Reliable Wireless

Packed With Power

"I don't want to compromise on power. I love firing fronts, sometimes 1200 feet across with hundreds of pieces of product. I use specialized equipment to really punch out the power in those cases. Other times, it's just a string of 20 or even 30 shells going up at once, and for that I usually have to chain them with quick match. How would you handle it?"

Firelinx firing modules operate at 30 Volts, offering 15 e-matches in series, 10 parallel (at 2 Ohms/match). At 1.6 Ohms/match, worst case is 18/10. At the same time, the modules are incredibly small: only about a 5" cube. This is accomplished by using Capacitive Discharge. Our high power circuit requires no recharge between cues and all cues may be fired simultaneously - not just within one module, but also across all the modules in the field. It's expensive and heavy to try to get 30 volts out of batteries. The Firelinx Firing Module uses a charge pump to boost the 6V of battery power to 30V in the capacitor bank. That makes 160 amperes of current available at a moment's notice to fire the e-matches. Most users don't realize that the worst-case scenario for a battery is a lot of e-matches connected in series. Batteries like parallel wiring because they have a lot of current, but their lower voltage makes it impossible to push through a number of series-wired matches. Capacitive discharge systems are just the opposite. CD firing has high voltage, so it's fine with series connections, but it has to protect the amount of charge on the capacitors, so the CD firing circuits have current limits - usually 5 Amperes. This is lower than the 20A you might be able to get with a straight battery connection. For fronts, this means that each firing module can break 480 e--matches, and you can put as many of them as necessary across the front, as each can fire at the same instant. This also minimizes the long wiring runs across the front. When more than 15 e-matches are needed on a single cue the system simply splits the cue, with 15 on one string and 15 on the other, both firing at the same time.

"I want to do huge fronts, maybe a thousand E-matches. My current system has to ripple fire anything that big."

Fireworks All modules will fire at the same instant of time for fronts or split-cue wiring. Not only can all modules fire at the same instant, but also because of our high power rating, we can fire 480 e-matches off one module. This means you could do 1,440 matches with only three modules.

"I've had trouble with series-wired e-matches, particularly the cheap ones, not all firing in series connections, so I've started wiring more in parallel. I've also done some measurements and sometimes the cheap matches don't fire until 15 or 17 milliseconds after the current is applied. I'm not making a lot of money; I'd love to use cheaper matches, but not if they're going to cost me the show."

Fireworks The Firelinx Firing Module has over 60 Joules of energy storage in the capacitor bank. This is enough to fire every cue for up to 20mS. In addition, the software automatically calculates the charge available to cues at each instant and increases the firing pulse width for greater reliability, particularly for parallel wiring. The software also automatically calculates the worst case voltage and compares it against your planned e-match usage, and will automatically split cues, or warn you if a configuration won't work. When wiring in parallel, especially with the 5-Ampere current limit, giving the e-matches a longer firing pulse generates more energy to fire them more reliably.

"I have two firing panels with me at all times, because it's not at all uncommon that if I had a bad day and we have to run a bunch of continuity tests, my batteries are gone by the time the show starts -- and these are pretty big batteries. Yours look even smaller. I don't want to have to buy two of yours as well."

Fireworks It's true that the battery technology powering the Firelinx system is small. They're a new battery technology with more power density and more recharge cycles than any other battery. We combine this with very low power electronics and active power management, which automatically powers down circuitry that isn't needed at the moment, to extend the battery life even further. We also constantly monitor battery levels, and provide backup options - external line power or external battery input - just in case. The firing modules can actually go to "sleep" for hours at a time, barely touching their battery power. In this mode, they can last for days in remote locations.

"I know the e-match specification says all are guaranteed to fire at 500mA, but as a pyro with a long history, I make sure I can hit them with at least an Amp just to be sure. Can you do that?"

Fireworks In the firing module, we have set our specifications to ensure that firing current stays above the 500mA minimum firing specification. If our capacitors are not charged to at least 90% of their specified value, we will notify the user of the problem and he can change out the module. A 90% minimum reading assures 1A of initial current, and current above 500mA for the entire firing pulse width. Some systems specify (check your manual) that a 50% reading on the firing unit charge gauge passes the charge test. This would equate to a 12V firing charge, or initial current of only 600mA for 10 matches. It should work, but most operators wouldn't trust that number if they knew about it. By the end of the firing pulse the current would be well below the 500mA minimum.

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