Dimmer Box

[dpryke]

I want to see if anyone might be interested in a Dimmer Box that I manufacture. I have been selling these in the Boston area for about three years. It has three separate channels, each capable of 600 Watts. Each channel as its own ON/OFF button with a vertical sliding dimmer. Constructed of plastic for light weight. It is perfect for field use. The Dimmer Box sells for $175, not including any shipping costs. If I get enough interest I will post a picture for all to see. Thanks

[Elvis]

I would want one that would do 1000 watts and one that was 650 watts. I don't think a box would be practical. 8)

[dpryke]

Lowel, Mole Richardson, and Magic Gadget already make 1k dimmers and up. Their price is also a lot more than mine. I built mine to fill a niche. No one out there has a low cost multichannel 600W dimmer. I use to build these for the company I worked for. This design is now the third version. It is what it is. Simple and effective. With the current cameras out, it is rare I use a 1k anymore. The only time I use anything that powerful is when I need that much power with no intentions of dimming it. Most of my buyers use it for their Arri 300's, Arri 150's, Lowel Omni's, etc. It was not designed to be or compete with a Variac.

[bcheong]

Anyone know anything about these:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=298689&is=REG

Seems pretty good if it works well.

[Barry_Green]

Can that dim individual fixtures? Or is it just a DMX controller?

[bcheong]

i'm not really familar with dimmer packs. what is a DMX controller?

I'm assuming that this unit can dim each channel individually on which you can daisy chain several lights to one channel so long as you don't go over the 1200 watt rating?

[Marc]

The NSI box that B&H has is just the dimmer pack. Like Barry asked, multiple lights can be plugged into each channel, as long as it doesn't go over 1.2KW.

The problem with the NSI box for a simple control system is that the dimmers need a way to control them and you'll probably spend about the same price (another $150) for a DMX controller.

But, if you do plan on getting any significant amount of lighting in the long run, having a DMX setup will make your life MUCH easier as it centralizes all your control so you don't have 8 different contol boxes for each of the different lights you have.

-Marc

[bcheong]

Marc,

I'm not too sure that I follow. So with the NSI box I would plug all my lights that needed dimming into it. And the DMX would do what exactly? Are there not switches/levers assigned to each channel to dim each one as needed on the dimmer pack?

Thanks again.

[Marc]

Barry,

With the NSI Dimmer pack you would plug your lights into the various outlets on it and then you would have to plug your separate DMX controller into the dimmer pack as well to turn the lights on and off and/or dim them.

Theatrical lighting is usually split into three components: the actual light, the dimmer that controls how much power goes to the light, and the lighting console/DMX controller/whatever that actually tells the dimmer what to do.

The difference between NSI's dimmer box and the dimmer box that drpyke offers is that drpyke's has the two components of power regulation (the dimmer) and the control element (in this case the vertical slider) incorporated into one box.

drpyke's dimmer box is more portable and convenient if you have lights (or plan on getting lights) that fit with the capabilities of his box - 3 lights of under 600 watts each. NSI's box is more practical if you see yourself having a larger lighting rig that you want more flexibility with.

-Marc

[Zoomforce]

you have any photos?

[dpryke]

I will be taking some photos soon. I wanted to see if there was any interest, but the topic veered off onto DMX.

[Barry_Green]

I think your dimmer sounds like a great product, but it'd be irresistible if it supported 1000 watts per channel. Do you have the ability to make a 1k version?

[Zoomforce]

im interested in the 600w version.. the 2k scoops we use have there own dimmers.

[Terry_Lasater]

I concur with the vocal stylings of Barry White.. er... I mean Green. ;)

A 1K version would offer more versatility for those of us with Arri 650W fresnels and 1K broad sources. And there seems to be several on this board who are 'Arri-ans'.

Wait a second... that doesn't quite sound right, does it? :o

[dpryke]

Unfortunately, a 1k dimmer (just the part) runs around $80. The unit would get a little expensive, besides a massive redesign to include heat sinks. 3000 watts running through a small plastic box isn't the safest thing in the world. As I mentioned earlier, there are already 1k dimmers out there. I made something I needed and others have found useful. I rarely use any lights over 600 watts with todays cameras. When I do, I don't dim them. But that is just me. I will look into a 1k dimmer some more, but I think I will only make this version. Thanks to all for the input. I hope to get a picture up soon.