Color scroller question

yeah, my theatre has a bunch of color fader 3s which are also from morpheus and each unit is labled as drawing 3 amps, though that may be the psu drawing for all 6, not sure....
 
yeesh, i despise DMX! this stuff has a very odd config. i personally wouldn't play with it unless i knew the config REALLY well and knew DMX protocol like the back of my hand. there's too much to screw up if you jurry-rig something, it sounds ever so slightly dangerous. i'm sure you can find PSU's on the cheap and LimeLight sells and rents 4-pin DMX cable. my college uses one of their outlets and they really do have everything, i wouldn't doubt if they have the cable you need for these buggers. messing with DMX in my opinion is just not worth it. it's a head ache and it will only cause more head aches unless you have a very firm grasp on DMX concepts.
 
yeesh, i despise DMX! this stuff has a very odd config. messing with DMX in my opinion is just not worth it. it's a head ache and it will only cause more head aches unless you have a very firm grasp on DMX concepts.

As an ME and lighting technician, you might want to be prepared to step aside and let the other lighting techs pass you by. ACN and RDM are on the way too, by the way...

I mean no disrespect but c'mon, really.
 
Did you ever get the scrollers working reliably? I just picked up a couple myself off ebay and need a power supply solution too! Will a power supply from another manufacturer work with special cables. Let me know how your story played out ;-)
 
There are a lot of comments and advise given, but the bottom line is that there are several types of protocall and connector configurations on scrollers, both old and new. For example the Wybron Foreruner and the ColorRam have different configurations for the power to the pins of the connectors. While both use a four pin XLR, their website will warn you to not interchange the PSUs, as you will surely damage either the scroller or the PSU. Other than a few oddball scrollers produced early on, Almost all scrollers are mnaufactured by Wybron (under their own Label), Camelont (under Rainbow and Stand) and Spectrum engineering (Apollo Q series, Chroma Q and some of the morpheus). Either Spectrum licensed from Camelont or visa versa as many of their parts are interchangeable and frame mount spacing is exact. Camelont is in Stackholm Sweden, and Spectrum is in Canada either Toronto or Montreal. The most obvious exception would be the new Apollo Colorsmart. The short lived Strand ColorCall (Camelont) used a five pin XLR connector with pins 1-3 the normal DMX and 4&5 for the 24volt power. All of the early Camelonts could also use analog 0 - 10 volt dc and the Strand colorcall could also use some priority protocall. These were selector switch settable. I have both and I have conveted the 5 XLR to 4 pin and removed all of the selector switches so some unknowing tech doesn't use the wrong protocall.
I also built my own PSUs and scroller cables. I used Elation DMX distributors and 24volt DC switching power supplies combined the two and switched to 4 pin connectors. The power supplies are 12 amp. All of my scrollers draw 0.6 amps at peak and 0.2 at idle. I also have built several other power suppies with a RS485 boost amp and 8 amp suppy and a 2.2 amp 24 volt supply and just the appropriate connectors. My cables are a digital audio cable 120 ohm for the DMX and zip cord running side by side for power, with small pieces of heat shrink every 10 inches. I am currently using 6 each Apollo Q6s. 7 each Rainbow two 16s. 2 each Strand ColorCall and 5 each Croma Q originals. All purchased off of ebay, with a lot of cleaning and repairing.
I would suggest that you always use a PSU with electro optical isolation from the board and be careful to always check that your connectors are wired correctly, and other than that don't be afraid to use most any scroller that has seperate DMX addressing and takes 24 volts. Unless you have all the money in the world avoid the Wybron colorRam. If buying new, Apollo colorsmart. Good price, good service and Keith is a friend of the CB and Lightnetwork forums. I get my switching regulator supplies from mpja.com. They have a 2.2 amp supply for less than $10, It will drive three of my scrollers, but remember to drive the DMX with a opto isolated distrbutor. That way if you do blow the driver chip it won't be in the console, and 75176 chips are around a buck each on mouser.com. If you don't understand what I have written, then leave it to someone who does.
 

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