Strand Mini 2?

[ojc123]

A long time ago the school I worked at had a Strand lighting desk and dimmers. I'm working with the new Performing Arts people to produce a history of the school theatre before my memory turns to engine oil.

 

The dimmers had 2x5A sockets per channel with a fuse above each pair. As I remember it had a green hammerite type finish. (I'm colour blind so green-grey-blue might also work.) I'd always thought it was a Strand Mini 2 but the only images I can find looks different. This seems to be a mini 2+.

 

Do any older members recollect a Strand desk and dimmers which match my description and can point me at what I'm looking for?

 

Thanks in advance.

[bruce]

Pretty sure there were various models, all superficially similar but different connectors, fuse positions etc. I remember (late 70s) our school had the 5A version, but the community hall next door inconveniently had the same things with 15A.

 

maybe you're thinking of https://www.theatrecrafts.com/archive/albumviewer.php?id=1&page=12&type=a

 

The later ones had 8 pin Bleecon/DIN connectors for the 6ch analogue input; the earlier ones had a big 8 pin Bulgin octal connector that looked like a valve base. Until my last clear-out, I had a set of adaptors out in the garage...

[ojc123]

That's the one! Thank you. Case closed.

[Junior8]

Your description is of the Mini 2 with the large fuse holders as shown in Bruce's link which I first came across in 1972. The price was high and not competitive with the Junior 8 which was still listed I think until 1970 and maybe even later though it doesn't appear in that 1971 brochure. I don't think the competition had anything quite so neat in the solid state portable line at the time. I beleiev the first version had 1 5A per channel.

 

Pressed post too late but let it stand.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Junior8

[sandall]

Funnily enough all the ones I came across (from the 70s up to about 10 years ago) had brick-red front panels

[gareth]

Red front panels were Tempus - Mini2's successor.

[sandall]

Red front panels were Tempus - Mini2's successor.

Quite right - memory isn't what it used to be

 

 

 

[delicolor]

A picture in glorious Rank green here:

 

BETA

[sunray]

Your description is of the Mini 2 with the large fuse holders as shown in Bruce's link which I first came across in 1972. The price was high and not competitive with the Junior 8 which was still listed I think until 1970 and maybe even later though it doesn't appear in that 1971 brochure. I don't think the competition had anything quite so neat in the solid state portable line at the time. I beleiev the first version had 1 5A per channel.

 

Pressed post too late but let it stand.

I think the Junior 8 was available just a bit later than 1972. In 1973/4 I did some part time work for the local council across their various entertainment venues, I assisted with installing a new Junior8.

 

After sept 74 (when no longer doing the PT work) I installed new speakers in one venue where they still had an HA8 (not sure if I have the exact title) with its cotton twisted flex and 2pin plugs on the dimmers. At a time after that the HA8 was replaced with a Junior8.

 

 

I can only quote the years by the vehicles I owned at the time and carried the new speakers in the vehicle purchased in Sept 74.

My estimation is the Junior 8 was installed in 1975 at the earliest or more likely 1976. It is of course possible it was a S/H unit but the 73/4 unit was new.

Edited October 1, 2021 by sunray

[paulears]

I rather liked the Mini 2 5a version. I was allowed time from school at 14 to spend time at the old Lowestoft Theatre Centre where I happily stayed gir many years till it morphed into the Seagull Theatre and lost it’s charm. The advisory drama fella for the county council was called Terry Deary, who went on to write some Horrible Histories. The Mini 2 was pretty reliable, all 18 channels of it, but the faders attracted dust, when I misunderstood Strands instructions about a smear of Vaseline to sort out stiff faders. They meant on the slide bar, not the track!

[Junior8]

Thinking back I can recall a Junior 8 being installed - and never used actually - in 1974 (it went into a skip in 1992) and Furse carried on listing their version for a little longer iirc.

[ianknight]

Pretty sure there were various models, all superficially similar but different connectors, fuse positions etc. I remember (late 70s) our school had the 5A version, but the community hall next door inconveniently had the same things with 15A.

 

maybe you're thinking of https://www.theatrecrafts.com/archive/albumviewer.php?id=1&page=12&type=a

 

The later ones had 8 pin Bleecon/DIN connectors for the 6ch analogue input; the earlier ones had a big 8 pin Bulgin octal connector that looked like a valve base. Until my last clear-out, I had a set of adaptors out in the garage...

 

I've never seen Mini 2's with Bleecons fitted except as "home mod's" - I've always had to use the Octal adaptors (and yeah - I've still got a couple somewhere 'just in case'). I think the fuses were moved on to the individual modules as it simplified the wiring internal to the rack so it was easier to swap out & repair faulty modules.

 

As a side note, I'm still finding it amusing that Strand & Zero88 are now part of the same group and that Keith @ Zero might have to go on a course to repair Strand gear :P

[kgallen]

As a side note, I'm still finding it amusing that Strand & Zero88 are now part of the same group and that Keith @ Zero might have to go on a course to repair Strand gear :P

 

I suspect Keith will know far more about the Strand products than the person "training" him (as in, I doubt that Strand was left with any "original" technical employees that know the faintest thing about their products).

[sunray]

As a side note, I'm still finding it amusing that Strand & Zero88 are now part of the same group and that Keith @ Zero might have to go on a course to repair Strand gear :P

 

I suspect Keith will know far more about the Strand products than the person "training" him (as in, I doubt that Strand was left with any "original" technical employees that know the faintest thing about their products).

 

Often the case.

[paulears]

I've still got that 1971 catalogue with the greenish price list. Pretty much they were how you learned what things actually did, as books were very behind in the library - so I remember being quite scared when I jumped into Fred Bentham expecting him to be a friendly, affable fella and discovering a rather grumpy intolerant old grump. He didn't seem to like youngsters at all.