Lite Puter (Don't you wish people spoke English!)

[Johnno]

Name aside :unsure:, does anyone know anything for better or worse about this controller?

 

http://www.wedgwood-group.com/lite-puter_c...ghting_desk.htm

 

I'm researching a DMX controller for a very basic lighting rig in a drama room at school and quite like its simplicity.

 

I know I could get a Behringer LC2412 for about the same price but have visions of being called down to drama every other class 'cos someone's pressed the wrong button and can't figure it out. Plus, there is less to break. I was thinking of teaming it up with these Soundlab dimmer packs from CPC:

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search2/browse....equestid=796275

 

Regards,

John.

[pritch]

It certainly looks nice and simple and easy to not mess up, but depending on what you want, you may need to consider something slightly more complex. There are still companies out there that will do you a two preset 12-channel desk.

 

A two preset desk shouldn't be hugely onerous to look after, there's not much to go wrong, but if there are any students who want to get a bit of a grounding in technical theatre, then a two-preset desk will probably give them a far better understanding of stack programming than a single preset desk will.

[Meduza]

Not super cheap at four times the price of a LC2412 but the Jands Stage 12 would do the job great!

http://www.jands.com.au/jandsweb/lighting_con_stage12.html

£550 @ AC lightning

 

12 channel, 2 preset desk with flash buttons/flash master, a simple chaser, two grab channels and not anything more complicated :unsure:

 

Perfect for this use!

 

Or the Zero88 Juggler at £350 may be the thing with its two presets, memorys and chasers, very easy handling as well as memory programming for performance.

 

Both will be much better than the LC2412 and will hold up better as well as easier to handle...

The Stage12 is good because you cant really do much wrong, on the juggler there is more buttons to push,

even if is very easy to handle and got the power of real memorys and fade times.

[five_pin_xlr]

what you want is something very simple.

 

The way to go is to start with a strand desk, they are very good and user friendly.

 

my ex-girlfiends sister does lighting for her school, and asked the same question, I would of said a etc or something similar, but after reading the manual I thought this is fine for what they need.

 

Of course I had a play first, and its a nice simple little desk, I showed apparantly the student with an attention span shorter than a goldfish how to do it, and that took 2hrs, but someone who wanted to use it, took 5mins and 20mins on their own playing with it.

 

you can do such simple stuff with it. they did cinderella and some amateur rock concert and the lights looked good for it.

 

http://www.stagelighting.co.uk/stage_light...nd_consoles.htm

 

100 series 12/24

 

hth

[Johnno]

Thanks for the suggestions. I like the look of the Jands desk but it's way over my budget. We have a Zero 88 Elara for productions. This deck will just be for use in drama lessons where the empasis is very much on acting and technical theatre is not yet on the radar.

[powersolve]

If you want cheap and simple then how about a good old scene-setter (aka Showtec ShowMaster) desk, such as this one at Thomann. It's only £86 inc VAT plus £7 shipping.

 

As for the Soundlab dimmers, I have one of these, and whilst it works ok for flashy-flashy stuff, its dimming curve is really, really strange. Essentially you get nothing 'til the fader's up to 50%, and then it goes from zero to full-on by the time the fader's at 75%. Not easy to use in a drama context.

 

As an alternative, you could get a Showtec Multidim (from Thomann again) for essentially the same price as the Soundlab unit, and it has a much better (but still not ideal) dimming curve.

 

Steve.

[greenalien]

The Soundlab dimmers mentioned are certainly non-linear in their response - they also use pin 2 as the +ve line and pin 3 as the -ve line on their DMX input - I know there is no standard for 3-pin DMX connectors, but most people use pin 3 as the positive line; some desks don't have the facility to swap output polarity so you may need a polarity changer.

There are 6-channel Soundlab dimmers that are much more linear but they cost 4 times as much; yet another case of getting what you pay for...

[Meduza]

Starville 6 channel dimmers

http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_ddx_620i.htm

 

Or the above mentioned Showtec Multidim

http://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_showtec_m...dmx_uk_vers.htm

[JimWebber]

The Soundlab dimmers mentioned are certainly non-linear in their response - they also use pin 2 as the +ve line and pin 3 as the -ve line on their DMX input - I know there is no standard for 3-pin DMX connectors, but most people use pin 3 as the positive line; some desks don't have the facility to swap output polarity so you may need a polarity changer.

There are 6-channel Soundlab dimmers that are much more linear but they cost 4 times as much; yet another case of getting what you pay for...

 

 

I too bought one of these Soundlab dimmers, I knew about the DMX reverse connection, and very nearly ordered cable and XLR plugs to make up some patch leads to swop polarity and then back again.

 

When the dimmer turned up, on an impulse I opened it up, and saw that the DMX connection was via a Molex(??) connector to the control PCB, I simply unplugged it, cut off the locating lug, and revesed it. Voila a (slightly) more compatible DMX connection. I also re-labled the connection diagram to avoid confusion

 

Usual caveats about competency apply to opening up and modifying electrical equipment apply! 240V tends to hurt!

 

Jim

[greenalien]

the DMX connection was via a Molex(??) connector to the control PCB

 

Strange, the DMX connectors on my 4-channel Soundlab dimmers are soldered directly to the PCB, the connections are 3mm thick and form part of the mechanical supports of the sockets.

 

Didn't stop me rewiring them to pin 3 positive though!