Honestly I think that it could have been human error as most firing systems only do what they are commanded to do. I'm sure this could also be the case for Galaxis. Vulcan could possibly have forgotten to recalibrate their modules to work for the specific master panel they were using.

I understand what you're saying, but this seems very unlikely. The system was able to pass continuity tests twice - if the panel wasn't configured properly I would have thought that these tests would have failed. I did recently hear that 17 (of 54) modules did not fire at all but most of everything else did fire. It's not the first time Vulcan have used the Galaxis system - I believe they are returning the modules to see if Galaxis themselves can diagnose the problem. I am sure they will want to find the reason for this as soon as possible as this is the kind of event that causes a lot of fear and uncertainty amongst customers.

Paul.

that's right.. I'll definitely have my ears open on news as to what exactly happened. We'll be using galaxis in Berlin and something like that is not acceptable xD

Vander

I do hope that the problem can successfully be diagnosed, as it does appear to be a complex one. I am waiting anxiously!

Trav.

Like Trav and all the rest, I too am looking for a reason for this catastrophic failure. I am sure this event will cause a shock wave (pardon the pun) among the pyro industry since many companies use this system. To have this happen in one of the most prestigious competition must be heartbreaking for Galaxis. I'm sure they'll be quick on the draw to debug this.

Dan

I have heard that they are starting to home-in on the reason for the problems. When I have more information, I'll share it.

Paul.

Finally, here is my report with a note to the organizers that I'll reproduce here: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=737

Many people have expressed the opinion that team Vulcan should be invited back to Montreal and I concur with these. Various ideas have been mooted, the most appealing, in my opinion, would be to have Vulcan re-perform their display as either the opening or closing to the 2014 season. Since the 2014 season is the 30th edition of the competition, this would be an excellent idea. All of the product that did not fire is already here in Montreal (and storage could be arranged I’m sure). I urge the organizers to seriously look at this possibility and hope that, whatever is decided, we see Vulcan again in Montreal. They certainly have the design skills to present an exceptional show and quality product to make it something special.

Paul.

I am not a frequent poster on this forum, I felt compelled to post on this topic though.

Yet again I have to say I am very grateful for the great coverage of this competion with intreviews, reports, and complete videos. It makes it possible for us at the other side of the pond to follow this fantastic competition.

Regarding the Vulcans show I can only say it is a tradgey and I feel sorry for the crew and designers for loosing their show to technical errors.

I would however sugest that until more is known about what happend, blame should not be assigned. Until we know what went wrong we do not know it was the firing system that was at fault. Or that it is wireless part of what happend. It is a bit early to say ban-wireless. Galaxis was used flawlessly during eurovision with almost twice the amount of modules, and probably alot more RF in the air. And it has been used with success in other montreal shows.

These extreme kind of shows puts a lot of strain on whichever system is used. It will need more technical attention than during a normal show. I am not trying to shift blame to the Vulcan crew. I just want you all to wait until more is known. Hopefully both Vulcan and Galaxis will comment on the issues after investigating it.

I am like many others a PD user, it can also have "mysterious" errors. The Silver Jupiter 2010(?) winner GFF, had some problems in their 2011 Hannover show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcKAYiQfAUk
All the cables and modules were fully functional.
Or the San Diego "show":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuJHfkXEI-o&feature=player_embed ded
Using F1.
Just saying, even though I personally prefer using a wired system it does not make it error free or fool proof(or even expert proof).

Take care everyone

Thanks to everyone for your kind and sympathetic messages. It's all very much appreciated by the Vulcan crew! We are still sorry and disappointed that we were not able to deliver the show in its entirety last Friday night.

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are looking into what happened at our show. We have used Galaxis in other shows and competitions for the past several years. All shows fired without any problems. The Technician in our crew has been using Galaxis since 2000. The equipment is on its way back to Germany and we have had some preliminary discussions with Galaxis after checking the equipment on Saturday. We will make an announcement jointly with Galaxis as soon as we can!

Tragic outcome for Vulcan, we are very sorry to see so much work end this way.

Dominator Fireworks

I spoke with some people involved with the competition yesterday and the reasons for the failure are now understood. I will wait until Vulcan/Galaxis make their joint announcement but am happy to hear that there is nothing specially difficult at the La Ronde site and that there should not be any problems of this kind in the future.

Paul.

That's good news. It's really nice to know that they've come up with a solution to this!

Trav.