The STEP is used for two types of firing. The first is basic STEP firing. The second is STEP scripting.
For basic STEP firing, pressing the STEP button once will fire the first cue on the selected module. By pressing it a second-time subsequent cues on the same module will be fired. After all cues fire on the selected channel, the 18R2 will automatically increment the channel by one and reset back to cue one on the displayed channel. By powering off, disarming the controller, or changing the controller channel, the STEP sequence will reset back to cue one. If you are using the COBRA Control Panel, the manual firing interface supports a feature called "Smart Step". This button allows you to fire the lowest un-fired cue and is remembered across all modules. For more information on STEP firing, see the 18R2 Controller User Guide: Firing.
STEP scripting is the ability to create a script using Excel or COBRA Show Creator. The script has all of your events pre-defined so the operator only needs to press the STEP button to execute the next event. This allows you to fire modules and cues in any order without relying on firing cues 1-18 on one channel. then 1-18 on another channel. You can also combine STEP events with timed events. For more information, see the Scripting section of our 18R2 Controller User Guide: Scripting.
The STEP button can also be used within a scripted TIMED-EVENT to advance to the next line of the script.