how does a light board work?

[silenteyes33]

Forgive me, im a bit confused. Lightboards are kind of pricey, so i thought maybe i could make one. I was going to get a multi plug power strip, where each plug has an on and off switch and plug lights into that and have our friend to flip them on and off to our music for shows. Im a bit worried though, that he may shock himself, fry the cord/outlet or blow a breaker from too many watts. But the highest we'd go is up to about 500wts, if that. So i'm not sure if that's an option, we might just have to see what happens with that. I figured we'd might need a specific kind of stage light, so the bulbs don't blow. But i figured there would have to be something in a lightboard that controls voltage/watts, because it seems like venues would be blowing breakers all the time. Is it true? How does it work. All i want out of a light board is switches, just on and off and our friend is going to do it manually to the music. I've looked at lightboards and theres so many switches and dimmers and where you can hook up to the computer/midi. It's too much, do they make simple ones for what im looking for. Any feedback or advice will be greatly appreicated. Thanks. Sarah

 

[len]

A dj company I used to work for back in the 80's made their own controller. It was really crappy. It was similar to what you're describing. I could probably figure out the wiring, but my lack of patience and knowledge of terminology, or possibly violating the TOS of this site, prevent me from describing it.

Two suggestions: Save your money and buy some LED pars. They're relatively cheap these days, and all you need to do is plug them in and set them to standalone.

Or, rent stuff. Or go without. Ok that's three, but who cares.

 

[Tex]

Len has given you some good advice. You would probably spend as much money and a lot more time trying to build something when you could get a system like this for about $200.
Basic Stage PAK (by American DJ) - Batts Audio, Video & Lighting
It's not top of the line equipment by a long shot, but it will be better than anything you can build.

 

[icewolf08]

Forgive me, im a bit confused. Lightboards are kind of pricey, so i thought maybe i could make one. I was going to get a multi plug power strip, where each plug has an on and off switch and plug lights into that and have our friend to flip them on and off to our music for shows. Im a bit worried though, that he may shock himself, fry the cord/outlet or blow a breaker from too many watts. But the highest we'd go is up to about 500wts, if that. So i'm not sure if that's an option, we might just have to see what happens with that. I figured we'd might need a specific kind of stage light, so the bulbs don't blow. But i figured there would have to be something in a lightboard that controls voltage/watts, because it seems like venues would be blowing breakers all the time. Is it true? How does it work. All i want out of a light board is switches, just on and off and our friend is going to do it manually to the music. I've looked at lightboards and theres so many switches and dimmers and where you can hook up to the computer/midi. It's too much, do they make simple ones for what im looking for. Any feedback or advice will be greatly appreicated. Thanks. Sarah

To answer your question, almost all modern lighting controllers (light boards) don't directly control lights. They send control information to dimmers or to controllable fixtures. Some lighting controllers are as simple as the onle Tex linked to, and some are specially designed computers that can handle many complex devices, functions and effects.

Venues don't blow breakers all the time because A) they (usually) have properly installed and sized power feeds for the scale of productions they host, and B) the people running the productions (should) know how to set up their systems within the limits of the power provided.

Can you build a controller like you describe? Yes, but you need to have the knowledge of how to do it. That is something that we really can't impart on you. Also, anything you you build yourself will not have the appropriate ratings and certifications from recognized agencies like CE or UL which may mean that some venues would not let you use it for liability reasons.

If you want a simple system you can control, your best bet is to go to your local Guitar Center or other big music store (or even online) and look at the products they have. If you go into a store they probably can help you pick appropriate gear for your needs.

 

[waynehoskins]

One major problem with the design proposed (a bank of switches tied to outlets, to be used with 500W fixtures) will be the feeder limitations. Most wall outlets that you might plug such a device into will be only on 15A or possibly 20A circuits, and the sorts of venues where you'd do such a music show are likely to have more than one outlet on a circuit. That limits you to 1.8KW or 2.4KW respectively, which is 3 or 4 fixtures lamped at 500W each, in a best case scenario. You could double that by using two separate feeder circuits, but the chances of finding one are pretty slim in those spaces.

Let me also recommend LED fixtures. They draw virtually no current, generate virtually no heat, and can change color without having to change the gel. There are physical LED controllers that are pretty inexpensive, but many people use computer software and a USB interface to generate the control protocol (DMX 512) to operate the lights.

 

[shiben]

One major problem with the design proposed (a bank of switches tied to outlets, to be used with 500W fixtures) will be the feeder limitations. Most wall outlets that you might plug such a device into will be only on 15A or possibly 20A circuits, and the sorts of venues where you'd do such a music show are likely to have more than one outlet on a circuit. That limits you to 1.8KW or 2.4KW respectively, which is 3 or 4 fixtures lamped at 500W each, in a best case scenario. You could double that by using two separate feeder circuits, but the chances of finding one are pretty slim in those spaces.

Um, I could build a controller doing what the OP described using one feeder for 4 (known) circuits, probably with bump buttons and dimmers as well with some extra time. Would it work? Sure. Would it be rather crappy? You bet. Actually, come to think of it, I built one with 6 channels in elementary school (actually 12 chan but it was 2x20A circuits) to run lights for our drama club production. Having an electrical engineer as a dad helps for that sort of thing, as does a EE's access to tools and components at work. (I also learned to solder before i learned to throw a football, if that explains anything) Also, its probably cheaper (and for sure easier) to just buy one and dimmers for it, along with some cool LED pars that do more than turn on and off. Also if you buy some stuff, you can throw it into sound active mode and the guy whos "running" it (presumably you) can go grab some cervesas from el bar while the band plays, instead of pressing buttons for a 45 minute set. Thats like 4.5 beers!

 

[FMEng]

All good suggestions so far. An even more basic reason for not doing lighting control with plug strips: The switches in them aren't made to handle repeated switching of large incandescent lamps. Lamps draw a spike of current when they turn on. The switch isn't designed to handle that so it is likely to fail pretty rapidly under that kind of duty.

If you try it, you might even notice a flash inside the switch. That flash is an arc burning away a bit of the metal contact each time. Arcing in anything electrical is always bad.

 

[shiben]

All good suggestions so far. An even more basic reason for not doing lighting control with plug strips: The switches in them aren't made to handle repeated switching of large incandescent lamps. Lamps draw a spike of current when they turn on. The switch isn't designed to handle that so it is likely to fail pretty rapidly under that kind of duty.

If you try it, you might even notice a flash inside the switch. That flash is an arc burning away a bit of the metal contact each time. Arcing in anything electrical is always bad.

Thus having access to specialty components and proper supervision/instruction. No idea how much the components of these things cost, probably a lot less than you can buy a board for...

 

[mstaylor]

I worked with a bar band that had a rocker switch/recepticle board. PIA to run, getting power to it was always a problem and it required a lot of TLC. The LED/DMX controller from a music store is a much better solution. Less power and easier to run with little upkeep. Go look locally and see what you can find, then come back with choices and maybe we can give advice from there.

 

[TimMiller]

Here is what you are describing. 132: Controllers, Non DMX Switch Panels

 

[soundlight]

Get an ADJ RGB3C ($50) and a couple of ADJ Mega Par Profiles ($90/ea) and some 3-pin DMX cables. 4 Mega Par Profiles would be a good number. Way lighter than conventionals, way less power (pretty much no chance of blowing breakers), and you can mix any color you want. You can easily change color to the music, strobe, blackout, or manually change red, green, and blue values. Super simple.