I am doing some research on another Texas company Davis Electronics Corporation (DECOR) that manufactured a very early low-cost SCR dimming system. I don't think they were the people making Decor wall dimmers or the ceiling speaker manufacturer. They were in the Austin, TX area and were active in the 1960's. Ken Davis and Ken Miller were the principals and worked with Bill Little to develop this early SCR system which we also had at my college theatre. Because of my teacher's friendship with Bill Little, we got a very early version (1962) which had a few problems like the SCR's being destroyed whenever a lamp shorted out, but later got a vastly improved version. Picture of the early version below.
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Yes it does! Thank you for responding. I Googled the name earlier with no results.Brand is on the crossfade panel. https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/help-with-decor-lighting-system.31709/
Does it function at all?
Yes, definitely dimmer to channel patching for a dimmer per circuit system. The local university I retired from came equipped with an Electro-Controls dimmer per circuit system when constructed in 1978. The low-voltage patch was huge, about 6' wide by 3' tall and was a 144x40 matrix. Unfortunately the dimmer per circuit system came with only about half the required dimmers.
Maybe I'm missing something but it looks like the off the shelf DMX to analog for 80 channels is pricey - like more than some inexpensive consoles. But I also can't tell from web sites if the Dove/Leprecon/Teatronics analog boards actually output 80 channels of 0-10 of if you have to salvage the pin matrix.Both Dove Systems and Leprecon still make brand new comparable consoles with analog outputs and basic 2-scene preset capability. Also enhanced models with memory submasters, cue stacks, etc. You can take any DMX console and add an off the shelf DMX to analog converter and get a lot more features, which the OP may or may not actually need.
Soft patching instead of mechanical matrix patching is standard of course. Any modern console will take up far less real estate as well. The DECOR board was probably a product of the '70s, so the school has certainly gotten their money's worth out of it. It is a shame it has been treated so poorly.
Very surprised they had DPC dimmer per circuit back them; it just moves the patch panel from one place to another. Most mfgs. didn't go DPC until they could control at least 100 channels.
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