control booth signal lamps ?

[jkowtko]

In order to provide silent communication between the SM and the Sound Op, I'm thinking of a simple Red/Yellow/Green signal light set, which will allow the SM to warn and then cue the Sound Op for cues that are controlled by the SM.

I presume the unit would have a three-button control panel for the SM, a three-light box for the Sound booth, and some length of wire in between. Maybe run off of 12v AC adapter.

If there is something commercially available like this that would be great -- otherwise I'll have to piece it together myself.

Has anyone set up something like this? Or some other way of providing silent commmunication between SM and Sound Op?

Thanks. John

 

[Sean]

In order to provide silent communication between the SM and the Sound Op, I'm thinking of a simple Red/Yellow/Green signal light set, which will allow the SM to warn and then cue the Sound Op for cues that are controlled by the SM.

I presume the unit would have a three-button control panel for the SM, a three-light box for the Sound booth, and some length of wire in between. Maybe run off of 12v AC adapter.

If there is something commercially available like this that would be great -- otherwise I'll have to piece it together myself.

Has anyone set up something like this? Or some other way of providing silent commmunication between SM and Sound Op?

Thanks. John

Um, that's called a "Cue Light". Don't over think it. "On" is standby, "off" is GO.

There are several commercially available cue light systems, but none of them are cheap. If this is just for the sound op, just build it yourself.

--Sean

 

[DaveySimps]

I agree with Sean. It can be as simple as a colored light, extension cord, and power strip. If you are set on spending money, below are some links I found.

http://www.tmb.com/Pdf/ProCue-A4-web.pdf

http://perfectcue.com/Brochures/PerfectCueBrochure.pdf

SA-QL8 Cue Light System
AMERICAN DJ PC100 8 OUTLET SWITCH PANEL PLUG | IDJNOW.COM


~Dave

 

[philhaney]

In order to provide silent communication between the SM and the Sound Op, I'm thinking of a simple Red/Yellow/Green signal light set, which will allow the SM to warn and then cue the Sound Op for cues that are controlled by the SM.

We used them when I was in Toastmasters for giving time remaining cues to the speaker. I checked their website and didn't find anything. Your best bet is going to be making one yourself.

 

[Chris15]

Search for cue light here and you should find the thread from I think within the last year that went into a reasonable amount of details about how one can build a cue light system...

 

[Dillon]

Ditto the single cue light. That's the way the entire rest of the professional theatre world does it. Keep it simple -- much less for you to maintain that way.

 

[Eboy87]

The Muny has a LittleLite on its side they use as the cue light taped to the top of the console. As the others said, on is standby, off is go. Don't overthink things, in this case, simpler is better.

 

[jkowtko]

I would like to keep it simple. But it looks like there is nothing out there available to buy short of complex and expensive cueing systems. Even using the Littlite idea is a bit too pricey -- I really didn't want to spend more than $10-15 on this.

Looks like I'll have to piece something together. Our TD had already made me a single cue light device but it was pretty bulky ... big transformer nailed to a board, and used a full size AC light switch and box. I was hoping to do something a little nicer and more compact.

I have plenty of compact 12v AC adapters lying around -- so maybe I just need a lighted momentary pushbutton switch, and a couple of small electronic plastic kit enclosures to put the switch and the light in. But if I can get colored switches and LEDs, it should be just as easy to wire up two or three lights in the box vs just one.

 

[Sean]

I would like to keep it simple. But it looks like there is nothing out there available to buy short of complex and expensive cueing systems. Even using the Littlite idea is a bit too pricey -- I really didn't want to spend more than $10-15 on this.

Looks like I'll have to piece something together. Our TD had already made me a single cue light device but it was pretty bulky ... big transformer nailed to a board, and used a full size AC light switch and box. I was hoping to do something a little nicer and more compact.

I have plenty of compact 12v AC adapters lying around -- so maybe I just need a lighted momentary pushbutton switch, and a couple of small electronic plastic kit enclosures to put the switch and the light in. But if I can get colored switches and LEDs, it should be just as easy to wire up two or three lights in the box vs just one.

If this is for just one person/cue, DON'T use multiple lights. It will not gain you anything in actual use. Also, you do NOT want momentary switches. If there's a long standby, you don't want the SM to have to hold the switch down.

You should be able to make something for $0....just using things you'd have around the theatre.

Get a power strip, an extension cord, and any sort of small lamp. Put the smallest wattage bulb you have in the lamp and gel if needed.

If you want to spend ~$30-40 you could build something decent.

--Sean

 

[Eboy87]

Sir, you can't get something nice for nothing in this world, especially in theater. Spend the money to do it right the first time. I'm speaking from experience.

 

[philhaney]

Sir, you can't get something nice for nothing in this world, especially in theater. Spend the money to do it right the first time. I'm speaking from experience.

Too true.....

I would like to keep it simple... I really didn't want to spend more than $10-15 on this... But if I can get colored switches and LEDs, it should be just as easy to wire up two or three lights in the box vs just one.

Remember for each light you put in the box you need another conductor in your connecting cable, plus one for common (three lights = four conductor cable).

 

[SHARYNF]

the cheapest way, certainly not the most elegant but, John wants a cheap solution is to go to a junk yard, get your self a car light setup with a combination of white, yellow and red. Get some cat 5 cable, and three switches, and your 12v wall wart.

wire up the three switches so that you have a comon neutral, combine each of the pairs on the cat 5, power it with the wall wart, and connect to the lights
Definitely not elegant, but certainly cheap ;-)))))

If you want a more elegant solution, get your self three bayonet base sockeds for auto type lamps and then get the colored led plug ins

http://www.superbrightleds.com/tail-brake-turn.html

Sharyn

 

[Chris15]

I mentioned it earlier, but I think we came to reasonably practical solutions in this thread as to doing it with LEDs quickly and relatively painlessly...

 

[jkowtko]

Thanks Chris -- I couldn't find the thread earlier because it's in the SM forum and also has a hyphen in the name (which the search engine doesn't forgive).

Yes, that sounds like the level of device I was thinking of.

I like the XLR cabling idea -- makes length much more flexible.

Can you try resending the pics? The URLs above reference a local C drive, and I didn't find any pics on the other thread.

Thanks. John

 

[Chris15]

Can you try resending the pics? The URLs above reference a local C drive, and I didn't find any pics on the other thread.

Thanks. John

I have no idea what firefox did there as I never intended to include pictures, I don't have any relevant... Sorry...