gordontech Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 I am looking for a little bit of manufacturing advice. I have a client who is looking to buy 20-30 table lamps and would like them all under control. Re-lamping and sticking a battery on the end is all fine and good but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with getting a wireless DMX dimmer unit to go in between a battery and the lamp? Any clues folks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 This might be a good place to start: http://www.lightwaverf.co.uk/home.php I have not used their kit personally but it looks like it might be justthe thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordontech Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 I've had a look at a few of them, want them on DMX control if its possible. Im guessing you haven't seen a DMX version before? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 I have seen somewhere wireless DMX sticks that are battery powered, you could have a look at those or make a swtich unit that works via DMX. I did look in to something a few years ago but the only good method was mains to the lamp and to run off the dimmer/s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 As I see it there are two ways to do this... 1) DMX to Wireless DMX to DMX dimmers on each lamp. Probably the most off-the-shelf solution but with a price to match. 2) DMX to wireless to wireless dimmers on each lamp. In other words, take one of the existing cheap (<£10 each) wireless dimmer solutions and arrange a DMX interface to control it. A quick web search shows plenty of keyfob controlled 12v dimmers for well under £10 each. All you need then is a way to take DMX and interface it to the keyfob transmitter. The one on the screen in front of me has a three button keyfob; on/off, up and down. A £50 DMX to relay board will interface to that. Yes, your DMX will operate a bit oddly but does that really matter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Give the space hard mains (typically 13A sockets) and dimmed mains (typically 5A sockets). The dimmed channels would probably suffice as one channel with a 2K dimmer and lots of 40W lamps assuming that you can still locate dimable lamps in pretty shapes. You could run groups to enable some level differences or you could go to the effort and expense of installing single dimmed channels round the room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 You talk about converting to battery - is this essential? if you can keep them as mains operated then far and away the cheapest idea is to use one of the (many many) "smart" bulbs that have inbuilt dimming and wireless control. they can be assigned to channels, there's off-the-shelf interfaces to control them via other control systems and you'd be paying under £10/unit all in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpg3121 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 While at PLASA I received a demo on a series of products from RC4 wireless dimming (http://www.theatrewireless.com) which seem ideal for what you appear to want to do. May be prohibitively expensive though. Were very impressive products though and I think I will be ordering the DMX telephone ringer after Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_korman Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Re-lamping and sticking a battery on the end is all fine and good but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with getting a wireless DMX dimmer unit to go in between a battery and the lamp?" How do you propose to dim a battery (Direct Current) powered lamp? No normal dimmer will do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 How do you propose to dim a battery (Direct Current) powered lamp? No normal dimmer will do this. PWM dimmer such as used in the Theatre Wireless stuff mentioned above or anything meant for controlling D.C. motors. Battery management is probably a bigger hassle, 30 units is quite a lot to keep charged evenly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrV Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Re-lamping and sticking a battery on the end is all fine and good but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with getting a wireless DMX dimmer unit to go in between a battery and the lamp?" How do you propose to dim a battery (Direct Current) powered lamp? No normal dimmer will do this.City Theatrical D2 and D4 seem to manage it perfectly well, although this would be an expensive way to do it. Mind you they do RDM so you can, I believe, monitor the battery too.Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_towers Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 While at PLASA I received a demo on a series of products from RC4 wireless dimming (http://www.theatrewireless.com) which seem ideal for what you appear to want to do. May be prohibitively expensive though. Were very impressive products though and I think I will be ordering the DMX telephone ringer after Christmas! As a completely independent user (and having run a variety of their RC4 products for a while) I can vouch for them. We use them with 12Ah standby batteries (and for larger loads with 60Ah leisure batteries) and get very satisfactory results (often on a variety of table lamps that end up in the middle of the stage, somehow!). As a wireless DMX solution I'd say they're certainly cheaper than average, the only disadvantage is that they only do 12v so if you wanted to ever stick a 500w Fresnel or something similar somewhere awkward you'd need to look at another solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avcottle Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I've just been playing with some wireless DMX units from ebay, they are just the PCB's which I've wired into boxes, about £18 each and seem to work pretty well. I'm just waiting on a DMX to LED PCB as well so you could use one of the channels with some white LED strip on as your lamps and wirelessly control them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordontech Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 I think the RC4 option is the best. Sean also seems like a nice guy so with potential regular business its always a good thing. Cheers chaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_korman Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Re-lamping and sticking a battery on the end is all fine and good but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with getting a wireless DMX dimmer unit to go in between a battery and the lamp?" How do you propose to dim a battery (Direct Current) powered lamp? No normal dimmer will do this.City Theatrical D2 and D4 seem to manage it perfectly well, although this would be an expensive way to do it. Mind you they do RDM so you can, I believe, monitor the battery too.Dave Hardly normal dimmers,though, are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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