Control/Dimming I'm trying to convince our school to upgrade our old lehigh board

[GhostOfGordonCGetchell]

I am a junior at my local high school and were trying to get either a grant, raise the money to buy a new board and maybe some new lights, or convince our drama director to buy us one.

I've been looking to upgrade our current board, a lehigh millennium lighting control console 48/96, with a new one, but I'm not sure which to get. I've been looking at the ETC Element 60 - 250 to upgrade it with but, I'm not sure if it will be compatible with our current lehigh dimmer system which we think has 120 dimmers channels and for sure has 60 dimmer units.


Any help in suggesting a new board or telling me if the element will work would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Les]

Should be fine as long as the Lehigh dimmers are DMX. Are the Lehigh dimmers DMX?
You can always get a converter in either event.

Now, good luck getting the board within a year and a half. :/. Schools move slowly, so I hope you get to see this upgrade.

The Element should be a great board, but do tell us a little more about your programs, needs and equipment.

 

[GhostOfGordonCGetchell]

Thanks for the reply. Our school does have a dimmer system that uses DMX so that wont be a problem.

And the board will be used primary for our 2 or 3 main plays each year, other smaller productions, concerts, and other function in our auditorium that need lighting.

 

[DrPinto]

Not meaning to be picky here GhostOfGordonCGetchell, but Getchell wasn't "The First PRINCIPLE of Ellington High School". He was the first PRINCIPAL. That's why they named the auditorium after him!

Welcome to CB.

 

[Tex]

Not meaning to be picky here GhostOfGordonCGetchell, but Getchell wasn't "The First PRINCIPLE of Ellington High School". He was the first PRINCIPAL. That's why they named the auditorium after him!

Welcome to CB.

Maybe he played the lead in the first musical...

Edit: Color me embarrassed! I misused it too...

 

[Clifford]

Give some thought to the future of lighting in the venue. Are you likely to need control over intelligent fixtures or toys?

Your system sounds like it has 60 modules with 2x 2.4kW dimmers per module for 120 dimmers. If the answer to my question above is no, why not save some money and find an ETC Express in good condition? It will do everything you want it to, they're reliable, and they're great for educational environments. Not to mention, it would also be an easier sell to the people who will be spending the money.

 

[icewolf08]

Give some thought to the future of lighting in the venue. Are you likely to need control over intelligent fixtures or toys?

Your system sounds like it has 60 modules with 2x 2.4kW dimmers per module for 120 dimmers. If the answer to my question above is no, why not save some money and find an ETC Express in good condition? It will do everything you want it to, they're reliable, and they're great for educational environments. Not to mention, it would also be an easier sell to the people who will be spending the money.

No, bad, sit, stay, do the laundry.

I realize that people loved the Express(ion) consoles, but they have been discontinued now for multiple years. Yes, they were great in the high school market, and yes they were simple and fairly reliable and yes there are a ton of used ones up for sale. However it wouldn't be an upgrade to get an Express, and it wouldn't teach the students about the software and consoles they will encounter in the real world. Also, it is old and DISCONTINUED! While ETC will still service them, it would be a bad outlay of money to not actually upgrade to a current generation console, not to mention many school won't spend capital on used equipment.

 

[GhostOfGordonCGetchell]

Gordon C Getchell was indeed the first principle of Ellington, but our tech crew figured we'd make an account that anyone at the high school could use if they ever wanted to post a question or something.


As to getting an used expression I understand that we won't be using most of the moving light functions, but in one of our most recent plays we used our first LED light and our tech director has been thinking about using them more often so I thought it would be a wise choice to upgrade our board so that would make using them much easier instead of us having to use our even older board to just control the LED. Also, I have found a used element that comes with two monitors and is about 50% of of the price i find for a brand new element and two monitors on most lighting stores.

 

[Tex]

Gordon C Getchell was indeed the first principle of Ellington, but our tech crew figured we'd make an account that anyone at the high school could use if they ever wanted to post a question or something.

DrPinto was reminding you that your school PRINCIPAL is a man of PRINCIPLE. The Principal is your PAL.
School board policies usually forbid spending capital improvement money on used equipment. If you have a booster club and want to fund raise, you'll probably be able to spend the money as you please. Student fund raiser money is usually deposited into a student activity account and may or may not restrict the use of the money. Ask your teachers or look on your district website for board policies.

 

[GhostOfGordonCGetchell]

lol yeah i realized that after i posted that and changed the spelling on my profile.

Yeah the only problem with the fundraising idea is our drama club was chosen to got to Edinburgh Scotland to perform at the Fringe festival and most of our money is going to towards helping kids get to Scotland.

 

[IEGPR]

You should look at the Magic Q PC set up. I was looking at an ION but for the money I went with Magic Q and love it. At this time we are in for $600
this was for a touch screen pc and entech dmx dongle. Next is a fader wing

 

[Pie4Weebl]

Also, I have found a used element that comes with two monitors and is about 50% of of the price i find for a brand new element and two monitors on most lighting stores.

Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Don't trust the prices you find online either, you should contact ETC dealers near you and get quotes!

 

[GhostOfGordonCGetchell]

Well I found the board on one of the sites that i found through the control booth's list of used places so I would assume its good.


here is the link to the page >> Element 60/500 channel

 

[gafftaper]

1) If you want to buy an Express. I've also got a used 17 year old home computer here to sell you... It was top of the line when it was built! The Express was a great console in it's day but it was released in 1995 and discontinued in 2008 folks. It's time to move on.

2)I disagree with the MagicQ PC system as well. It's a great solution when you are desperate for a $150 lighting console, their playback wings are a great solution for many small professional situations, and their full size consoles are great. But the learning curve is far too steep for a high school system used by a lot of beginners... and worse teachers and custodians. MagicQ is simply not the best solution for your needs.

3) My recommendations: Either buy an ETC Element or a Strand Classic Palette. The Element is a great introduction to the ETC universe for students to learn on and a very powerful console. The Strand consoles are equally powerful but I find them much more user friendly for beginners to master. The battle of ETC vs. Strand is well documented here on CB, so do some searching. ETC is the most widely used console in the industry so students will be learning on gear they are more likely to use as pros. This is a big advantage. ETC is also well known for their industry leading customer service and support. That said, I'm a huge fan of Strand's "Horizon" based software. The software is very "Windowsy" feeling and I have found that anyone who is comfortable using a PC finds the learning curve is very quick and easy. There is something about the Strand software that just makes sense. If you want to save and close your show on a Strand console, It's simply "File">"Save", "File"> "Exit", and then click the on screen power button. I find myself using the mouse and keyboard all the time when programming. It's all a very familiar PC feeling. On the other hand, the first time I tried to shut down an Element it took me 5 minutes to figure out the correct sub menu in order to do it. The ETC software interface has a very (switch to James Earl Jones voice) "serious theatrical lighting console" feeling. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad thing, but it's a very different approach to the software. Get hands on demos of both systems before you decide which is best for you!

 

[tdeater]

We are waiting for grant approval to upgrade our 2 Strand 300 series palette consoles to new Strand Palette VL consoles. If we get the approval this summer, we will have both 300 series up for sale. They are old, but work. We are running into more and more road shows coming in with moving lights, and looking at getting some ourselves, so it is time to upgrade. The 300 series is an old console, we have been using ours for 10 years without any problems. Both have been upgraded to dual monitors. Something new from a dealer, or used with a warranty would be a better way to go, but working in schools, I know funding does not allow for that often.

 

[gafftaper]

We are waiting for grant approval to upgrade our 2 Strand 300 series palette consoles to new Strand Palette VL consoles. If we get the approval this summer, we will have both 300 series up for sale. They are old, but work. We are running into more and more road shows coming in with moving lights, and looking at getting some ourselves, so it is time to upgrade. The 300 series is an old console, we have been using ours for 10 years without any problems. Both have been upgraded to dual monitors. Something new from a dealer, or used with a warranty would be a better way to go, but working in schools, I know funding does not allow for that often.

Are you a school? Because you could potentially get in big trouble for selling your old equipment. Around here a 20 year old light board is state property and must be sent to district surplus, and then on to state surplus for auction if no other schools want it.

And the Palette VL is an excellent choice for a school that wants to dabble in intelligent lighting. Although if you have professional outside groups coming in you should be sure to talk to them about what will meet their needs... they might not be happy to find a Palette VL in your booth.