--- title: "Prepare the Pulsars" canonical: "https://help.vicon.com/space/Evoke18/397967785/Prepare%20the%20Pulsars" format: markdown --- To prepare your Pulsars so they can connect to a Beacon, complete the following steps: > Macro (toc) ### Ensure Beacon is free of interference Beacon channels are in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and numbered 11 to 26. To ensure smooth running of your system, make sure that there is no interference from other 2.4 GHz radio/Wi-Fi sources and that nothing blocks the signal between the Beacon and the volume. To prevent interference and signal-blocking, follow these guidelines: - Place the Beacon as close to the middle of the volume as possible. - Place the Beacon high up, to minimize masking of the RF signal by participants. - Do not re-use a channel number within a site or a co-located group of sites. - Do not place multiple Beacons closer together than four meters. - If channel n and channel n+1 are used in a site, do not use channels n-1 or n+2 in that site or adjacent sites. - If channel n and channel n+2 are used in a site, do not use channels n-2 or n+4 in that site or adjacent sites. > ℹ️ **Note** > ℹ️ If your system includes multiple switches, make sure the Beacon is connected to the switch that is directly connected to the PC. > Macro (scroll-pagebreak) ### Turn on the Pulsars Turn on the Pulsars (press the power button once). > ![image](media://9527e4c3-bc87-45c7-bc1c-8f3658836772) The light on the Pulsar is green if it is fully charged. The color of the light varies depending on the battery level or connection status. For more information, see the *Vicon Pulsar Reference Guide* in the [LBE hardware documentation](https://help.vicon.com/space/OriginHW). > Macro (scroll-pagebreak) > Macro (anchor) ### Check Pulsar firmware Check the firmware for your Vicon hardware when you first set up your Evoke system and periodically afterwards. > ⚠️ **Important** > ⚠️ When updating, to avoid connectivity issues, check that all hardware is updated simultaneously to compatible firmware versions. For information on which versions to use, see the [release notes](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Evoke18/pages/397970380). **To update your Pulsar firmware:** 1. Connect the Pulsars to the PC via USB, either by using the supplied recharging dock or directly, using USB cable(s). 2. From the Windows Start menu, click **Vicon**, then **Vicon Pulsar Reprogramming Tool**. 3. In the Pulsar Reprogramming Tool window, click Target Firmware and select the firmware file to update to. 4. Before you update, ensure you have closed any other Vicon applications that you may have opened. 5. To update to the selected firmware version, click OK. 6. When the firmware has been updated, reboot the Pulsars, either by unplugging them or by turning off the recharging dock. :check_mark: **Tip**: If at any time, the Pulsars' settings become corrupted (for example, if the Pulsars become unresponsive and don't connect to the system), in the **Options** section, select **Reset to factory default settings** to reset them. For information on updating firmware for cameras and Beacons, see [Update camera firmware](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Evoke18/pages/397968026). ### Ensure Pulsars are fully charged> Macro (anchor) If a Pulsar's status light appears pink or red, the battery is less than 20% charged. **To recharge Pulsars:** - Place them in the supplied recharging dock and connect to your power supply; or - Recharge them using a standard micro-USB to USB cable > ![image](media://7fbbfb6e-a7ff-49b5-bb8a-ad053d4343f8) The average battery run-time for a Pulsar used at 100% brightness is around nine hours of continuous use. To extend the battery life between charges, you can deactivate the Pulsars when they're not required for tracking. Note the following times to recharge Pulsar batteries: - Recharge time to 80%: 1 hr (max) - Recharge time to 100%: 3 hr (max) > Macro (scroll-pagebreak) ### Keep marker LEDs enabled while charging Evoke can configure Pulsars to keep their IR marker LEDs on while charging. This may be useful if you're using a backpack PC as a power source. The default behavior is to turn off marker LEDs while charging. You can control this behavior both for Pulsar devices (in the **System** panel) and for smart objects (in the **Tracking** panel). When a Pulsar is linked to a smart object, it inherits the smart object value for **Markers On While Charging**. After you have prepared your Pulsars, you can now start Evoke and connect them to a Beacon. For more information, see [Start Evoke](https://vicon-help.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/Evoke18/pages/397967801).