Selecting a pyro firing system: June 2025

[AlekseIlin]

Hi everyone, I'd like to hear your opinions on your equipment, any comments would be appreciated!

I will be starting my own pyrotechnic company, last place I worked I used Galaxis, it was excellent, but the price is very high.... I'm now looking for the right one for my needs. Starting with cakes, then in terms of professional pyrotechnics and programming through Finale3D, that is it is important for me to connect to this software. Thank you all for the responses!

[displayfireworks1]

I have a question. In your country do display companies doing smaller shows just drop the shells into mortars and hand light them . And for finales do they just hand string them together and hand light? Is that permitted? Or do all displays need to be fired electrically?

[AlekseIlin]

Haha, funny enough, there is such a way too. Almost all professional events are done with electronic systems, but often, religious festivals or some urban in villages still use rockets and shells to launch manually)

[displayfireworks1]

My perspective is from United States. If I was starting a display company from scratch I would concentrate on mortars and shells to hand light. In turn I would try to get multiple smaller display that can all be hand fired shows. I would not start out with one of those high end professional systems.
There is very large company here in United States that went this route of smaller displays. The upside is you need minimally trained people to fire a hand fire display. Once that company I mentioned got larger and more profitable from all the smaller hand fire displays, they moved more into the massive pyro-musicals and stage displays. With now all the equipment and display contracts to go along with it. I say get the work and then eventually buy the high end firing system later on.
Unless you are sitting on a bunch of money to invest and not afraid to lose. I would just purchase a Cobra system until you see how well you do in the display business starting out.
As far as which firing system , I know little about that system you are using. Here is United States FireOne seems to dominate. I’ll quote what an owner of a display company once told me in regard to FireOne. “Dan has been raping the pyrotechnic industry for years” referencing these upgrades, cost etc.

[AlekseIlin]

Thank you so much for your comment and your opinion!