jonhollis Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 so I'm doing a gig outdoors - at sunset. two things. one couldn't read the display in the sunlight. its not bright enough. secondly and the big one - all of a sudden the expression started putting out all this up and down data. so any preset with an expression pedal in the values started going up and down all on their own. had to stop the gig and ditch it and put my old pedal board back in.... still broken now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 The expression pedal on the Firehawk is optical, so using it in direct sunlight can lead to issues like this, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhollis Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 wow. should say that somewhere before you buy it - cannot be used anywhere with heavy light changes or bright lights ! - wait a minute so thats not to be used on stage!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I can't imagine that stage lighting is going to be bright enough to mess with it. It could be possible, I suppose, if there was an extremely bright light right above you, but it would have to be really bright. Sunlight is orders of magnitude higher in intensity than even the brightest indoor lighting. This is the same sort of sensor that pretty much all of Line 6's floor processors have had in the expression pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I can't imagine that stage lighting is going to be bright enough to mess with it. It could be possible, I suppose, if there was an extremely bright light right above you, but it would have to be really bright. Sunlight is orders of magnitude higher in intensity than even the brightest indoor lighting. This is the same sort of sensor that pretty much all of Line 6's floor processors have had in the expression pedal. I'm not surprised that this happened...sunlight, even indirect, can mess with all kinds of sensors. My living room faces west and gets a lot of afternoon sun. If the shades are up and the sun hits either the cable box or the surround sound receiver, you can forget about trying to use the remote...nothing registers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhollis Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 i never had this problem with the HD500X though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 i never had this problem with the HD500X though Yeah, I've actually haven't seen the Firehawk in person yet, so I don't know how alike the pedal is to the 500X, but it could be that the 500X sensor is more shrouded than the Firehawk. I actually have read posts here, though, of people having similar issues with the 500 and 500X in direct sun. Actually, I've read about the same thing with the X3L and XTL as well. It's just a limitation with an optical pedal. Line 6 could have gone with a potentiometer based design, I guess, but those have limitations and potential issues as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhollis Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 i think I'm going to have to send it back. can't have something that won't work in sunlight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbeddall Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Maybe they should have called it vampire fx instead of firehawk fx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bond19 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Maybe they should have called it vampire fx instead of firehawk fx Love it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormtrooper12 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I think I recall someone having issues with a TC G-System in direct sunlight where the bright sun would affect a sensor under the foot pedal causing problems. The dude made a little awning type canopy for the front out of plywood or cardboard and painted it black iirc :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmore63 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Is there a way to increase or darken the display and LED's during daytime gigs ? Is the brightness default already set to 100% from the factory ? We played a gig outside , under cover, NOT in direct sunlight, and I couldn't see anything at all on my Firehawk. Nothing. Couldn't even tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbeddall Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 The led's around the master volume also light up to display the tuner, they might be easier to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriPPleX Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 We played a gig outside , under cover, NOT in direct sunlight, and I couldn't see anything at all on my Firehawk. Nothing. Couldn't even tune. I used my phone as my "display", just to check I did change to the right tone and assist in tuning. We ended up moving out amps out front to be a sun block/monitor and relied on the PA system for the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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