CONTROLLER FOR MEQUINOX MEGA BAR

[bertbass]

Hi,

 

My band uses a pair of Equinox Mega Bars and we're very happy with then, they are controlled by a Ryger FL-P1, again a great unit. We don't however use the preset chases. Our lighting guy just uses the faders on the flood setting and main fader to set the colours and blackout the stage which works but they are very close together and fiddly.

 

The Equinox Mega Bars can be set to 6, 9, or 15 channel DMX control.

 

6 channel DMX (All four LED pods adjusted at the same time)

 

9 channel mode (Adjusts the LED pods in pairs)

 

15 channel mode (Adjusts each LED pod individually)

 

What I am after is an old style lighting desk that our lighting guy can control the lights with, faders for colour, master fader for dimming and blackouts and flash buttons. We don't require any chase functions or programming although if this is included it doesn't matter as we can just not use those bits.

 

Any one got any ideas or suggestions?

 

All the best to you all.

[peza2010]

It depends on how intricate you can see yourself ever wanting to get with the lighting.

 

Is it just a case as all of then being the same colour at any one time?

 

Do you want the option of having each "pod" doing something different?

 

Will you ever want to add anything else to your rig?

 

Budget?

[bertbass]

We've got all the pods showing the same colour at the moment, all red or all blue etc. It would be nice to work the pods in pairs of even singly if possible but not essential. I believe that it is possible in 15 channel mode to work the pods singly. I've looked at various lighting controllers and they all seem to require that you set scenes and sequences which is a lot more complicated than we want.

 

The only thing a would add is another mega bar but probably not.

 

I got the Equinox mega bars because of their simplicity and we had intended to just use the supplied foot controller but someone volunteered to 'do the lights' for us and he does actually do them pretty well but finds the control with the Ryger somewhat limiting hence my question. If he'd have offered to do the lights before I bought them I would have gone for a different system.

[KidRay]

There are several budget lighting controllers that will do what you want to a greater or lesser extent. Don't be put off by scenes and chases etc. as you will find them incredibly useful. Bear in mind that with your mega bars in 15 channel mode, you will have 30 channels to control at once and your lighting operator will soon run out out of fingers (unless he's extremely inbred!), so being able to program scenes and chases and have them on flash buttons will be a big advantage. As far as I'm aware one of the cheapest options is the Behringer LC2412, but I'm sure someone will have a better/cheaper option.

[bertbass]

Thanks for that. Is there a way to check that the mega bars and the Behringer are compatible? I'm sure that my questions seem a bit simple to most of you but I'm trying to get to grips with this DMX thing, it's a steep learning curve.

[KidRay]

DMX is a standard lighting protocol, so any DMX capable lighting controller should be able to control any DMX capable fixture. Manufacturers are sometimes a little less than scrupulous with the fine detail, but generally you should be fine!

See the BlueRoom Wiki for more information on DMX.

One thing that you will find is that the "standard" connector is a 5-pin XLR, but most of the budget fixtures use a 3-pin XLR. This isn't an issue if you're using your own self-contained lighting set up, but if you should go to a venue that has its own DMX lights that you want to add to your set up, you may want to get a 3-5 pin converter.

[bertbass]

I've just made a major break through. I now know what a scene is and what a channel is and I sort off understand the DMX bit in the mega bar manual. I know, everyone else has known this for years but to me it's a revelation and it has stopped my head from spinning. Now to get to grips with the DMX controller manuals, they might make more sense now.