Post by khogan on Dec 17, 2016 15:29:33 GMT -5
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toejam
New Pyro Member
Posts: 4
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Post by toejam on Dec 17, 2016 19:48:09 GMT -5
I've spent most of the night looking into the mb32q as it seems to meet my needs. I definitely got the impression that you didn't need to hook all the modules up (daisy chain) to run a script/program through all the modules. I was initially quite excited about that - don't want to have to lug around lots of cable just to daisy chain modules, but, then realized that all the modules will run the program, ASSUMING they all receive the transmitter signal at the same time, or even just all the units receive the signal.
My first year with remote firing I had numerous issues getting the SequenceFire32 to receive the remote signal - ended up being a bad remote. That left a bad taste in my mouth. The second year I had an issue with only 50% of the fireworks igniting - primarily due to having my friends help hook up the talons to the fuses, unfortunately, while they were drinking. The experience left me with a caution to making sure all signals and connections are done correctly. So, I'm a bit leery of using a remote system where there exists the possibility that a unit may not receive the START signal or the fusing may not be perfect. It almost sounds like the mb32q could have an issue where I hit the START button on the remote and some of the modules may not receive the signal - not a good scenario.
I also got the impression that the rfremotech team keeps generating new models. This sounds great, but, they seem to be abandoning their existing customers as they develop newer models. I don't want to invest $$$$ and have a dead/non-supported product 2 years down the line.
I've reviewed the dewey videos on configuring the units and going through the software. Really liked the software, especially how it can print out a cue list for all of your modules. But, you can't load the software on your computer unless you have a rfremotech device for the software to connect to, which I don't. I don't know if there is any other software available that has this same type of capability which I could trial. I did see mention of PyroIgnitionControl, but, didn't get to look at it very much, so, not quite sure how it stacks up.
Anyway, I really liked the price points of the mb32q system, but, have my doubts about using multiple modules from a connectivity standpoint. I've made a price-per-cue spreadsheet and have the following data:
Unit .......................... Price/cue
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SequenceFire32 .......... $ 16.53
MB32Q ........................ $ 11.63
OmegaFire - 32 cues ... $ 22.75
OmegaFire - 64 cues ... $ 15.25
OmegaFire - 96 cues ... $ 12.75
OmegaFire - 128 cues . $ 11.50
Cobra - 18 cues .......... $ 44.56
Cobra - 36 cues .......... $ 33.06
Cobra - 54 cues .......... $ 29.22
Cobra - 72 cues .......... $ 27.31
The OmegaFire becomes the best price/cue option after the 4th module is added. The Cobra systems are priced out of the ballpark. The MB32Q has a decent price/cue - but, is the product abandoned and are there connectivity issues with multiple modules?
I'd be curious if there are other electronic firing systems that I should be considering? My needs are as follows:
We only shoot consumer fireworks - I'm not geared up for the commercial fireworks and don't really need to for our small community display.
We shoot a 15-25 minute display, which consists primarily of cakes.
This past year our display used 72 cakes. Ideally, I'd like to have close to that many cues. I currently have 32 cues with my SequenceFire system.
We've gotten quite enamored of the ability to program a sequence, hit the START button, and sit back and watch the show. I should not require a laptop/pc to program a module, I should be able to modify the program directly from the module (I don't want to have to lug around yet another device on the shoot site). The programming should allow us to assign variable times between cues - I have not yet found a need for constantly spaced cues.
We've found that external batteries are more reliable than the internal batteries, so, need that capability.
Those are the highlights. I'd definitely love to hear from others that have seen several other systems in use and get their insights.
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Post by khogan on Dec 18, 2016 9:11:40 GMT -5
It sounds like the MS32Q would be a a good fit for you except your one concern about all the modules not starting at the same time and lack of ability to connect them with cables. Email them about the cable thing, I am pretty sure I discussed it with them on pyrouniverse and they said it was non functional (or that you could use the cable with the omega fire to turn the MB32Q into a module for that system) but if you could connect to start a script on all with only one in range that would be really nice. Pyro Boss made some nice extension cables to get the antenna up into the air a few feet instead of being on the ground with the module, that would be a good idea if you are going to get a few of these.
If you made it to the second video from Dewey he has a good idea, put a strobe at 0 sec then don't start the show for like 10 sec. Start and make sure all the strobes start then you know all your modules are going. If they are not though that's going to cause a delay but at least you know and can stop the modules.
Regarding the fusing not being perfect, no firing system is going to help you with that as they just report if the match is good, not if its connected correctly to the product.
I don't think you would have to worry about them supporting you if you bought the product, but we are probably not getting any new features.
Also the software for the OmegaFire does not cost $300 it comes with the unit. It says it cost $300 if you buy it separately but why would you buy their software if you are not buying a firing system?
If you are technically savvy enough to get a remote desktop setup that will allow USB passthru I could try to install the software for you so you can check it out.
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toejam
New Pyro Member
Posts: 4
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Post by toejam on Dec 19, 2016 14:06:44 GMT -5
I've done the strobe idea with my SequenceFire system - shot a bottle rocket for cue 1 to signal start of the show, so, am comfy with that concept. with only 32 cues and over 70 cakes+racks+other to shoot, I really miss wasting that one cue on a bottle rocket.
Do you know of any other electronic firing systems that are similar to the mb32q at decent prices and run by a company that will be in business for the long haul?
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Post by huggyd on Jan 8, 2017 10:29:14 GMT -5
I've done the strobe idea with my SequenceFire system - shot a bottle rocket for cue 1 to signal start of the show, so, am comfy with that concept. with only 32 cues and over 70 cakes+racks+other to shoot, I really miss wasting that one cue on a bottle rocket. Do you know of any other electronic firing systems that are similar to the mb32q at decent prices and run by a company that will be in business for the long haul? Toejam, you really don't think they are going to be around for the long haul?? I would love to spend the money and pick up a Cobra system but the wife would try to stick me in a mortar tube and light it. If the RFRemtech stuff works and the price seems, well.... doable... and from the youtube videos Khogan shared about the scripting program, while it seems time consuming again it seems to work.... I would think the Cobra scripting program would be time consuming as well but maybe less so. Are you guys doing professional shows with this RFRemotech stuff with success or problem after problem? |
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Post by khogan on Jan 9, 2017 15:38:06 GMT -5
Not sure if anyone has used this system other than me, but I only ever used it with consumer fireworks.
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toejam
New Pyro Member
Posts: 4
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Post by toejam on Feb 9, 2019 19:26:40 GMT -5
Thought I'd give an update from our discussion 2 years ago. I originally purchased one unit in 2017, then another after 7/4/17, then another 2 units for 2018. For my needs these units work great, we only do one shoot each year, so, don't need to spend for the expensive stuff. The timing issue is still an issue: you never know if all units are going to fire once you hit the start button. That is why we burn the first cue with bottle rockets to make sure all units have received their signals.
For 2018, we used all 4 units, but, didn't use all cues on each unit. We use consumer fireworks, not commercial, and rely heavily on cakes, so, don't require a lot of individual cue detonations. For our 22 minute show, the 4 units seem to be just right, provided we continue to use cakes and daisy chained racks.
We did have one snafu with one unit. We hit the start button, all units shot their bottle rockets and went into their individual programs, which is what we wanted. For some reason, one of the units stopped in the middle of it's program. Never got back to try to figure out why, but, that was the only snafu I've come across thus far. It could be that there was interference from other wireless devices (cell phones, tablets, etc.).
The software programming is definitely not intuitive, but, I've got it down to where I just use the software to set individual cues for each unit and then upload each unit's programming. I don't mess with the other features re uploading music, and demo, etc.
I still look at the Cobra systems, and actually found out that there are periodic sales where you can get the price down to where they are more competitive with the mb32q. Since I've got 4 mb32q units now, I'll probably stick with them until they die.
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