I meant $700 total, it was $350 each. I wouldn't see them as being good top light fixtures, but if your grid is 15 feet up, the third electric is most likely close to the cyc. With the 150 watt lamps in the fixture, you will get decent light on your cyc. If you had a wonderfully large budget, I would recommend some T3 cells, or even some MR-16 strips, but I don't mind what I get from the R40s. Not great, but they do their job decently.
New lights on a strict budget
- Thread startermbandgeek
- Start date
I meant $700 total, it was $350 each. I wouldn't see them as being good top light fixtures, but if your grid is 15 feet up, the third electric is most likely close to the cyc. With the 150 watt lamps in the fixture, you will get decent light on your cyc. If you had a wonderfully large budget, I would recommend some T3 cells, or even some MR-16 strips, but I don't mind what I get from the R40s. Not great, but they do their job decently.
Hey they've been a work horse in the theatre for years. Yes photometrics have improved, but I still say it never hurts to learn on old stuff.
I'll second Van's another option and one often useful and done to consider. Often on the web you will find some old PAR 64 fixtures that come with lamp and no clamp at about $25.00 each. Perhaps budgeting for a few used old rock and roll cans to wash and or fill your house can be useful. At that cost, one cannot go wrong in if nothing else - a wall of PAR light is another completely useful design concept. A goal might be for at least 8 of such a cheap fixture added to you buy list if possible in perhaps the saccrifice of two Lekos perhaps. Eight used cans for two lekos could be a good deal and if nothing else useful for bulk. Artistically, while not Fresnel, Leko or Scoop/wash, a PAR is another design type of thing to want around as another paint brush. It is not a Leko or Fresnel but at times will be handy as it's own animal or to fill in for others in short supply.
On the cable, lamp cost/efficiency, I assume that you already expect to be going over budget or will not be considering spare lamps and cable needed to power up such things in this purchase order and will instead expect that such costs will be eaten up by the already what you have in stock inventory or budget. For what you have to spend that's what I would do - concentrate upon what is needed by way of repair of what you have and new fixtures, eat the cost of further by way of what's in stock or added to the "oh' by the way" if the managers of the budget are on the ball already have budgetted for. So you need to now also stock PAR 64 lamps... send a warning to those who buy the lamps and after that your hands are clean by way of acquiring what equipment you were able to, lamps for them being seperate.
As for C-Clamps and safety cables beyond that, might talk the supplier into supplying such things with the fixture or be able to have a few less side arms. None the less, that is always something to ensure you have available or buy in your fixture "big spending" budget if not to be found already available. Say add $18.00 per fixture beyond the cost if you need to budget for such things.
I recognize the warnings of spare lamps and clamps, but I have also been there in budget. I would first in such a budget get the gear, than figure out how to wire them up and make tham hang by way of having them and budgeting for doing them or making it work in the budget later those later details.
This all as opposed to where I work if someone buys a bunch of new fixtures, I do get seriously pissed if they don't warn me that I need to acquire extra spare lamps, clamps and safeties for the fixtures. Different budget scales in that I spend that amount in spare lamps easily every day of the week.
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Much less often sources are hesitent to even do business with schools in the first places. One would think easy money but never guess the accounting problems with getting the school to pay it's bills on time. For many sources, doing business with a school is often more of a pain in the rear than it's worth. This beyond local government stipulations of NEC compliance and who you shop from rules. Yep dealing with schools gets complex.
VeeDubTDI
Member
Update?
I would recommend shopping around for used axial 360Qs. One of the companies I work with acquired 20 good condition 360Qs from Studio Theater in Washington, DC for $50 per instrument. Another local theater acquired a bunch of used radial 360Qs for the cost of the lamps that were in them (~$20/instrument). If you shop around, you can find great deals, especially if you know theaters who are looking to upgrade their inventory and sell off their old stuff for cheap.
You have 75-ish dimmers in your theater? I'd definitely be looking to fill those up for least amount of money possible. In a high school, there is no point in spending your whole budget on a half-dozen new instruments when you can get two-dozen used instruments and accomplish the same goals, learn the same operational knowledge, have a more in-depth design, and end up with a better product. You're lucky, my school had two 12-dimmer CD80 packs and that was it... can you say many patch changes?
Best of luck in finding some good deals, and let us know how it goes.
PS: I second the idea of having someone come in and do a service call on your equipment. You should be able to find a knowledgeable person who can come in and direct the tech class about proper maintenance techniques, but even if you have to pay, it will be money well-spent.
I would recommend shopping around for used axial 360Qs. One of the companies I work with acquired 20 good condition 360Qs from Studio Theater in Washington, DC for $50 per instrument. Another local theater acquired a bunch of used radial 360Qs for the cost of the lamps that were in them (~$20/instrument). If you shop around, you can find great deals, especially if you know theaters who are looking to upgrade their inventory and sell off their old stuff for cheap.
You have 75-ish dimmers in your theater? I'd definitely be looking to fill those up for least amount of money possible. In a high school, there is no point in spending your whole budget on a half-dozen new instruments when you can get two-dozen used instruments and accomplish the same goals, learn the same operational knowledge, have a more in-depth design, and end up with a better product. You're lucky, my school had two 12-dimmer CD80 packs and that was it... can you say many patch changes?
Best of luck in finding some good deals, and let us know how it goes.
PS: I second the idea of having someone come in and do a service call on your equipment. You should be able to find a knowledgeable person who can come in and direct the tech class about proper maintenance techniques, but even if you have to pay, it will be money well-spent.
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mbandgeek
Active Member
these dimmer packs arn't made anymore, I'm not even sure who to call for teatronics packs. Most of them work, only 2 or 3 channels don't, so unless that number jumps up to 20 or 30, the school won't spend the money. One thing desperatly needed is a drop box near the side lights, we have altman 1kl on each side, with a max capacity of 3 lights per side. Neither of altman 1KL's work, blown bulbs, and even if we did have the bulbs to replace them, we can't reach them.
And for local theaters, there is only one within a 25mi radius, and they got a huge upgrade 2 yrs ago. So i have to search online.
And for local theaters, there is only one within a 25mi radius, and they got a huge upgrade 2 yrs ago. So i have to search online.
You can do anywhere from 50w/120v to 1,050w/120v in the "T-3" lamp which isn't really a lamp description, more a term for the dia. of the lamp - in this case a 3/8" dia lamp similar to that of any number of lamps commonly 100w or less and single ended. A BRL for instance (a small moving light lamp) is using a T-3 lamp. RSC, or R-7s is a more proper term for such lamp types once matched up with it's length. 4.11/16" (119.6mm) RSC (R-7s-18) would be a more proper lamp description of the lamp type. In any cyc fixture unless the direct lamp is recessed within the reflector and not directly outputting, I recommend a frosted lamp over that of any clear lamp normally used. Much more dispersed wash of light.
T-3 is a far too commonly used term to describe a double ended single contact recessed lamp especially in the 4.11/16" length (and there is many sizes of them from 2.1/16" to 17.11/16" between contacts. Such lamps even in the 4.11/16" length common size also don't always have a T-3 lamp, they range from T-2.1/2 to T-4 for most lamps. This all after it always being best to call a lamp by it's ANSI code. 500w FDN lamps are possibly the most used on stage when not 1,000w FHM or even the 300w frosted EHZ.
In a MR-16 fixture, anywhere from 6 to 240v and just about every imaginable voltage between in how you distribute the "in series" lamp distribution and or even in going line voltage for each lamp. Could do anything from 20 lamps per circuit to one lamp per circuit. Would take some re-wireing to do this range in how many lamps are on any one circuit, but also in this lamp type you could change to different lamp bases as needed and go anywhere from 10w to 360w given you would also have to change the wire gauge feeding each lamp. Believe most cyc lights are rated for a maximum wattage of 75w. If you want a cyc light with only 10w lamps, it's possible in having the largest range of wattage in lamps available in a lamp type.
Beam spreads and types on a MR-16 lamp as opposed to any other fixture has more variation in lamps available than any others. You can get pre-lensed lamps that are harder to fit in the fixture but will fit with dichroic lenses pre-colored for the maximum in color mixing or even high color temperature lamps to match up with moving lights or daylight color temperatures. Some day you will also be able to do some limited black light in a MR-16 lamp (given limited output.)
In beam spread for a MR-16 lamp, you can go from fairly well parallel beam of light to about 60 degrees. That's a great reange.
Can't beat at times the feel of a A-Lamp, R-40 or PAR 38 cyc light, but on the other hand, the other two types are respectable in having their own respectable feel to them.
