Vintage Lighting Old Console Model

[Filmtech1983]

Hey guys! I'm trying to find some info on the light board I learned on. Nostalgia and curiosity are kicking in lately. I'm pretty sure it was an Electro Controls, but can't find any info on it. I think it was installed in 1964-1966

. We also had an old Quick Connect slide patch in the backstage area with Yellow and Red slides. The theatre was renovated and the console was removed, but I was able to find a picture of it that I'll attach below. Thanks all!!

 

[RonHebbard]

Hey guys! I'm trying to find some info on the light board I learned on. Nostalgia and curiosity are kicking in lately. I'm pretty sure it was an Electro Controls, but can't find any info on it. I think it was installed in 1964-1966View attachment 14746 . We also had an old Quick Connect slide patch in the backstage area with Yellow and Red slides. The theatre was renovated and the console was removed, but I was able to find a picture of it that I'll attach below. Thanks all!!

I recall Electro Controls from Calgary, Alberta in western Canada. One of their models was the Playmate but it didn't look anything like your console.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[Filmtech1983]

I recall Electro Controls from Calgary, Alberta in western Canada. One of their models was the Playmate but it didn't look anything like your console.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

Thanks, Ron!
I know this was the Electro Controls from Salt Lake City, because that's what was on the plate. They were originally Ariel Davis Lighting, changed to Electro Controls, then we're bought out by Strand in the 80's. I think this console was installed during the transition from Ariel Davis to Electro Controls. Electro Controls has a couple consoles, like the Celebrity, but nothing in the paperwork looks like this console. Davis also had some consoles I've seen in old flyers, but also nothing that resembles this console. I'm wondering if this was some custom build, but haven't seen anything that says they did that. I remeber our drama teacher saying he thinks it was removed from another theatre and installed in ours to save costs, but he never knew for sure. Thanks again!!

 

[microstar]

I've never seen an Electro-Controls console with that style of preset faders and I don't think Ariel Davis made any electronic dimming systems, just the famous multi-tapped autotransformer dimmers. There was once a company called Control Devices (?) out of the Salt Lake City area that seemed to have some tie to EC and made consoles and dimmer racks. They did use faders with curved faces. I'll see if there are a few photos somewhere.

 

[RonHebbard]

Thanks, Ron!
I know this was the Electro Controls from Salt Lake City, because that's what was on the plate. They were originally Ariel Davis Lighting, changed to Electro Controls, then we're bought out by Strand in the 80's. I think this console was installed during the transition from Ariel Davis to Electro Controls. Electro Controls has a couple consoles, like the Celebrity, but nothing in the paperwork looks like this console. Davis also had some consoles I've seen in old flyers, but also nothing that resembles this console. I'm wondering if this was some custom build, but haven't seen anything that says they did that. I remember our drama teacher saying he thinks it was removed from another theatre and installed in ours to save costs, but he never knew for sure. Thanks again!!

The Electro Controls in Calgary was the same company as the U.S. company in Utah. At one point, Strand Century Canada purchased them for their architectural product line, primarily their remote wall stations. Shortly after the buy-out, Strand released the CD-80 AE (Advanced Electronics) control cage for their CD80-AMX-192 racks. There are still folks alive and working in Calgary who worked for Electro Controls and service their products to this day. Gray Interface was one company. Gray changed names a couple of times over the years but Pathways Connect may still be able to point you in the right direction regarding your console. @VRommel , can you help this poster at all?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[Filmtech1983]

Lol, I realized they were the same company a bit after I posted. Saw an EC name plate online that had both names. That's a great lead! Thank you. The original console is long gone, but I've always been curious about where it came from. The internet was still young when I was in high school and didn't have a lot of info on it. This whole search started when I was talking to a friend of mine that programs an Ion (I'm a MA guy) and we got to talking about learning on old preset consoles with slide patches and hard patch systems and how lots of newer programmers don't understand the systems on that level. I found a picture of mine (above) to show him what I started on and my curiosity took over. Thanks for all the help so far!!

 

[Filmtech1983]

I've never seen an Electro-Controls console with that style of preset faders and I don't think Ariel Davis made any electronic dimming systems, just the famous multi-tapped autotransformer dimmers. There was once a company called Control Devices (?) out of the Salt Lake City area that seemed to have some tie to EC and made consoles and dimmer racks. They did use faders with curved faces. I'll see if there are a few photos somewhere.

I hadn't seen any EC or Davis consoles like that either which is why the name plate threw me off. I think the EC logo I have came from the Slide Patch and not the console. I'll start digging into Control Devices. Thanks!

 

[microstar]

This is the closest I can get.... made by Control Devices as I remember. It was in the auditorium at Southern Utah State College and used by the Utah Shakespearean Festival in the summers during the early 1970's.

 

[RonHebbard]

In Canada, Ward Leonard used to have arched-topped back-lit faders like that.
I remember the Ward Leonard faders containing up to four lamps, two clear that illuminated when the fader was under control of an independent master plus one red and one green lamp which lit when under control of a red / green split cross-fader. I also recall the Strand versions of these arched-topped faders being pluggable plus two bolts to keep them solidly in place and containing a momentary 'push to read on a meter' switch.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[Filmtech1983]

Thanks guys!!! This is great info!!

 

[VRommel]

The Electro Controls in Calgary was the same company as the U.S. company in Utah. At one point, Strand Century Canada purchased them for their architectural product line, primarily their remote wall stations. Shortly after the buy-out, Strand released the CD-80 AE (Advanced Electronics) control cage for their CD80-AMX-192 racks. There are still folks alive and working in Calgary who worked for Electro Controls and service their products to this day. Gray Interface was one company. Gray changed names a couple of times over the years but Pathways Connect may still be able to point you in the right direction regarding your console. @VRommel , can you help this poster at all?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

Hi Ron: I've been away for a few days and am just now getting caught up. I live and work in the lower 48 provinces. The Electro Controls subject matter expert at Pathway Connectivity - Dave Higgins - is now retired. I'll send this photo along to him and see if he can help with an ID.

Best,

Van

 

[VRommel]

Hi Ron: I've been away for a few days and am just now getting caught up. I live and work in the lower 48 provinces. The Electro Controls subject matter expert at Pathway Connectivity - Dave Higgins - is now retired. I'll send this photo along to him and see if he can help with an ID.

Best,

Van

Hi Ron:

Good Morning!

I put the question to Dave Higgins and got this reply:

"This is definitely an Electro Controls desk, 5 scene preset, circa early 1970s, designed and manufactured in Salt Lake City. The picture shows several typical EC desk construction features, such as beige, welded sheet steel housings and dark anodized, engraved aluminum face panels. The cross faders and scene masters are also classic EC, and they appear to be in pretty bad shape with missing plastics and handle parts. The channel faders on the vertical wing (each vertical row represents one dimmer) are on individual plug-in PC boards incorporating all 5 scene potentiometers and the selector switches at the bottom. All pots and switches were backlit, and as I recall the cumulative heat output from a few hundred 1-watt bulbs did a good job keeping the booth warm. At least for the first year or two, after which most of the bulbs would be burnt out. The master section appears to include some custom houselight and worklight controls. This was also typical, as these consoles were made to order for every job and it would be rare for two systems to be alike. During the first couple of years that I worked for the company, I wired several similar consoles and all the parts look hauntingly familiar. Although this desk is strictly manual, EC also produced a memory version called MicroSet that looked much the same on the outside. The manual preset was used for backup as the early drum or disc technology and associated IC logic could be finicky to say the least.

Is this desk still in use? If so, it’s only a few decades past its best-before date and it’s nothing short of miraculous that it still works."

There you have it.

Best,

Van

 

[RonHebbard]

Hi Ron:

Good Morning!

I put the question to Dave Higgins and got this reply:

"This is definitely an Electro Controls desk, 5 scene preset, circa early 1970s, designed and manufactured in Salt Lake City. The picture shows several typical EC desk construction features, such as beige, welded sheet steel housings and dark anodized, engraved aluminum face panels. The cross faders and scene masters are also classic EC, and they appear to be in pretty bad shape with missing plastics and handle parts. The channel faders on the vertical wing (each vertical row represents one dimmer) are on individual plug-in PC boards incorporating all 5 scene potentiometers and the selector switches at the bottom. All pots and switches were backlit, and as I recall the cumulative heat output from a few hundred 1-watt bulbs did a good job keeping the booth warm. At least for the first year or two, after which most of the bulbs would be burnt out. The master section appears to include some custom houselight and worklight controls. This was also typical, as these consoles were made to order for every job and it would be rare for two systems to be alike. During the first couple of years that I worked for the company, I wired several similar consoles and all the parts look hauntingly familiar. Although this desk is strictly manual, EC also produced a memory version called MicroSet that looked much the same on the outside. The manual preset was used for backup as the early drum or disc technology and associated IC logic could be finicky to say the least.

Is this desk still in use? If so, it’s only a few decades past its best-before date and it’s nothing short of miraculous that it still works."

There you have it.

Best,

Van

@Filmtech1983 are you still with us? Is this helpful to you?? Is there anything more you need???
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Non-memory consoles up to late 1970s - at least some manufactures - were more or less custom. I'm sure they had standard designs and parts, but many if desk layout and particular features were a part of the consultant's design. I started out of grad school on an EC board designed by Roger Morgan. IIRC it had two scenes and A-B-C-independent switches for each channel, and some other unique features. Installed in 1977 IIRC. I was there 78-79 year.

PS: Edited because I saw auto-correct changed my "non-memory" to "non-emotional", which maybe in auto-correct's world is how it work out. Has seemed that way to me sometimes.

 

[Filmtech1983]

Hi Ron:

Good Morning!

I put the question to Dave Higgins and got this reply:

"This is definitely an Electro Controls desk, 5 scene preset, circa early 1970s, designed and manufactured in Salt Lake City. The picture shows several typical EC desk construction features, such as beige, welded sheet steel housings and dark anodized, engraved aluminum face panels. The cross faders and scene masters are also classic EC, and they appear to be in pretty bad shape with missing plastics and handle parts. The channel faders on the vertical wing (each vertical row represents one dimmer) are on individual plug-in PC boards incorporating all 5 scene potentiometers and the selector switches at the bottom. All pots and switches were backlit, and as I recall the cumulative heat output from a few hundred 1-watt bulbs did a good job keeping the booth warm. At least for the first year or two, after which most of the bulbs would be burnt out. The master section appears to include some custom houselight and worklight controls. This was also typical, as these consoles were made to order for every job and it would be rare for two systems to be alike. During the first couple of years that I worked for the company, I wired several similar consoles and all the parts look hauntingly familiar. Although this desk is strictly manual, EC also produced a memory version called MicroSet that looked much the same on the outside. The manual preset was used for backup as the early drum or disc technology and associated IC logic could be finicky to say the least.

Is this desk still in use? If so, it’s only a few decades past its best-before date and it’s nothing short of miraculous that it still works."

There you have it.

Best,

Van

This is great info!!! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you very much!!!! The console, dimmers, and slide patch were replaced somewhere between 2008 and 2010, I believe, with a Colortran system. It was still in use, if not completely 'functional' until then. I remeber when I was a senior(2001) I had to take apart the desk a few times to replace some burnt wiring and try to clean the faders. I also removed a few of the old dimmers from the basement and sent them out for repair. When I started high school, only 8 of the original 20 5k dimmers were working, but by the time I graduated, I had 19 going strong!! When I asked about the original console after the retrofit, I found that it had been removed by the installer. I didn't know that the original EC consoles were made to order, I thought that they were pre-built systems like now, so that's neat info. Thank you all again for finding this out for me!