Jivemaster Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 There is economy flashing light string - loads of strobes on a wire but there is no control- All the strobes are about 1fps but all you can do is switch the power on and off - no patterns no control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Although Arc-line isn't mechanically very strong, its electrically quite simple and thus if broken should be easy to repair. No-one commented yet if the stuff is still made...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1nuzz Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 I would definately need it to pattern or at least chase, at it is a take-off scene. From bottom to top is ideal. Plus have no idea if it is still made, or indeed, when it was ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Cable is just normal mains and connections are IEC.As far as I can remember, (other than on/off burst/latch switches) the controls are simply speed and delay between firing. The units always chase through the four strobes at the defined speed and continue to do so through the chain until it reaches the end. They will then pause for the delay setting before firing again. Depending on the lengh of chain and speed the delay can be set low enough to cause overlapping. So it sounds like they will do the job perfectly for you - the key is getting the chain in the correct order so that the flashes start and end where you want them to. - get the speed/delay setup right and then you can just hit the button.I can't imagine why a long length of cable at the start would help, other than to introduce some resistance. Sounds strange.Great effect but, as everyone has said, they do tend to go wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Gower Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Arcline its great. I had 12 strips on a dance show last year. Try HSL Productions in Blackburn www.hslgroup.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I would definately need it to pattern or at least chase, at it is a take-off scene. From bottom to top is ideal.Just in case I've misunderstood - you have seen Arc-line and know what it does, dont you...? Arc-line comes in tubes a few feet long, which you place adjacent to each other end to end, and plug one to the next, and it forms a chain of strobes, so it starts at the first lamp of the first tube, and propogates from lamp to lamp along the tube(s). It looks really impressive! It sounds ideal for your take-off. Plus have no idea if it is still made, or indeed, when it was ever made.It is/was made by Mode Electronics, now called Mode Lighting, who used to do two lots of things, they did effects, and architectural lighting, and through the seventies and eighties they did lots of unusual stuff. But it looks like all they do now is architectural, so unless the old Mode effects business has been sold on to someone, there is no more Arc-line, which will be a damned shame for lightists in years to come. As others have noted, its a bit fragile, so unless you treat it as fragile plastic, which it is, it doesnt last forever. Update: :blink: is your friend Google has cached Mode's "About Mode" page from 23 Jan 2005 and it is very different to the current page. For the sake of capturing a bit of history, here's who mode used to be: FOUNDATION: Mode was established in 1970 as an Original Equipment Manufacturer in Hertfordshire, England. Mode designs and manufactures electronic products principally for the lighting industry, initially supplying the discotheque market and more recently expanding into the architectural and cruise ship markets. Mode is a subsidiary of a privately owned Holding Company and has four associated electronic companies who together trade as “The Mode Groupâ€. PRODUCTS: The Mode Group product range includes:Architectural Lighting Controllers and Dimming Systems.Electronic Transformers for Low Voltage Lighting.Electronic Convertors for Neon - Cold Cathode Lighting.Electronic High Frequency Ballasts for Fluorescent Lighting.LED Lighting Products.Arc-Line Strobe Lighting.Colour Mixing Systems and Lighting Effects.Printed Circuit Boards.Contract Electronic Assembly of Printed Circuit Boards. So I guess that the end of Arc-line then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1nuzz Posted January 24, 2006 Author Share Posted January 24, 2006 so it starts at the first lamp of the first tube, and propogates from lamp to lamp along the tube Right let me get my head round this. I understand that they link and all that, so thats ok. The height of our staging will only allow us to have one tube high. But I need 4 tubes spread across the stage. I need all 4 of the botom strobes to flash at the same time, say number 1 in the chain, then all of the number 2's. and so on. If they are daisy chained will this not mean that numbers 1,2,3 and 4 will flash on the first tube, before number 1 of the second tube will flash? Or have I got the daisy chaining idea wrong? Sorry for confusion guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 If you daisy chain the units, yes, they will flash in the sequence 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 1B, 2B... etc What you should do is split the signal coming out from the controller, via an IEC splitter. You can then feed all 4 tubes the same signal, strobing them all at the same time (1A+1B+1C+1D, 2A+2B+2C+2D, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1nuzz Posted January 24, 2006 Author Share Posted January 24, 2006 brilliant. Think that was what I was trying to get across at the beginning but dont think I explained it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianl Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 its a while since I used any proper arcline and I now use the soundlab stuff but I thought you could select on the controller whether all the tubes started at the same time or in order as for the cable (no one ever gave me a good reason) I was always told that you needed the cable from the controller to the first tube to be 4 core so that one of the pins of the iec used 2 cores and also at least 20m long. the rest of the cables could be standard 3 core iec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Ive never had any problems on proper 3 core IEC and a "real" controller! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick@slick Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Ive never had any problems on proper 3 core IEC and a "real" controller! ok - so which colours did you link to which from the 4 at the back of the controller please?Back of our arcline control unit AL100 has 4 wires to a connection box which are coloured yellow, blue, brown and black. How should we connect the regular 3 core earth live & neutral to this connector box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 If I get a chance Ill have a look tommorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingwysiwyg Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 There is also Pulsar Flexi Flash, which is quite a nice effect. http://www.pulsarlight.com/Flexi-Flash.htm With similar results to the old Arcline system. F - Wyg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Pulsar also do a Rigiflash (with Cliffcon connectors), which we have at our Union and have used on some shows, including Forbidden Planet for the same effect. I seem to remember from reading the specs this doesn't have an earth, and instead sends control down the third core, or something slightly dubious like that. Regards what Peter says about splitting them, this would probably be the easiest way to guarantee they all chase up at the same time, however if you daisy chain them you can setup a chase with multiple on points (on the Pulsar controller at least). This then gives the same effect, but also allows you to do different things at other times if required. I also remember reading in the manual about the number of tubes on each branch needing to be the same if you want identical timing and the strobing in parallel. HTH PN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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