Yes, you connect the CF to the computer running the conductor and load the show and schedule files. Then you remove the CF card and insert it into the conductor. You cannot load files over the network. You can only check status, start show, set time, etc.
Do you see a card error message? If you are having issues connecting, you can also try to connect directly from the ED to the PC. Since my laptop is an older laptop, I had to use a crossover cable. New PCs will auto detect and crossover for you. If you have a 3rd party firewall blocking software, you may need to allow the Conductor software firewall access.