Rainbow Floods...ASSEMBLED!!

[Tim Fischer]

huskernut wrote:

BTW, I found out how much work you can make for yourself when you solder in one of these LEDs the wrong way. Greg was right it is best to just break it off and try to clean out the holes but it was a pain.

Yeah, I have three to remove and replace. "fortunately" they are dead so I don't have to worry about salvaging them.

[Randy]

Hi Greg,
The Rainbow flood looks like a great product. I've enjoyed the other products I've purchased from you, and it looks like I'll be placing an order for some of the RFs...

One question, I was just browsing the data sheet from the link on your website, and it says that the power consumption is about .01 amps. That sounded a little light, so I read the manual some more, and see it is just over 1 amp with all LEDs on...Just thought I'd let you know about that in case you didn't catch the .01 amp figure on the data sheet.....

Thanks, Randy

[Ponddude]

I wanted to draw everyone's attention to a new section I have added to my site. A lot of people are looking for information on every product, and there really isn't a place for it. Now every product I offer has its own page with descriptions, pictures, videos, links to manuals and data sheets and links to the product pages in the store.

You can find the Products page by going to the homepage and click on "Products," or by the direct link here:

http://www.christmasonmanor.com/products/products.htm

If anyone finds any typos or things that need to be fixed, please let me know.

Also, just an update on the assembled flood lights. They are slated to be assembled on Friday, and will most likely ship out the same day. That means I should have everything by the middle of next week and will most likely ship the same day.

Randy: I'll get that info fixed as well. Thanks for the heads up!

[zman]

Hey guys, I came across a decent solution for the stand off. I found something called a well nut. It's rubber, with a bit of a larger foot to glue to the glass than a regular standoff. Check out the picture below. They were only about $1 apiece at the hardware store. I am sure you can get them online for cheaper.


Attached files

[zman]

Scratch that last post. I should have ensured the screws would fit the PCB. Back to the idea patch.

[jldavis1969]

Ponddude wrote:

I wanted to draw everyone's attention to a new section I have added to my site. A lot of people are looking for information on every product, and there really isn't a place for it. Now every product I offer has its own page with descriptions, pictures, videos, links to manuals and data sheets and links to the product pages in the store.

You can find the Products page by going to the homepage and click on "Products," or by the direct link here:

http://www.christmasonmanor.com/products/products.htm

If anyone finds any typos or things that need to be fixed, please let me know.

Also, just an update on the assembled flood lights. They are slated to be assembled on Friday, and will most likely ship out the same day. That means I should have everything by the middle of next week and will most likely ship the same day.

Randy: I'll get that info fixed as well. Thanks for the heads up!

Do you still offer the soldier-yourself version?

[Denny]

jldavis1969 wrote:

Do you still offer the soldier-yourself version?

Check it out here http://www.christmasonmanor.com/store/product.php?id_product=14

[Ponddude]

As Denny point out, yes the lights are still offered as DIY kits. We will always have them that way but there was such a demand for preassembled units we are having them made overseas.

[Denny]

Greg,

Question for you about the Rainbow Brain. I decided to use the Rainbow Brains with the Rainbow Floods, mainly, because it's more economical to get three rainbow brains than three DC boards for fifteen floods. I would like to keep my wiring for DMX standardized with my other DMX items so I don't accidentally plug the wrong thing into the wrong controller. I would like to use XLR connectors for the J2 and J3 modular connectors on the Rainbow Brain. To which terminals on the Rainbow Brain would I solder the pins from the XLR type connectors? I'll be using the three pin DMX/XLR connectors, I think the pins are numbered 1, 2, & 3.

[Guest wbottomley]

In my case Denny, it's cheaper to get two DC boards for $240 than buying two Rainbow brains and an IDMX for $374.

But, if you already have an IDMX, then, the ballgame changes quite a lot.

[Ponddude]

Denny wrote:

Greg,

Question for you about the Rainbow Brain.  I decided to use the Rainbow Brains with the Rainbow Floods, mainly, because it's more economical to get three rainbow brains than three DC boards for fifteen floods.  I would like to keep my wiring for DMX standardized with my other DMX items so I don't accidentally plug the wrong thing into the wrong controller.  I would like to use XLR connectors for the J2 and J3 modular connectors on the Rainbow Brain.  To which terminals on the Rainbow Brain would I solder the pins from the XLR type connectors?  I'll be using the three pin DMX/XLR connectors, I think the pins are numbered 1, 2, & 3.

Denny,

You really have 2 options here. The first one would be to use adapters only near the Rainbow Brain. For instance, run all your XLR cables to all your lighting devices. Than, when you get to the Brain you can use an RJ45 to XLR adapter (you will need male and female) to switch over to Cat-5. I personally use these...

http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Search/xlr%20rj45.aspx

They work great and are semi-cheap.

The other option is to wire up your own connections. PIN1 on the cat 5 is DMX+ and pin 2 is DMX-. DMX+ goes to XLR pin 1 and DMX- to XLR pin 2. The ground is unnecessary for cat 5 cable as there is no shielding in the wire. For our case, the XLR is grounded directly to the iDMX, so we do not need to worry about ground.

I hope this helps a little bit.

[Denny]

Mountainwxman wrote:

In my case Denny, it's cheaper to get two DC boards for $240 than buying two Rainbow brains and an IDMX for $374.

But, if you already have an IDMX, then, the ballgame changes quite a lot.

I already have the iDMX; but for those that don't, it would definitely be cheaper to use the DC boards.

[Denny]

Ponddude wrote:


Denny,

You really have 2 options here. The first one would be to use adapters only near the Rainbow Brain. For instance, run all your XLR cables to all your lighting devices. Than, when you get to the Brain you can use an RJ45 to XLR adapter (you will need male and female) to switch over to Cat-5. I personally use these...

http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Search/xlr%20rj45.aspx

They work great and are semi-cheap.

The other option is to wire up your own connections. PIN1 on the cat 5 is DMX+ and pin 2 is DMX-. DMX+ goes to XLR pin 1 and DMX- to XLR pin 2. The ground is unnecessary for cat 5 cable as there is no shielding in the wire. For our case, the XLR is grounded directly to the iDMX, so we do not need to worry about ground.

I hope this helps a little bit.



Thanks Greg, that's the info I was looking for. I have a bunch of the XLR connectors already, so it will be a simple matter now to use them on the Rainbow Brains. Will be ordering more floods when you get your stock replenished and will order the brains at the same time. Think I'll finally get the wall washes I have been wanting for the past few years and without having to add more electrical upgrades to the house wiring.

[terrypowerz]

Ponddude wrote:

I wanted to draw everyone's attention to a new section I have added to my site. A lot of people are looking for information on every product, and there really isn't a place for it. Now every product I offer has its own page with descriptions, pictures, videos, links to manuals and data sheets and links to the product pages in the store.

You can find the Products page by going to the homepage and click on "Products," or by the direct link here:

http://www.christmasonmanor.com/products/products.htm

If anyone finds any typos or things that need to be fixed, please let me know.

Also, just an update on the assembled flood lights. They are slated to be assembled on Friday, and will most likely ship out the same day. That means I should have everything by the middle of next week and will most likely ship the same day.

Randy: I'll get that info fixed as well. Thanks for the heads up!

I just wanted to mention that thanks to Greg, samples of all of the products will be available for evaluation at ICE, July 10th so you can "try before you buy" and then place your order!

[Tim Herberger]

terrypowerz wrote:

I just wanted to mention that thanks to Greg, samples of all of the products will be available for evaluation at ICE, July 10th so you can "try before you buy" and then place your order!

Do you by chance have a Chauvet 200B for comparison? Annalisa brought one to the NJ mini, and it was by far and away brighter than any thing there, by a lot. Dan Baldwin was even shocked to see how much output that it had. I am curious how Bill Hoffman's Double Rainbow flood compares.

[zman]

Tim,

My infamous 200Bs. I have a lot of them I use currently. To date, I have the Rainbow in hand, and built. I am waiting on PCBs and Mouser Parts for the VFLOOD and will order the Aether's when RJ gets a coop going. I can compare all these against the 200B.

So I should be able to get comparison against the 200B vs Rainbow soon. My work schedule is crazy right now. Don't ask for video, I will attempt pics and my un-baised opinion.

(running joke with me and video)

[Bill Hoffman]

Tim,

Along with all of the other tests other people are making, I am taking my double Rainbow Flood to ICE, my single Rainbow, my Porta Flood, and my Mighty Mini. Like Mark, I'm planning on getting a v-flood, and an Aether, when available. Also, William was kind enough to work out a BOM for the V-Drive, so I can try it with the single Rainbow and the Double Rainbow. I've been reading a lot about the Aether, so I'm anxious to get one in my hands, and do some testing. I'm like a kid in a RGB Flood candy store right now, I've been waiting so long for this to happen, I want to get the one that is going to fit in my situation best, so I want to try them all. Somebody will get a good deal on the ones I don't use, and they will be already built. :-)

Bill

[Tim Fischer]

Does anyone know the approximate cost of the Aether? I looked around, but wasn't able to find it, although people have been commenting on the price so it must be out there...

[Ponddude]

Tim Fischer wrote:

Does anyone know the approximate cost of the Aether?  I looked around, but wasn't able to find it, although people have been commenting on the price so it must be out there...

This post is directly from RJ over at DIYC. He says that the cost will be around $100. I have participated in many of the COOPs over there and the biggest one yet was the first LYNX Express of the season. There was close to 600 units sold and the cost only went down about 4 dollars from the original cost, which is $68. Here is what RJ said..


I'm am working to setup a quick beta for the Aether and will need to get the coop moving as some of the parts are not stock in large enough quanititys so there will be wait time on them.

A few things to be aware of,

There will be only one coop this year for the Aether and this will be based on enough quanity to hit a price break worth the effort for the coop manager.

Do to a number of reasons including part cost in one quanitities and the dead requirement of no subisitute parts for the project the Aether will not be offered as a PCB only option at anytime as far out as I can see. There will be no extra pcbs ordered only enough for the coop kits.

I have posted 4 build videos for everyone to see what is involved in building an Aether. It is easily within the ability of anyone wanting to.

The coop will be under $100 for the kit. How much under I can not say yet but low end would be in the $85 range. This will build a flood light thats capabilites I have not seen matched for under $500 - $600.

Do not confuse this with the $40 and $50 options which are just leds on a board that you supply the power supply and controller. This is a complete self contained unit that includes the power supply and controller. It does not use cheap chinese leds, it uses top of the line high performance leds with much higher power, more light per watt and much better reliabilty. It uses constant current to drive the leds to insure maximum output with maximum life of the led.

The output of this flood is far beyond there abilities.

It has built in temp monitoring of the leds to insure you can never do anything dumb with the unit and over heat it. The unit will limit output if needed all the way to shutting it off to keep the temps in the optimum range. While it is highly unlikely you would operate it in conditions requiring it I wanted it bullet proof.

The light runs off of 120v AC (240v AC with a mod) or 24 v DC (DC only).

It operates off of any DMX source including the wireless of which an EX/RX can be built in to it to make it a stand alone power only required device.

It has a manual feature that allows a toggle switch to be added to the back of the case to turn the light on maximum white output manually with no dmx only power supplied. This is handy for aimming while setting up or for using it as a worklight.

You can add lens to the unit to change the angle of the light throw to taylor it for you needs. These lens are cost effective and come in 30 deg, 15 deg and 6 deg.

I will be releasing firmware for it later that makes one of them act as a master to control any others attached to it and run stand alone color transistions for house, landscape, pool type lighting applications. These will only require power and a cat5 cable daisy chained between them to get the commands back and forth to the slaves. No computer will be needed to do this.


RJ

[Greg Young]

Ponddude wrote:

This post is directly from RJ over at DIYC. He says that the cost will be around $100. I have participated in many of the COOPs over there and the biggest one yet was the first LYNX Express of the season. There was close to 600 units sold and the cost only went down about 4 dollars from the original cost, which is $68. Here is what RJ said..


Do not confuse this with the $40 and $50 options which are just leds on a board that you supply the power supply and controller. This is a complete self contained unit that includes the power supply and controller. It does not use cheap chinese leds, it uses top of the line high performance leds with much higher power, more light per watt and much better reliabilty. It uses constant current to drive the leds to insure maximum output with maximum life of the led.

The output of this flood is far beyond there abilities.


RJ

From this post it would appear the author is stating they are using USA made (??)LEDs. If so I would wonder where they are being manufactured. :?

I don't know why, when it comes to LED floods, folks on the various forums are denigrating others' products - directly or indirectly. There is enough room for everyone's contributions to the hobby.

For me the decision will be made based on side by side comparisons, as was done at the Ohio, etc minis. When you see them first hand, side by side, the decision is very easy to make.

Based on what I saw at the Ohio mini, I have arrived at my own conclusion. Once the newer ones are out, I will likewise compare them side by side with the others I have seen, and may very well arrive at another conclusion. After all we are dealing with an evolving science.

If folks have the opportunity of attending minis and comparing these units, I would certainly encourage that!

After all, your eyes are the best judge!

Greg