Dave Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I'm looking for a architectural scene controller (the sort of thing with a few pushbuttons to select different scenes) that can interface to some standard dimmers via DMX or analogue. I've found the Pulsar OS1 but it's a bit OTT for the application. From what I can tell, most of the other stuff uses proprietary protocols so you are tied in to using the same make of dimmers as controller, which is no good for me. Any ideas? It wouldn't matter if an extra interface was needed to convert a proprietary protocol to DMX or analogue provided it wasn't expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I can highly recommend the Strand Accent, although it can appear to be just a remote for Strand Dimmers (I believe it was originally just that), it is in fact a stand alone 48 channel DMX controller. We have several installations with them in and they've performed faultlessly. I'm guessing they might fit the bill a bit better if the OS1 is a bit over spec? They're also very competitively priced! I think we've covered something similar previously as I remember posting on here about the Accent before so might be worth a search. EDIT Found the previous thread here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjbvision Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Color Kinetics iplayer 3,http://www.colorkinetics.com/ls/controllers/I have installed this control surface on a number of projects that run by themselves all based around times of the day and sunrise/sunset. It does ouput DMX and was designed mainly for LED but once you understand it you can make it do anything(Well except a great cup of coffee). In your case you could install the controller keypad to give more options as the iplayer3 only has 4 user defined buttons on the front, but then the control unit could be mounted next to the dimmers. To program the unit you have to have a laptop and you upload to this replay unit. It does stop people from fiddling!! This could be OTT and above your budget, but it is certainly worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Artistic Licence make architectural DMX controllers, with names like the Light Switch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Edwards Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Hi Dave, You should also check out Pharos Controls- www.pharoscontrols.com HTH Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back_ache Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I'm looking for a architectural scene controller (the sort of thing with a few pushbuttons to select different scenes) that can interface to some standard dimmers via DMX or analogue. I've found the Pulsar OS1 but it's a bit OTT for the application. From what I can tell, most of the other stuff uses proprietary protocols so you are tied in to using the same make of dimmers as controller, which is no good for me. Any ideas? It wouldn't matter if an extra interface was needed to convert a proprietary protocol to DMX or analogue provided it wasn't expensive. Hi Dave, I used to program architectural systems for a living so I may have some insight. Almost all purpose designed architectural systems use their own rich protocols and proprietary programming system, if you are happy with DMX's feature simpler feature-set I wouldn't look at more complicated systems. If I were doing it now, I would use dimmers that were certified for 24*7 long term use and just used natural convection cooling (rather than fans to go wrong), with breakers rather than fuses and on DMX failure hold their settings. For control I would look at some kind of DMX recorder, a quick google came up with the Anytronic's Anyscene DMX Controller. In general, triple check everything you do with the installation as you won't be there all the time to support it and be prepared for everyone (and their uncle) to have an opinion about how the final design looks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted May 23, 2009 Share Posted May 23, 2009 The cheapest button station systems are those that interface directly to the same brand/range of dimmers. What are you trying to achieve? There are quite a few lighting playback controllers based around various lighting consoles that can have contact closure inputs and/or have configurable buttons on the front. Most of the 'proper' Architectural controllers (eg Unison) have DMX output, but they aren't exactly cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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