willdart666 Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Good evening Blue Room, Here's the situation, a front man of a metal band has asked me to "light" his band. What he's after is a "stomp box" that he can stomp on and activate some blinders (Thomas 2-lite type of thing). Presumably a non-latching switch. I've been having a scope around the web and can't find anything simple enough to do the task he requires, everything seems to want programming and basic knowledge of how it works. What I need is a simple foot switch, that does 1 channel of DMX, that I can connect to a standard single channel dimmer. Does anyone know of anything like that? Imagine just the first flash button from a Stage / Level 12, on a pedal. The reason I don't want to use something programmable is that I don't want to have to worry that he'll mess it up somehow. The show is this Saturday and if we can't find anything by then I'll just operate it myself but I'd like to try and find what he's asking for first. If it doesn't exist, I'll build it myself and make my fortune. ;) Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillwave Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 What brand / model are your dimmers? Does your dimmer / demux have an analogue control input?If so, just rig a switch between the common pin & the pin for the blinders channel output on the dimmer. This would flash the channel to full for as long as he had his foot on the switch. You may be able to use a standard footswitch like the ones for electric keyboards. Regards,Ben Wainwright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Very much what Ben said. If the DMX thing is non-negotiable, then Milford instruments have a DMX transmitter which, once programmed by you and sealed in a box away from interfering musos, may be suitable for what you need. Alternatively, if you're feeling up to it, use an Arduino and an RS485 transceiver chip to spit the DMX out. Or, for the real quick and dirty solution... get something like this and bodge it so that the master fader is permanently up, and that the footswitch just shorts out the fader on channel 1. And then seal it in a box away from interfering musos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrislittle Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Some thing like this any good? http://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_lightfoot_dmx512_bodencontroller.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I presume the rest of the lighting is running from something else already? How about a MIDI foot pedal plugged into whatever the 'something else' is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Possibly too simple, but could you not bypass the dimmers completely and simply have a momentary mains foot switch connected directly to the blinders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmeh2 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Possibly too simple, but could you not bypass the dimmers completely and simply have a momentary mains foot switch connected directly to the blinders? Perhaps, although I wouldn't like the idea of my foot being connected to something with maybe 10-20 Amps running through it. A low-voltage foot switch linked to a high-power relay switching the lights on and off seems like a safer bet. All the bestTimmeh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p.k.roberts Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I think using DMX is just complicating the issue. If you're up to a bit of DIY, then an opto-isolated solid state relay and few bits and bobs would be a fairly cheap and dirty solution; but surely a simpler solution is to use a dimmer that has 0-10V control, either an older second hand unit or a newer el-cheapo unit (let's face it, the dimming curve hardly matters in this application) - depending on the model, it might even enable you to pre-heat the lamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willdart666 Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Some thing like this any good? http://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_lightfoot_dmx512_bodencontroller.htm I was looking at that but it's just too much to ask for him not to just stamp on everything until it doesn't know what it's suppose to be doing anymore. I presume the rest of the lighting is running from something else already? How about a MIDI foot pedal plugged into whatever the 'something else' is? The rest of the lighting is in-house and controlled from FOH. I no doubt will end up controlling the blinders from there as well but I wanted to give his idea a go first. I'm not too clued up on MIDI and I don't think it will be as simple as required. Possibly too simple, but could you not bypass the dimmers completely and simply have a momentary mains foot switch connected directly to the blinders? Perhaps, although I wouldn't like the idea of my foot being connected to something with maybe 10-20 Amps running through it. A low-voltage foot switch linked to a high-power relay switching the lights on and off seems like a safer bet. All the bestTimmeh Yeah exactly that, if he decides to take his pint for a walk then things could get a bit messy. Thanks for all the input so far, it's a lot to take in and work out what the best solution is going to be so I'll report back if I create something. The dimmers I'll be using will just be a regular single channel DMX dimmer pack by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I'd look for a big analogue dimmer and get a standard footswitch (Maplin and all better shops) to apply 10v to the dimmer control connector. (or apply that 10v to a whole bank of dimmers to get the current that blinders will need). That 10v will come from a PP£ in the stomp box or some AAA or AA cells in holders in there. Keep it SIMPLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willdart666 Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 I'd look for a big analogue dimmer and get a standard footswitch (Maplin and all better shops) to apply 10v to the dimmer control connector. (or apply that 10v to a whole bank of dimmers to get the current that blinders will need). That 10v will come from a PP£ in the stomp box or some AAA or AA cells in holders in there. Keep it SIMPLE. I do have an analogue dimmer but it's not suitable for this situation. It's a small stage in a small venue, thus I'm using single channel dimmer packs. I'll bear this in mind for the future though as my dimmer is taking up a lot of office space and it would be nice to get it earning its keep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin D Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 How about one of these and a standard footswitch like this? Ignore teh bit about 0-10v, it also supports a straight on/off control if you look at the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 How about one of these & add a jack socket so that a standard footswitch can short out one of the faders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willdart666 Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 How about one of these and a standard footswitch like this? Ignore teh bit about 0-10v, it also supports a straight on/off control if you look at the details. This looks like it will work. I did, ideally, want to be able to use DMX dimmers but I guess this would be a cheap soloution. How about one of these & add a jack socket so that a standard footswitch can short out one of the faders? I had an idea like this earlier on today, certainly closer to what I'm trying to achieve. Update: I've just ordered the Stairville desk to have a play with. If it's not possible then I have other uses for it anyway. I'll let you know how I get on :-D I also found this little beauty just a moment ago http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=SHO50314# Could be a good basis for modification. Cheers guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I also found this little beauty just a moment ago http://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=SHO50314# Could be a good basis for modification. Cheers guys! That's only analogue though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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