Phil
Senior Engineer
Posts: 178
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Post by Phil on Jul 19, 2006 20:14:25 GMT 1
Hi there, i dont suppose anyone has ever used or tried using the cheap 150w £5 outdoor floods for a gig. I have heard they give a good effect but I am woundering what they are like for being on for a while and maybe dimming them a bit?
Thanks
Phil
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Post by Pete on Jul 19, 2006 22:04:34 GMT 1
Indoors or Out?
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Phil
Senior Engineer
Posts: 178
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Post by Phil on Jul 20, 2006 16:30:02 GMT 1
I would be using them indoor and i know they would have to be off the ground a bit. I could easily make a bracket.
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Post by soundmanjim on Jul 21, 2006 1:16:04 GMT 1
i thought of doing that; esp using the homebase 150w floods; i tried a gel on one once and it melted it in seconds!!!
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Post by John Bell on Jul 21, 2006 18:50:30 GMT 1
Hi Jim, I also tried that once, on a 300w version and melted a filter instantly. I have never tried dimming one, but I wouldn't trust them indoors as they produce far too much heat and are not robust enough for gigging. My next door neighbour, pointed one out of his garage window once and it broke the glass within minutes, in spite of leaving a good gap. John.
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Phil
Senior Engineer
Posts: 178
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Post by Phil on Jul 22, 2006 21:02:11 GMT 1
I am currently thinking of making my own version of i-solution but anolouge controlled by a lighting desk i am making.
Desk will cost £10-20 for switches and triacs and getting a few halogen lamps £2 each (from thomann) and getting my dad 2 build me up a case and wire the mains (so I dont frazzel) lol
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Post by soundmanjim on Jul 23, 2006 4:22:00 GMT 1
i did once think how funny it would be to leave the sensors on them...as the band run about on the stage, they would go on and off as they moved toward each light. hysterical.
seriously; theres a few people on ebay selling dimmer packs for £69; you can run (allegedly) 8 par56 cans off of one dimmer (2 cans per channel) as long as dimmer itself is hard wired into the mains. behringer and soundtech do cheap lighting desks, and then all you need is about 20-30 metres of dmx cable (DONT use mike cables!!) .
re your gear you are making -
make sure you get all your 240v wiring checked by an electrician before you use them in anger dude! (cover yourself in case of accident)
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Phil
Senior Engineer
Posts: 178
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Post by Phil on Jul 23, 2006 11:15:46 GMT 1
That would br pritty funny lol ;D the sensors usually cost more than the lights tho lol. About the desk My dad knows all his electronics and stuff he has done quite alot of things for me regarding fixing up old amps and stuff. - and I get him to do a unofficial PAT test. all you need is a multi meter. I was looking at this from thomann £68 4 channels with faders flash buttons 42 progs with chase and sound 4 amp per channel - work that out later with my maths how many lamps I could run with different wattage lamps - I imagine about 3/4 par 56 www.thomann.de/thoiw2_stairville_dc405s_lauflichtsteuerung_prodinfo.html?sn=3947b248973d4e0cde98464d68447aa2#fpix
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Post by John Bell on Jul 24, 2006 10:18:16 GMT 1
Hi Phil, I use Ryger dimmer/controllers and they handle 5 amps max per channel, but are powered by a 13amp plug. They will only handle 2x par 56 (300w) or 1 par 64 (500w) or 1 Multi-Par (575w), per channel. John.
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Post by soundmanjim on Jul 24, 2006 10:29:25 GMT 1
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Phil
Senior Engineer
Posts: 178
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Post by Phil on Jul 29, 2006 21:46:44 GMT 1
I was actually looking at that because i dont like the idea of running power from back to the stage with the controller/dimmer becuase it would be more hassel than running 1 dmx cable.
I think they have 16 effects in or something so you can use them stand alone. What are they like/what types of effect. I imagine just aload of chases or does it have a built in mic?
Do they have DMX out aswell to link units?
Thanks
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Post by soundmanjim on Jul 29, 2006 22:34:30 GMT 1
they are really quite good.
they run sound to light, manual, or dmx mode, and you can daisy chain them along. (yes they have dmx in and out!) quite useful actually becuase when the hall has a wedding disco or similar function i just set the thing to sound-to-light and leave my light desk off.
brilliant.
Not the best in the world, but still good value; the ones i have are still fine after 2 years use, every friday and saturday.
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Phil
Senior Engineer
Posts: 178
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Post by Phil on Jul 30, 2006 12:13:00 GMT 1
How are the sockets connected is it just 4 channel and 2 per channel or 8 channels?
Also with cheap controllers... say where there are only 6 faders and nothing else can you programme e.g channels 2,4,6 off 1 fader and group lights. Or would i need a bigger controller/more? - just thinking about what sort of desk I would need to buy if I were wanting to run a few of those dimmers
thanks
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Post by soundmanjim on Jul 31, 2006 22:33:04 GMT 1
hi phil. there are 8 sockets (4 pairs). on the dimmer, when the dmx address is set to A0001, (via the keys on the front) i can control the four pairs from the first four faders. to get the next dimmer, i set that one to A0005, then i get faders 5,6,7+8 controlling that dimmer. OR i can set the second dimmer to A0001 like the first one and i can control all the lamps from four faders. i usually set fader one yellow, fader two green, fader three red, fader four blue. you can put as many dimmers in the chain as you like, just set each one to read the right dmx address. theres plenty of cheap light controllers out there; one good one is the DJ MINGLE www.botex.com/3/dm16.htmlthis is a great gadget, and quite cheap. it can get a bit confusing but theres nothing like sitting in the hall on your own at 4 in the morning with a cup of coffee playing lights in the quiet!
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Mark
Apprentice
Posts: 33
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Post by Mark on Aug 16, 2006 20:28:32 GMT 1
We used 300w flood lights for years on dimmers, in the first half of the gig we had them gelled green on the drum kit then in the second half we used them as audience blinders and the lamps lasted months (on the road aswell) i wouldn't recomend you have them on constantly as the lamps produce silly amounts of heat and would be a health and saftey hazard if you had them in the way on stage. i suggest you hang them using a dimmer and keep the brigtness down.
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