How to configure an Echo DMX Scene Controller to snapshot and output sACN via a Gateway

Issue

I'm using an Echo DMX Scene Controller in conjunction with a sACN Gateway to snapshot data from the network, and output it back onto the network. I'm finding I'm able to activate presets and turn lights on, but I'm not able to turn them off. Both the output and input ports on the Gateway are configured to the same sACN universe.

Explanation of Issue & Solution

When both the output and input port of the Gateway are configured to the same sACN universe a data loop is being created. The Scene Controller is turning addresses on, which goes onto the network, and comes right back through the Gateway's output port to the input of the Scene Controller. Since everything is HTP-ing you'll no longer be able to turn those levels off until you unplug the the DMX from the output of the Gateway, or input of the Scene Controller.

To make this work as intended, you'll need to set the Gateway's input and output ports to different Universes, such as U1 and U2. This way your sACN source is outputting U1, and the Scene Controller is putting data on the network in U2. This does mean that you'll need to patch your receiving devices to whichever universe you choose to use on the Gateway's input port. Conversely, if you used U2 on the output and U1 on the input, you could leave your receiving devices patched to U1, but your sACN source would need to be patched to U2.

The "U1" and "U2" assignments in this article are examples only and may not be the correct assignment for your network system or organization style.  For instance, if you have (2) Echo DMX Scene Controllers that both need to snapshot separate universes, you could feed the Scene controllers with U1 and U2 and then have them output back onto the network as U101 and U102 respectively.  This is a matter of preference.