Martin 2510 help

[James Mason]

Hi. This is the first post I've made in this forum but I've been a long time reader. I have 2 points I would like to cover in this post:

1) I'm hoping that with the help of some other Freestyler users I can help write up a tutorial on how to successfully use Freestyler to make programs for a Martin 2510 controller and more importantly, how to send them to the controller properly.

If anyone's tried to do this you'll know there are options such as list, sub-list, manual, auto, music, random... etc etc... when making the .b25 files for the "Download to 2510" software. These options have me completely confused at the moment and I'd love some help on this.

One thing I do know quite a lot about (due to having lots of problems myself) is getting the PC to communicate with the 2510 in the first place (which is easier said than done) - but it's worth pointing out that this is not a fault with Freestyler - it's just that the 2510 uses outdated RS232 connections.

Back to the point, I don't actually know how to do this. Would it be a page on the Wiki and if so would someone be able to set this up to help other 2510 users - or tell me how to do it please?

2) As mentioned above, the options regarding lists and manual modes when creating the .b25 files are really confusing me at the moment so if someone could point me in the right direction with this then that would be great. Is there anyone out there who can explain to me what each mode is for, and how they would be used?

Recently I tried to make a very simple .b25 which only had one program for a strobe light. It had 2 scenes; 1 was strobe on and the second was strobe off. I then wanted to use the 'manual' button on the controller to set off the strobe when in playback mode. I got as far as having the controller play back the show in loop form (so the strobe was coming on every second and then going off again) but as soon as I pressed any buttons it just stopped and wouldn't start again until I switched the 2510 off and then on again. I actually have two 2510s and both did this so I think they are working OK.

I tried pretty much all the combinations of list modes and trigger modes and it always produced the same result. Can anyone tell me how I would achieve this? I thought that would be a relatively simple program to start with so that I could go on to making bigger and better ones later on.

I look forward to any replies from the 2510 experts out there!
Thanks, James.