Weekend Warrior Stage Lighting Discussion

[EdO.]

I recently discovered that my local public library has a ton of Chauvet lighting gear that you can sign out with a library card for 4 weeks at a time. I stopped by the other day and was shocked at how much gear they had, and it looks like it doesn't get much use. I'll be taking advantage of it this summer for sure.

Interesting, never heard of such a thing. Firstly, I'm wondering why a public library would ever have a bunch of lighting gear and secondly, why would it be available to check out and use? And thirdly wondering if MY local library has any gear I could borrow...

 

[Bullitt5135]

Interesting, never heard of such a thing. Firstly, I'm wondering why a public library would ever have a bunch of lighting gear and secondly, why would it be available to check out and use? And thirdly wondering if MY local library has any gear I could borrow...

They also have a really good selection of guitar and bass pedals too – curated by a guy who runs a local music school.

 

[DJWhitJr]

We are using 2 Chauvet Wash FX 2 mounted on top of our mains. A Chauvet clamp on the speakers top handle holds them in place. I got the idea from another member on here that does the same. It works perfect and they throw out a ton of light. In fact I have them on the lowest setting. We control them with a IRC-6 remote.

 

[Goatrope]

Question for the Weekend Warrior Collective:

Any of you that utilize Chauvet Obey controllers, like the Obey 40 or Obey 70, might you have figured out a way to export/
Backup your scenes and chases?

If exporting is an impossibility, what other controllers are out there that might offer that functionality, short of running a laptop?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DirtDog]

Interesting, never heard of such a thing. Firstly, I'm wondering why a public library would ever have a bunch of lighting gear and secondly, why would it be available to check out and use? And thirdly wondering if MY local library has any gear I could borrow...

Diversification. Books are so last century.

 

[DirtDog]

Question for the Weekend Warrior Collective:

Any of you that utilize Chauvet Obey controllers, like the Obey 40 or Obey 70, might you have figured out a way to export/
Backup your scenes and chases?

If exporting is an impossibility, what other controllers are out there that might offer that functionality, short of running a laptop?

Thanks in advance!

I’d be surprised if you could do that with those types of hardware controllers. Internal storage/recall only on some models.

There are higher end digital lighting consoles that have that functionality…but at 10x the price!

 

[DirtDog]

We are using 2 Chauvet Wash FX 2 mounted on top of our mains. A Chauvet clamp on the speakers top handle holds them in place. I got the idea from another member on here that does the same. It works perfect and they throw out a ton of light. In fact I have them on the lowest setting. We control them with a IRC-6 remote.

View attachment 4622276

Very nice!

 

[mudpup]

Question for the Weekend Warrior Collective:

Any of you that utilize Chauvet Obey controllers, like the Obey 40 or Obey 70, might you have figured out a way to export/
Backup your scenes and chases?

If exporting is an impossibility, what other controllers are out there that might offer that functionality, short of running a laptop?

Thanks in advance!

We use one of these Eurolite Bigfoot controllers and you can save scenes to a USB stick

https://www.thomann.de/gb/eurolite_dmx_move_bigfoot_foot_control.htm

 

[pfschim]

seeking some guidance.
Following some comments on this thread I have attached some LED Par lights to the top of my QC K12.2 mains. Super easy and works great as far as getting lights on the band. But I have discovered that the PAR's seem to rattle/vibrate probably due to being attached to the Mains. I did use double rubber washers to isolate the PAR's from the speaker housing, but apparently, it's not enough. I'm just using one 12 LED Par on each side of the stage, but perhaps I could use a bar and add another PAR to each side, and perhaps the bar would further isolate the PARs from any vibrations from the Mains ??

Anyone have this issue and found a fix ?

thanks!

 

[DJWhitJr]

seeking some guidance.
Following some comments on this thread I have attached some LED Par lights to the top of my QC K12.2 mains. Super easy and works great as far as getting lights on the band. But I have discovered that the PAR's seem to rattle/vibrate probably due to being attached to the Mains. I did use double rubber washers to isolate the PAR's from the speaker housing, but apparently, it's not enough. I'm just using one 12 LED Par on each side of the stage, but perhaps I could use a bar and add another PAR to each side, and perhaps the bar would further isolate the PARs from any vibrations from the Mains ??

Anyone have this issue and found a fix ?

thanks!

I haven’t noticed the issue with ours. It could be due to the light design we use (Chauvet wash fix) or the fact that I use in ears. That being said nobody else in the band has mentioned a rattling issue and they are not using in ears.

 

[SoCal80s]

...I have attached some LED Par lights to the top of my QC K12.2 mains ...But I have discovered that the PAR's seem to rattle/vibrate probably due to being attached to the Mains. ...Anyone have this issue and found a fix ?

I do this too and have not had a problem. The legs on my PARs have a hole in the middle and I stick the bolt through there. Are you sure you are getting a tight fit there? I found that my bolt was too long and would not hold it tight enough, so I added a nut just under the bolt head and I can crank down on the nut to hold it tight.

 

[pfschim]

I haven’t noticed the issue with ours. It could be due to the light design we use (Chauvet wash fix) or the fact that I use in ears. That being said nobody else in the band has mentioned a rattling issue and they are not using in ears.

I did not actually hear the rattle, it was the keyboard player who is right behind the stage right Main/sub. I'll have to see if I can reproduce it.

 

[pfschim]

I do this too and have not had a problem. The legs on my PARs have a hole in the middle and I stick the bolt through there. Are you sure you are getting a tight fit there? I found that my bolt was too long and would not hold it tight enough, so I added a nut just under the bolt head and I can crank down on the nut to hold it tight.

same basic PAR design ... 1/2" hole in the middle of the leg and I just run am M10 bolt through the hole and isolate the PAR from the speaker using 2 rubber washers. My M10 bolt is kind of long for this application, but I felt like I was able to crank it down pretty well. I'm going to grab some shorter M10's for this application just to make it a quicker job attaching the PARs. In fact, I'll probably grab some M10 bolts with a thumbscrew top so I don't need a hex wrench to put the things on the mains.
like this: Amazon.com: M10 x 25mm Thread Clamping Knob, Thumb Screw, Star Hand Knob Tightening Screw Knob for Machinery, 8Pcs : Industrial & Scientific

 

[pfschim]

I thought I'd come back and ask another question about lighting attached to PA Mains.

For the past several gigs where lights were needed, I have used the above method to attach single PAR cans to the top of my QSC K10.2's. Works fine aside from a bit of additional fiddling with the light fixture on the PA. But I got to thinking about maybe adding 1 more PAR on each side. I see there are prebuilt t-bars (Gator and On Stage make them) that can be attached to the same M10 points on the Mains, but it seems to me that a 2-3ft piece of black ABS pipe with a few holes drilled in it would do the job just as well. The LED PAR cans are very light and it does not seem like there would be any meaningful strength or structural issues as long as I insulated the home-made t-bar from the main using cut rubber sheet or even large rubber washers.

I have the money, but really hate to spend it on prebuilt stuff if I can make workable options myself. Anyone go this route by any chance ?

 

[DJWhitJr]

I thought I'd come back and ask another question about lighting attached to PA Mains.

For the past several gigs where lights were needed, I have used the above method to attach single PAR cans to the top of my QSC K10.2's. Works fine aside from a bit of additional fiddling with the light fixture on the PA. But I got to thinking about maybe adding 1 more PAR on each side. I see there are prebuilt t-bars (Gator and On Stage make them) that can be attached to the same M10 points on the Mains, but it seems to me that a 2-3ft piece of black ABS pipe with a few holes drilled in it would do the job just as well. The LED PAR cans are very light and it does not seem like there would be any meaningful strength or structural issues as long as I insulated the home-made t-bar from the main using cut rubber sheet or even large rubber washers.

I have the money, but really hate to spend it on prebuilt stuff if I can make workable options myself. Anyone go this route by any chance ?

I seem to recall seeing something similar to what you are describing on the weekend warrior lightning thread or somewhere else on the internet. There is another local band in my neck of the woods who uses an aluminum type of angle iron (L shape) attached to their mains with 4 par cans each. I’ve seen them several times and the lights always seem solid up there.

 

[Jason Stock]

I thought I'd come back and ask another question about lighting attached to PA Mains.

For the past several gigs where lights were needed, I have used the above method to attach single PAR cans to the top of my QSC K10.2's. Works fine aside from a bit of additional fiddling with the light fixture on the PA. But I got to thinking about maybe adding 1 more PAR on each side. I see there are prebuilt t-bars (Gator and On Stage make them) that can be attached to the same M10 points on the Mains, but it seems to me that a 2-3ft piece of black ABS pipe with a few holes drilled in it would do the job just as well. The LED PAR cans are very light and it does not seem like there would be any meaningful strength or structural issues as long as I insulated the home-made t-bar from the main using cut rubber sheet or even large rubber washers.

I have the money, but really hate to spend it on prebuilt stuff if I can make workable options myself. Anyone go this route by any chance ?

I did something similar for my old system using old T bar tops mounted to the top of the speaker (leftover bars in my stockpile of gear) Worked great for many years and never a problem. I recently changed my mains out so not doing it now, but for many years, worked just fine. You are essentially just making with what you have available (or buy cheaper) what they are selling. Just try to make sure you have they weight center balanced.

 

[Bullitt5135]

I thought I'd come back and ask another question about lighting attached to PA Mains.

For the past several gigs where lights were needed, I have used the above method to attach single PAR cans to the top of my QSC K10.2's. Works fine aside from a bit of additional fiddling with the light fixture on the PA. But I got to thinking about maybe adding 1 more PAR on each side. I see there are prebuilt t-bars (Gator and On Stage make them) that can be attached to the same M10 points on the Mains, but it seems to me that a 2-3ft piece of black ABS pipe with a few holes drilled in it would do the job just as well. The LED PAR cans are very light and it does not seem like there would be any meaningful strength or structural issues as long as I insulated the home-made t-bar from the main using cut rubber sheet or even large rubber washers.

I have the money, but really hate to spend it on prebuilt stuff if I can make workable options myself. Anyone go this route by any chance ?

A chunk of 2x4 spray-painted black will do the trick too.

 

[pfschim]

alllriiight ... looks like a small DIY project is in the works!

I get that a length of 2x4 would work, but I think I'll use 2" ABS black pipe with caps.

 

[DJWhitJr]

alllriiight ... looks like a small DIY project is in the works!

I get that a length of 2x4 would work, but I think I'll use 2" ABS black pipe with caps.

The pipe would definitely look more professional.

 

[EdO.]

A chunk of 2x4 spray-painted black will do the trick too.

To me using a 2x4 would look equivalent to something like this...