Cobra vs ?

[patsfan12]

I have shot the last several years with the ignite system, the range was not very good but it never let me down 1 time after everything got connected. I lost all 3 of them in a fire on my shoot day, turns out that is not covered under warranty nor would I expect it to be!! I was dead set on getting the cobra and 3 18m modules, but me being curious I found the firelinx. What would be a good system for someone like myself shooting around 60 cues once or twice a year? Needs to reach the 500' distance my shoot site is relative to my audience

[traumamed]

Get the Cobra and never look back. A 72M with slats will get you a lot of versatility. Save money by buying the slats (and splitters, if you need them to send one cue to multiple firing stations) from thehobbyshop or another generic producer of slats. They work great.

[Robbro097]

Get the Cobra and never look back. A 72M with slats will get you a lot of versatility. Save money by buying the slats (and splitters, if you need them to send one cue to multiple firing stations) from thehobbyshop or another generic producer of slats. They work great.

I 2nd this love slats i used the aftermarkets mentioned as well as aftermarket db25 cables but if using after market cables go with the 24v battery to counter voltage drop of 28g wires. Black friday cobra typically does a sale and new customers get a good deal on a bundle for 18r2 remote and a module, if your not in a big rush

[Avetwithptsd]

I 2nd this love slats i used the aftermarkets mentioned as well as aftermarket db25 cables but if using after market cables go with the 24v battery to counter voltage drop of 28g wires. Black friday cobra typically does a sale and new customers get a good deal on a bundle for 18r2 remote and a module, if your not in a big rush

Thanks for the reply. I plan on waiting. I just now need to figure out if I want slats or not. Cables aren’t cheap. But then again neither are modules.

[BMoore]

My opinion on slats is that they sort of defeat the idea of a wireless system and also add potential (albeit unlikely) points of failure. The only place I use slats is on my shell racks. I have mini slats affixed to the racks which I wire and then land cables to my 72Ms. That’s also the only place I prefer 72 and 36M modules….shell racks where you have high shot counts in a small space. For cakes I go with 18Ms and onboard cues. I find the 18M to be by far the most versatile especially with more than one firing position. At the end of the day it’s a lot about personal preference.

[Avetwithptsd]

My opinion on slats is that they sort of defeat the idea of a wireless system and also add potential (albeit unlikely) points of failure. The only place I use slats is on my shell racks. I have mini slats affixed to the racks which I wire and then land cables to my 72Ms. That’s also the only place I prefer 72 and 36M modules….shell racks where you have high shot counts in a small space. For cakes I go with 18Ms and onboard cues. I find the 18M to be by far the most versatile especially with more than one firing position. At the end of the day it’s a lot about personal preference.

How do you prevent a module getting damage?

[BMoore]

How do you prevent a module getting damage?
My modules are in the Cobra cases which are pretty rugged. I also cover them up with cheap fire blankets.

[Avetwithptsd]

My modules are in the Cobra cases which are pretty rugged. I also cover them up with cheap fire blankets.

Thanks.

I was thinking about fire blankets and was not sure how it would do.

[BMoore]

They work great. You can get them for like 5 for $40 and cut them to size. I have quite a few burn marks on the blankets but my modules are pristine so they do their job. They also offer some degree of water protection as well. That comes in handy when your overzealous fire spotters start hosing down everything shaped like a box after a shoot :).

[Avetwithptsd]

Got to loveliest fire people. Lol.

Yeah Amazon has them pretty cheap

[traumamed]

My opinion on slats is that they sort of defeat the idea of a wireless system and also add potential (albeit unlikely) points of failure. The only place I use slats is on my shell racks. I have mini slats affixed to the racks which I wire and then land cables to my 72Ms. That’s also the only place I prefer 72 and 36M modules….shell racks where you have high shot counts in a small space. For cakes I go with 18Ms and onboard cues. I find the 18M to be by far the most versatile especially with more than one firing position. At the end of the day it’s a lot about personal preference.

I agree 100% that if cues are not a limiting factor, a ton of 18Ms scattered around multiple firing stations is the way to go. There would be no need to mess with slats, splitters, DB25s, scab wire, etc. There would be no limitation on distance between firing stations. There is less risk of someone venturing into your firing area, accidentally tripping over wires, and ripping everything apart. As you say, there are less potential points of failure. These are all definitely big pros.

Where slats (and splitters) shine is in their ability to extract the most from each cue. As someone who is still relatively cue-challenged (only 126 Cobra cues available so far), this has allowed me to produce shows that span multiple firing stations and look like they use way more cues than they actually do. Someday when I have like 40 18Ms, I'll be very happy to retire the slats.

[Salutecake]

Just my 2 cents - so there are a few different systems out there especially in the pro display world, but for the hobbyist, like most of us here, Cobra is a good bet. I go with BMoore, about avoiding the slat, but they do have there place, only because as he pointed out as being one more fail point, and there could be many, the firework itself, the ematch, up to and including the Cobra system.
If you decide on the Cobra keep the firmware up to date and the same version on each unit.
The covers from Cobra do work well.
Last Cobra support has always been exemplary, I hope it stays that way.

[Birdman]

Going to second Cobra only because there's so much help available if you need it and since you've used ignite the learning curve will be minimal. Slats depend on how you typically layout your show. However, I would always go with more 18M models if budget isn't a priority. They just give you so much more flexibility. I think (3) 18M's is a solid start while you try and determine if slats or larger modules make more sense for you. Besides, with only 60 cues I can't imagine you're doing a whole lot of mirroring.

[topshelfpyro]

I use FireTEK and I would not use a system without rails/slats.