The Set Up

It’s been amazing in the last few years how far communications systems have come. Somehow we used to make due with just a few channels to make the largest productions happen. Now we have more buttons than any of us could have imagined just a few years ago and it’s still not enough! 

For example, Riedel’s popular Bolero wireless belt packs are a modern miracle offering six independent buttons and a seventh for reply. Certainly this should be enough, but many times it’s not. How did we ever make due with two channel BTR systems back in the long-long ago? What if your user needs another channel, but there’s nothing they can give up?

One clever approach is to add a strategically placed foot pedal for that user. On a recent show several Bolero users were out of buttons, but still needed a way to talk to the comm department when they needed help. The locations they hung around were identified and an SM-2 Foot Pedal was connected to the GPIO of a nearby RCP-1128 panel. By simply pressing the pedal the GPI closure remotely pressed a virtual key on their Bolero pack to call the comm department.

Let’s Program It!

Find the belt pack that needs the extra key in Director. Next, right-click and open the properties of the pack. Navigate to the Virtual Keys tab and click on the first virtual key to enable it. Click OK to make the change. Now you’ll navigate back to the belt pack and create the function you’d like using the virtual key you’ve created below the image of the belt pack. In this case it’s a “call to port” for CommHelp.

Next, navigate to the panel you’ll attach the SM-2 Pedal to. Right-click the panel and go to it’s properties, then navigate to the GPIO tab. Select GPI 1 and set it for “Normal”. Press OK to submit the change.

Next, you’ll right click on “GPIO Ins 1” and create a Remote Key. This key will need to reach our user’s Bolero pack and press key 1 of the virtual keys. Don’t forget to check the box for “Press the Key”!

Now press OK and merge your changes. 

Your user will now have an extra button to use with their pack and you’ll look like a hero/ wizard for adding an extra button to their wireless pack. Up to three SM-2 Foot Pedals can be added per panel to control all kinds of functions.