Need simple dimmer packs and board

[Mavs]

My church's high school group is going to local nursing homes over the holidays and putting on a small production. One of the parents found a good deal on 8 par cans and bought them not realizing that to use them well, you need dimmer packs and a light board. We gave away all the portable dimmer packs we had when we built a new facility and the extra light board is to complex for running eight par cans and asking someone with no experience would be asking for trouble.

I want to find very simple but still high quality dimmer packs and a control board for the group. All the dimmer packs have to do is dim the lights. All the board has to do is control 8 lights. It does not need cross faders, scenes, cues or chases.

I have no trouble finding lighting equipment with so many bells and whistles that it is overwhelming, of course they are priced to match.

Any suggestions on simple but yet high quality dimmer packs and light boards.

[len]

Buy or rent?

If buying, Elation has a package that will do what you want. 2 packs and a controller, but I don't know if that was put together by a retailer or not. Call Bill at ESC. I'm sure he has something that will handle what you need. And don't forget cable.

[Footer]

If you are running 8 pars and they are lamped at 500w, then this is what you want...
4 channel DMX Dimmer Pack - BulbAmerica.com

It will work just as well and as reliably as any NSI pack. If you want to move up to an ETC smartpack, it will cost you 10x as much. Granted, it will last long but...

I would suggest buying 3 or 4 so you have one to swap out. The whole thing won't die, just one channel at a time will go bad.

I have not used it, but... MATRIX Stage 16ch. Lighting Console - BulbAmerica.com

It looks like it will do what you need it to do. They do have 2 dimmer and console packages starting at $345. Not to bad if you ask me.

[echnaret]

This is what I started my church out with:

Elation Stage Pak 1 Dimmer System in a Box and more Lighting & Effects Packages at GuitarCenter.com.

I've also gotten 4 of those BulbAmerica packs, and they've worked pretty well so far (super light use, a couple times a year, I've had them for maybe 2 years now).

[dramatech]

I purchased three of the bulb america packs (the $69.95 version), and they sent me the Matrix ones that they advertise for considerably more money. I understand from others with a similar experience, that this their normal policy.
The three packs have been great, with no glitches at all. I converted all of mine to 5 pin XLR.
We are careful, to not overload them, but frequently run 4 source 4s, one per channel. For anything less than a full rack, I don't think you can get a better deal.

[JD]

As cheap as they are, the "Bulbamerica" packs actually do work well at 500 watts or less. I've had two kicking around for a couple of years and so far so good. Even tried fully loading one up to see what would happen and it worked ok. As with many of the smaller 4-packs, they use 15amp triacs, so I would stay below 500 watts even though they rate them at 10 amps per chn. Also, despite the 2400 watt rating, the plug is only 14/3 with a 15 amp Edison.

[jonliles]

I have 8 of the Bulb America packs. Theyt are going on 4 years of service (irregular use - couple times a year, until recently with much more intensive use, every weekends for several months). I have had a few fuses to go - no big deal. I did recently have a channel go bad. At $70/piece, I am way to lazy to repair it.

Good bang for the buck. I use them with my refurbished NSI 7524 - a 2scene preset w/ cue stack. I've used them with a TL2448 and I have used them with a Chauvet DMX splitter. So far, no problems.

[tcahall]

If you are able to make one step up in price and two or three in quality, look at the Chauvet dim packs. I have had very good luck with them, driving them with a MagicQ console, but also find the Obey 10 or 40 boards to be very cheap and, for the price, rather sophisiticated.

Tim.

[SHARYNF]

If you are traveling around to nursing homes you might want to look at LED Pars like the WDM units. Power might be an issue, and this way you just need the led's and the control board. Might be something to look at

Sharyn

[Footer]

Originally Posted by tcahall

If you are able to make one step up in price and two or three in quality, look at the Chauvet dim packs. I have had very good luck with them, driving them with a MagicQ console, but also find the Obey 10 or 40 boards to be very cheap and, for the price, rather sophisiticated.

Tim.

The bulbamerica packs are sometimes Chauvet... sometimes Elation... just depends. Its kind of like buying a bag of crap from woot.... you never know what you are going to get.