Artistic Licence and TMB Bring nanoScope to the USAArtistic Licence announces TMB as its exclusive distributor in the USA for nanoScope, the pocket-sized tester for DMX512 and RDM. Following its launch last year, the company says the nanoScope has quickly become a must-have gadget for professional lighting technicians and enthusiasts alike. Lightweight and battery powered with a translucent plastic casing, nanoScope features a built-in five-pin XLR connector that enables it to be attached directly to the DMX512 cable. The device lights up in different colors to indicate its findings -- this provides rapid, intuitive feedback that is hands-free and visible at a distance (handy for awkward positions such as plenum spaces or hanging off a truss). Two modes of operation exist, selected by a recessed slide switch that also controls power on/off. In "pixel mode," nanoScope displays the first three DMX512 channels as an RGB mix, to provide confidence that the expected data is on the cable. This is particularly useful for commissioning DMX installations, as it can be used to track down any parts of the system that are misbehaving. A flick of the switch selects "analysis mode," which can be used to check for more subtle problems or to gain detailed informational feedback. nanoScope displays one long blip (green or red to indicate "good" or "bad" data respectively), then a train of short colored blips representing different attributes of the DMX512 signal (it also detects RDM). The device can distinguish between six different types of good/informational signals (cold colors) and five different types of bad/unusual signals (hot colors). A handy legend printed on the side of nanoScope tells the user what each color means. Artistic Licence CEO, Wayne Howell, comments, "As a low-cost, sophisticated yet intuitive DMX tester, nanoScope is unrivalled. We're very excited to be working with TMB, who can give the product the much wider geographical exposure it deserves." Further technical information about nanoScope:
• Orange: Break length out of range, less than 88uS (an error)
• Magenta: Mark after break (MaB), less than 8uS (an error)
• Yellow: Framing error (an error but does occur legitimately during RDM discovery)
• Red: RDM data format wrong (an error)
• Pink: Packet too long, contains more than 512 channels (an error)
• Cyan: Less than 512 channels in data (informational)
• Warm white: Non-zero start codes (excluding RDM) detected (usually informational but can be an error)
• Green: RDM detected in data (informational)
• Mint: RDM draft detected in data (informational)
• UV Blue: RDM responses detected (informational)
• Ice Blue: DMX test packets detected (informational) 
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