Q Commander

[lampieman]

Hi all, I know from doing a search here that many dont like the Q Commanders, however I managed to pick up a bargain and it arrived after a little bit of hassle.

 

The problem is that I was sent and no PSU supplied, I have tried to email both the seller and he is now not answering my emails. also tried Light Processor via email and they so far havent returned with a reply.

 

was wondering if anyone on here had a PSU that I can have, also PCMCIA card, or does anyone know where I can pick such items up without paying the full whack, from Light Processor, I looked on AC Lighting and they was selling the PCMCIA cards at around £130 a piece which I feel is really steep.

 

Gareth

[scott]

HI gareth

 

Have you tried to contact lightfactor ?? I think they own the light processor brand www.lightfactor.co.uk their website does barely work. When I called them to get hold of new manual I was told that the company that owns zero88 now owns them, think its called polaron??? and thats why their websites are down aswell as their customer service.

 

 

scott

 

BTW pm me if you need the latest revision of their manual.

[lampieman]

I have tried Emailing them with no responce yet, I did email them the other week, and they replied fairly quickly.

 

Gareth

[Ben]

Hi

 

to clarify, Zero88, Lightfactor, Lightprocessor, I-lite, Marata and many others are all now Divisions of Polaron Controls.

 

Lightfactor is the exclusive distributor for all Lightprocessor products at present and this is not set to change.

 

Back to the Qcommander, the PSU is available and is not that expensive I think from memory it lists at £33 + VAT but I offer a 25% discount to that so it works out less by a lot, also the PCMCIA cards are available from us, the cards we use are specific high quality and high speed ones. if you wish when getting a new card I will upload the newest version of the software and will make sure you have fixtures you need just let me know when ordering, this is all done Free Of Charge.

 

give me a call at the office tomorrow and I will get everything you need out to you ASAP (I'm in the Service Department)

 

All the best

 

Ben Kovler

 

Lightfactor Service Manager

20 Greenhill Crescent

Watford Business Park

Watford Hertfordshire

WD18 8JAW UK

Mobile: 075950341539

Tel: 01923 698080

Fax: 01923 698081

benkovler@lightfactor.co.uk

www.lightfactor.co.uk

 

PS sorry for the delays in responding to any emails out email server has not been working properly and we are now catching up as fast as we can.

 

Also the website is currently in the middle of a major rebuild and it is hoped that this will be up and running better than ever very soon.

 

if anyone needs anything from manuals to parts call me or email me on the above details, if anyone neds customer services the same applies, if I cant answer your questions I can get on to someone that can and make sure you get an answer,. once gain the company has been having some big problems to do with moving office and management and and this has caused customer services to slide, this is no longer the case and we are endeavoring to correct this as best we can, if you have not had a reply to any email or need any help if you contact me on ben@lightfactor.co.uk I will chase it for you and get back to you as soon as possible. Everyone at Lightfactor is working hard at catching up and making sure that we give only the best service to our customers so please bear with us we are very nearly there but I will chase anything that might have gotten lost if anyone wants and am more than happy to receive copys of emails to make sure they are acted on.

 

if anyones waiting for answers contact me and I will chase it for you/

[Light Tricks]

Hi Gareth,

 

The PSU for the QCommander needs to have an output of about 800mA at 18v DC. However, half of the current is there in case you use a littlelite desk lamp. So you can pick yourself up a 500mA 18vDC supply from Maplin or mail order etc. if you then disconnect the desk light.

 

The cards as supplied by Light Processor are rechargeable, which is the main difference over other 'off the shelf' cards. I'm not sure which version of the desk you have - the 256 channel version (grey in colour with green and white screen print) needs a 512kB card, the 512 channel version (dark blue in colour with white and purple screen print) needs a 1mB card. You can buy these cards elsewhere - many will have button cell batteries as opposed to the rechargeable version, its not a common type of memory card these days - Type 1 SRAM if I remember right. You can use the card to backup a show, or to store a system file (but not both at the same time).

 

As far as no oone liking the QCommander goes, in my experience, those who normally like to use desks like the Pearl, Hog etc who take a step down to the QCommander normally complain at the lack of shape generator. However I think that people who work their way up to it normally find the fixture assignment and straightforward program building a big plus.

 

Its worth remembering that in terms of what else is around in that market at that price, is kit like Masterpiece (no assignable fixtures, no 16 bit DMX channel capability, one passcode for the entire world), NJD Merlin (many of the same issues), and other dedicated controllers. You can buy 5 QCommanders for the cost of a Pearl....

 

I can do most things I needs to do - which range from small clubs, through exhibition stands to live work - quickly and easily. I'd recommend the use of the (optional) Input Extender - which adds 16 faders to the desk. These are just 0-10v analogue inputs so if you have an older analogue desk you can adapt it to do the job.

 

Hope all this helps, if you need anything else, drop me line....

[Ben]

I will admit that the lack of a shape generator is not ideal but if you take into account that the desk is really quite an old thing now its not bad at all, the desk is loved by people in clubs and bars round the world and is perfect for small to medium size shows.

 

Just one note, the 1mB card can be used with either desk but is needed for the 512 version as the smaller card doesn't have enough memory.

 

also from what I know there is discussion as to if it would be a good idea and if there is a want for a Qcom 2 with a built in shape generator and more outputs as the one universe is not that big anymore, I would be very interested to hear any syjestions as to what people would want to see on it or any little tweaks that people think would be a good idea?

 

"You can buy 5 QCommanders for the cost of a Pearl...."

 

and then some, a Qcom 256 lists at £1399 before any sort of discount...

[scott]

I would be very interested in a q commander 2, having a chase generator would be ideal (the only reson I can just stand a masterpiece) also a vdu out and the ability to update the fixture list by the user and not just the manufacturer.

[Ben]

the ability to update the fixture list by the user and not just the manufacturer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

this is somthign we are already looking into as it is not ideal the current way.

[Light Tricks]

So.... do we think these two comments are related....

 

to clarify, Zero88, Lightfactor, Lightprocessor, I-lite, Marata and many others are all now Divisions of Polaron Controls.

 

also from what I know there is discussion as to if it would be a good idea and if there is a want for a Qcom 2 with a built in shape generator and more outputs as the one universe is not that big anymore

 

As has already been stated, the QCommander is a fairly old design now, and as such development of an existing code structure would - I would imagine - be nigh on impossible, and difficult for someone who wasn't the original code writer to work on in any case.

 

Can't really see resources to develop a new desk to compete with products already made under the same roof.

 

And another thing...

 

"and then some, a Qcom 256 lists at £1399 before any sort of discount... "

 

A Pearl lists at £6480 before any sort of discount, so thats 4.63188 QCommanders to be precise.

[scott]

Would it be really that hard to update the software of the q commander??? Wasnt the masterpiece originally released without the chase generator and only added on later as a software update???

[Light Tricks]

Would it be really that hard to update the software of the q commander??? Wasnt the masterpiece originally released without the chase generator and only added on later as a software update???

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I think when you reach the end of a range of processors capability, thats it. Especially when its a 7/8 year old processor. The Masterpiece shape generator, as much as I understand it, just manipulates channels that the user defines, unlike a 'real' shape generator, which will use (for example) pan and tilt channels of fixtures 4-8, And also has functions like limiting the range of the channel and allowing the user to set the offset between fixtures. This needs a whole lot more processing power.

 

For anyone whos interested, the QCommander actually does have this simple manipulation function, (although with fairly limited 'shapes'), under the Moving Zone section. This is found under Attributes in scene programming, and aloows you to choose channels which are then altered according to variuos options.

[lampieman]

Hi guys, I am now getting a new PSU for the desk, however now what I am wondering if anyone has is a PCMCIA card? I am basically looking to get one just to do the updates, I would buy a new one from Light Processor however due to the price I am unable to buy atm, anyone able to help me out the other option is to get it sent in to do it but its the loss of desk.

 

Gareth

[Ben]

Hi

 

To clarify a few of the above points:

 

While it may be possible to update the Qcommander to make it the Qcommander 2 what is being looked at is a complete rebuild and redesign as this would be better from the point of view of service and would also make it easier to update in the future.

 

The idea of rewriting the software however is not impossible at all especially as the original code is still about. This is how we are able to rewrite the software for updates.

 

 

As for the whole why compete with things under the same roof, well we already do that, lightprocessor, I-lite, polaron, I could go on but we all do make products that are similar but not the same, there is always the chance to develop a common base for us all to use and build on but this is not a bad thing as it drives down the costs for everyone and the price to the end user.

 

Also the Qcommander is not really going for the same market that others are, and its not looking to go that way but it has a massive international fan base and is used all over the world in bars clubs and shows, the thought is not lets get a bigger market share by doing what others can but lets give people the chance to stay with what they know and like while using more kit than they would have 5 years ago that the Qcommander is now able to do but will it be able to keep up in 3 years time? I would say that any desk that the manufacturer is looking at improving is always a good thing, if it is good now it will only get better.

 

The Qcommander is a very easy desk to use and is ideal for use in schools and the like as its very intuitive and the only real bad points are the card issues with them not being a common part of kit in the unformatted state that the desk uses, and the lack of a proper shape generator.

 

Ben Kovler

Lightfactor Service Manager

[Light Tricks]

The idea of rewriting the software however is not impossible at all especially as the original code is still about. This is how we are able to rewrite the software for updates.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There have been no feature upgrades for the QCommander since the version 2 software (for the 256 channel version) approx 5 years ago.

 

As for the whole why compete with things under the same roof, well we already do that, lightprocessor, I-lite, polaron, I could go on but we all do make products that are similar but not the same, there is always the chance to develop a common base for us all to use and build on but this is not a bad thing as it drives down the costs for everyone and the price to the end user.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My point was for future development, not existing products. Almost everything is loosely based on a pc now anyway. I just can't see how Zero will be developing one set of desks and dimmers, and Light Processor will develop another when they're both in the entertainment side of the industry, as opposed to I-Light (Architectural) Polaron (Projects) and Philips (industrial).

[Ben]

My point was for future development, not existing products. Almost everything is loosely based on a pc now anyway. I just can't see how Zero will be developing one set of desks and dimmers, and Light Processor will develop another when they're both in the entertainment side of the industry, as opposed to I-Light (Architectural) Polaron (Projects) and Philips (industrial).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

While I can see your point the idea for now at least is to keep the options open to the consumer as to what they would like to use, also the Light processor side is not just entertainment and is used in clubs and bars round the world as well as schools and the entertainment side of the industry. there is however the chance to develope better products with the combined knowledge of the companies that due to the base being similar would also be cheaper as the numbers produced could be greater.

 

No one can say now what will happen in the future but for the time being at least Light Processor is going to continue all its current products and will still be looking at new projects.