Budget Lighting Desk

[Sam Mottram]

Hi all

 

I need some advice on a budget lighting desk for my church it is mainly going to be used for dramas band and preachers ,My criteria

• 24 channels
  
• User Friendly
  
• Probably 6 programmable scenes
  

my budget is £200 for this desk and I am happy to get a second hand desk if anyone know any good places to shop .

 

thanks

Sam

[Ynot]

I need some advice on a budget lighting desk for my church

my budget is £200

Hi

 

With a budget of just £200 your best bet is to keep an eye on Ebay.

There are quite a few desks on there found by searching against "Lighting desk", though many are the Behringer LC2412. that desk MAY do what you want, but there aren't TOO many fans of it hereabouts! <_<

 

The other question of course is do you have the physical dimmers to control with your desk? If not, then £200 is NOT going to get you anywhere without a great deal of luck!

 

TD

[Sam Mottram]

A bit More details,

I have the two strand tempus dimmers. Also lighting wise I have 4 par cans , ten Teatro PCs ,five 22-44. 1.2Kw Teatro and I am going to be getting 4 floor par cans .

 

so that is the rig that I need to operate at some point in the future I will be getting some moving light but not for a while

 

thanks

Sam

[gareth]

Sorry to say, Sam, that the more information you volunteer the less likley it sounds that you're going to get something within your budget.

 

The cheap and nasty Behringer desk that Tony mentioned above is about the cheapest controller you'll find that has 24 channels-worth of faders and programmable scenes that'll come in under your budget.

 

The trouble you'll encounter next, though, is that your Tempus racks need a 0v to -10v analogue control voltage (you can't take the DMX512 that most control desks output and put it straight into the Tempus racks). This requires a demultiplexer to turn the DMX control signal into something that the dimmers will understand. Even second-hand, a demux is going to take a fair-sized lump out of your £200 (and ones which output a negative control voltage, as required by Tempus dimmers, are harder to find and consequently costlier).

 

Sorry if I seem really negative, but I have to say that the budget you have in mind for the sort of thing you're looking to buy is simply unrealistic - unless you can find some extra funds to buy a suitable demux so that it doesn't have to come out of the money that's paying for the desk, and even then you're going to have to completely rethink your lighting control needs as and when you upgrade to moving lights.

[Sam Mottram]

Thanks it seems that I may need to go back to the drawing board and look at getting some different dimmers . Or add some more money into the budget . I have seen this lot on Ebay which might be a possibility as it includes 3 dimmer packs and a desk .

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Strand-Stage-Theatre...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Would this be suitable for my requirements ?

 

thanks

Sam

[paulears]

Very suitable - the trouble is that it is going to go for a lot of money - the desk, 3 packs and a couple of quartets - I'd guess the final bid would be over a grand, at least - act6+'s even non-DMX ones will fetch at least £300 each. these auctions frequently go to silly prices, but people want the kit - it is decent quality. Quartets on eBay frequently fetch £70-90. You may find it goes well over your price. If you are not too bothered about age - olde Strand stuff comes up from time to time and this will work fine with your Tempus dimmers - the problem is simply waiting?

[Brian]

Would this be suitable for my requirements ?

The LX desk does not have any sort of memory so doesn't meet your 3rd requirement.

 

I know many people don't like them, and I'm one of them, but the Behringer LC2412 can be found on ebay for around £140. Use the DMX output from that to drive a Showtec demux, which will run with -ve outputs, for around £120 and you're not far off your budget. Do have a good read up on the desk though.

[Alec]

How about the Botex/Showtec/Various SceneSetter 2448?

 

GBP 200 from Thomann: http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_botex_scenese...r_prodinfo.html

 

I bought one of these just over a year ago and it's great. Short throw faders only, but full of functionality and it's given us no problems.

[Sam Mottram]

How about the Botex/Showtec/Various SceneSetter 2448?

 

Do you know what the Spec is for the desk also can you explain the term short throw faders as well

 

 

thanks

Sam

[Rich newby]

Very suitable - the trouble is that it is going to go for a lot of money - the desk, 3 packs and a couple of quartets - I'd guess the final bid would be over a grand, at least - act6+'s even non-DMX ones will fetch at least £300 each. these auctions frequently go to silly prices, but people want the kit - it is decent quality. Quartets on eBay frequently fetch £70-90. You may find it goes well over your price. If you are not too bothered about age - olde Strand stuff comes up from time to time and this will work fine with your Tempus dimmers - the problem is simply waiting?

 

Says paul who is now the highest bidder on the items! <_<

 

I'm guessing short throw faders will be 60mm or 40mm of travel on the faders instead of 100mm standard travel. All this means is that you will have to be more delicate with the fades as you will not get the same accuracy as a longer fade range.

 

HTH

Rich

[Sam Mottram]

Thanks for all the advice so far

 

It seem that I will probably get a much better desk for a £300-350 but still not sure what at this point .

 

So what are the best desk at this price level ?

 

Main uses

• Bands
  
• Drama
  
• General static lighting
  

thanks

Sam

[Rich newby]

For that sort of price you may get something like an alcora. Rather like this

 

HTH

Rich

[gareth]

Strand 200 12/24 - far better than an Alcora, very similar price-tag, and it'll do everything you need and more besides. (You'll still need a demux, tho!)

[paulears]

Look at what I just got (I was outbid on the lighting kit)

Dear Ebay member sorry for disturbing but I have the same product for sale a

Strand Stage Theatre Lighting mixer and lights/cables Item number:

7412355502 .I will take care to make this deal by a secure transaction so

any customer can receive them products in safe.give me your best price for

it.Please send me reply soon if you are interested,and maybe we can make a

deal.Shipping will take usually - 2-3 days.Shipping is absolutely FREE.

 

 

Ha ha!

 

He just happened to have the same kit - I spy a scammer!

paul

 

EDIT-------------------------------------- ten mins later.

 

I got another one!! supposedly a different person, different email address - crazy!

 

Dear eBay member,

Sorry for disturbing but I saw that you are bidding on the same product that I have for sale(Strand Stage / Theatre Lighting mixer and lights/cables Item number: 7412355502).

I can give you this product for 400 GBP.

Shipping will take usually max 1-2 days.Shipping is free.

Reply me as soon as possible for more informations if you want to buy this product.

Thank you!

[Sam Mottram]

Look at what I just got (I was outbid on the lighting kit)

 

Ha ha!

 

He just happened to have the same kit - I spy a scammer!

paul

 

 

defiantly sound like a Scam to me its really tempting when you get contacted by scammers to do somthing like this http://easynetworknyc.com/powerbook/ if you haven't read it you will need some time but it is well worth a look

 

Sam

 

 

Have you contacted the seller yet ?