Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Dimmer relays w/ memory?

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Posted by Christopher Meredith (Member # 3767) on 06-02-2006, 08:49 AM:

I am working on getting my theater's dimmers automated again, as they should be, for the first time in a long time. I have made great progress but there is something that is still causing problems. I will try to describe it as best as possible.

We have 10 projectors which use what I believe to be Strong SD-2 dimmers. The "control panel" has two knobs, one for "house dim" and one for "house half" on the top and bottom of the panel respectively. In between are two rocker swicthes, one for "house dim" and one for "stage dim." The consoles we use with these dimmers are Strong's Highlights and it appears the automation for the dimmers is contained within the console.

We are using FM-35's for failsafe/cue detection and the cue pattern is as follows:

Start show: Lights down from full to half (7 seconds after start)
Inboard #1: Lights down from half to dim (beginning of policy)
Inboard #2: Lights up from dim to half (beginning of credits)
Outboard: Douser shut, sound in non-sync, lights up from half to full (beginning of blue band)

In essence, the inboard cue effectively toggles house half and house dim. Most of the units will "reset" when the start button is pressed and the relay will send the lights to half whenever the first inboard after start passes through. But some units appear to have relays which remember their last setting, so if an inboard cue is missed, when the next show starts, the lights will go all the way down to dim, then the fisr inboard will send the lughts up to half for the feature, then back down to dim for the credits.

This is extremely irritating and effectively negates the purpose of the automation. I realize I may not have given enough info regarding exact equipment, but if any of you folks know what might be the cuplrit, I would appreciate any suggestions. I will try to look up any additional info you might need.

Thanks in advance!