Recent content by DAE

I am based in Perth, Western Australia and have just fixed a Levitron Innovator 48/96 with the help of William Carlton, so I wanted to thank Levitron Tech Support and pass on a troubleshooting hint. The desk was shipped to Perth from the states and after it was changed to 240v operation, did...

I have used the enttec DMX Pro as an input to my laptop running lightfactory, so a basic preset desk could be used as a submaster wing for lightfactory. I do this when I am "winging it" with live bands that do not provide a set list so you have no chance of programming anything before the show...

Peter, I have a one universe pro v1 of Lightfactory with an open and pro usb dongle, and I vaguely remember transferring it between computers. If I recal correctly, the program can run for a period of time on a second machine to allow a show to be completed, if the main machine crashes, is this...

I bought a Peak Electronics Atlas SCR-Thyristor and Triac analyser and have found it accurate and a time saver when repairing dimmers. It does not test under load being hand held, but has not led me astray yet.

I checked mouser.com where a BTA16 is $2.74 and a BTA24 is $4.67. I would recommend fitting a triac that is four times the rated current of the dimmer channel, however the BTA41 is a larger TOP3 package and is $10.90. The BTA24 is a 24 amp triac in the same TO220 package size, that will make...

From memory this is a 386 computer but they still do ok if you know how to use them. In some ways an old 386 can be more reliable than a flashy new computer that has too much junk running on it. The VGA card is a bolt on card, not the plug in ISA card you normally use on 386 era vintage...

I can see the head of the bolts holding the toroids in place, so will assume that the toroids bolts go into some form of rivnut. You need to use a thread locker such as Loctite 243 to prevent the bolts coming loose again. There is a continual vibration with toroids which have a heavy dimmed load...

Couple of things to look for: Look at how the line in connector is mounted on the pcb, the most rugged method is pop riveted then soldered, could have a dry joint. If it is soldered only, then vibration can cause a dry joint. Is there an monitor power sockets provided as people tend to think...

Hello KingSky You need to observe what you want to mimic to help you decide on which way to go. The two camp stoves pictured above by Alex have the same characteristics, a steady constant flame, with an ocasional flicker, not a constant flickering flame which a camp fire will have. The gas...

Re: A few images of the board.I have come across two telephone style patch panels, here in Perth, Western Australia. They were made by LSC lighting, used the Australian piggy back plug, the leads were stored in the bottom of the shelf and were patched into dimmers that were mounted rack style...

My choice for cyc lights is usually Selecon, as I am in Western Australia. The selecon Acclaim Selecon Lighting - What is a Cyc, Flood or Groundrow? cyc light is good for small venues. The advantage of using a cyc light is the even distribution you get down and across the cyc, using a linear...

I use seperated leds so I can see if one is not responding which would indicate a driver ic problem. If you use a combined bicolour led it is hard to see seperate activity as one led die is always brighter that the other. An led has a typical voltage drop of 2.2 volts so if you want to expand...

I evolved into using the McCandless method because it looks the most natural to me. It does not remove all shadows which is why I use it for most drama. If you remove all shadows you have lost a lot of the character in an actors face. I light the acting areas and try to keep the beams off the...

Is your smoke machine being used underneath the stage or on the stage and being powered from one of the floor traps ? If the smoke machine is being powered from a floor trap, see if you can access the conduit that runs to the floor trap to see if you can run some Pink cat 5 cable. It is rated...

There was a problem with an early batch of Jands FPX dimmers. The ribbon cable between the main pcb and the traic module was not crimped properly. The dimmer would lock up, there was usually an odd display and no activity on the display. Jands are repairing these dimmers under warranty...