[Usittne] The annual BBQ

[Crystal Tiala]

Dear members of USITT NE, friends and everyone else on this listserve,  (Don't delete this email, this means you!)

In this email:  need your response on the BBQ and on the Dimmer Basics class.

It is time for the annual BBQ coming up on August 23rd.   The last email I sent about the BBQ did not get much of a response with only 3 people saying they could come and 1 person a maybe. (Thanks for responding  to that one John, Keith, Ron and Janice.)   We all discussed at the March meeting that having it at a state park or other open location may be better than at my house. 
I am hoping that if we make this a more fun location that I will get a better response from all of you. 
So below are 4 options for you.  I would like to know if you would be interested in going and which location works best.  (For those in Boston, there may be carpooling options if I know who is going.)

Option 1:   
Cape Light Opera Company in Falmouth on the Cape may have an available lawn.  It is closing night of their last show, A Little Night Music, if you could buy a ticket and see the show that same day.  Its a beautiful area  to be a tourist, however, traffic and distance may be a factor for some of you. It takes about 1 1/2 hours from Boston.  

Option 2:  
Darlene Anastas has just purchased the farm she talked about at the last meeting.  It is in Lakeville which is sort of between Boston and Providence, RI.  
She says, " If people will forgive the work in progress then great, come on down.  I also have access to Long Pond for swimming.  Bug spray and sun block are a must.  People would need to bring some form of chair as I have tables but lack chairs.  One of the fields can be lit for night time.  Lots of land to roam, set up games, or sit and relax.  Just a little on the primitive side at the moment.    The farm is  located at 21 Highland Road, Lakeville, MA."

Option 3:
Cochituate State Park is a beautiful park with swimming, accessible restrooms, kayak and canoe rentals, lots of shaded tables and some open fields.   Beautiful spot and easy to get to in Natick.  Drawbacks:  $5/car for parking, no alcohol and may get really crowded on a weekend if the weather is good.  Park Directions
Cochituate State Park is located in the greater Boston area in eastern Massachusetts. 
>From East or West: Massachusetts Turnpike (Rte. I-90) to exit 13, Rte. 30 east. Park is on the right.

Option 4:  Same old thing at my house in West Roxbury.  

Your choice!  PLEASE RESPOND!   

One more thing:  
Limelight has sent information an a possible Basic Class in dimmer and DMX problem solving issues.  (Thanks Bill and Greg for this and sorry my response has been so slow.)
The outline is below.  Perhaps a workshop sometime during leaf season would be great and we can be leaf peepers as well as get an education. 
I would like to know who is interested in this.  You said you were interested back in March so don't be shy now.

Thank you,
Your Chair.....
Crystal

Dimmer Basics 101 (and more)
1) Overview of discussion and disclaimer
2) Dimmer Evolution
            A) Variable Power Resistors
            B) Variable Transformers
            C) Other Methods
3) Safety in the Field
4) Ohm’s Law and Power Formula
5) Modern basic dimmers and how they work
            A) Basic components in a dimming circuit and what components do
                        I) Resistor
                        II) Capacitor
                        III) SCR
                        IV) Triac (& Diac)
                        V) Choke
                        VI) Switch
            B) A look at the typical load (incandescent lamp)
                        I) Cold filament vs. warm filament
                        II) Pre-heating
                        III) The human element of perception
            C) Circuit Diagrams/Schematics
6) Getting more than we asked for
            A) Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
                        I) How does it happens?
                        II) How is it reduced?
            B) Power Harmonics
                        I) Non-linear loads
                        II) What are Harmonics?
                        III) Odd harmonics in the neutral
                        IV) Transformer Problems
7) I don’t know the words so I hum
            A) Where is that buzz coming from?
                        I) Lamp filaments
                        II) Chokes
                        III) Wiring
            B) Noise in the audio system
                        I) Use of common mode rejection for low level signals
                        II) Distance and right angles
                        III) Isolation Transformers
8) Resistance verses Inductance
            A) How can we tell if our load is inductive?
            B) What happens to the core (due to non-linear loads)?
            C) What works better for inductive loads?
                        I) Fixed series resistor
                        II) Rheostat
                        III) Multi-Tap Transformer
                        IV) Variac
            D) Special Case: Synchronous Motors
9) Let’s Get Advanced
            A) A look at some Diagrammatics/Schematics
            B) Simple voltage control
            C) Let’s add a Comparator
            D) The Introduction of the SSR
            E) Dimming curves for your specification
                        I) Linear
                        II) Square
                        III) S Curve
                        IV) True Power
                        V) Exponential Ramp 
                        VI) Relay
10) Reverse Phase Control
            A) Theory of Operation
            B) Review of Triacs and SCRs
            C) Different components with different features
                        I) Transistors
                        II) FETs
                        III) IGBTs
                        IV) GTO thyristor
11) Digital Dimming
12) Power Requirements & Balancing Your Loads
A) What Type Do I Have?
                        I) Single Phase
                        II) 3 Phase
                        III) How do I measure the Voltage?
            B) How Much Power Do I Have To Work With?
                        I) Finding Current Ratings & What They Mean
                        II) What are YOU going to be drawing?
                        III) What is the TOTAL load ?
                        IV) How do I balance the loads?
13) Different Control Methods & Protocols
            A) Voltage control
            B) Analog 
                        I) AMX 192 (USITT)
                        II) D54 (Rank Strand)
            C) Digital
                        I) PMX (Pulsar) EIA232
                        II) CMX (Colortran) (Precursor to DMX)
                        III) SMX (Rank Strand)
                        IV) MicroPlex (Leprecon)
                        V) DMX (USITT)
14) Troubleshooting 
A) Look at the “BIG PICTURE”
B) What does work and what doesn’t
            C) Divide & Conquer
            D) Only change one thing at a time
            E) Is the part bad?
            F) Self fix or “Qualified Field Service Technician”
            G) Common failures and what to look for
15) Hands on – You find the problem
            A) SAFETY FIRST
            B) Basic Tools
            C) Replacing parts
            D) Testing
16) Review
 
Crystal Tiala
tiala at mindspring.com
EarthLink Revolves Around You.
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