Electro Controls 3201-3214 ERS

...Perhaps Steve Terry would expand on his successful adaptation, while at Production Arts way back when, of a Light Palette desk into a touring version that had external monitors, a separate processor box and a table top facepanel that would all fit into flight cases. THAT was the trend, equally good at touring or a permanent in-house install AND could readily be brought back to a shop for service. I was always curious as to why it was a ProdArts venture and why Strand never jumped on it.
Would that be the "Pro Palette" or "Executive Light Palette"? No offense to Mr. Terry, but I thought it was a BASH innovation. And I think Strand eventually did manufacturer them. I miss the days when lighting consoles were truly "desks." If one is spending $50-100K, the least a manufacturer can do is provide some legs, (preferably from imitation-walnut Formica) so the console doesn't have to sit on a $20 table.:(

For those who don't know what [user]SteveB[/user] and I are talking about--the Electro Controls Premiere, not the ProPalette:
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EC_Premiere.jpg
from Back Cover, Theatre Crafts, August/September 1987. Those were the days. Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.;)

From The Lighting Console Gallery Photo Gallery by Paul Pelletier at pbase.com :
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From The Electro Controls Archive :
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I miss the days when lighting consoles were truly "desks." If one is spending $50-100K, the least a manufacturer can do is provide some legs, (preferably from imitation-walnut Formica) so the console doesn't have to sit on a $20 table.:(

My first memory console, a Strand Multi-Q was indeed a desk. Too big to haul out to Strand for service, so when I had a problem, only recourse was to take the system cards for install on a Multi at Strand in NJ. Sometimes we fixed the problems that way, usually the problem cropped up when the cards were re-seated back in Brooklyn. The Multi-Q was replaced by Prestige 2000's, which could be carried under one arm and could be easily swapped for a rental unit/loaner. Steve T may well remember selling me these units and may remember how I once managed to send 120v up the data line of a Patchman, into and thru the DAC and up to the Prestige, frying all 3 units. The crew dubbed it "Steve threw a couple of light boards on the Barbie". Litetrol repaired all (at Steve T's recommendation) and I've been friends with Steve Short ever since.

Then I got an Express which has not moved off it's table (except when a visiting console needs the desk space) in 10 years.
 
From an Ariel Davis catalog dated 1960.
ParFramer1.jpgParFramer2.jpg
 
One of my Boss's in going to school in DePaul in the 80's saw the fixture sent in the other post the model 3466, but remembered a more squrared off fixture. Hated them but also sort of liked them. Perhaps this is the fixture type he saw.. Very interesting fixture.
 
Would that be the "Pro Palette" or "Executive Light Palette"? No offense to Mr. Terry, but I thought it was a BASH innovation. And I think Strand eventually did manufacturer them. I miss the days when lighting consoles were truly "desks." If one is spending $50-100K, the least a manufacturer can do is provide some legs, (preferably from imitation-walnut Formica) so the console doesn't have to sit on a $20 table.:(

For those who don't know what SteveB and I are talking about--the Electro Controls Premiere, not the ProPalette:
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View attachment 3353
from Back Cover, Theatre Crafts, August/September 1987. Those were the days. Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.;)

From The Lighting Console Gallery Photo Gallery by Paul Pelletier at pbase.com :
View attachment 3354View attachment 3355

From The Electro Controls Archive :
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I have $1000 cash for the first person that can prove they actually did a show with that console.

I think it was DOA.

ST
 
Ooooo I remember that one. Seemed so advanced at the time, until you had a bright look on stage and could see nothing on the screens. Same concept as a teleprompter or HUD in a fighter jet, just had a crappy image off the monitor.

Big honker of a DESK as well, 3 sided wrap around with 2 HUD's at the side junctions, all at the time the trend was to get the things smaller for touring, so EC completely lost out on the rental market.

While we are waltzing down memory lane,

Perhaps Steve Terry would expand on his successful adaptation, while at Production Arts way back when, of a Light Palette desk into a touring version that had external monitors, a separate processor box and a table top facepanel that would all fit into flight cases. THAT was the trend, equally good at touring or a permanent in-house install AND could readily be brought back to a shop for service. I was always curious as to why it was a ProArts venture and why Strand never jumped on it.

Steve B.

ProPalette was done by Strand for Production Arts.

Executive LightPalette was a BASH project. There are some that would say it was 10 lbs of organic waste in a 5 lb container.

ST
 
I have $1000 cash for the first person that can prove they actually did a show with that console.

I think it was DOA.

ST
I might have thought that also; it wouldn't be the first time a product was shown and advertised that never actually came to market and was sold; were it not for the pictures of an actual console at The Lighting Console Gallery Photo Gallery by Paul Pelletier at pbase.com. Anyone willing to contact Christie Lites-Toronto to see if the console is still there and if they know anything of its provenance? Did PaulP514 or Scott Blair take the pictures?
 
I had some time on both consoles Steve speaks of and far preferred the Strand product. The executive MLP kinda felt as though someone had knocked it together in the basement. I recall the ads for Premiere but don't believe I ever laid eyes on one, not even at a trade show.
 
I might have thought that also; it wouldn't be the first time a product was shown and advertised that never actually came to market and was sold; were it not for the pictures of an actual console at The Lighting Console Gallery Photo Gallery by Paul Pelletier at pbase.com. Anyone willing to contact Christie Lites-Toronto to see if the console is still there and if they know anything of its provenance? Did PaulP514 or Scott Blair take the pictures?

I did not take those pictures, but I have actually SEEN a Premier in the wild! It was at the University of North Texas in Denton (north of Dallas) and they were STILL using it in their main auditorium. I would bet dollars to donuts the install was done by Ed Jones as he was a huge EC guy BITD.

I actually ended up there to see it as part of an ETC Field Service trip. I was the only one in field service at the time that had actual experience with ECMUX and also had a venue with a Celebrity Plus and Quad-series dimmers where I'm from that I was able to use to work out and document the hack-job for the Response 2212 to get it to speak ECMUX.

Attached is my ETC Field Service report from that trip to prove I was there. I should also have pics of that console in the booth there buried in a box from all my ETC trips as well. Do I have to dig them out and scan them to collect the $1000? :)

One interesting note about the Premier console there, they had a second set of button caps as the silkscreening had rubbed off all the original ones. Even the replacement set had mostly worn off. So it truly was like being on the bridge of the Enterprise as it was a whole array of mostly unlabled square buttons that were all yellow, orange, and brown.

I've also used Paraellipsepheres in a show and they are the HEAVIEST pieces of crap I've ever used!
 

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I have $1000 cash for the first person that can prove they actually did a show with that console.

...Do I have to dig them out and scan them to collect the $1000? :)
It's up to Mr. Terry of course (it's his money) but I'm not sure a service call counts as "doing a show." You might have to contact all 1993 alumni lighting students of UNT-Denton to collect.

In your report, you state "...there are only about six of these consoles [Electro Controls Premiere] in existence." Was that a guess, or basis in fact?

Sorry it took the lure of $1000 cash to get you to Control Booth, Scott. Welcome aboard! If you plan on sticking around (and I hope you do), it's customary to start a thread in the New Member Forum, so we know who/what you are.:)
 
I did not take those pictures, but I have actually SEEN a Premier in the wild! It was at the University of North Texas in Denton (north of Dallas) and they were STILL using it in their main auditorium. I would bet dollars to donuts the install was done by Ed Jones as he was a huge EC guy BITD.

I actually ended up there to see it as part of an ETC Field Service trip. I was the only one in field service at the time that had actual experience with ECMUX and also had a venue with a Celebrity Plus and Quad-series dimmers where I'm from that I was able to use to work out and document the hack-job for the Response 2212 to get it to speak ECMUX.

Attached is my ETC Field Service report from that trip to prove I was there. I should also have pics of that console in the booth there buried in a box from all my ETC trips as well. Do I have to dig them out and scan them to collect the $1000? :)

One interesting note about the Premier console there, they had a second set of button caps as the silkscreening had rubbed off all the original ones. Even the replacement set had mostly worn off. So it truly was like being on the bridge of the Enterprise as it was a whole array of mostly unlabled square buttons that were all yellow, orange, and brown.

I've also used Paraellipsepheres in a show and they are the HEAVIEST pieces of crap I've ever used!
I was a grad student and the scene shop foreman starting about 6 months after your service call. I remember Dan and that console. I don't think we ever used it for a show, though. I didn't do any lighting on the main stage, but I'm pretty sure we used the Microvision in both spaces. I do remember the Microvision being called "the good console"! ;)
Good times...
 
It's up to Mr. Terry of course (it's his money) but I'm not sure a service call counts as "doing a show." You might have to contact all 1993 alumni lighting students of UNT-Denton to collect.

In your report, you state "...there are only about six of these consoles [Electro Controls Premiere] in existence." Was that a guess, or basis in fact?

I was thinking about that last night. I can't recall what the exact basis for what that comment was. I knew at the time they were very rare consoles. I might have gotten that info from Dan at UNT, but it's been too long to be certain anymore.

Sorry it took the lure of $1000 cash to get you to Control Booth, Scott.

It's okay, I'm a whore that way ;)

Welcome aboard! If you plan on sticking around (and I hope you do), it's customary to start a thread in the New Member Forum, so we know who/what you are.:)

People (myself included) have been trying to figure out exactly what I am for years! I'll let you know when someone finally figures out the answer :)
 
I was a grad student and the scene shop foreman starting about 6 months after your service call. I remember Dan and that console. I don't think we ever used it for a show, though. I didn't do any lighting on the main stage, but I'm pretty sure we used the Microvision in both spaces. I do remember the Microvision being called "the good console"! ;)
Good times...

The Premier was definitely in use in the main stage up until that point! They had no other options. The purpose of my trip was to get the Response 2212 working with the Quad Dimmers so they could start bringing the Microvision over. It's sad to think that ETC had the chance to obtain that Premier for their collection, but passed on it. Of course, back then the ETC museum was just a bunch of old consoles piled on top of each other in a storage loft.
 
... I do remember the Microvision being called "the good console"! ;) ...
That made me laugh; see ETC Microvision Tribute Page. I hope it was a MicroVisionFX.

...Of course, back then the ETC museum was just a bunch of old consoles piled on top of each other in a storage loft.
And what is it now? A dedicated wing of the factory, with 7-color LED indirect lighting? No one from CUE mentioned the console museum in print, that I have seen. Perhaps next time?
 
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****! Now I'm sorry I didn't read Steve's post earlier -- I could've been $1K richer!

Just to weigh in about the EC Premiere console, I have personal acquaintance with the first two installed, circa 1984 at the Calgary Center for Performing Arts. I was offered a service contract by the Center to look after control & dimming systems, so I had a 7-year acquaintance with the two Premieres, basically keeping them in good running order. The Center houses Calgary's two largest theatre companies and the boards ran their seasons more or less flawlessly until 1992 and 1995, when they were replaced by Strand 530's and taken out in pieces small enough to fit thru the door.

Some Premiere tech notes:
- the main CPU was actually a complete IBM PC-AT, 6MHz 286, with two CGA video boards doctored to invert the video on the CRT's so that it would appear the right way around on the heads-up displays.
- Motorola 6809 CPU's were used on all the keypads and encoder wheels, which connected back to the CPU via RS232.
- The dimmer output was only 512-channel EC Mux but the board would upload softpatch files for up to 10,000 dimmers to the dimmer rack processors.
- This was one of the few consoles ever designed that had an overlapping softpatch, that is, any dimmer could be patched to more than one control channel.

The Premiere was deep-sixed when the company was acquired by Strand in 1986, and the name survived as Strand's high-end architectural control system. Strand, however was not responsible for the demise of the Parellipsphere. That was an in-house blunder perpetrated by the new President (an MBA no less) hired by the owners in 1980 to re-invigorate the company. He had the dies for most of EC's lighting fixtures tossed into the dumpster, the idea being that there was no point trying to compete with Strand or Altman. Good thing ETC didn't share his opinion!
 
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****! Now I'm sorry I didn't read Steve's post earlier -- I could've been $1K richer! ...
Thank you for the history lessons, Mr. Higgins; but once again:
...I'm not sure a service call counts as "doing a show."...

Isn't there just an operator or stagehand out there (one not associated with a vendor/manufacturer) who ran one of these consoles? Or have they all died/left the business?

Perhaps Mr. Terry (who has been suspiciously quiet of late) had them all "eliminated"? ;)
 
I can't remember any names of the CCPA operators, but I bet John Avery does. I will ask him.
By the way, the fixture at the top of the post was an Ellipsoidal using the EG series of lamps. The knob at the back turned a threaded rod that went to the front of the fixture to adjust the lenses. Brutally heavy, the only way to service the fixture was to drill out the rivets. Not one of EC/CL's better designs.
 
Apparently Dave Ingraham ran the theatre Calgary's Premiere. He's living in Nelson, B.C. Who should he call to collect the $1000.00?

Hey Murray.


Just read to the bottom of that thread and saw your post! It was Dave Ingraham at TC for sure (I once got a tour of everything that board could do from him in about 10 minutes or less) and I think maybe Chris Sprague, Carl Scott and/or Howard van Schaik at ATP. Legend had it that one of them programmed an unused button on the console to show the hockey game on the HUD. I'm still in touch with DBI. Why don't you ask who he should contact to collect his cash?


Darrell
 
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