Clay Paky scans - how much common ground?

[gareth]

Anyone know how much of an 'overlap' there is, in terms of parts and so on, between a CP StageScan and a GoldenScan HPE?

 

As far as I can tell, the GS HPE is pretty much the same as a SS, but with an extra fixed colour wheel to compensate for the lack of colour mixing, and the shutter on the SS is built into the colour mixing module while on the GS HPE it's part of the prism/frost module. They're both 1200w HMI fixtures, so I'm guessing the lamp drive electronics are going to be the same - it also looks like they use the same logic boards (ASCAN(8) and ASCAN(X)) - is there a different EPROM (or whatever) for each model?

 

Basically, I'm trying to work out whether it's going to be worthwhile buying a couple of GoldenScan HPEs as "donor" units for refurbishing the less healthy specimens in my little collection of StageScans, so any info that anyone can give me regarding how much common ground there is between the two would be appreciated.

[Jammie300]

Hey Gareth,

 

You are not look at the ones on ebay per chance?

 

Not bad for £250

[cedd]

I was looking at those!!!! Now the whole blue room knows about them! Grrrrrrrg!

 

Absolute beasts!

 

Perhaps try a repair centre for them and see what they have to say. One a good way away from where you're situated so you doing your own repairs won't be nicking business off of them!

[gareth]

Yeah, those are the ones! So don't get any ideas about bidding on them and then trying to sell them to me!

 

Is it just me, or is the auction a bit confusing in the way it's worded? The description states that it's for a pair of units, and the photos back this up ... but in the header bit at the top of the page, it says "Quantity : 2 available". This invites bids on a quantity of either 1 or 2, with the result that there may well be two winning bidders (the highest bidder, and the second-highest bidder, if each of them enters a quantity of 1 at the bidding stage). The thing is, you could interpret this in three different ways :

• there are two pairs available for auction, and bidding on a quantity of one will get each of the winners a pair of Goldenscans for the cost of their winning bid ;
  
• there's one pair which is being auctioned separately and the bid amount is for one unit rather than the pair, in which case anyone who bids on a quantity of one expecting that to be a pair of units is going to be disappointed when they find themselves only getting one scan for the price they thought they were paying for two ;
  
• or there's only one pair, being auctioned as such, and the seller is going to have a shock when they have two winning bidders each wanting their pair of Goldenscans for their winning bid amount!
  

I've e-mailed the seller asking for clarification on that - no definitive reply as yet ...

 

(Update : it's bid up to £300 now, and it looks like someone's bid for 2 but is only winning one ... if the reality of the situation is along the lines of the second scenario I described above, then I think there might be someone who thinks they're bidding £300, or even more, for a pair of Goldenscans but is actually only going to end up with a single broken one! I'm definitely not going to put in a bid until the seller makes it clear exactly what I'm bidding for!)

 

So - anyone got any useful nuggets of info regarding the extent of the transplantability (is that a word?!) of components from Goldenscan HPE to Stagescan?

[ryandell]

Hi Gareth,

 

As you have quite rightly mentioned there is not alot of difference between the two, but I have noticed that on the Stage Scan there is an LCD display of information (adressing) and so forth, Where as on the Golden Scan HPE there is no Such LCD display.

Also The fact of the colour mixing which you had picked up on.

 

Well this was all I could find, Sorry if it wasnt much help, They are quite similar units except for the main features such as colour mixing, also the DMX and analogue differences between the 2 units.

 

Thanks,

 

Ryan

[gareth]

Ryan, can I just ask - do you have experience of the two units? Or have you just read the manuals and guessed?! No disrespect, but I think it might be the latter and you're looking at the wrong ones!! Both the Stagescan and the Goldenscan HPE have the same three-digit seven-segment LED display on the back panel. Certainly the eight Stagescans that I have don't have any sort of LCD display on them, neither have I seen any that do. The only differences on the rear panels are that the two 8-pin DINs that the GS HPE has are missing from the SS (not surprising, given that it needs more control channels!). Thanks for trying to help, anyway.

[ryandell]

Hi Gareth,

No disrespect taken.

I did as you say take the facts from manuals and have no experience with these units stupid I know but just trying to find differences/similarities.

 

Ryan

[Steve Cavill]

Having worked with both uniuts over recent years, I can tell you that with a little fiddling about (e.g. taking the shutter off the prism card and mounting it on the colour mixing card) you can interchange bits between the 2.

 

The same goes for any of the moving parts in any of the goldenscan range, most of the electronics are the same to, apart from in the GS4's where most of the rear end is now housed in 2 pretty white boxes.

[gareth]

Thanks, Steve - that's useful to know.

[gareth]

Well, no reply from the vendor to my question of how many scans they're actually selling and how many a bidder is actually bidding on - so I don't think I'll be chancing a bid. Pity, really - they'd have been a great source of spares and bits to refurbish a couple of my Stagescans - but I'm not going to chance it knowing that I might end up payng twice the price for half the goods, if you see what I mean ...