sub d to bleecon

[benweblight]

hi, I want to connect the sub d analouge output from my behringer light desk to the bleecon input at school

 

should I make a lead? what cable should I use, where can I get the connectors? how much would it cost?

 

can I buy a premade one cheaply from somewhere?, would someone make one for me?

 

atleast I think it bleecon, schools system is 18way, it look like bleecon to me, its whats used with the old furse systems if that helps

[johnhuson]

You can probably make the cable quite easily yourself providing that you are ok with a soldering iron.

 

However there are a few things you do need to be careful of! Exactly what dimmers you are connecting your Behringer to? The Behringer I believe has +10v analogue output, a lot of the older dimmers like Strands ran on a -10v control voltage so your Behringer won't work with them without a voltage convertor.

 

You mentioned that the connector was used in an old Furse system, is it a Furse system you are wanting to connect to now? If so again you need to be careful as Furse used to use a Bleecon connector for connecting their desks that used a multiplex signal to the dimmers. If as you say there is 18 channels of dimming and only one Bleecon connector than this is more than likely a multiplex signal.

 

If you let us know exactly the make and model of the dimmers and any other information you can give us, then either myself or I'm sure others on here will be able to tell you if it is possible and what you need to do.

[Tom Baldwin]

Bleecons are eight pin connectors, and apart from the locking ring are shockingly similar to 8-pin DIN plugs - so much so that if you aren't worried about being able to lock the connector, you can use an eight pin DIN plug instead.

 

Bleecon connector: (Stage Electrics)

http://www.stage-electrics.co.uk/s26/280010.jpg

 

If your school system is 18 channel, there should be 3 of these connectors (each Bleecon controls 6 channels). The only old Furse systems I've seen used 9-pin sub-D connectors though...

 

9 pin sub-D:

http://www.merconet.nl/fabricage/ti_prototype_pcb/optie_ti_prototype_pcb/ac15/webfoto_ac15.jpg

 

I assume your Behringer has a 25-way sub D connector?

http://www.merconet.nl/fabricage/ti_prototype_pcb/optie_ti_prototype_pcb/ac60/webfoto_ac60.jpg

 

Making a lead is not hard if you have reasonable soldering skills (hardest part is doing the sub-D connectors neatly so that stray strands of wire don't cause short circuits. Avoid this by putting heatshrink sleeving over each joint as you finish it).

The cable should be 6 core screened - obviously you could use cable with more cores if you can't find 6 core cable. You don't want too chunky a cable, or you'll have one hell of a job trying to solder up the connectors!

 

You can find the pinouts for the connectors on my website: Stage Lighting Tech Pages - go to Tech Data, then choose Connector Pinouts. You need to connect the screen/ ground wires through, but don't need to connect the supply wires through.

 

The only other thing to check is that the Behringer is outputting the right control voltage for your dimmers - most dimmers user +10V as full on, but some Strand dimmers use -10V. If you have Bleecon connectors on your dimmers, likelihood is they're Strand, otherwise they're likely to be +10V. If you let us know what model of dimmer, I'm sure someone here can confirm the voltages required.

 

Most parts for this you can get from any electronics supplier: Maplin, RS, Farnell etc, but the Bleecons are a bit rarer, and you may have to go to your favourite lighting equipment supplier, e.g. Stage Electrics, AC Lighting, AJS etc.

 

Any of the above lighting suppliers will probably make the lead up for you, but it won't be cheap (at least not cheap in the context of Behringer desks and schools). I doubt anyone has a room full of these leads in stock, it'll be a special order.

 

HTH

 

Tom

[James]

Sorry but it isn't going to work

 

Behringer only give 12ch of analouge out + 2 switched lines.

 

You can do it but you loose 6 ch of control of your dimming.

 

 

 

James

[Muller_Light]

If it is a Furse Regal dimmer rack, then it uses an analogue multiplexed system (FMX) which is not compatable with any other recognised standard.

I am making a DMX to FMX converter at the moment - but I may be some time...

[benweblight]

oh hell, yes im pretty sure there furse regals (deltas were more recent werent they?), as it only uses one connector, I dont mind about the lack of channels

 

the desk I cant remember name of but is definately 18way, 2 preset with a master fader and a dipless fader, with buttons above preset masters, master and dipless faders to turn them on and off if that helps, it does have 2 connectors on the back (not sure if they are same sex), but we only ever use one

 

yep behringer is 25pin sub d

 

advice? I wont bother if its going to get too expensive with converter boxes etc.

[James]

yep behringer is 25pin sub d

 

 

!!!!

 

What Behringer desk is 25pin

 

count again - it should be 15 pin?

[benweblight]

behringer lighting desk, LC2412 (I think)

see Tom Baldwins post

[James]

behringer lighting desk, LC2412 (I think)

see Tom Baldwins post

Confused I am - Are you asking me to read Tom's post? Why?

 

If you had Read The Fine Manual you would see on page 19

 

In adition to the modern DMX512 interface, you can control your EUROLIGHT LC2412's dimmers using the conventional analog outputs (ANALOG OUT, 0 - 10V DC). However, this lets you control only twelve dimmer channels plus two special channels (only "0 Volts" or "10 Volts").

 

If you look at the back of the unit there is printed above the 15 way D type

 

 

 

Analog Out 0-10v

Pin 1-12      Channel 1-12

Pin 13/14    Channel S1/S2

Pin 15        Ground

[johnhuson]

Well it sounds very much like a Furse Regal system, I had exactly the same setup when I was at school all thosse years ago. It uses an analogue multiplex signal and so you will not be able to control it with your Behringer without the use of a convertor to either multiplex your analogue output or to convert the DMX515 output into the Furse multiplex signal.

[Tom Baldwin]

behringer lighting desk, LC2412 (I think)

see Tom Baldwins post

Indeed, why?

 

I assume your Behringer has a 25-way sub D connector?

 

Note the question mark - it wasn't a wild card 'cos I couldn't decide what character to end that sentence with!

 

I've not seen a Behringer desk in the flesh, so I made an assumption for you to contradict, not quote as gospel!

 

No matter, it sounds from other people's posts that you'll need a converter from DMX to FMX.

 

 

[EDIT] 100 posts!

[benweblight]

ah well, I guess ill have to put that project on hold for a bit, thanks for help anyway

 

does anybody hate furse as much as me?

[TomLyall]

yes, I do. we've been trying to connect a sirius analogue outputs to furse dimmers... ive advised they DMX it all, with magical money from happy land...

 

Tom

[benweblight]

yeah, money is the main problem, we spend upto 1k on hiring great generic rigs, but we never actually update our system

 

IMHO, old strand stuff is much, much better, and I have actuallly have the chance to compare them

[benweblight]

http://www.tega.co.uk/images/5pindin.gif

5 pin DIN digital control used by Furse dimmers "Furse delta FMX"

 

Pin no Function

1 PSU +24V DC

2 PSU -24V DC

3 Ground

4 Control

5 N/C

 

talk of the devil!!!