Disappointed with the 8-channel limits of your Yorkville LP-608/LP304 system?
A few years back, Yorkville Sound (Ontario, Canada) came up with a lighting system specifically for bands wishing to do their own lighting. Their main criteria were that it had to be relatively inexpensive, easy to set-up and tear down, and most importantly, easy to use – so a musician could operate it from the stage without being distracted from his main purpose: making music.
They succeeded. The LP-608 controller is easy to operate and can be used as a “foot controller,” operated by stepping on its heavy-duty buttons. The LP304 light bars include a 4-channel, 300W per channel dimmer pack and four 300W PAR-56 fixtures permanently attached, designed to easily mount at the top of a tripod. Lamps and gels are included. The price was, and still is, very attractive for such a complete package.
However,
this low price and simple set-up and operation came at the cost of
expandability. The LP-608 controller provides control signals for
just eight channels. Their control protocol is incompatible with
other lighting protocols. As
a result, people wishing to expand their Yorkville lighting systems
had to start over from scratch.
Not anymore! The
DMX-lator III is
a gadget that makes your LP304 light bars understand DMX-512. To a
DMX-512 controller, it looks like an 8-channel DMX dimmer pack. To a
pair of LP-304 light bars, it looks like the LP-608 controller. Its
address switches allow it to be mapped to any 8-channel block of
DMX-512 addresses. The LP-304 light bars then respond to those
DMX-512 channels as if they were receiving commands from the
LP-608. Two
versions are available: P/N 512304 comes with standard 5-pin
connectors for DMX-512 input and output… or order P/N 512304-3
for a version with 3-pin XLR connectors for use with lower-cost
DMX-512 equipment.
Yorkville
cares about their customers and, while they weren't able to devote the
resources necessary to design their own translator, they provided me
with encouragement... and detailed information on their protocol.
Because Yorkville cooperated in the development
of the DMX-lator III,
we were able to keep our manufacturing costs low.
Click
here to view or download an Adobe .pdf
of the Owner's Manual.