Altman Comet
- Thread starterCSCTech
- Start date
Les
Well-Known Member
No harm done on my end.
FatherMurphy
Active Member
Getting back to Comets, sometimes old Altspots and 902s are mistaken for Comets, although I think I recall the blue followspot in my junior high school had a Comet nameplate on it... that would have been the 1982-1985 era. The finish at the time probably was a baked enamel. I think the Comet name was part of a 70's attempt to piggyback on NASA's moon landings - ie: Comet, Orbiter, Satellite, Voyager....
The lamps we use in Comets are generally the FXL 410 watt, but the lifespan is only about 40 hours. The ENX 360 watt gives approximately the same light, and has an 80 hour lifespan, but costs twice as much, so it's a tossup as to which is the better one to use. The units ship with an ENX installed, irrc.
The Comet ships with an L5-20 flanged inlet on the fixture for the power cord, and a 5-15 Edison male to L5-20 female adapter power cord. I suspect that they wanted the cord to be removable, yet not have to worry about it loosening over time and falling out mid-show.
The cut gels included are sent loose in an envelope, and the end user (or dealer) has to load the boomerang themselves. The hardest part of this is getting the brass paper fastener (brad) tabs bent over far enough that they don't get tangled up together as the levers are moved.
A gobo could be placed in or near the iris, but there's no provision for doing so easily, and you'd have to contact Altman to see what the maximum image size would be, and get custom patterns made to fit whatever holder you invent. Since you'd have to go into the hood each time you wanted to change the pattern, I doubt it would be the best possible use of your only followspot, unless maybe you doing something like a silly love comedy, and wanted the followspot to always be heart-shaped.
The Comet's a good light, easy to use, and able to withstand quite a bit of neglect and abuse. It holds its own against other lights in its class and price range
The lamps we use in Comets are generally the FXL 410 watt, but the lifespan is only about 40 hours. The ENX 360 watt gives approximately the same light, and has an 80 hour lifespan, but costs twice as much, so it's a tossup as to which is the better one to use. The units ship with an ENX installed, irrc.
The Comet ships with an L5-20 flanged inlet on the fixture for the power cord, and a 5-15 Edison male to L5-20 female adapter power cord. I suspect that they wanted the cord to be removable, yet not have to worry about it loosening over time and falling out mid-show.
The cut gels included are sent loose in an envelope, and the end user (or dealer) has to load the boomerang themselves. The hardest part of this is getting the brass paper fastener (brad) tabs bent over far enough that they don't get tangled up together as the levers are moved.
A gobo could be placed in or near the iris, but there's no provision for doing so easily, and you'd have to contact Altman to see what the maximum image size would be, and get custom patterns made to fit whatever holder you invent. Since you'd have to go into the hood each time you wanted to change the pattern, I doubt it would be the best possible use of your only followspot, unless maybe you doing something like a silly love comedy, and wanted the followspot to always be heart-shaped.
The Comet's a good light, easy to use, and able to withstand quite a bit of neglect and abuse. It holds its own against other lights in its class and price range
My highschool had a Strong Trouperette III with blue paint. Worth mentioning because it was of a similar design to the Comet, and thus could be mistaken for one.
