Control/Dimming Analog ports on Chauvet Stage Dimmer 6

[Photovor]

Hi, I recently picked up an older Chauvet stage dimmer 6 (TFX-6D). I'm primarily planning on using it to control some house lights via the built in DMX, but at the same time I was interested in providing local control by the way of analog wall switches. I had some questions regarding the analog port on the back of this unit though. The manual (http://www.lydoglys.eu/manualer/Lys/chauvet stagedimmer.pdf) shows the analog port as 0-10v, however looking closer at the pinout on their diagram, it shows a +20v pin. I'm curious as to what this port would have originally interfaced to, given it's pin configuration. In my DIY interpretation, I was planning on using a few Cooper SF10P 0-10v dimmers wired into that interface, or perhaps using a few LUXdrive 0-10v dimmers.

Just looking for advice or insight on how to implement the analog port on the TFX-6D.

Thanks!

 

[JD]

It would connect to a passive board where the dimmer is supplying the +20 volts to run the board. All the channel inputs are 0 - 10 volts, so supplying 10 volts would give you 100% on that channel.
Passive boards are good for architectural applications. Basically a simple voltage regulator (resistor and a zener) and six pots wired to that. No need for a wallwart or other board power supply.

Remember, the +20 is an OUTPUT, the 0-10v are INPUTS.

 

[Photovor]

It would connect to a passive board where the dimmer is supplying the +20 volts to run the board. All the channel inputs are 0 - 10 volts, so supplying 10 volts would give you 100% on that channel.
Passive boards are good for architectural applications. Basically a simple voltage regulator (resistor and a zener) and six pots wired to that. No need for a wallwart or other board power supply.

Remember, the +20 is an OUTPUT, the 0-10v are INPUTS.

I was trying to find a passive board that was designed to work with this rather than to put together my own setup, can you provide any links to something that would be compatible, regardless of it being able to directly connect? I didn't know if Chauvet ever produced something that would work, or if someone else produced something that would be compatible.

What you're saying about the regular and 6 pots was my next though, but I wanted to put something in that was a little more traditional, if you know what I mean. The Cooper switch appears to be a slide pot with the ability to switch a load, though connecting a 9v battery through the 10v control wires and to a multimeter only yielded a 7 to 9 v dimming capability. Not a 0-9 like I would have expected. I'll have to open up the switch and take a closer look.

 

[JD]

Unfortunately, although they call themselves 0-10v dimmers, the ones designed to operate an LED fixture are quite a different animal, and work by shunting the voltage to ground.
The "old time" 0-10v analog dimmers controls are all but extinct. Someone on the boards here may still be aware of product that is still being built, but I can't think of any. That being said, with the DC supplied from the pack like that, building controls is a cake walk. For example, if you wanted a simple wall switch that would turn on ckts 1,2, and 3, then your 20v would go to one terminal, and you would series connect a 1k ohm resistor to a 10 volt zener to the common on the other. Then, where the resistor and zener meet, add three 1N4007 diodes feeding channels 1, 2, and 3. Someone flips the switch on, and those 3 channels go to full.
A shunt control could be used if we had a little more information then they give in the cut-sheet. Again, the source voltage would go through a resistor and to the shunt control, with the - wire going back to common. The channel would be driven from the point of connection between the resistor and the other wire on the shunt control.

 

[microstar]

This will do exactly what you want. You don't need the 20v as it is AC powered. Six 0-10v outputs on the Cinch Jones connector.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leprecon-LP...497872?hash=item4d54d18090:g:xZYAAOSw4DJYfB-7
or for 4 channels:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDER-VTG-L...988127?hash=item1c6609945f:g:2ecAAOSwiYFXGXkJ

 

[FMEng]

The Cooper switch appears to be a slide pot with the ability to switch a load, though connecting a 9v battery through the 10v control wires and to a multimeter only yielded a 7 to 9 v dimming capability. Not a 0-9 like I would have expected. I'll have to open up the switch and take a closer look.

If the test was done with a 9V battery and a potentiometer, the pot was mis-wired. It has to be across the battery, not in series. It needs to be wired as a voltage divider, with the output from the wiper.

 

[JD]

This will do exactly what you want. You don't need the 20v as it is AC powered. Six 0-10v outputs on the Cinch Jones connector.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leprecon-LP...497872?hash=item4d54d18090:g:xZYAAOSw4DJYfB-7
or for 4 channels:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLDER-VTG-L...988127?hash=item1c6609945f:g:2ecAAOSwiYFXGXkJ

Yup! If you don't mind buying used, there are a ton of older 0-10v boards out there. Heck, I have on in the back shed, but at 200 pounds weight, it might be a bit of overkill

 

[Photovor]

Thanks for all the great feedback. I took a look inside the Cooper switch, and it's certainly hackable to make it do what I want, but at about $25 each at their cheapest, it's quite a price to pay to keep a traditional switch look. There is a small circuit in there with an additional adjustment thumbwheel and some transistors, so I'd need to draw it out to see exactly what is going on. I could go the DIY route and just build something along what JD was saying, which is probably the simplest, but I'd like to incorporate dimming. I may be able to use a standard A/C dimmer switch (slide or knob style) with some modification and accomplish the same thing rather than get a fancy 0-10v dimmer and hack it to bits.

Also, thanks for the links to the other analog dimmer controls. Since I'll be using the DMX port anyways, that will basically accomplish the same thing that the analog Leprecon would, with the same look. I was mainly trying to use the analog port for some sort of architectural lighting control. I think the non-technical folks would find a dimmer board, even in the simplest form scary and not understand that it was controlling house lights.

Thanks again!