Lighting Board

[tss_rocks]

Hey All,

We're getting ready to do a fashion show at our school. Yesterday our old (20-year old) Strand Mantrix II was acting kind of weird. When we plugged it in and gave it a whirl today, no luck.

We're tossing our old AMX board in the trash, and have an AMX-DMX controller card installed in the CD80 Dimmer Pack and we're renting a Jands 24 Ch. lighting console; which gets the job done.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a 24 Channel lighting board with the following:
-DMX (Obviously)
-Bump Buttons
-Chases
- 2x24 and 48 channel mode

We're also looking for a "budget-friendly" board too. We dont have a whole lot to spend. Thank you sooo much guys!

[bdesmond]

ETC and Strand both make 24/48 boards which are easy enough to use. I'm not sure what your definition of budget friendly is (really varies), but, my guess is that both desks are in the $3K - $4K range.

Both desks are pretty intuitive, and are capable of controlling intelligent fixtures. If you're plannign to ever expand the # of channels you need, the Strand 300 desk would probably be a better choice, as you can buy panels for it which add an additional 24 channels at a time. The ETC board is one big piece of plastic.

[Les]

On ETC Boards such as the Expression III, you can add dimmers to expand the number of channels without having to perform 'surgery'. All you have to do is add dimmers whenever you are ready. There is no soft-patching necessary, because you have direct access to all channels. To store channels or looks, you have ten pages of twenty four overlappimg submasters. The Expression III, however, would not be considered very budget-friendly, at around 20k. Whichever way I look at it, I would buy the ETC (such as an Express 96ch) which would probably fit your budget and application very well. I wouldn't go with the Strand because the last one I used may have well have been manufactured by Fisher-Price, because it was a horible desk. I was not happy with it at all. My Expression III is constructed of durable steel, by the way.

[tss_rocks]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. We went with the Jands ESP II 24, the company we're currently renting it from is going to sell it to us the exact model, brand new for $2,100 (CDN). Not bad at all.

I really like it, it's a major step up from the Mantrix, and will serve us well. Our school is scheduled to close June 2006, but if it does remain open, we've been promised a new auditorium, and we've been told that this board will suit our needs now and in the future if that does happen.

Once again, thanks for your help.
--Matt

[gpag]

do you by any chance go to mount carmel?

[jonhirsh]

Your in ontario so you can give chrsitie lights a call.

If your really in the market for console you can shoot me an email with your contact info and ill pass it on to some sales reps.

Your best bet for a cheep console is a jands esp 24/48 im sure chrstie still has a few of them and they are dirt cheep.

JH

ps. just read your post about the esp dont but it new it is a waste of money get it used. I bought one for a school used and it has operated problem free for 5 years now.

[fredthe]

Ummm... before there are more posts with recommendations... note that this is over 2 years old, and his school should already be closed

[jonhirsh]

Great thanks
smack head on desk.

JH

[Van]

Originally Posted by fredthe

Ummm... before there are more posts with recommendations... note that this is over 2 years old, and his school should already be closed

hehehe you beat me to it.

[TechiGoz]

While Strand and ETC are both good for their 24/48 desks, i've got three other options you could consider, most of which are in the good quality for small cost catagory.

1) Jands ESP II 24/48. Has what you want, chases, bump buttons, 24 with two presets or 48 in wide mode, 512 DMX, FX and XF Cues and programming capabilities. I have worked with these boards for a long time, and they are almost maintenence free, with many boards working with no problems for years. They are a relatively good price too.

2) LSC Atom. Pretty much a ESP but with a slightly different user interface. Has the normal 512 DMX, bump buttons, presents in 24, 48 or wide mode with 48 channels. 9 pages of sub-masters, with easy to create chases, XF and FX cues all in one.

3) Maxim have a good desk, which is basically just a LSC Atom with a bit more of a user interface. Has all the necessities, as stated above, and should suit your needs.

All three of these boards I have used, and most are hassle free. The only problem I have encountered is that the Maxim needs to be off at the desk, but on at the mains power so the internal battery can be charged. My programmer didn't know this, and he lost a day's worth of programming because the board was switched off at the wall after the days work, and had no onboard battery left for back up, or memory storage. Apart from that though, these boards are, in my opinion, very good value for money and should suit your needs perfectly.

Dan