Uncle Dirtnap
Active Member
ARGH! I've been reading posts for a few hours trying to logic myself through this a little more. So I am the 'volunteer tech guy' for a local high school, having majored in production in college. This is very handy, since the theatre has 90s era equipment I am familiar with.
This is a large high school, and they spent a fair amount of money when it was new in the 90s. They have power conditioning, ETC dimmer racks, and a ETC Impression with a remote stage manager override. I can get specific model numbers if it would be helpful.
There have been a few isolated moments in the last year - lights will dim for 1/10 of a second, or just randomly pulse a little (like from 95% - 100%). When this happens, they ALL pulse. It is usually over in seconds, and we are left scratching out heads. The kids explain it as the resident theatre ghost, and I'm half tempted to go with that.
Lately seems to be getting worse, to the point we can actually interact with it while it is acting weird. Turning the main board off and using the stage manager console has no effect, and I have looked at the level for that channel on the dimmer rack control panel, and the level stays constant while it is freaking out. Based on those 2 bits of info, I feel comfortable ruling out the board and DMX to the racks. (tell me if I am wrong here)
I also watched the power conditioning readouts during a episode. I can see nothing on their - voltage may very 5 volts, but very slowly over minutes, nothing like the flicker. I also noticed the AC equipment was not on when this was happening - luckily the dimmer room is right past the AC room.
What is my next step? At this point, I am the expert there - they didn't even know they had dimmer racks when I started helping out. I want to help lead them to help, but I don't even know what direction to go.
Thank you all for your wisdom!
-RJ
This is a large high school, and they spent a fair amount of money when it was new in the 90s. They have power conditioning, ETC dimmer racks, and a ETC Impression with a remote stage manager override. I can get specific model numbers if it would be helpful.
There have been a few isolated moments in the last year - lights will dim for 1/10 of a second, or just randomly pulse a little (like from 95% - 100%). When this happens, they ALL pulse. It is usually over in seconds, and we are left scratching out heads. The kids explain it as the resident theatre ghost, and I'm half tempted to go with that.
Lately seems to be getting worse, to the point we can actually interact with it while it is acting weird. Turning the main board off and using the stage manager console has no effect, and I have looked at the level for that channel on the dimmer rack control panel, and the level stays constant while it is freaking out. Based on those 2 bits of info, I feel comfortable ruling out the board and DMX to the racks. (tell me if I am wrong here)
I also watched the power conditioning readouts during a episode. I can see nothing on their - voltage may very 5 volts, but very slowly over minutes, nothing like the flicker. I also noticed the AC equipment was not on when this was happening - luckily the dimmer room is right past the AC room.
What is my next step? At this point, I am the expert there - they didn't even know they had dimmer racks when I started helping out. I want to help lead them to help, but I don't even know what direction to go.
Thank you all for your wisdom!
-RJ