Rainbow Colour Changers 8-Lite Plus, Operator'S Manual

Page 1: ...8 Lite Plus Operators Manual Operators supplement to Two 16 Manual ...

Page 2: ... to operate well and reliably it should not be used in humid environments The ambient temperature should not exceed 40 C 104 F or fall below 0 C 32 F Avoid any liquids or metallic items entering the unit Ensure adequate ventilation and do not block or cover any ventilation slots in the device they guarantee the reliable functioning of the unit and protect it against overheating The scroller may on...

Page 3: ...s they should be cut as follows Frames should be connected together with High Temperature Tape connected to the front side of the filter Tape can be ordered from Rainbow Colour Changers Good quality colour scrolls ensure the smooth and quiet running of the colour changers Ensure that sides are parallel and the bottom edge is straight The frames should be taped edge to edge avoiding overlapping the...

Page 4: ...latethespeedusing the Frame selector At the end one of the following will occur If the unit is under trimmed The RCC will stop at full before the filter has been fully loaded on the blue roll Turn the RANGE TRIM potentiometer clockwise to wind the extra filter onto the blue roll If the unit is over trimmed The RCC will try to wind on more filter than there is on the roll At the last frame stop the...

Page 5: ...e Frames switch on the PlusCard to the required setting The scroll is now correctly installed with a scroll and trimmed From experience we suggest that you i Run the colour changers end to end a few times This allows the filter to find its natural position on the spindle It will also show any noise problems due to badly made scrolls ii Where many units are to run together run the colour changers t...

Page 6: ... from a central power supply This can either be a Maxi combined Power Supply Splitter or separate power supply splitter combination Traditionally the PSUs have been rated in terms of the number of 8 RCC units which can be driven from one supply This does not apply to the larger Rainbows which take approximately twice the current of the 8 colour changer One 15 RCC counts as two units So a 24 unit P...

Page 7: ...urchangerusingthethreeaddressselectors The gel speed is set by the speed of control input and the Rainbow type The fan is controlled by the standard HI LO fan speed switch on the rear of the Rainbow Inmodes0 2 theinternaltangentialfaniscontrolledfromtheHI LO switch on the front panel of the pcb housing Mode 0 Standard Operation Frame by Frame Mode Frame by Frame Control can be selected in this mod...

Page 8: ...or longer gel life even lower noise levels and smoother crossfades The speeds of the fans are still controlled by the HI LO switch on the rear of the Rainbow Mode 1 Medium Speed Mode 2 Slow Speed The crossfades are calculated using 12 bit counters resulting in smoother crossfades especially critical on the longer gel string fitted to the 8 Lite Frame by Frame Mode Frame by Frame Control can be sel...

Page 9: ...e fade time Mode 3 Address nnn Gel Position nnn 1 Fan Speed Gel speed Max speed Dependent on model no of Frames 8 Lite 4 5s Resolution As DMX 8 Bit Mode 4 Address nn Gel Position nn 1 Fan Speed Gel speed Medium Resolution Up to 12 bit Mode 5 Address nn Gel Position nn 1 Fan Speed Gel speed Slow Resolution Up to 12 bit MODES 3 TO 5 2 CHANNEL CONTROL Frame by Frame Mode Frame by Frame Control can be...

Page 10: ...easily limited on a single fader to avoid all the scrollers jumping from state to state In the same way the fan speeds may be controlled for when total silence is required during a section of a show DMX Address 510 00 Max Speed FF Slowest Fade DMX Address 511 00 Fans Full On FF Fans Off The gel speed control follows an exponential curve allowing fine tuning of cues at faster times but allowing ver...

Page 11: ...umspeedofgelmovement and fan speeds Each Rainbow uses three independent DMX addresses for control of these features For example Address Position Gel Speed Fan speed 21 21 22 23 24 24 25 26 27 27 28 29 3 Channel Control with Frame by Frame operation As with other modes Frame by Frame operation is selected by setting the frame length No of Frames 1 on the Frame switch ontherearoftheRainbow Alloftheo...

Page 12: ...ng whilst the Rainbow is only supplied with 24 volt DC power To select this feature simply set the Mode Selector to 8 TIMING OF AUTOMATIC FADES The fade timing is controlled by the Frame switch Set the Frame switch to 1 for the slowest fadetime and F for the fastest fadetime Setting the Frame switch to 0 stops the movement In order that many Rainbows may be synchronised to each other the Pluscard ...

Page 13: ...oportional such 00 Full and FF OFF This can be reversed by a jumper setting on the pcb if needed This is useful if fan levels are to be patched in with light intensity A thermal sensor will override the fan control and bring the fans on to maintain an acceptable operating temperature on the pcbs If no DMX data is present for the address selected the fans will default to full speed The selected fan...

Page 14: ... etc When using speed control the 12 bit fade resolution is only effective if the PlusCard fade time is longer than the control signal fade Where speed control is required from the PlusCard the best results will be achieved if the position channel changes with time 0 and the time information is sent on the separate channel If power is disconnected and reconnected to the Rainbow the PlusCard will h...

Page 15: ...relevant mode selected in modes 0 to 5 the gel moves at the preset speeds for modes 6 and 7 the inter frame gel speed is controlled by a DMX address Selecting Frame by Frame Mode The 16 position Frame select switch is labelled 0 9 and A F where A 10 B 11 etc Where proportional position control is required select the switch to position 0 Frame by Frame off For Frame by Frame operation select the nu...

Page 16: ... internal and external fan control can be tested by selecting fan levels on the Frames selector Mode A Reserved for Future Development Mode B Self and Functional Tests The PlusCard is fitted with full self testing for factory and service use which are summarised below For a full description of the features check the Pluscard technical manual Mode Frame Function Description B 0 RAM Test 1 Posn test...

Page 17: ... in hexadecimal using the Address and Frames switches as follows Address 0 255DEC Most significant 8 bits of level Coarse Frame 0 FHEX Least significant 4 bits of level Fine Selection of Position ADEHEX 2782DEC Highest 8 bits ADHEX 173DEC Address Setting Lowest 4 bits EHEX Frames Mode D 100 Output for Loading Trimming Fades the output level to 100 irrespective of control input This can be used whe...

Page 18: ...he Frame selector as follows Address Level Frame Selector Speed 01 01 0 and 4 E Stop nn nn 1 Slow 99 99 2 and F Medium 3 Fast Example Slow movement to 50 Mode F 00 Output for Zero Set Trimming Fades the output level to 00 irrespective of control input This can be used when loading filter in to the colour changer without the need for a control console The Frame selector is used to control the speed...

Page 19: ...a valid level is detected move the gel at medium speed until the position equals to the input position from when itwilltracktheinputasperthemode frame andaddresssettings Thiswillgiveasmooth crossfade to position avoiding any undue stress on the scrolls As the Rainbow Colour Changer also has a permanent memory the position memory is retained on power down On power up the PlusCard will go to either ...

Page 20: ...an Speed to Quick Flash Fast Fan Speed On Fans Off Modes 3 7 Fans not under control of PlusCard Modes 0 2 Out of Valid Address Range Slow Flash Set address is outside range of 1 512 for DMX 8 s on 8s off Software Parameter Download When downloading via an RPC link the DATA led will flash to indicate correct data transfer to the PlusCard DIAG Led Red Rear panel Processor Status Normal Operation 1 H...

Page 21: ...ve This means that all modes have one extra operating parameter as follows The dowser can be set to default as the last control channel via a hardware jumper on the pcb J23 For furtherinformation on the control of dowsers and external devices with the Pluscard please contact Rainbow Colour Changers DMX ADDRESS MODE NNN NNN 1 NNN 2 NNN 3 0 DOWSER GEL POSITION 1 DOWSER GEL POSITION 2 DOWSER GEL POSI...

Page 22: ... GmbH An der Talle 24 28 D 33102 Paderborn Germany Tel 49 0 52 51 14 092 28 Fax 49 0 52 51 14 092 90 www plp international com sales plp international com 2007 Rainbow Colour Changers GmbH Rainbow is a registered trademark of Rainbow Colour Changers GmbH This manual is valid from the 1st of July 2007 All previous manuals are herewith not valid any longer All technical specifications are subject to...