May Issue - Stage Directions Magazine

Tools Of The Trade
May MélangeThe rise in temperature
Wybron Transition
T h e W y b r o n , I n c .
Transition, a CMY Fiber
Illuminator, uses similar
CMY dichroic color mixing
technology to Wybron’s
Nexera lighting fixtures. The
Transition offers smooth color
changes with nearly infinite
color choices and silent operation. The advantage of using fiber
optics is that the light source is separated from the light output,
and its fiber optic strands do not conduct UV radiation, all of
which is meant to allow practically heatless illumination.
The Transition allows the fiber common ends to remain cool,
and the unit will not burn PMMA fiber. It has a compact design
that measures less than 6 inches wide and weighs just less than
8 pounds. The Transition includes an integral electronic ballast
and power supply. It uses a 150-watt compact UHI light source
and has a 10,000-hour lamp life. It accepts 17 through 34 mm
common end fiber bundles and is RDM compliant. The Transition
can be placed in an accessible location for easy maintenance.
www.wybron.com
QSC SC28 System Controller
The QSC SC28 System Controller is a two-input, eight
output DSP controller that additionally offers user-adjustable EQ
and delay.
The SC28’s
audio quality is
rooted in 48 kHz,
24-bit A/D and
D/A conversion
technology with 32-bit, floating-point DSP offering wide dynamic
range and low distortion. System tunings can be selected by
scrolling through a list of QSC loudspeakers found on the SC28’s
front LCD panel and selecting the desired configuration.
Once the SC28 has been configured to match a system, integral
six-band parametric equalization can be added along with high
and low shelving filters and signal delay. Password protected to
deter unauthorized tampering, the SC28 also provides thermal
and excursion loudspeaker protection, as well as a channellinking
feature that can be used to select linked or independent
control of stereo channel settings. www.qscaudio.com
ETC SmartFade ML
ETC’s new SmartFade ML is a compact, portable and easyto-use
board. The
SmartFade ML
is intended for
small touring acts,
schools, house of
worship venues,
industrials and
other applications.
SmartFade ML brings professional features like palettes,
parameter “fan” and built-in dynamic effects to novice or
experienced users. Its direct-access style of operation means that
Photo Courtesy of Wybron
Photo Courtesy of QSC
Courtesy of ETC
students, volunteers, non-technical staffers and others will be
able to use the console.
With a capacity for up to 24 moving lights and an additional
48 intensity channels (dimmers), and the ability to patch to
two universes of DMX512A (1,024 outputs), SmartFade ML
provides control for smaller lighting rigs. www.etcconnect.com/
SmartFadeML
Look Solutions and City Theatrical Wireless DMX-it
The Wireless DMX-it, by Look Solutions and City Theatrical,
i s a n a c c e s s o r y
d e s i g n e d t o m a k e
any Look Solutions
fog or haze machine
WDS-ready; also, City
T h e a t r i c a l ’s W D S
wireless technology
can control any Look
Solutions product from
their DMX console without DMX cables.
The Wireless DMX-it has a built-in WDS receiver and two
control output jacks: a 1 /8-inch Mini, to control Look Solutions’
Tiny-Fogger or Tiny-Compact, and a 3-pin XLR to control a
Power-Tiny, Viper NT or Unique2. A 5-pin XLR DMX Out is also
included, allowing the unit to function as a conventional WDS
DMX Receiver while simultaneously controlling a fog machine.
looksolutionsusa.com
Clear-Com Tempest
The Clear-Com
Tempest 2400
a n d Te m p e s t
900 is a wireless
intercom system
that has been
continues to usher in a diverse
array of new products.
engineered to
avoid the need
for licensing and
frequency coordination. Utilizing Frequency Hopping Spread
Spectrum (FHSS) in conjunction with TDMA technology, Tempest
operates in both the 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz bands.
Tempest is intended to serve as a solution for the dilemma
wireless communication system users will face when the DTV
transition is completed in early 2009. Tempest operates in the
unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz bands, so it is unaffected by the
reallocation of the UHF-TV spectrum. 2xTX Transmission Voice
Data Redundancy sends each packet of audio data twice on
different frequencies and through different antennas.
Tempest can interoperate with other Clear-Com intercom
systems, as well as those from other manufacturers through fourwire
and two-wire connections. Each base-station can operate
up to five wireless belt-stations.
A Shared-Slot feature allows one of the five belt-stations slots
to be used for up to 25 half-duplex, single transmit belt-stations.
The new system has a PC-based control panel, with set-up and
programming transferred to belt-stations via Ethernet or a USB
connection. www.clearcom.com
Courtesy of City Theatrical
and Look Solutions
14 May 2007 • www.stage-directions.com