DanielArkley Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 How long from the moment you apply power does it take for a Martin Roboscan Pro918 to strike it's lamp, assuming there is no delay before hand ? Ta,Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 I should imagine around 5 to 30 seconds...it depends on the age of the lamp, the DMX address and the age of the other components. However, the lamp can take up to 5 minutes to get to its correct colour temperature and brightness. For show purposes, most LDs would run the fixtures from "the half" (half an hour before the show goes up) at least - not necessarily for the strike to take place, but because it looks messy to have fixtures striking (they make a "buzz" sound whilst they're doing it) in front of the audience. You should also bear in mind that when you power on the units they go through a self test, which takes around a minute. Make sure the lamp settings are set to ALOn On if you want the units to strike automatically when you power them up, and think about whether you want remote lamp off (DLOf) (? might be DLOn) switched on or off - it can be useful, but could also be embaressing if you accidentally activate it during the show. These features are activated from the user control pannel on the units, or if you ask your hire company they can activate the settings before sending the units out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 most LDs would run the fixtures from "the half" (half an hour before the show goes up) at leastI should bloody well hope so.OK - I'm no lampie and I know bugger all about moving lights (except that if the LD wants some the board op is going to cost me more) but I'd have thought that if a lamp was going to go it was most likely to happen when they strike. In which case you want to do it well before the half to give you time to sort it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielArkley Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 Even "on the half" at our place, we would have a problem replacing a bulb if it went - we have our lighting tower taken down the day before shows so it can be stored neat and tidy in the prop room. If a bulb did go it would take about an hour to get up there and replace, even if the lantern was just a fresnel purely because we would have to assemble the tower (20 mins when we do it), replace the bulb (5 minutes for a fresnel I guess...), and then dismantle the tower and put it away again (only about 15 mins) - the remaining time is for errors such as losing the bulb we are about to put into the lantern etc... What about pre-heating the lights? When should this be done - at the same time as the lamp strike on the movers? When should the preheat be stopped? (Our followspot makes the most annoying buzzing sound when being pre-heated - it is powered off of our dimmers!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Moving light lamps (with the exception of some vari*lites) run their lamps at full all the time, and have a mechanical dimmer. As such, there is no need to pre-heat the lamps. The way that discharge lamps work wouldn't really allow pre-heating anyway, as they are designed to recieve their full load all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicgross Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 I think you mean when to preheat the generics? Most modern(ish) dimmers have auto preheats,(as to mean they keep the lamp at something like 0.5-1% all the time to mimimilise problems such as bulbs going. If yur don't, I recomend doing it manually about 10 - 20 mins before start. Just stick all levels to around 0.5 /1%. Aparently this isn't necissary for pars however? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielArkley Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 The dimmers have a switch on them labelled Pre-Heat which I tend to flick on when I unlock the box, and switch off a couple of minutes before the show starts (I normally do it whilst the teacher "on duty" is doing the strobe lighting, mobile phones etc... talk - it's quite funny listening to the teacher and hearing little clicks as the pre-heat is switched off) Would I actually cause any damage to the lanterns by preheating them for the entire duration of the show? Is it even worth pre-heating them? What kind of a benefit would you get for doing so ? Sorry for all the Q's,Daniel P.S> I meant the generic rig, just forgot to write that :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeggie Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 >Would I actually cause any damage to the lanterns by preheating them for the entire duration of the show? Is it even worth pre-heating them? What kind of a benefit would you get for doing so < as far as I know, the only problem with this is that you will always get that buzzing noise for the duration of the show from the racks. shouldn't be any other problem though( apart from the slight light output) as to the second one, Hell yeah - if you dont preheat them or at least break them in before the show; the lamp life is cut drastically by the sudden change in temperatures involved. the preheat is designed to warm the lamps is such a way as to avoid the time used counting from the lamp life timings. this means that the lamps are more likely to get the full thousand hours out of them as opposed to about 500(ish) without using this in any way. the thing that I used to do (just left my venue that didnt have pre-heat) is set all the lamps at 1 for about ten mins before the lamp check to warm them all up to a good level so that they will not complain (with a flash+pop) when flashed during a show. [sorry for long post]cheersandrew clunie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielArkley Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 I was once told that pre-heating generic lamps improved the speed at which they responded to voltage being applied (therefore, they take less time to get to full brightness). Is this true? Will they respond to flashing quicker? One more Q (for the moment): Is it a good idea to preheat a followspot bulb? We aren't lucky enough to have discharge or Xenon lamps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicgross Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 ahh..... discharge.....I WANT ONE!!! I've always been told that you should preheat anything with a filiment? What kinda kit do you guys have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielArkley Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 We have some kind of Pulsar dimmers connected to a Pulsar Demultiplexer connected to a Zero88 Alcora. We have a Pulsar Jumbo Strobe. CCT Silhouette follow spot (x1.5 - one of them is missing the entire lamp housing) which are 1.2kw each. We also have a variety of CCT lanterns (I think its 6 floods, 4 profiles, and about 6 fresnels and PCs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeggie Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 hi in my training I was told that anything with a filament controlled by a dimmer should be heated up before the lamp checks. I suppose that they will respond quicker to flashes, but this is not to be seen as an excuse for increasing the amounts of flashes used as they all dramatically reduce the lamp life from the temperature voltage. Mmmmmm, discharge lamps. with that lovely green light at the start and the startling buZZ that always wakes the actors up to the lights above them - wondering what just died :( . - looking forwards to that for thursday B) cheers.andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinw Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 Moving light lamps (with the exception of some vari*lites) run their lamps at full all the timeSome moving lights actually reduce the power to the lamp when the shutter is closed to reduce current consumption (and heat generation). Off the top of my head, I think x-spot and Mac 2K series do this. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelic Posted August 6, 2003 Share Posted August 6, 2003 Sorry to bend the topic slightly, but Daniel just mentioned demultiplexers. I'm after a demux myself, and I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations? I've been looking at Zero 88s Demux 48, but I would (as per usual!) prefer something slightly cheaper and more expansive in the way of channels. I know Botex/Showtec and their many clones do one that's cheap to a silly degree, and has (if memory serves) 72 channels - but can I trust something like this :( ! Any help appreciated. Regards, Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 6, 2003 Share Posted August 6, 2003 That wouldn't be this one http://216.71.107.24/WEB%20LIGHT%20CTRL/ME-72.JPG By any chance would it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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