Lee Colortran Status and Prestige consoles

I'm not sure about details on how the EDI Bijou operates. But from the Demo I saw at LDI it seemed perhaps a little too similar to an Express, so I'm guessing it's very similar on how you can patch channels. They don't seem to have a picture of the 24/48 model on their website. They show pictures of the Bijou Plus instead. The basic Bijou doesn't have the row of subs across the top or the encoder wheels... it looks a lot like an Express.

As for your Strand hate. Have you test driven a new one? Even though I would call myself an ETC guy, I'm quite happy with mine. At the time my new theater went to bid the option was to get a new Strand console or an old Express, so I'm very happy with the choice to get new technology. If I had to choose between Ion and Palette today, it would be very hard for me to decide. ETC makes excellent equipment and has a stellar reputation but... but they don't make a product in the price range we are talking about, for the customer we are talking about here. I know Strand has not had a great customer service reputation in the past. But I have to tell you they have worked VERY hard to take care of all my issues. Heck, at one point things went bad and they flew in a top guy from the other side of the continent, on short notice, to make sure I was taken care of immediately. I think with the buyouts in recent years new ownership has changed some things at Strand for the good. Perhaps the amazing people at ETC have forced Strand to improve in order to keep in the game. Either way, my customer service experience continues to be excellent from Strand.

Remember that both Ion and Palette are just PC's with a really nice interface. There are very few things you can do on either console that you can't do on the other as well (and if there is something good on one, the competition is likely to be add it to their own in the next software update). Strand gives you a choice of like 7 different console styles to choose from all running the same software. So that basic model runs the same software as their tricked out Light Palette consoles that cost like $30k more. One really cool thing about the Strand approach (that I believe is not possible with an Ion/Jr) is that there is a master USB key inside the console. If your console goes down, pop the hood, pull the key, and plug it into any computer with the Strand software, connect the computer to the network, load the show and in 5 minutes you have a fully functional light console again.

Finally, consider what you are getting with the Basic Palette for that price. While in the pro world many laugh at a console with only 100 channels, there are many venues where they want something with some legs to it but the extra $2k to move up to an Ion is a deal breaker. The Bijou is a nice console at a great price, but it's extremely limited compared to the Palette's software. There's Smartfade.:rolleyes: Lehigh, Zero88, Leprechaun, Leviton/NSI all make some decent memory consoles. Some of them are very "Express like", some are "Express like" and add some nice modern features as well. I was very impressed with the new console from Lehigh at LDI... very user friendly and "Express like" but adds a lot of great features to make intelligent lighting easy. Unfortunately, it costs more than Ion.:doh: When it comes to bang for your buck in that $3k-$5k range I see no serious competition for Basic Palette. Reconsider your hate and take a test drive!

EDIT: I just got a PM from Derek that Bijous seem to be selling on line for higher than I was told by the sales guy at LDI. Not sure what to make of that.
 
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Thes best price I can get from my supplier for the Bijou is about the same as an Ion package.

I guess my Strand hate comes from their terrible customer service, the fact that their syntax is completely backwards to me (it kills programming time when you realize that you just patched a whole show wrong!), and the flimsy construction of their consoles (back in the MX, GBX days), not to mention how buggy they were.

But I guess I can try and give them some love again!

For my current project I am looking for something basic that can be expanded for moving lights.

Mike
 
They are in a pretty big hurry. They are currently using a borrowed NSI 2 scene preset. Why what is coming up in March?

Mike
 
Manufacturers often debut new products at USITT in March and LDI in October.
 
I rented a Bijou from Norcostco once. I think it was a 24/48, maybe even a 96 (if they exist). It patched and operated alot like an Express, and I was able to get full control of 192 channels with it. I thought it was a great little board. The keys and sliders did feel a little gritty to me, but it was dirty, and who knows when it was last cleaned.
 
I rented a Bijou from Norcostco once. I think it was a 24/48, maybe even a 96 (if they exist). It patched and operated alot like an Express, and I was able to get full control of 192 channels with it. I thought it was a great little board. The keys and sliders did feel a little gritty to me, but it was dirty, and who knows when it was last cleaned.

You did rent it from the "N Place"... :)
 
I guess my Strand hate comes from their terrible customer service, the fact that their syntax is completely backwards to me (it kills programming time when you realize that you just patched a whole show wrong!), and the flimsy construction of their consoles (back in the MX, GBX days), not to mention how buggy they were.

But I guess I can try and give them some love again!

For my current project I am looking for something basic that can be expanded for moving lights.

Mike

Give Pallet a demo. Doesn't matter which one they all have the same software. The new software is DRAMATICLY different than it was in the olden days. Everything's very different with the incorporation of Horizon into the software. It's a Windows XP embedded which makes me nervous, but I've had mine for a year now and haven't had any crashes or other issues with the software (the wireless PDA remote is VERY cool but a bit buggy however they are working on a software update to fix it). The only thing I really don't like is there are some functions that are buried in illogical places in the soft keys. But you learn the short cut. They've got an on-line forum where the Strand/Horizon software engineers hang out and answer questions (http://www.strand-dev.com). You might want to do some reading over there to get a good look at what users are experiencing.

Like Derek said if you can wait a while there may be new things annouced at USITT or LDI... but you also have to remember new products typically don't ship for 2 or 3 months after they are announced. But you never know.

EDIT:Weird, the Strand site is currently down... that doesn't make a very good impression.
 
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Seems like business as usual for Strand (in my experience). Yeah, I knew a lot of products came out at LDI (we used to go every year in school) but I didn't know it was as big of a deal at USITT (never been).

Mike
 
Yep, the theatre rented from the N Place. I think they were using them for costumes and they thought it would be easier to rent from one place. The irony is that the EDI Bijou was a replacement for the Colortran Status that was out for repair. The Status was was a very weird board - no matter how much I used it I could never understand its programming syntax, and I hated the fact that I was limited to using the lights programmed into the 48 faders. After about 10 years it started getting pretty temperamental and luckily they opted for an ETC Express a few years later.
 
I tried looking for information on the Prestige and found this little funny item.
Check out the first paragraph on Page 2 of this promotional flyer from Loyola University Chicago. The secret prank of a very bitter LD perhaps?

For what its worth, about 6 months ago I did a show with Next Theatre Company here in Chicago that was at the Mullady theatre (the one listed in this flyer). The Prestige was no where to be found. They run an Emphasis server there now. ...However, the Greenhouse Theatre (previously the Victory Gardens Greenhouse) here in Chicago still has a Prestige 1000 board as their primary!

you can see it by going here Downloads - and selecting the file "down main inventory".
 
I still have a Scenemaster 60 and Prestige 3000 consoles in working condition with the last revision of firmware, also have the manuals, schematics and a number of spares. I did have a reboot issue about 6 years ago which was oxidisation of the IC pins and connector pins. This was fixed by cleaning them all with a very small amount of De-Oxit. these boards contained many of the features we now take for granted. The earlier units need either a TTL or EGA monitor - very hard to find now.

These boards are still capable of good performance if overhauled and maintained but to pay someone do this thoroughly, if you are unable to do it yourself, is expensive so it is cheaper to replace the board.
 
I hope the OP never did buy that Status...their horrable :p I would have to say the worst Colortran/Leviton/Lee board.

Beg to differ. I've used a Status 12/24 for about 6 years, got it used and it chugs along. Only needs a reset twice per year, is every bit as reliable as my old Express and current Ion. It actually served as my backup to my flaky Unison system for a while (Unison now runs fine). My Status is an off-stage recital console and does what I need it to do.
 
Steve,

Really? I guess ours must have seen some pretty bad misuse in the past. I suppose it does what it is made to do, I just found it very limited, especially with only 48 control channels. It was easy enough to move all the dimmers down below 48 I guess, but still.
Also ours had a memory issue, we could not figure out what was wrong with it, we replaced the internal battery etc. but we did not have the money to have it serviced at the time, so it went unchecked. (It would go to facotry defualt if it was ever turned off, for this reason we could never run a show with cues.)
I also disliked it because its backup card was a Leviton specific product, I called Leviton and they said it would be $250 to replace it...

But now we have an Express so we are all set : )
 
Steve,

Really? I guess ours must have seen some pretty bad misuse in the past. I suppose it does what it is made to do, I just found it very limited, especially with only 48 control channels. It was easy enough to move all the dimmers down below 48 I guess, but still.
Also ours had a memory issue, we could not figure out what was wrong with it, we replaced the internal battery etc. but we did not have the money to have it serviced at the time, so it went unchecked. (It would go to facotry defualt if it was ever turned off, for this reason we could never run a show with cues.)
I also disliked it because its backup card was a Leviton specific product, I called Leviton and they said it would be $250 to replace it...

But now we have an Express so we are all set : )

I've had similar issues with an aging Status console. I think we may have discussed it before -- powering up the console, only to find heiroglyphics on the screen and the crossfade lights non-communicado. Apparently everything was fine 'till the night the building was struck by lightning. After that, the board would just go haywire and dump all its memory every so often. Sometimes it would happen mid-show. It seemed that the show file would get corrupted and the console would bring up lights, but it would be totally different from what was programmed. We sent it in to Norcostco several times, but it never was quite right.

Now, the community theatre is running an Express, and hopefully it's on some type of surge protector. The Status is apparently still in use in their "newly found" blackbox theatre. I wonder how that's going...

I, too, found the 48 control channels severely limiting, especially when dealing with 192 dimmers. Need a special? That''ll cost you a control channel. (You can only use the lights assigned to one or several of the 48 control channels on this board).
 
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I've had similar issues with an aging Status console. I think we may have discussed it before -- powering up the console, only to find heiroglyphics on the screen and the crossfade lights non-communicado. Apparently everything was fine 'till the night the building was struck by lightning. After that, the board would just go haywire and dump all its memory every so often. Sometimes it would happen mid-show. It seemed that the show file would get corrupted and the console would bring up lights, but it would be totally different from what was programmed. We sent it in to Norcostco several times, but it never was quite right.

Sounds exactly what happened with us, maybe not as severe since we would never bother programming cues and would run shows manually, but it has brought our houselights on randomly during shows at times. Also random channels getting stuck etc.
The heiroglyphics is the best part though ;) There was definetly a fish on the screen once..
I forgot to switch it back to DMX from the defualt CMX once..took me a while to figure it out.
 

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