Avonics

We only ever use Duracell Procell Duracell Procell Battery Alkaline 9V Ref MN1604 [Pack 10]: Amazon.co.uk: Health & Beauty much better than the GP. If you can find them cheaper from anyone other than Amazon, please do. I don't like giving the tax dodgers my money.

The American DJ LED fittings mentioned above are just that, DJ fittings. I don't think they would be bright enough for stage use. Fine for a mobile disco. You need to look at the beam angle and throw distance. Something like this may be more suitable at a good price https://prolight.co.uk/DJ/item.php?id=509541/ Still low power consumption and low maintenance. You could go silly and buy Pixelpar but you budget would go on a couple of fitting. I would also get a variety of fittings of different beam angles. This will give you more variety of light show. Some fittings are more flood than spot. For control I would look at Showmagic running on a laptop or a great free program called FreeStyler. all you need is a USB-DMX interface. You can control FreeStyler from other devices such as an iPad. Rather than just fitting a scaffold bar, look at Andolite - Lighting and sound equipment for entertainment venues These are internaly wired and they also sell all the hanging equipment to the correct safety rating. They can make bars to your specification. They come fully wired to a box at the end of the bar so they are easy to connect. Rigging over public areas should always be done by a professional and don't forget to order safety chains! You will also need to look at how you are going to distribute the DMX to each fitting. Andolites can add DMX points to the bars, otherwise you can end up with a lot of spaghetti hanging off your bars. Sound wise I think with your budget you could probably get a small powered mixer, 2 speakers on tripods, two radio mic system and a bunch of lead mics and stands. A good basic starter system.

Kevin at Showmagic is a really nice guy. He will tell you if there are any known issues with Showmagic running on a particular PCs with different versions of windows. He did mention something to me about Showmagic not liking some laptop sound chips. Don't know if sound is part of your shows. (its great for playing sound effects and bits of music in a performance) The Showmagic software is so well written that the spec of the PC is not that important. Spec only becomes an issue if you are using Showmagic for running video as well as lighting. I would go for any spec PC that's in a full size case, rather than a laptop if thats not too cumbersome. That way you can always upgrade the Showmagic to have multiple video outputs by adding a standard 'off the shelf' graphics card. You can also control equipment via RS232 by adding a Card, midi, media player remote and touch screens can all be added. Some smaller format cases won't take standard size cards I've not tried it yet but I believe Showmagic can now display powerpoint, so powerpoint slides can now be sequenced with lighting effects. Showmagic is brilliant, and for some uses the free version will do all you need.

EV is good, Even Behringer would be good and economical. Would be a shame to scrap the Bose, would almost definitely be worth getting the controller repaired.

Some say BOSE stands for: Bring Other Sound Equipment

Bose 802s must have a Bose 802 system controller, no ifs or buts. Otherwise they will sound awful. The way the Bose Professional gear works relies heavily on EQ and processing. You can't use another manufacturer's EQ or simulate it with a graphic EQ as the curves are too complex. You will need to get your controller fixed or get a new one. Many DJs will tell you that they will work without EQ but most DJs are deaf as a post. For repairs you will need to go to a Bose Professional Partner supplier, or look on Ebay for a second hand one.

Have knocked up this image as a guide. I have looked at the manufactures images and it looks like the XLR outputs are mic level rather than line. So they should work into the folio. You can always check it by plugging a handheld wired microphone in. In fact that would also check the cables and prove if they are OK.

May be worth just checking that the cables you are using are microphone cables and not speaker cables. Could have same connectors but are different cable and connections. Speaker cable only have two cores and no screen. Pop the XLR open and see if the cable looks like two core mains flex.

If it does what you need to do, brilliant! Still think they are DMXable. Depends how much time and aggravation you want to spend on them. Next time you buy fittings write the DMX settings on the back with a CD marker pen. Don't know why the manufacturer wouldn't print it on in the first place.

I have been installing DMX systems for over 20 years, never used a termination resistor yet! Good plan using just one fitting to test. The problem is every manufacturer assigns different functions to the dip switches on the back of the fittings. As there are ten switches they cannot all be for address as DMX can only do 512 channels. some cheaper fittings will only take 256 channels. I would guess (and it is a guess) that the last one or two switches will setup standalone, slave, master or macro modes. Switches one to eight will almost definitely be the address. Try setting switch 1 on and then try every combination of the last two switches. Also some fitting will not change settings until the power is switched off and on to the fitting. If this doesn't work get a fitting that you do have a manual for and make sure you can get it to work properly from the desk. Could be a fault on the desk. some fittings when set in standalone mode will output DMX, this will really mess up the other fittings on the DMX chain. Good luck.

We have used a unit from a company called the ISplay from Innovation Solutions. We put it in a visitor attraction and the user has 3 buttons, off, preset one & preset two. each preset recalls scenes for over 100 RGB LED fittings through a cave system.DMX Replay, Recall and Backup Unit Smugglers Adventure - LED lighting Case Study | Avonics If your looking for something industrial and expandable Pharos do some fantastic usits. Pharos Controls | Products | LPC they can be interfaced with prety much anything. The work LM5 can be setup to work from an iPad running an app called touchOSC LM 2 - WORK