Strand 300

Hughesie

Well-Known Member
school is thinking of hiring one for our next production, what are your thoughts.

second question, anyone know if i can still get the designers remote software anywhere?
 
My junior high uses it, and a local high school uses it. Most of my experiences with it have been good.
Only problem was when I was trying to assign an effect to a submaster at the junior high, and it didn't work too well, and the board would only let you patch up to 100. (guess someone didn't tell the board it was a 300). But that was likely to have been because the kids abused the board a lot, and it is believed to be possesed...

But it is durable for high schoolers. The neighboring high school with one likes it. They seem to pull off pretty nice shows aside from minor operator errors.

And I like the beeping sound it makes when you do something stupid...

Couldn't tell you about the remote.
 
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school is thinking of hiring one for our next production, what are your thoughts.
second question, anyone know if i can still get the designers remote software anywhere?
The 300 is a great console. I don't know what you have been using in the past, so I can't compare. Up until the EOS and ION, I would take a Strand console any day for a situation with a few MLs and conventionals.

The remote was not software, it is a hardware dongle with the XConnect software on it. They are still listed on the Strand website as available, I don't know if people rent them. They sell for about $100 USD.

Schniapereli said:
My junior high uses it, and a local high school uses it. Most of my experiences with it have been good.
Only problem was when I was trying to assign an effect to a submaster at the junior high, and it didn't work too well, and the board would only let you patch up to 100. (guess someone didn't tell the board it was a 300).

Ummm, just cause it has 300 in the name doesn't mean that you get 300 channels. it all depends on how many channels you purchased when you purchased the console. You can have more channels unlocked by calling Strand and buying a password. Through this system you can buy as many channels as you may need. Other thing of note is that there are Channels and Attributes on the 300 and 500. Attributes are used for attributes of MLs, so when you patch an ML, instead of using 25 channels it uses one channel and 24 attributes. Along with this, you can se channels as attributes, but you can't use attributes as channels.

Interested to know what issues you had with assigning FX to subs, I have never had any problem with that.
 
The Strand 300 would be my console of choice, I work on one pretty much everyday and love them. Very good desk for theatre lighting and very capable. I would highly recommend it.

I have never had any difficulties running FX off a sub and do it quite often, I also will attach FX amongst other things to the flash buttons on the subs aswell as I very rarely flash my subs so may aswell use them for something practical!
 
Ummm, just cause it has 300 in the name doesn't mean that you get 300 channels. it all depends on how many channels you purchased when you purchased the console. You can have more channels unlocked by calling Strand and buying a password. Through this system you can buy as many channels as you may need. Other thing of note is that there are Channels and Attributes on the 300 and 500. Attributes are used for attributes of MLs, so when you patch an ML, instead of using 25 channels it uses one channel and 24 attributes. Along with this, you can se channels as attributes, but you can't use attributes as channels.
Interested to know what issues you had with assigning FX to subs, I have never had any problem with that.

That makes more sense. I remember the attribute channels, but I was young(er) and stupid(er) when I used that board, so I didn't understand us much as I would like to, and had no MLs. (Now I run an ETC Impression 2)

The problem with the FX to Sub was it would flash other channels that I had not entered into the FX, and it would only flash those when hitting the bump button at first, then you would never see them again. (I can't remember too many specifics, but Nobody could ever get it to work.) It was probably just my own incompetency beeing just a wee little lad. (Which is just slightly lower than my incompetency level now) But that's why I come to you guys.

So, I guess the 300 is a great board in competent hands, and so Hughesie should have no problems. :)
 
The strand 300 is affectionately referred to at our school as 'squishy'. I think it's pretty decent board for theater stuff, though I have worked with some Studio spots and meteor mirrors on them (it was interesting.)

What are you primarily trying to run, conventionals or MLs?
 
Hey does anyone know how to find the strand 300 console manual on-line somehow? I looked on there web site but could not find it. Thanks
 
Hey does anyone know how to find the strand 300 console manual on-line somehow? I looked on there web site but could not find it. Thanks
www.strandlighing.com
Click on "Support", then "Product Downloads".
From the Product Category dropdown menu, select "Controls".
From the Product Name dropdown menu, select "300 series console".
From the Document Type dropdown menu, select "Manual".
Finally, click the "search" button, and viola!:

http://www.strandlighting.com/clientuploads/directory/downloads/500series_usermanual.pdf
(The 300 and 500 use the same software, thus no distinct manual for the 300. From page 2: "This manual describes the installation and operational procedures for Strand Lighting’s 300 and 500 series Control Console.")
 
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Overall it is a solid desk. I have been using it for the last 3 years. W/ the base model (100 att 100 ch) I have been able to control 96 dimmers and a pair of VL1000 TS. It is relatively straight forward for student use, took me a little while to wrap my brain back from an Expression 3 to the Strand protocol.

Is the desk rental for use with MLs? I have found the macros easy to use, the group selection is great, and the ability to assign the macros and groups to the bump buttons was a nice addition.

I really recommend that you make friends with the keyboard shortcuts. It allowed me to access 4 pages of subs when the order listed only 1.
 
i love that board, granted its what i started on but still. i havent had a chance to look at the new strand but i can say the 300 is amazing. i just found out my old high school is upgrading to an ion which is fine and all but the 300 will still do everything they do there and then some.
 
Just to make sure the Strand 300 has no Microplex out right? I told a client that Microplex is proprietary to NSI/Leviton and Strand could not output it. But he insists it does.

Also, can a console (Innovator) output DMX and Microplex at the same time?

Mike

Yep, no way. Microplex is the old proprietary Nova protocol. It has power (DC to power the board) on one pin (2, I believe), ground on pin 1, and analog mux with embedded clocking on the other pin (3?). DMX is differential RS485.

Some of the older Strands could do every other protocol under the sun (DMX, AMX, SMX (whatever that was), D54, and possibly even Morse Code) .. but Microplex has always been a Nova Systems thing .. though apparently it's close enough to the Lightronics protocol (and Lep?) that some black boxes can take in all of them.
 
Yep, no way. Microplex is the old proprietary Nova protocol. It has power (DC to power the board) on one pin (2, I believe), ground on pin 1, and analog mux with embedded clocking on the other pin (3?). DMX is differential RS485.

Some of the older Strands could do every other protocol under the sun (DMX, AMX, SMX (whatever that was), D54, and possibly even Morse Code) .. but Microplex has always been a Nova Systems thing .. though apparently it's close enough to the Lightronics protocol (and Lep?) that some black boxes can take in all of them.

That is what I thought. But you know how it is when people get things in their head.

Mike
 
Yah, the 300/500 OS is good, as for getting a copy of the software used for there Wireless Focus Remotes, could be hard, don't know how possible it is but for the passed week I have been using the Strand OLE (After installing DOS (NEVER INSTALL DOS)) and it has the capability of being put into a network. Maybe (Im just guessing here) you could network it (even maybe wirelessly, but good luck with that) but it might let you do some of the same things as the designers remote. Oh and on a slightly different note, the software on a USB that came out for the 300/500 that is apartently not for DOS and for real OS's, any one know where I could get that? Is it freeware and could someone PM it to me????
 

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