Lighting desk recommendations

[Krais]

Hi All,

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere, please point me in the right direction if I've just missed it!

I assist various am dram groups, village halls etc and have found a strand 12/2 lighting desk sufficient for the typical shows however with our equipment slowly moving to LED the channel requirements is growing and a 12 channel desk has become limiting and not letting us make the most out of an LED rig.

Our budget is going to be around the £1500 mark, and I'm looking for something that is not only quick to set up but can also be handed to user with minimal training. I know that's looking for the best of both worlds but typically a village hall group can manage someone to push levers but will only spare the time to rig lights and that person will then need to program on the fly.

Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

[Bryson]

I'm assuming you have DMX and dont also need analog...

 

There's a few Jands Stage CLs knocking around secondhand sites at the minute, that would do you nicely.  A new one might be just in budget.

Zero 88 FLX S24 1 Universe is only just over budget - Stage Electrics advertise it at just over 1600 quid.

 

[sandall]

31 minutes ago, Bryson said:

I'm assuming you have DMX and dont also need analog...

If not, it should be easy to add a demultiplexer to your dimmers, but (alarm bells ringing) if your Strand desk is feeding old Strand dimmers they probably work on 0v to -10v, rather than 0v to +10v, in which case you probably need to look for something 2nd-hand.

[themadhippy]

Quote

if your Strand desk is feeding old Strand dimmers they probably work on 0v to -10v, rather than 0v to +10v, in which case you probably need to look for something 2nd-hand.

No need for second hand the showtec multi exchanger will take in dmx and spit out + 10 or  -  10v . If however  the stand dimmers are expecting D54,well good luck,  Dmx to D54 convertors are nearly as  common  as rocking horse manure.

[Bryson]

FYI, at least with the Pathway DMX to 0 to 10V converters, you can just wire them "backwards" and they work just fine with old stuff thats expects 0 to -10v.  I have several installs out there with DMX control over old Strand JTM or STM dimmers that work that way.

[sunray]

6 minutes ago, Bryson said:

FYI, at least with the Pathway DMX to 0 to 10V converters, you can just wire them "backwards" and they work just fine with old stuff thats expects 0 to -10v.  I have several installs out there with DMX control over old Strand JTM or STM dimmers that work that way.

How does that work?

 

[Tomo]

Some demux units have individually isolated 0 to 10V outputs.

As individually-isolated outputs don't have any common reference, they'll drive either polarity when wired appropriately.

[sunray]

3 hours ago, Tomo said:

Some demux units have individually isolated 0 to 10V outputs.

As individually-isolated outputs don't have any common reference, they'll drive either polarity when wired appropriately.

I have no problems with the operation if they are individual & isolated,  however to date I've only encountered them in groups of 4, 6 etc and so far only a common pin, I made up a cable just a couple of weeks back, DB25 (with only one common) to 4x 8 pin Din (with one common each) which is typical of what I've come across and until now assumed it's standard..

[sandall]

10 hours ago, themadhippy said:

No need for second hand the showtec multi exchanger will take in DMX and spit out + 10 or  -  10v .

I was assuming that even a new showtec would break the budget (& that DB25 outputs might put off the non-technical)

[Krais]

We’ve got alpha packs for the conventional so shouldn’t be any issues there, it’s just about upgrading the desk to something that can provide enough control to mix both conventional and a handful of LEDs without just using faders for RGB.

[xllx]

I would second the recommendation for a Jands CL, I have used one a fair bit for a mix of conventionals tungsten lights and LED uplighters or par cans. I believe the ETC Colorsource is also an option, but I haven't used one.

They do crop up rarely in the secondhand market, though I believe AC-ET are the UK Jands dealers if you are buying new.

The only issue with going for a Jands CL, is that while they will handle multi channel LED fixtures, they are no good for moving lights if you are likely to need those in the future.

 

 

[TomHoward]

Here's what's going to surely be the least popular suggestion in this thread: we are using iPads with Luminair (other packages are available) for this sort of thing. They are easy to program scenes, powerful, work seamlessly with dimmers & LED fixtures. If your users are basically computer/tablet literate they can be picked up really easily as people don't seem as scared of them as other devices. (If they aren't though it will probably be a nightmare).

We set them up with an ArtNet node on the venue wifi, program up the generics and RGB and people seem to take to them so quickly. If you have an iPad they can be much cheaper than a lightly console, if you don't frankly they still work out cheaper in the end.

I know that's a very left field suggestion, and we're usually working with students and primary school teachers / staff who tend to be slightly more computer literate, so it may well not work for you, but if you already have some of the equipment it can work in some situations.

[Muller_Light]

Like the iPad Luminair idea - as you say easy for people more used to computers/tablets.

As it is a monthly license, if you are only doing a couple of shows a year, can you just buy it for single months at a time?