Recent content by dhorn

Regarding Question #1. That railing is there to keep scenery, props, the cast and crew from running into the Electrician Operators, dimmers and knife switches. Those style panels with exposed knife switches were dangerous and thankfully were not allowed at some point in time, but I do not know...

Hello Klinnks, I may have a solution for your globes if you are building from scratch. LED RGBW dumb tape spiral wrapped on tubes for light source inside the globes. Northern Lights Electronic Designs right here in Minneapolis has a driver circuit board for 4 channels of LEDs that can be...

I use 3:1 and 4:1 shrink ratio Clear Heat Shrink tubing from https://www.heatshrink.com/default.asp The 3:1 ratio will fit over round edison connectors and XLR connectors and shrink to 12/3 SJ or SO cable or sturdy data/scroller cables. The 4:1 tubing will fit over Stage Pin connectors and...

I believe the California plug gets its name from being developed as a safer connector for the early days of the Hollywood Film Studios. The first hi-ampereage connectors used in the studios were paddle plugs used in theatres, which were ungrounded. The California plug was grounded by the outer...

I have had problems with incandescent lamps failing and Movers having intermittent power issues due to wiring problems inside the wire raceway. How old are your raceways? Are the wires inside loose or bundled? Does each circuit have a dedicated neutral? Shared neutrals can lead to a host of...

Hello to "Stayfree12" If you are still looking for C7 or C9 socket strings and lamps for your proscenium arch, checkout Action Lighting at Welcome to Action Lighting- Your one stop lighting shop! Action has C7 and C9 socket strings with several spacing choices from 6" to 24" and wire...

Prior to the introduction of the economy priced RC4 Magic series, we used to use Radio Controlled model car kits to control props with lights and /or motors. You can purchase them at any well stocked Hobby Store. Most control kits include the controller with 2 or 4 control channels and one or...

We own 4 of the Rosco iPros. We print all of our slides on HP's Heavy Duty Transparency stock that is made for use on our HP inkjet printers. You must let the transparency sheet sit for 10 or 15 minutes to dry throughly before trimming to iPro size. We also use the slide holders over until...

We opened three seasons ago a second stage/ flex theatre space that is 85' by 55' with Lighting Trusses typically trimmed at 23'. We use S4 Parnels lamped at 750w quite successfully for Backlight washes on our Proscenium Stage. However we wanted more zoom flexibility for the Studio space. We...

Here are some suggestions to try after you have confirmed that the fixtures are correctly lensed and have been properly Bench Focused. 1) If you have Gel extender/Top hats available, put your framed color in the far end of the Gel extender or tape the gel over the end of the Tophat. If the...

I just found this thread today. If you are still attempting to use these fixtures, they are Kliegl Bros Model 1355 fixtures. From your photos, it looks like the first photo has the original step lens installed, smooth curved face towards the Gel and fairly flat steps on the lamp side. The...

Here at the Children's Theater in Minneapolis we added a new wing 3 years ago with a 2nd Stage which is programmed exclusively with shows for Teens and shows for Nursery School ages. Some of our Teen shows each season are created by Teens, for the Teens. We also have a "Teen Council" that...

I would like to add my two cents worth to this Thread. I have worked in dozens of facilities with Stages of many sizes and types in my 30 year career as a Crew Head and Lighting Designer. I have come to realize you can never have enough dimmers in a theatre, unless you always rent and have...

photoatdv's reply has the correct formula but has made a small mistake in the 12 PARs at 1000 watts each; should be +12000+ NOT +21000+The rack will need at least 116 amps per leg.

Hello to All! Dave Horn, Master Electrician at the Children's Theatre Company. That's in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.