We had the chance to do a small show for a family member’s wedding recently. The bride has always loved the Fourth of July show her uncle (me) puts on and asked if we could do some fireworks for her wedding. We said yes, of course.
We used this small show as a full test run of several new things we are implementing this year; a new control system, new fusing for mortar tubes, and our portable platforms.
The platforms are perfectly sized and worked great. They are easy to carry and locate, are big enough to hold a significant number of elements, but small enough to be able to reach everything, and they can be lifted and repositioned easily using the handholds.
The fusing for the mortar tubes performed perfectly. Starting with set-up, the system made fusing the mortars a breeze. It literally took us less than 5 min to fuse 7 sets of 6 tubes. Firing worked falwlessly too. Every shell fired.
The real improvement was in the firing system. Using the Ignite system was a breeze. We were able to input the elements (including lift and display times) and assign them to channels. Then we created a show online, downloaded it to the iPad we were using for the show, and the rest was as simple as pushing the button. The ability to time each item kept the air full of effects continuously for the whole show. No awkward pauses or issues.
Set-up was easier. Everything had a place. Everything fired (every single element), and the show was a huge hit.