Strand 300 Series

lighttechie5948

Active Member
Dear Controlboothers:
I have a Strand 300 Series in the middle school of the district i'm in. I tried hitting the default patch button and it didn't work. Then I tried manually patching everything 1:1. The Patching Didn't take effect. Can some one tell me what im doing wrong or give me step by step instructions. All of the fixtures are conventionals. None are MLs. I am used to ETC consoles so I don't know what to do.


Thanks,
Joe
Technical/Lighting Director
East Islip Middle School

Lighting Designer
East Islip High School

Lighting Director
East Islip Schools
 
If you are used to ETC consoles, lets first make sure your syntax on the Strand is correct. In the Patch screen you should be hitting: Dimmer# [@] Chan# [*]. This of course is without hitting the [DIMMER] button. You should check your setup screens to make sure that you don't have a record lockout enabled on the console. You should also check to make sure that your user login has the access rights to reset the patch. If you do have values assigned to dimmers you can un-assign them by hitting: Dimmer# [@] Chan# [@] [*].

Also, the quick and easy way to unpatch is just to delete all the channels.

I can't think of any other reason why it wouldn't work, but if you could give more details as to how it is currently set up and if you are trying to get just to a default patch or if ultimately you are shooting for something else, I may have more insight.
 
Icewolf:
For now i just want a way to pull up lights using a channel #. As of now, all I can do is run lights by hitting DIMMER 1-150 @ FULL *. I need them as channels because I want to use cues and subs. With out subs or cues a light board is as useful as a plain dimmer rack.
 
If anything I am about to say you already know, just let me know and we can work from there.

I have to assume that you know that when you bring up a dimmer in Live by pressing: [DIMMER] [@] Level [*] then to release the dimmers you need to hit [DIMMER][DIMMER]. If you don't release a dimmer in that manner then you won't be able to bring it up using any other means.

In Patch you should see all Dimmers (or Outputs in Strand speak) listed with channels. I am not sitting with a console at the moment, but the outputs should be in light grey while the channels will be in white. You can view the patch by Output order or by channel order, set by a softkey. In the live display, all channels with dimmers patched to them should show up in blue(ish) while channes that have nothing patched to them should show up grey. (Color scheme is based on being in light palette mode, I don't use genius). As I mentioned previously, the syntax for patching, if that isn't working I would try deleting all the channels and starting a new patch. This can be done by hitting the "Chan" softkey then the "Del Chan" softkey then enter the channels to delete and hit [*], this will start you from a clean slate.

If you can't do that, then I would have to believe that you either have a record lockout enabled or your access rights have been changed. Both of these can be checked through setup or report screens.
 
He could also be editing the wrong patch. Strand has two seperate patches, a "live" and "edit" patch. To change patches....
go to your patch
press SET on the softkeys
Press Live
Press Live again to confirm
Press Back to get back out

Otherwise, make sure that you are patching correctly as has been said before.
 
He could also be editing the wrong patch. Strand has two seperate patches, a "live" and "edit" patch. To change patches....
go to your patch
press SET on the softkeys
Press Live
Press Live again to confirm
Press Back to get back out
Otherwise, make sure that you are patching correctly as has been said before.

300 doesn't actually have a live and edit patch... only the 500 and up do
 
Thanks Guys,
I also thought that maybe I was bringing up the channels wrong. Is that possible. What is the Correct Keystrokes to bring channels to FULL or to 45, etc.
Thanks,
Joe
Current Shows: Grease (Light Board Op), Jack and the Beanstalk (LD)
 
on the live screen:

[#] @ [On]

[#] + [#] @ [On]

[#] @ [4] [5]

Thats how on standard original setup, you can have it setup to need to have a confirmation enter key stroke at the end to confirm you want to exicute the command:

[#] @ [On] [*]

[#] + [#] @ [On] [*]

[#] @ [4] [5] [*]
 
on the live screen:
[#] @ [On]
[#] + [#] @ [On]
[#] @ [4] [5]
Thats how on standard original setup, you can have it setup to need to have a confirmation enter key stroke at the end to confirm you want to exicute the command:
[#] @ [On] [*]
[#] + [#] @ [On] [*]
[#] @ [4] [5] [*]

It depends if you're using Light Palette or Genius settings. I'm not sure which we are using, but I know if I want to get, say channel 35 to intensity 75, I can't do it in one line. I'd usually do something like this:

35 @ 7 (At this point it automatically brings channel 35 to 70% Intensity) Then using the LCD keys, I'd increase the intensity by 5% [^5%]

With this set-up, you don't need to ever press enter (*).

(Anyone know which this is? I'm under the impression it's LP)
 
It depends if you're using Light Palette or Genius settings. I'm not sure which we are using, but I know if I want to get, say channel 35 to intensity 75, I can't do it in one line. I'd usually do something like this:
35 @ 7 (At this point it automatically brings channel 35 to 70% Intensity) Then using the LCD keys, I'd increase the intensity by 5% [^5%]
With this set-up, you don't need to ever press enter (*).
(Anyone know which this is? I'm under the impression it's LP)

It actually has nothing to do with LP or GP, but what kind of style you have set. There are 3 styles, direct one digit, direct two digit, and command line.
Direct one Digit, 35@7, then you have to adjust on the wheel
Direct two digit, 35@70
command line, 35@7 *

I prefer command line on the newer desks, direct one digit on older. Also, I will usually change it after I initially write cues to direct two digit. One digit to get it in, two digit to fix it later.
 
If anything I am about to say you already know, just let me know and we can work from there.
I have to assume that you know that when you bring up a dimmer in Live by pressing: [DIMMER] [@] Level [*] then to release the dimmers you need to hit [DIMMER][DIMMER]. If you don't release a dimmer in that manner then you won't be able to bring it up using any other means.
In Patch you should see all Dimmers (or Outputs in Strand speak) listed with channels. I am not sitting with a console at the moment, but the outputs should be in light grey while the channels will be in white. You can view the patch by Output order or by channel order, set by a softkey. In the live display, all channels with dimmers patched to them should show up in blue(ish) while channes that have nothing patched to them should show up grey. (Color scheme is based on being in light palette mode, I don't use genius). As I mentioned previously, the syntax for patching, if that isn't working I would try deleting all the channels and starting a new patch. This can be done by hitting the "Chan" softkey then the "Del Chan" softkey then enter the channels to delete and hit [*], this will start you from a clean slate.
If you can't do that, then I would have to believe that you either have a record lockout enabled or your access rights have been changed. Both of these can be checked through setup or report screens.

Im pretty sure if you hit [Dimmer] [Dimmer] on a 300 series to try and release a channel it unpatches the whole board. To release the channel after you have punched it in at a percent (example: 1@95% *) you need to hit [SHIFT] and [CLR] at the same time this will release the channel so you can further alter the channel in subs and what not but to clear the channel or shut it off you can hit the [remdim] button twice. Also the [Shift] [Clear] key combonation comes in handy to clear the Red highlights on channels after you set a percent in either the live screen or any other screen such as subs. I recomend the strand 300 series quick start sheet to get some VERY basic techniques of operating this console. Here is a link to a quick start: http://www.grandstage.com/images/pdf/Strand_300_Quick_Start.pdf
Hope this helps
Oops forgot to mention that the shift key on a 300 console is the strand logo, its just to the lower left of the numerical keypad on the progaming wing.
 
Last edited:
Im pretty sure if you hit [Dimmer] [Dimmer] on a 300 series to try and release a channel it unpatches the whole board. To release the channel after you have punched it in at a percent (example: 1@95% *) you need to hit [SHIFT] and [CLR] at the same time this will release the channel so you can further alter the channel in subs and what not but to clear the channel or shut it off you can hit the [remdim] button twice. Also the [Shift] [Clear] key combonation comes in handy to clear the Red highlights on channels after you set a percent in either the live screen or any other screen such as subs. I recomend the strand 300 series quick start sheet to get some VERY basic techniques of operating this console. Here is a link to a quick start: http://www.grandstage.com/images/pdf/Strand_300_Quick_Start.pdf
Hope this helps
Oops forgot to mention that the shift key on a 300 console is the strand logo, its just to the lower left of the numerical keypad on the progaming wing.

By unpatch, he does not mean unpatch in the patch is lost. If you have a dimmer captured then hit dimmer dimmer it releases the captured dimmers.
 
Im pretty sure if you hit [Dimmer] [Dimmer] on a 300 series to try and release a channel it unpatches the whole board. To release the channel after you have punched it in at a percent (example: 1@95% *) you need to hit [SHIFT] and [CLR] at the same time this will release the channel so you can further alter the channel in subs and what not but to clear the channel or shut it off you can hit the [remdim] button twice. Also the [Shift] [Clear] key combonation comes in handy to clear the Red highlights on channels after you set a percent in either the live screen or any other screen such as subs. I recomend the strand 300 series quick start sheet to get some VERY basic techniques of operating this console. Here is a link to a quick start: http://www.grandstage.com/images/pdf/Strand_300_Quick_Start.pdf
Hope this helps
Oops forgot to mention that the shift key on a 300 console is the strand logo, its just to the lower left of the numerical keypad on the progaming wing.

Here we go, Strand lingo 101. When you bring up a dimmer in LIVE by pressing [DIMMER]XX[@]Level[*] you have temporarily unpatched the dimmer. The only indication that you have of this is that in the tiles on the right hand side of the display you will see a banner that says "Dimmers Unpatched!" The only way to release dimmers you bring up in this manner is to hit [DIMMER]XX[@][*] or [DIMMER][DIMMER]. The latter option will release all captured dimmers.

In terms of channels, what you say is almost 100% there. The [SHIFT][CLR] command does effectively release channels while leaving them wherever they are, but it does so to every channel. This also releases any other users' control of channels so if you have a user on an RFU or on a remote console hitting [SHIFT][CLR] takes away their control. This of cures also works from any remote location, so you can use [SHIFT][CLR] on an RFU to take control of channels that may have been captured at the console.

If you want to release a channel to a level of 0% but don't want it to remain captured all you have to do is hit XX[@][*].

RemDim is not really intended for the use you outline. RemDim (Remainder Dimmers) is used primarily to bring up a channel or group of channels and take everything else out. For example, if you have a cue up and press: 12[@]25[REMDIM][*], channel 12 will come up to 25% and everything else will go out.

In Screens other than LIVE, like SUBS, FX, PREVIEW, etc. you shouldn't get any red highlights. All of those screens operate like preview, any change you made is automatically recorded once you hit [*]. Once you hit [*] the channel should no longer be red or captured.
 

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