Datagate Mk2 makes a first appearance

For more than 2 years, the R&D team at Enttec has been working on how to improve our signature DMX networking tool, the Datagate. It's already a hub/splitter, a merger, and an Ethernet-to-DMX gateway. The challenge was to see what else it could do, and how many ways we could improve its existing functionality.

Here's a sneak preview of what our R&D team came up with. This new item won't be shipping until mid-summer but we do have some already in the field trial stage.

Mk2: A new Design

The new box is a completely redesigned chassis, with a more flexible display and menu choices at the front,. All connections are at the back. There, you can find 8 DMX ports, and an Ethernet port, like the old Datagates. That's where the similarities end. The new Datagate Mk2 supports Gigabit-speed Ethernet-networking and all calculations are handled by a 500Mhz CPU running a Linux 2.6 Kernel. This means the Datagate can seriously crunch numbers. We anticipate future software upgrades that can benefit from this, with added patching and merging options as well as other kinds of data manipulation.

One of the key differences about the Mk2, compared with the original Datagate, is that the configuration is all performed via web browser. You don't have to download a utility and keep it on your computer--just set your browser to the Datagate's web address. We have put a very unique graphical front end together for this purpose, and possibly the best part of it is the screen which lets you draw a flow chart and make the Datagate Mk2 do what you draw. This not only cuts down on your workload by saving steps, it makes the whole process easier to understand and manage.

In terms of capabilities, all Datagate Mk2's will have Ethernet to DMX conversion for Art-Net and ESP automatically.

Other protocols may be added for additional cost at a later point. We are working on Streaming ACN already but it might not be ready in time for initial shipments.

Options Galore for Datagate MK2

Then, you have your choice of 5 other license options and one hardware option:

• MERGING
  
  
• RDM TOOLS
  
  
• RDM SENSOR
  
  
• STREAM AUDITOR
  
  
• HOT SPARE
  
  
• REALTIME CLOCK HARDWARE OPTION
  
  

Ready to RDM

We are pioneering a way of introducing RDM into an existing system here, as well. Instead of having to buy additional hardware to make RDM work on a network, this is just a software upgrade, and then the same hardware you're using for your DMX-Ethernet gateway can do the RDM discovery, addressing, monitoring, etc. This reduces the number of potential failure points in a network, as well. The Datagate can seamlessly monitor RDM sensors while transmitting 8 universes of DMX at maximum speed.

The Stream Auditor is a management-at-a-glance tool for the Datagate that can make you confident that your network is running as it should be, or speed up troubleshooting if it's not.

Hot Spare is the way to go for a rig where zero downtime is the expected norm. With a Hot Spare enabled Datagate in your rack, the time needed to swap out and migrate settings is reduced to a few seconds. When you need redundancy and built-in fault tolerance to back up a critical system, this is an investment in peace of mind.

The Realtime Clock is for users who want to have things happen on a daily or weekly schedule, such as emailing them updates of RDM sensor information.

The best part is that for equivalent DE configuration, the Mk2 will come in significantly cheaper. Ask your local Enttec dealer for a quote when your next project is in the planning stages.

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