Eurolite Dimmers

[Swizzuk]

Hi Guys,

 

Quick question. Can find lots mentioned on 'Eurolite' scanners and the 'Showtec' dimmers on the BRF.

But can't find any information on the 'Eurolite' dimmers.

 

"Stagelighting" sell the 'Eurolite DPX-405' which seems to be exactly the same as the 4 channel 'Showtec Multidim MKII' only in rack form and is £1 cheaper.

 

I have read on here the dimmer curve on the 'Showtecs' not being great.

Has anyone used any 'Eurolite' dimmers?

Do they perform the same as the 'Showtecs', better or worse?

 

I'm also guessing that racking up a few of the DPX-405's will build heat up quickly and probably not a great idea.

Is there a better alternative that I have missed?

 

Cheers

[paulears]

Being frank, with dimmers in this price range, accurate, or dead smooth dimmer curves are asking a bit much. The freestanding unit appears in many guises and output socket versions. It does have similarities with the rack version, in terms of socketry and fuse holder type etc, but does it really matter? If you want rack mount, low power dimmers - just separate them by an empty space, and put a blank panel in. You get a lot of dimmer for a very small price. If you run them near the limits, they may well get hot, and heat does tend to expose any small manufacturing problems such as dry joints or poor quality components - but you get a years worth of guarantee to find these things out, and at this price, buy more than you need and use as spares?

[Swizzuk]

Being frank, with dimmers in this price range, accurate, or dead smooth dimmer curves are asking a bit much.

 

Very true, question was meant more along the lines of which is best of the worst.

However, appreciate your points and opinion.

From what I gather, the showtecs are quite popular for cheap dimmers. So will go with a few, see how they go, can always auction off and upgrade later in the year.

 

Many thanks again.

[smalljoshua]

IMO the Botex versions of the Showtecs are slightly better build quality. They ise thicker steel and better XLR connectors than the Showtecs.

 

Josh

[Swizzuk]

IMO the Botex versions of the Showtecs are slightly better build quality. They ise thicker steel and better XLR connectors than the Showtecs.

 

Thanks Josh, Will look into those then.

[powersolve]

...

I have read on here the dimmer curve on the 'Showtecs' not being great.

...

 

 

This has indeed been said many times, but I'm not sure it's entirely fair. I did some Lux measurements some time ago on a single Minuette F (650W Philips lamp) fed from a Multidim, and found that the curve is very similar to that measured using a Lightprocessor Qpack dimmer, which is a somewhat more substantial (6x10A rack-mount) piece of equipment.

 

The Multidim curve (Lux vs DMX) is below. The Lux measurement was taken at 1m in the centre of the beam. No gel. The Lux and DMX axes have each been normalised to 1.0.

 

http://i37.tinypic.com/v5lonn.jpg

 

Seems to me that this curve is not at all bad.

 

As far as I can work out, this is similar to what you'd you theoretically get if the dimmer moved the triac firing angle linearly with DMX value. So I guess that's what the Mulitdim (and my Qpack) is doing.

 

Based on this, I think that the criticism levelled at the Showtec/Botex dimmers might be a bit harsh. For the money, they're a fabulous bit of kit.

 

Steve.

[Tomo]

Sorry, but that data proves that they are actually pretty poor.

 

A Linear-time firing angle is horrible - no bottom or top end, as the power doesn't change much around these angles.

 

The target of a good dimmer is to come close to linear relationship between DMX value and Lux - it won't pass straight through (0,0), but it should come pretty close.

[Swizzuk]

Sorry, but that data proves that they are actually pretty poor.

 

I would agree that disregarding the actual dimmer, the curve itself is pretty poor. From about 30% DMX down the Lux reading starts at roughly 0.15 and drops from there. There isn't much dimming going on at the top or bottom of the curve!

 

However, as Steve said

For the money, they're a fabulous bit of kit.

 

This I do agree with. Considering what you are paying for them, I would say these are workable with.

 

p.s. Nice graphic Steve. Many thanks. Nice to see a visual on it.

 

Edit: Added p.s.