erik10_4 Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Having run our first charity AmDram with hired lighting, I am looking to get together sufficient kit to run the next show without the need to hire lighting equipment. I have started small with the purchase of a cheap (but good condition) Pulsar 6-way analogue lighting desk and am about to buy a second-hand Strand Tempus 15A Dimmer rack. Now, I think that they both connect with the 8-pin cable supplied with the Pulsar desk..... but that the pin configuration on Pulsar & Strand units is different. Is rewiring the dimmer end simple....or am I being simple!! P.S Apart from ebay and UsedLighting.co.uk (expensive) are there any other good sources for the bits & pieces I need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Hold it - if my ageing mempory serves, the Strand tempus requires negative control (-10V) and Pulsar uses positive control (+10V) so the two devices are incompatible and cant be just plugged into each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Are you any good with a soldering iron? Try this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 As dbuckley says, strand uses -10V and pulsar dimmers use +10v. So your pulsar desk will also use +10v. I've no experience of that particular desk - some are switchable to use -10V, but I don't think that one does. So you'll need an inverter if you want to join the two. Are you any good with a soldering iron - the components to build a 6-way inverter will probably cost less than a fiver, not including the cost of the box or PSU. I can point you towards some circuits, but unless you've built electronics kit before, it's probably not worth trying. For reference, you'll need 1x op-amp and 3x resistors per channel - so 2x quad op-amps, 18 resistors and some veroboard should do the job. Also, be aware that even if you are using "normal" +10v dimmers - ie just about everyone except Strand - Pulsar tend to use a different pin-out from just about everyone else. Everyone else follows the strand/Zero88 pinout numbering. So you may need a cross-wired cable. more details HERE. Edit: Pah - beaten to it! I built one of these a couple of years ago - an 18 channel one, using quad op-amps - which fitted on a bit of veroboard about 3" x 4". Not difficult, but messy - that bit of board had about 40 wires coming off it.... I don't have it any more - I got rid of my Strand analogue kit last year on Ebay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik10_4 Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 Thanks for the quick replies (and the DIN diagrams). I am OK with a soldering iron and would be OK with rewiring the cable but it looks like the 10V+ v 10V- thing may be more trouble than it is worth. Question is, do I keep the pulsar desk and look for a pulsar Dimmer or resell the desk and look for a desk compatible with the Strand Dimmer! I suspect that Pulsar compatible Dimmers are hard to come by so looks like I may be better getting rid of the Pulsar desk. Would you agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I'd disagree. Virtually ANY analogue dimmer (except Strand) will be compatible with your Pulsar desk - although you'll have to solder up a crossed cable if it's not a pulsar unit. But it's really only strand desks that can control strand dimmers without some sort of converter box. There are several Pulsar dimmers on Ebay at the moment. In fact, I've got one of the wee 3 channel stand-mount jobs which may well join them there tonight. Another option might be the Soundlab mini-dimmers. Not the ones discussed at length in another recent thread - the ones which are clones of the Showtec Multidim - which I think is DMX-only. I'm thinking of the "shoebox-size" 4 channel one, which has 4x5A IEC outlets, a 13A supply, and both DMX and analogue outputs. You can get these from (eg) CPC (part no DP2753015 ) for 40 pounds each.... It's not the best-quality dimmer in the world - far from it - but a couple of those might do the job for you, if you can live with the power limitations. PS - welcome to the Blue Room! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik10_4 Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 Cheers Bruce. Now here is where you find out just how much of an ignorant novice I am! Will the sort of Dimmer you describe (I.e being sold by CPC) work with 500W + standard theatre lights? (e.g Fresnels, Profiles, PCs etc). The kit I have seen so far uses those chunky round pin plugs (15 or 16A I think) rather than 'kettle' plugs. Might be totally irrelevant but I am not sure whether this has anything to do with the power requirement of the these theatre lanterns (rather than simple parcans) though, in truth, the whole setup draws power from a 13A supply in the type of venue we are using (I.e 3kW max load). :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bright spark Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Hi Eric, 4 x 5A gives you 1200W per channel. But obviously, you cannot run all channels at 1200W of a 13A suply at once. Some dimmers have a 'total loading' ie, some dimmers have 6x10A, but only 40A total can be used. If you find a venue with a 32A outlet, you could have a distro taking you to Powercon, and fit the dimmer with powercon to allow for the total 20A, providing the dimmer allows 20A for input, not a maximum of 13A. The 15/16A plugs are more to do with standards than anything else, unless the units are big, ie over 3KW. P.S: it may be worth you looking at this http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showtopic=9396 gives some electrical calculation information, not that I am saying you don't know them :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik10_4 Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 Love the blue-room! I am soaking up information like the proverbial sponge and learning by the minute. I don't feel insulted or patronised by any of the advice being given (perhaps a bit confused...but not insulted). If you good people bear with me I'm sure I'll get there (safely!). My basic desire is to have a portable (big carload) lighting rig with no more than 6 of the type of lanterns described above attached. In truth, with the type of production we are putting on, we dont need more than 3 lanterns illuminated at any one time (e.g 2 X 1Kw + 1 500W max), but I probably do need to have the 6 lamps connected to the control desk to provide flexibility. I also need to deploy lights which have a good 'throw' since they normal have to be sited at the rear of a 30+ foot hall. I therefore need the control desk and dimmer that will operate this kind of setup. Trouble is I am trying to do this on a budget (my sole budget!) and with no previous experience. Thanks loads for your help so far. Regards :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mush Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Question is, do I keep the pulsar desk and look for a pulsar Dimmer or resell the desk and look for a desk compatible with the Strand Dimmer! I suspect that Pulsar compatible Dimmers are hard to come by so looks like I may be better getting rid of the Pulsar desk. Would you agree? Analogue is much more standard +10V way, subject to pinout, Pulsar ,Zero88, Eltec see on ebay as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted November 7, 2005 Share Posted November 7, 2005 In danger of going :huh:, but someone has just sold one of the wee soundlab dimmers on Ebay. You can buy them new for less than 50 pounds. This one sold for 103, plus 10 quid postage. Bizarre. Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maeterlinck Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 People can be funny on ebay - getting hooked on items and 'needing' to buy them regardless of the cost. Great for those of us that sell stuff there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back_ache Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Does anyone know where I can buy, or who makes a ready-made inverter unit as my customer does not like the look of custom electronics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 I bought one a long time ago, I think it was from XTBA. However, it no longer seems to be on their web-site. Might be worth a call though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianl Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 Does anyone know where I can buy, or who makes a ready-made inverter unit as my customer does not like the look of custom electronics. I have 4 for sale http://www.ussu-crew.co.uk/site/for_sale.asp made by pulsar for converting to strand dimmers, takes power from dimmer rack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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