What is this?: Patch panel two-for-one

[SteveB]

And how is it used?

I built it so know the answer, so really a question more for the younger members.


IMAG0110.jpg | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[firewater88]

And how is it used?

I built it so know the answer, so really a question more for the younger members.

IMAG0110.jpg | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

About 8-10 years ago I probably could have used one of those! Then we upgraded and never looked back! Only memories left....

 

[derekleffew]

I've never had the need, nor seen one before. A properly designed <thing that it is to be used with> should never require such a contraption.

 

[LXPlot]

Umm...it looks like a really ghetto voltage tester...maybe a home made soldering iron? Regardless, those two are my guesses.

 

[rochem]

My guess would be a pin-patch twofer type thing? More specifically, a nicely labeled 20A pin-patch twofer type thing.

 

[DuckJordan]

What ever it is, it looks way to dangerous to let anyone without proper knowledge to use.

I want to say its a hot pin twofer for either stage pin or old stage plug connectors.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I'd say its a spaghetti patch board two-fer.

 

[SteveB]

Derek

Let me know when I should provide the answer.

 

[derekleffew]

Let me know when I should provide the answer.

As soon as the foaming subsides but before the milk solids begin to burn. No wait, that's butter.

Answer whenever you want: either once the correct answer is given, after one week, never, or anything in between.

 

[metti]

I'm going to guess some sort of patch panel two-fer. I hope I never run into one though.

 

[SteveB]

Derek

Let me know when I should provide the answer.

End of today then

 

[JohnHartman]

What is it?

scary!

 

[mstaylor]

I know what it is, I'm not sure why. Make sure you explain the application that caused you to build it.

 

[nd925a]

It looks like some sort of splitter, but I've never seen a connector like that before

 

[STEVETERRY]

And how is it used?

I built it so know the answer, so really a question more for the younger members.

IMAG0110.jpg | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

It seems to be missing the UL label.

ST

 

[Dionysus]

The highschool I went to STILL has its original lighting system in one of the gym/auditorium spaces (actually the big one) with it's spaghetti patch system and all. I used to have photos of it, but not anymore since my external harddrive was stolen.
It's still used, if only occasionally. One of the ten dimmers nolonger works however.

Yes this looks like a patchbay twofer (already suggested), which in a properly setup system would not be needed in general.

 

[SteveB]

Well, many have guessed correctly, so I'll answer now.

Yes it's a patch panel two-fer.

Is it UL Listed ?. Ummm..... Yeah,.....the labels...... on the other side, somewhere.....

Seriously, I have no idea if it's code compliant or not. I built 3 of these things to deal with poorly designed patch panels. When I started at BC in '81, I had 3 such patch panels with the 3rd and final unit just this month being taken out of service as the theater starts renovation, thus am now, or will be a complete Dimmer-Per-Circuit facility.

I have to say that these things came in very handy when you only had 4 patch receptacles for a 7200w dimmer, with a need to patch more then 5 circuits, yet were still below the capacity of the dimmer. They saved the ass of many a design student, as well as visiting LD's whom struggled with the concept of Channel - Dimmer - CIRCUIT.

They were also used when you wanted to patch all the circuits to a dimmer that had a re-patch - I.E. an "A" patch for Act I and a "B" patch for Act II, as example. You could patch all the circuits, avoiding errors and then label the breakers.

In truth, they didn't get a whole lot of use, but when they were needed they were very useful.

 

[derekleffew]

...I have to say that these things came in very handy when you only had 4 patch receptacles for a 7200w dimmer, with a need to patch more then 5 circuits, yet were still below the capacity of the dimmer. ...

Only four holes on a 7.2kW dimmer? Yeah, that's bad. Kliegl's standard, IIRC, was four holes for a 3kW, and six holes for a 7kW.

Interesting that yours is labeled "20amps MAX." as it looks like a 50A plug. I always thought it was excessive that, if there were any 50A circuits (and most systems had only a few), ALL plugs and jacks had to be 50A.

 

[Footer]

Only four holes on a 7.2kW dimmer? Yeah, that's bad. Kliegl's standard, IIRC, was four holes for a 3kW, and six holes for a 7kW.

Interesting that yours is labeled "20amps MAX." as it looks like a 50A plug. I always thought it was excessive that, if there were any 50A circuits (and most systems had only a few), ALL plugs and jacks had to be 50A.

Mrs. Footer's space still has the old telephone patch in working order. Her 6ks have 4 plugs and 12ks have 8. I have thought about building one of these once or twice but have no clue how to land my hands on the parts. They would be useful especially when we have to build complete systems out of specials/spares. I have also seen the same thing built for ETC pin patches.

 

[mstaylor]

I have an old Kliegl system with the phone patch system in one of the buildings I work in. I could see setting up a second patch using these to make it quicker with less mistakes. I wish I had thought of it when I was doing repatches at the local college. When I started doing shows there one theatre had the phone paych system, the other had an autotransformer.