Scenemaster60
Well-Known Member
As I have become more involved in lighting work again, I remember (both fondly and with frustration) the first system that I REALLY cut my teeth on in High School back in the 1980s. I came across the following photos that I took in about 1988 of the Major system that had been installed at Hastings High School in MN in 1976. By the time I got there in 1986 we had lost a number of dimmers because of control card issues. I have attached pictures. The first is of the 2-scene preset light board which was typical in most ways in that it had A & B submasters for each back EXCEPT that bank 2 instead of having an OFF selection had an IND which had its own master that was not affected by the crossfaders. The second is of the the dimmer rack itself. The left rack contained the 30 dimmers for the stage. There were 24 4.2 kw (that's NOT a typo) 35 amp dimmers and 6 7.2 kw 60 amp dimmers. The right rack controlled the house lights, aisle lights and non-dims. The last pic is the slider patch-panel. There were just shy of 100 lighting circuits between the stage and the house.
This system was replaced with a Colortran ENR system in the summer of 1989. It proved to be MORE problematic than the Major system.
This system was replaced with a Colortran ENR system in the summer of 1989. It proved to be MORE problematic than the Major system.