Altman Spectra Series LED PAR64 & Leviton/NSI MC 7016 Power Supply Help!

neergmas

Member
Our department recently purchased an altman spectra led par 64, and we'd love to get it up and running. this particular fixture does not have an onboard power supply, so that is our next step. the fixture has a 4 pin cable coming out, and a power supply like the PDS-375 City Theatrical PDS-375 TRX would work, the price unfortunately sends it out of our budget. That power supply can work up to 6 units, and from what i understand, we are not planning to expand past this instrument. (the unit was purchased as something for students to try out and be exposed to.)
i see mention of the color kenetics power supply LED Lighting Power Data Supply - Philips Color Kinetics PDS-150e as another option, but I want to be sure that this will work for our unit. my concerns are: i don't see a 4 pin port, is hardwiring to the power supply the only option? also, in the drawings they give on the spec sheet for the power supply they show a dmx out, but it looks illustrated as an ethernet connection. i also have not found mention of how exactly i assign a channel for the fixture.

as a very related problem, we are also running multiplex for our lighting system, and not dmx. our lighting board (NSI mc 7016) has the installed dmx port, but the power supply that comes with this upgrade has since been lost. i understand that it is a standard size pin, 15 volt, but don't know if there is any specific amp requirement of the power supply, as we plan to go to radio shack to get a generic-o wallwart to power the board. we have tried plugging in a self contained led fixture to the dmx port while the multiplex is installed to see if the board can send signal to both, and it was an unfortunate no-go. also, when we unplugged the multiplex, the phantom power to the board was lost, so we can't tell until we get power if the board is able of using its DMX port at all. anyone happen to know the exact specs of the power supply? i can't seem to be able to buy one apart from the dmx port insert kit, which we don't need.

that explination/ask for help brings me to my final point. is there a way to run this light through a multiplex system, or do i need to convert our dimmer packs over? is it possible just to use a 5 pin to 3 pin converter? the real hope was to run our light grid through the multiplex as usual, and then go right from the led power supply to the dmx port on the board. if the dmx isn't an option, is there a way to go from the dmx to the other multi port on the board?

sorry to be so long winded and complicated, but any help on any part of this is greatly appreciated, as i feel i'm going crazy trying to figure this all out. also, i apologize in advance if this is a grouping of what should be separate questions/posts, i was trying to keep it all together, cos i don't know what might matter in answering one part of the questions I have.
 
i see mention of the color kenetics power supply LED Lighting Power Data Supply - Philips Color Kinetics PDS-150e as another option, but I want to be sure that this will work for our unit. my concerns are: i don't see a 4 pin port, is hardwiring to the power supply the only option? also, in the drawings they give on the spec sheet for the power supply they show a dmx out, but it looks illustrated as an ethernet connection. i also have not found mention of how exactly i assign a channel for the fixture.

The 150e is intended for permanent installation and would be hardwired to terminal blocks, or other connections, inside the unit.

The 375 & 750 are both manufatured by City Theatrical for CK. Either of those may be better suited to your needs.

May also want to look at Doug Fleenor Designs. I believe they have some LED PSU options as well...
 
Apollo also has a small affordable PSU that should work with the LEDs (large enough for 2 scorllers, a few gobo-rotators. The Apollo team can confirm more.

This is from their website:
Smart Power™ 75W Power Supply
AC-SP-75W
Smart Power(TM) power supplies provide 24 VDC to lighting accessories such as Smart Move® rotators and Smart Color(R) scrollers as well as control indexing devices with a DMX signal.
 
The Spectra Par doesn't take a 4pin in from what I remember. It should have a power plug for power and a 5-pin XLR for DMX.
 
I second the thought of the Apollo SmartPower 75. That should get your one fixtureup and running. I don't think that there are any cheaper PSU options.

For your LED unit, you need to send it DMX. Doug Fleenor may have or be able to build a mutiplex to DMX converter, but that would probably blow your budget as well. You CANNOT just stick an adapter on the multiplex line, it will not work and may damage the PSU and LED. If you can get the DMX port on your console working, that would be your best bet.

I am not familiar with your particular console, however, it seems odd to me that if it powers up, it won't send DMX. You should probably check the console's settings to make sure that the DMX port is enabled and make sure that you have your fixutre addressed and patched propperly. If you can get your hands on a DMX tester or analyzer, that would probably be the most helpful to you. One of the simple "blinky-light" DMX testers like the Doug Fleenor Design - DMX512 Line Tester could tell you at least if the console was sending any data.

In terms of power supply for the console, it probably doesn't need a huge one, but it won't hurt to go big. The console will onyl draw what it needs, so if you got a 10A supply and the console only needs 1A, you aren't going to blow it up. It wouldn't surprise me though if the power specs are in the manual.
 
A post weekend update:

We have since gotten a 15V, 1000ma power supply, just slightly not the right tip, so a trip to radio shack today (and I'm bringing the lightboard with me to make sure we get the exact right size tip!) and we will try and see if the board will then run dmx when plugged in.

Also, on your helpful suggestions, I'm in contact with Apollo currently to see if their power supplies will be able to work for us.

Thanks again, everyone!
 
The other thing to consider setting yourself up with as an instructional tool is the following:

-Chamsys Magic Q PC loaded onto a laptop or desktop, pretty much any will work for this purpose.

-Chamsys Magic DMX or Enttec's Open DMX USB to DMX dongles.

These will allow you to control the fixture, inexpensively, and learn some more advanced programming that LED's allow.
 
A post weekend update:

we will try and see if the board will then run dmx when plugged in.

The NSI 7016 was my first console. The NSI 7516 was my second. I wish you the best of luck.

If I remember correctly you will not be able to send both multiplex and dmx signals at once. It's an either/or by changing the data sent out in the "menu." You will need to get a multiplex to dmx converter if you want to use both your dimmers and the LED unit. Last I checked they were $500+ but that was years ago.
 
The other thing to consider setting yourself up with as an instructional tool is the following:

-Chamsys Magic Q PC loaded onto a laptop or desktop, pretty much any will work for this purpose.

-Chamsys Magic DMX or Enttec's Open DMX USB to DMX dongles.

These will allow you to control the fixture, inexpensively, and learn some more advanced programming that LED's allow.

this is a great idea, thank you! especially if apollo is able to provide us with an inexpensive power supply. we actually don't have open channels on our small board, so this skips that issue as well. i note that the basic version of the magic dmx uses a 3 pin dmx input. for this application, is using a 3 to 5 pin dmx converter alright? jumping from $16 to $100 just for that option seems steep, even going with the enttec version at $60 seems like a big price jump when it's looking like i can get this going for about $20.

again, thank you so much to everyone who's helped out. i already am feeling more knowledgeable about a subject i thought i knew stuff about already. i suppose the first step to knowledge really is admitting you know nothing.
 
The NSI 7016 was my first console. The NSI 7516 was my second. I wish you the best of luck.

If I remember correctly you will not be able to send both multiplex and dmx signals at once. It's an either/or by changing the data sent out in the "menu." You will need to get a multiplex to dmx converter if you want to use both your dimmers and the LED unit. Last I checked they were $500+ but that was years ago.

i am most intrigued by this "menu" you mention... any chance you remember how to access it? i've got the manual, but don't see a section on the dmx versus multiplex, other than the optional install of the dmx port. thank you!
 
i am most intrigued by this "menu" you mention... any chance you remember how to access it? i've got the manual, but don't see a section on the dmx versus multiplex, other than the optional install of the dmx port. thank you!

My mistake. The NSI 7516 has a setup menu where you change the data protocol. It has been quite a while since I have programmed these consoles. And now I'm wondering...maybe you can run both multiplex and dmx.

I'm really curious to find out, because I know on the 7516 you can not use both.
 
this is a great idea, thank you! especially if apollo is able to provide us with an inexpensive power supply. we actually don't have open channels on our small board, so this skips that issue as well. i note that the basic version of the magic dmx uses a 3 pin dmx input. for this application, is using a 3 to 5 pin dmx converter alright? jumping from $16 to $100 just for that option seems steep, even going with the enttec version at $60 seems like a big price jump when it's looking like i can get this going for about $20.

For your purpose you only need the 3 pin option as the 4 pin power supply will not use two of the pins of the 5, which normally have no purpose anyway. The one inherent design downgrade on the $20 Magic DMX is that it is designed for testing and instructional use. It only functions for 5 hours before you need to reset it by unplugging it, shutting down the program, replugging it in and restarting the program. The Open DMX is also functional with other programs such as FreeStyler and LightsUP!
 
My mistake. The NSI 7516 has a setup menu where you change the data protocol. It has been quite a while since I have programmed these consoles. And now I'm wondering...maybe you can run both multiplex and dmx.

I'm really curious to find out, because I know on the 7516 you can not use both.

the 7524 you could run DMX, or MUX, or DMX/Mux together.
 
For your purpose you only need the 3 pin option as the 4 pin power supply will not use two of the pins of the 5, which normally have no purpose anyway. The one inherent design downgrade on the $20 Magic DMX is that it is designed for testing and instructional use. It only functions for 5 hours before you need to reset it by unplugging it, shutting down the program, replugging it in and restarting the program. The Open DMX is also functional with other programs such as FreeStyler and LightsUP!

this LED unit is to give a hands on experiment with/exposure for our students in addition to the lights we run when we tape our news mag. the 5 hour limit is actually not a problem, as we tape for a max of 3 hours every other week.
 
just found out direct from NSI, you can run both on the 7016... now just waiting for a borrowed complete LED fixture to see if the board is living up to its expectations... and even if not, it's still going in for repair regardless!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back