technoman28 Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Hello folks, total newbie here, so please be gentle. I have a good friend who is at uni and is doing a project that involves repairing/upgrading an old Strand Junior Grand Master board. The problem he has is that he does not have any information on it at all, and having done a bit of digging on the net, I have not been able to come up with anything that would be of any use to him. Is there anyone out there who could help him out with manuals/circuit diagrams, advice, in fact anything at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMC Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Try emailing jon at the strand archive -- occasionaly he has informartion that's not on the website! http://www.strandarchive.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Out of interest, do you mean an actual Grand Master like this :http://www.aberdeentivoli.net/typo3temp/pics/5d81ce4445.jpg? Or one of the Junior controllers like these :http://www.strandarchive.co.uk/control/directoperated/j8.jpghttp://www.strandarchive.co.uk/control/directoperated/ha.jpg? There's unlikely to be any sort of manual for these things. In terms of the electrical side, it's all reasonably simple - I'd imagine that quite a bit of the work involved in restoration of something like this would be mechanical rather than electrical ... Anyway, good luck with the project - it's nice to see someone taking an interest in restoring a bit of theatrical heritage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 http://www.strandarchive.co.uk/control/directoperated/j8.jpgAh, memories.....!!The 3 x 1" timber scene changers....The mid-show cross-patching...The toast done to perfection on the top of the rack....! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianknight Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Ah, memories.....!!The 3 x 1" timber scene changers....The mid-show cross-patching...The toast done to perfection on the top of the rack....! :) Toast! - Sausage Rolls & Coffee on our old 'Sunset' Grand Master!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojc123 Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 No help to the original poster but I'll join in the flood of nostalgia. This is the sort of thing we had when I started at my current school in 1987. Sparks used to fly when the rheostats were moved. I used it a couple of times and then got it taken out before it killed someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 No help to the original poster but I'll join in the flood of nostalgia. This is the sort of thing we had when I started at my current school in 1987. Sparks used to fly when the rheostats were moved. I used it a couple of times and then got it taken out before it killed someone.Awwww.... Shame.Sparks just meant that the windings were probably dirty.No REAL need to have had it removed (though trying to runa a Mac 500 from a bank of these would have been a real b1tch!!) :) :( ;) :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 Is this what you are talking about?http://www.eastanglianradio.com/grand-master-1.jpgThis is still hidden away in my venue - can't get it out, the counterweights were installed over the perch!Maybe the bloke on the ABTT forum could also have a look? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Yellow Transit Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 No help to the original poster but I'll join in the flood of nostalgia. This is the sort of thing we had when I started at my current school in 1987. Sparks used to fly when the rheostats were moved. I used it a couple of times and then got it taken out before it killed someone.Awwww.... Shame.Sparks just meant that the windings were probably dirty.No REAL need to have had it removed (though trying to runa a Mac 500 from a bank of these would have been a real b1tch!!) :D :D :D :D :Dunless the sparks were like a roman candle Those were the days rewirable fuses offering NO protection at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latro Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Holy moley, these systems are still out there? Horrors.. Hammer Horrors!Igor! step up the reactor 3 more points! I think the Strand archives are more for nostalgia tripping. Enlist the services of a knowledgeable electrican and stand well back.. Do you need info on how it works? (general principles) BTW where's the shownet input?(sorry, I couldn't help myself) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Looking at those pictures, I now value being brought up on DMX a lot more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Going 'flashy flashy' on one of these made you really work up a sweat, and eventually you'd get used to the huge bang when one of the resistances died in mid fade - especially as your hand was quite close and the gap where the control rod went in, also let the flash out! screwing in the handles on row one and two, doing up the clutches and then doing a fade out usually meant two hands. On top of this, you were facing away from the stage, and even if you turned around, it was two paces to the edge of the rail to look down at the stage. No wonder we all got excited when we put controls out front! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 This (fairly buggered) specimen was still in a church hall when it got pulled down in the nineties, and I used it a few years before that, so less than 15 years ago I used a big resistance "desk". I can't believe its the last survivor of that era... http://www.davidbuckley.name/pix/augdimmer.jpg Still no help to the OP :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmills Posted October 23, 2006 Share Posted October 23, 2006 :D Un-necessary quote removed, especially as it featured a rather over-size picture Now those are banana plugs and they cannot be for control patch.... I am very much afraid.... About 15 years or so back I toured into a largish school theatre in Germany (Hamberg?), which was equipped with a Siemens tracker wire system. To give credit where due, it was the one venue on that tour where EVERYTHING (including the dimming and some equally old lantern stock) worked perfectly. I think you could (possibly) have prized that thing out of the old frau who was their chiefs cold dead hands, but that was the only way it was getting replaced. I bet it (and the chief) are still there!That one had a very neat arrangement with limit stops and a slipping clutch per fader that could be locked onto the shaft directly of via a reversing link so it would move in the opposite direction. BTW: I still keep an old AMC around to terrify students (I fitted it with a DMX output)! Regards, Dan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Console Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Ah now we are talking!When I was at Uni and I helped to restore a Light Console (as featured in my avitar) we had a manual. This came from James (or Jim) Laws, who I believe has a grand collection of older bits abd bobs, and an email to him might help you. I won't post his details here, but his contact details are avaliable on the ALD website.Good Luck, and perhaps the fuses should be left on the front for correctness, but a MCB could be hidden behind them, to deal with any electrics! Edit. I helped Nick Hunt to restore the Light Console, and he has a virtual Grand Master if anybody wants to see how it works. Nick Hunt's webpage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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