IP rated RGB floods.

[Ynot]

On the lookout for some IP65 or 66 rated RGB LED floods with DMX.

We currently have some cheap as chips basic COB floods as wall-washers for the front of the theatre, but we're on at least the third or fourth set at the mo and t'committee have asked about changing them for something more reliable and have also said they'd like them to be controllable so we can easily do something like the light-up red or blue or purple as the situation might require.

 

My first reaction was that ain't gonna be cheap.

 

Options I've found so far are:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_cameleon_flood_15_q4_ip65.htm?fbclid=IwAR1K1Uy4GsNy31z4-d6MRSfhAElKqUz9fLeWk8mhvYiFQ6_KEiTKrzDS4u8 Just under £300 each

http://www.iluminarc.com/product/colorist-panel-8qa/?fbclid=IwAR0LdEPGINtUGUuY4Fwwi6doSzeptRmcKwRsc1P2XZzU_17xiYj77_HLqFo for £385 plus VAT

https://www.highlite.com/en/a0720050-carlow-21-rgb-7-3.html?fbclid=IwAR0uCjEhjuAqPKj3SLVGJ2Vq5NtO0cH8lzTy0uoyepYidf8rtupVdgLhvPA for £160 plus VAT

 

Biggest problem is that partic with cheaper units the beam angles are very narrow - think the best of the above is 16 degrees, so we'd get stripes from the 5 positions we have set up rather than a wash. Adding a bit of frost would help but of course anything with a fair dispersion is going to drop the lumens output overall.

 

So - anyone got any suggestions - preferably from experience.

I don't think the budget will stretch to £300 per, so I'm really looking at £200 max inc VAT...

[alistermorton]

I think these are what Minack replaced their PAR64s with. Last time I looked I think they were about 200 a unit, but you'd need to ask for a quote.. 35 degree beam and pretty bright.

 

We've used linear fitments on our theatre - worth thinking about? The ones we used were LEDj I think, although the particular model we used is now discontinued.

[marktownend]

No personal experience but I've got some IP LED pars from this brand which I'm very happy with, and was given a sensible and significant discount when I asked. Spec claims 25 degree beam angle, so still rather spotty but better than some.

 

My link

[ImagineerTom]

We've looked fairly regularly at controllable RGB floods for the outside of tents - there just doesn't seem to be anything DMX controllable at a sensible price point or angle and we've always ended up going back to the d0mestic style RGB floods with IR or wireless control and bashing together little arduino units / repeaters to control and synchronize them as needed. It's not a sexy high spec solution but in 10 years of trying we still find that a £20 IR controlled unit and a £10 arduino controller interface works out more practical and cost effective.

[Glyn Edwards]

Prolight do a selection of IP rated kit, including the Spectra T3 Flood. Details here...

[Don Allen]

When the Garrick Theatre My link in Guildord, Western Australia was rewired a few years ago, the heritage advisor wanted all of the old external lighting removed, so we suggested having it replaced with IP65 RGB LED tape under the eaves and small 10W LED floods put in under the eaves to light the pathways. We are able to set the lighting to suit a particular play. Definitely no fast scrolling displays, to suit the heritage look of the building.

[Stuart91]

Whatever you buy, I'd strongly recommend buying a few spares, so that if any units fail in years to come, you can swap them in.

 

Most of the budget LED models are revised and discontinued quite quickly, so four or five years from now you could be left with a couple of units down and no way to replace them.

[alistermorton]

Agreed - the linear uplighters we bought were discontinued about a year after we bought them and we had to get similar but not identical units when we wanted to extend the rig.

[weedkiller]

We've looked fairly regularly at controllable RGB floods for the outside of tents - there just doesn't seem to be anything DMX controllable at a sensible price point or angle and we've always ended up going back to the d0mestic style RGB floods with IR or wireless control and bashing together little arduino units / repeaters to control and synchronize them as needed. It's not a sexy high spec solution but in 10 years of trying we still find that a £20 IR controlled unit and a £10 arduino controller interface works out more practical and cost effective.

 

Any pointers please to controller interface? Would like to try running several RGB floods with possibility of individual control from single location.

[ImagineerTom]

There’s loads of arduino sketches for IR control, extender, interface etc which basically enables you to take your cheep generic ir controlled light and control it using an arduino. Here’s a nice video of how to use ir

 

And a whole arduino project discussion where people have reverse engineered the common floodlights and worked out the control signals https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=563067.0

[TomHoward]

There appear to be some WS2811 10W floods available, although I haven't tried any myself.

 

You might be able to combine these with either an Arduino from DMX or something more off the shelf from SmartShow or similar to control via ArtNet?

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000774825265.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.24232f74PJTrfy&algo_pvid=f5804e91-74ab-46b4-b0d5-428ba9352ed3&algo_expid=f5804e91-74ab-46b4-b0d5-428ba9352ed3-8&btsid=0b0a182b15951739232506837efd4e&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

 

https://www.tindie.com/products/robg/pixelflood-50w-rgb-flood-light-ws2811-pixel/

 

Tom, what's your process please? Do you get multiple floods IR with one arduino, or does each flood need one stuck on the front? Controlled via Wifi or similar or pre-programmed?

[ImagineerTom]

We tend to have 4 rgb floods around a kingpole so have one (Addressable) IR repeater on each kingpole making all those lights do the same thing. On some tents there’s just an ir receiver that we point the original remote at to repeat out to each kingpole. On others I’ve made up a multi channel master remote control using pure arduino code that transmits out to relay units that convert and transmit the IR.

 

In that forum link I sent someone has worked out the ir codes and done a lot of the legwork so that in theory you could just chop the ir receiver off and replace with a wireless receiver (which could be addressable) enabling you to have wireless control over individual lights and open up the possibility of having sequences controlled by a master unit.

 

The “secret” to arduino control is to devise an “output” that converts from arduino world into whatever control route you choose for the lights (either ir transmitter or pumping codes directly into the light) then devise another arduino gimmick that you use as your input - anything from simple IR reader / broadcaster right through to a proprietary controller interface that has programs in it. If you design the system like that then you can take advantage of the many ready made arduino sketches and modules to give you options like wireless / WiFi / 433htz communication between the modules as well as enabling you to create alternative master control units that have direct control or which can take DMX signals - again there’s ready made sketches and modules that you can just boot on once you’ve got your core architecture in place.

 

I’ve got a busy few days but later in the week I’ll dig out a spare RGB light and see if I can bash together a sketch code that works with the hack suggestion that bypasses the existing control system.

 

T

[TomHoward]

Thanks for that. Is the IR receiver on the front of the device by the chip, and using one transmitter further down the pole hits all four floods?

 

We have been using WS2811/2 pixel tape and Arduino pretty heavily for both lighting/decoration and making digital signage / scoreboards out of it, using tape to make 7 segment displays. Pretty much all made with pixel tape and ESP32s rather than proper arduinos, so input is either via Bluetooth for a scoreboard or via Artnet over WIFI converted to WS281x control. It could be quite straightforward to convert from Artnet or DMX to the IR needed for these floods - that said, if the WS2811 floods are reliable they could be done from Artnet or DMX with off the shelf nodes.

[ImagineerTom]

Like all generic Chinese products- it varies. Some have the receiver next to the LED, others have it on a 6” bit of wire coming out the back.