Wall-Mount DMX Control

[rossmck]

Not sure if this is the best place to be asking this ... But I'm trying to (on a budget) provide a basic (3 "scene" (on / off / half)) interface to the DMX-controlled house lights (4 channels for various reasons) in a small venue by means of a wall-panel.

 

Does anyone know of an integrated solution for this. I'm aware of the iLight products but it seems overkill (and prohibitively expensive) to use their wall-stations (which talk on iCan BUS) in conjunction with an iCan->DMX converter.

 

I've worked out how to build one using my knowledge from my "other" work in the world of IT which involves a small Compact-Flash based PC with an Entec DMX dongle and a USB keypad interface, but something a bit neater would probably go down better.

[dbuckley]

Artistic Licence Light Switch

[henny]

take a look at

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/DP30229/audio-video...nscension-ar-12

 

or

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/DP30230/audio-video...nscension-ar-32

[redcarpet1956]

For a cheapy option as I don't know what your budget is but Maplin (maplin.co.uk) sell a small DMX controller for approx GBP80.

 

I'm not sure but you may be able to mount this on a wall.

 

Here is the link:

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=43888

[smalljoshua]

That is nothing like what the O/P requires. He needs something that is able to blend in with its surroundings in a Public Enviroment. Not a cheap low quality DJ controler for disco scanners.

 

Josh

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

The 2nd of henny's links seems to be something in the right direction.

 

According to the product page from Prolight Here the remote can be mounted on the wall.

 

Josh

[JDP]

Take a look in the Essential Supplies catalogue.

 

Theres one in there, a bit like one of the ones in Farnell, which is about £250 - so a bit more than Farnell.

 

The one in Essential Supplies will store 7 scenes, and is an Anytronics Anyscene

[Rob]

Pulsar OS1

[johnhuson]

Strand Accent

[Tomo]

Which dimmers do you have?

 

Some dimmers have an optional expansion board to connect external button stations.

For example, ETC SmartPacks and Sensor+ have SmartLink stations, which are perfect for this idea.

 

Several other manufacturers have similar systems for their dimmers.

[Ynot]

Some dimmers have an optional expansion board to connect external button stations.

For example, ETC SmartPacks and Sensor+ have SmartLink stations, which are perfect for this idea.

I was going to mention these - because having seen the ETC option a couple of years back at their first PLASA outing I was considering them for our house lights.

 

The problem with many of the options provided, they're simply far too complex for the simple task of controlling house lighting - often jobs like the OP's just needs say 3 or 4 settings between 'off' and 'full' for a small number of DMX channels. However, I suspect that designing a commercial box to do something that simple may not be a viable option...

 

Hole in the market?

 

EDIT for clarity.

The ETC option, as I recall, is likely a top contender for this type of job (as I believe that's what it's designed for!)

My comment above refers to many of the other options suggested, as they have multiple buttons controlling loads of channels with stacks of scenes - rather OTT for what's required.

:)

[johnhuson]

The problem with many of the options provided, they're simply far too complex for the simple task of controlling house lighting - often jobs like the OP's just needs say 3 or 4 settings between 'off' and 'full' for a small number of DMX channels. However, I suspect that designing a commercial box to do something that simple may not be a viable option...

 

Hole in the market?

 

Not that big a hole.

 

The Accents which I linked to above are simple to program, simple to playback and are capable of controlling 48 channels. UK list price for the 4 button version is £194 so not really that expensive, although whether that is budget enough for the OP we don't know as no indication was made of budget. Only thing it needs is a power supply of between 12v and 18v DC thats capable of delivering 150mA which shouldn't be that expensive to get hold of!

[rossmck]

Hi All,

 

Thanks for the multitude of responses... looks like either the Strand Accent or the Transcension controller is just what we're looking for.

 

Thanks again!

[henny]

Just to follow up on this topic ,

 

I'm now looking for a DMX wall controller to drive a full universe of DMX driving 22 led battens,2 mac 500 and up to 100 channels of dimming (house lighting and stage)

 

Main control is vire a perl but the idea is to use a DMX merger in backup mode so when the perl is off the wall control has control allowing selecting of presets for the day to day use of the venue.

 

I was thinking the transcension that I have used in the past for simple led wall was installs, but it is only one playback of many scenes. I would like have something like 5 scenes for house lights, 6 for the wall wash, and 6 for the stage all independent from each other.

 

One idea was a lanbox lcx with a self built control panel hooked up to the analogue in on the back with some rotary switches to select cues in different layers and some buttons fornother control.

 

If any one has any ideas beyond

 

Cheers

[timmeh2]

Hi

 

This is something that a MagicQ and a little touchscreen would do quite easily.

 

Personally I don't use the Chamsys but I know others will happily tell you about it.

 

As for the merge thing, depending on what Pearl you're using it should have a DMX in, so you could use that to merge your stream. With no playbacks running the Pearl will act as a straight through until you decide to play something.

 

I have done something similar to this; the only problem I had was the moving head personalities on the Pearl, as most of their LTP default values are something above 0. The simple solution was to download the R20 files from the Avo website and edit them so all the defaults were 0, then patch the fixtures using these custom personalities. The LEDs shouldn't be a problem so long as they dont have any control channels, if they do then treat them like the movers.

 

All the best

Timmeh

[TomHoward]

The Artistic Licence unit linked above gives 3 pages of eight scenes per page, so total 24 - although that won't give you full control of each area independently, it should allow you to give a variety of options.

 

If 24 states really isn't enough, you could use three of the units behind a merger - so one to control each element, but that's an expensive option.

 

Our dimmers have an open contact input per channel, which over-rides the DMX input, so for our 'simple' house light control we've just got a set of switches wired into these.