[Usittne] The annual BBQ

William Beautyman wbeautyman at limelightproductions.com
Thu Jul 24 16:14:42 EDT 2008


Sorry I can't make it.I am working out of the Maine office and will be
racing (sailboat) on Saturday; if "Dimmer Basics" is a go, we will see you
then.

 

William Beautyman

President

 

ETCP Certified Rigger - Theatre

ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician

 

LIMELIGHT PRODUCTIONS, INC.

 

SUMMER OFICE

Residence Phone:       207-963-2199

Office Phone/Fax:       207-963-7360

Cell:                            413-531-2981

 

 <http://etcp.esta.org/> esta certified technicians

 

http://www.limelightproductions.com <http://www./limelightproductions.com> 

 

www.filmandvideolights.com <http://www.filmandvideolights.com/> 

 

  _____  

From: usittne-bounces at MIT.EDU [mailto:usittne-bounces at MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of
Crystal Tiala
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 2:32 PM
To: USITTNE listserve
Subject: [Usittne] The annual BBQ

 

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) Ohms 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 dont 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) Lets Get Advanced

            A) A look at some Diagrammatics/Schematics

            B) Simple voltage control

            C) Lets 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 doesnt

            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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