Thomann Powerbar first outing.

[Excalibur]

Alright, which smartarse told me to go for this, cos it was brighter than a Parbar? I can not dispute their argument in any way. Blimey, but they're bright!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Piccies of it will be in Gallery soon.

OK, serious time. I used it in a venue with some cheapo LED effects and a laser installed in a very haphazard and unsatisfactory manner. Never mind, it means I don't have to take any. :D :D :D :D :D
Excellent place to try the new bar out then. I rigged it up behind me, at about full stretch for a six foot tall bloke. It lit up the entire room!! :eek: :D :D :D :D For the effort involved in bringing it in, it was a revelation. It gives mixes of colours on the dancefloor, runs patterns, works sound to light ( which in this situation was exactly what I wanted at times. 18th Birthday, strobe requested. ) The venue gave me this tiny tiny effort to use, which was absolutely useless, and I got a better effect by pressing buttons on the bar.

Conclusions? It's easy to transport, tidy, only two wires needed to run it, and footswitch control means you can have blackout or static light with one kick. Great. I need to learn a lot more about it to get the best out of it, and as it stands, I'm thinking the sort of effect I'm really after isn't obviously there. Biggest disappointment is not having the bar controls duplicated on the foot control, to alter programs you have to press buttons on the bar. :( :(

I reckon Paul's gonna have a few calls from me over the next few weeks. ;) :D :D :D :D :D I will have to try it with a DMX controller, to see how that works. It should in theory be the answer. In theory. ;) :(

Am I happy with it? Yes. On the whole.
Do I regret buying it? No.
Does it need to be used with other effects? Oh yuss. The Geni Spin3's are going back on the road with it, no question. Only thing I don't know yet is how I'll mount them. :confused: :confused:

[TONYTIGER]

Alright, which smartarse told me to go for this, cos it was brighter than a Parbar? I can not dispute their argument in any way. Blimey, but they're bright!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Piccies of it will be in Gallery soon.

OK, serious time. I used it in a venue with some cheapo LED effects and a laser installed in a very haphazard and unsatisfactory manner. Never mind, it means I don't have to take any. :D :D :D :D :D
Excellent place to try the new bar out then. I rigged it up behind me, at about full stretch for a six foot tall bloke. It lit up the entire room!! :eek: :D :D :D :D For the effort involved in bringing it in, it was a revelation. It gives mixes of colours on the dancefloor, runs patterns, works sound to light ( which in this situation was exactly what I wanted at times. 18th Birthday, strobe requested. ) The venue gave me this tiny tiny effort to use, which was absolutely useless, and I got a better effect by pressing buttons on the bar.

Conclusions? It's easy to transport, tidy, only two wires needed to run it, and footswitch control means you can have blackout or static light with one kick. Great. I need to learn a lot more about it to get the best out of it, and as it stands, I'm thinking the sort of effect I'm really after isn't obviously there. Biggest disappointment is not having the bar controls duplicated on the foot control, to alter programs you have to press buttons on the bar. :( :(

I reckon Paul's gonna have a few calls from me over the next few weeks. ;) :D :D :D :D :D I will have to try it with a DMX controller, to see how that works. It should in theory be the answer. In theory. ;) :(

Am I happy with it? Yes. On the whole.
Do I regret buying it? No.
Does it need to be used with other effects? Oh yuss. The Geni Spin3's are going back on the road with it, no question. Only thing I don't know yet is how I'll mount them. :confused: :confused:

Peter if used with DMX can you dim it ?.

[Excalibur]

Peter if used with DMX can you dim it ?.

I'm hoping so Tony. Joking apart, you were right to suggest the brighter one obviously. You can make a bright one dimmer, or point it obliquely, but you can't make a dim one brighter. Ta.

[DAVESOUNDS SERVICES]

Glad you like it!
Ive got the original Par Bar which for me seems plenty bright enough
and doesn,t wash out my other LED Lights

Dave

[Excalibur]

Glad you like it!
Ive got the original Par Bar which for me seems plenty bright enough
and doesn,t wash out my other LED Lights

Dave

There are no easy answers in this game, are there?:( I was advised, quite rightly as far as I can see, to go for the brighter kit, which makes sense for when I end up in a big Village Hall that I've never seen before, as may happen next month. Thus, I shall have to return to my beloved Genis, or spend more money on high power LED scanners/barrels.

As I sit here, I'm confident I'm heading down the right road, which is a feeling I haven't had for a while.

[Charlie Brown]

Good read Peter.

Thanks for sharing. :beer1:

[Alchemy]

Peter, what are the DMX channel allocations for these lights?

[TONYTIGER]

According to the manual Peter sent me the unit has 7 Dmx channels full and single dimming is available + all the options on the foot control.
So DMX is the way to go.

[Alchemy]

According to the manual Peter sent me the unit has 7 Dmx channels full and single dimming is available + all the options on the foot control.
So DMX is the way to go.

Are they individually controllable for colour as well?

[Excalibur]

Are they individually controllable for colour as well?

If at some point this week I can get the bar and a DMX controller close together, I'll have a play, and see what happens. ;)

[Digital Jack]

Does it need to be used with other effects? Oh yuss. The Geni Spin3's are going back on the road with it, no question. Only thing I don't know yet is how I'll mount them. :confused: :confused:

I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one that uses Geni Spin3's....:)

[Excalibur]

I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one that uses Geni Spin3's....:)

There are one or two of us on here. ;) I'm returning to the fold, and a pair of my old ones are going to a new home once again.

The good news I received tonight, is that Davesounds has brought one of mine back to life, and I now have not two, not three, but four fully functional ones again. :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Excalibur]

Are they individually controllable for colour as well?
Errrr, well yes, and no. They function as one, except you can get them to do programs, where they may be all of a different colour. Not the answer you wanted to hear, I suspect, but best I can do.


If at some point this week I can get the bar and a DMX controller close together, I'll have a play, and see what happens. ;)
I did. And I have to give an emormous vote of thanks to this man:


According to the manual Peter sent me the unit has 7 Dmx channels full and single dimming is available + all the options on the foot control.
So DMX is the way to go.

Tony, :youdaman: :youdaman: :youdaman:

I have one of these,
http://www.chauvetlighting.com/dmx-44-controller.html
which I bought a couple of years ago, and never got to grips with, and Tony said it was fine for the purpose.

After a couple of false starts, I twigged how to get it set where you suggested, DMX mode7.


As expected on the attached table, first three allow colour use on each channel, Fader 4 allows colour selection, and better still it allows program selection. Hallelujah. Set it once, and then control it from the desk. Magic. :D Playing with 5 and 6 allows strobing, if set to extremes, or constant to slow fade at the other end. Exactly what I wanted. Fader 7 is a Master dimmer.

Tony, you're a genius, many many thanks.

[Jiggles]

Peter, how would you compare these to a bar of 4 of PAR64 500W incandescent cans?

[Excalibur]

Peter, how would you compare these to a bar of 4 of PAR64 500W incandescent cans?

Well the silly answer is that since I can't visualise the incandescent cans output, I can't! :(

Now the serious answer. They are very very bright, but logic suggests that the cans should have the edge. Also, though colour mixing is available on the Bar, individul control isn't. :( On the plus side, there's virtually no heat generated, and it's easily moved and set up. Also, you don't need a power supply delivering over 2Kw .

Sorry I can't give you a better answer, but perhaps when I've used it on the road, as a main light source, I can give a more satisfactory reply.

[TONYTIGER]

Hi Peter,glad it worked out for you welcome to the world of DMX you will soon be giving advice to other members on this subject ;)

[Excalibur]

Hi Peter,glad it worked out for you welcome to the world of DMX you will soon be giving advice to other members on this subject ;)

:fp:

Tony, many thanks for that, you have been responsible for the biggest step forward my lighting rig has taken since starting out with LED'S. ( Mind you, other than not getting hot, it doesn't actually do much more than we used to achieve with a Pulsar 4000 and a heap of spotboxes , and I could understand those ) :D :D :D :D :D


Now if I can only work out how to control the Geni Spin 3's via DMX............................................... ........ :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Excalibur]

With great help from Tony and Youtube, my DMX knowledge is coming on in leaps and bounds. I'm no longer completely clueless, I have now advanced to being pretty ignorant. :D :D :D :D :D

I can make the Bar and the Spins do what I want, but not yet both at the same time. I now realise I have to sit down and create the Progarmmes, scenes, and chases, and store them to the controller's memory.

I'm getting there. Very slowly, but at least I'm getting there. :D

[Excalibur]

Peter, how would you compare these to a bar of 4 of PAR64 500W incandescent cans?

Well Callum, as I said, I can't visualise the filament lamps output, but last night, the bar was more than enough to light an entire room. Heavily dimmed!!!!!!!!! Full control on the faders in front of me, pattern choice, intensity, colour mixing, wow. :D :D :D :D

DMX. It's the way forward. ;)

Added to which, I used two Spin 3's with the bar, and the result was fantastic. Yes, I know they're heavy, and filament lamps, but they do exactly what's needed.

Since finding out for the first time how to control the Spin 3's by DMX, I can't wait to get them programmed to work in tandem with the bar, and the effect I'm dying to try is for first dances at weddings, where I can run the big white circles slowly round the entire room.

[Excalibur]

Peter, what are the DMX channel allocations for these lights?


Are they individually controllable for colour as well?

The Stairville, which I have, uses three channels for single colour, one for program, one for speed, and one for master brightness, seven in all. ( It can run on less if you wish, but loses functionality ) Absolutely simple, runs beautifully on a controller like mine.

The KAM uses one for program, one for master dim, one for strobe, and then:

wait for it;

three channels per can, so twelve more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Obviously this gives individual control, but complicates matters. Boy, am I glad I got a Stairville. :D :D :D :D :D :D