# Ariel Davis Lightboard



## jwl868 (Oct 18, 2007)

We are using a different venue this year for the dance school’s production. Although I’ll have a friend running the light board, the board itself is an Ariel Davis. Found one reference online and it appears that this must 30 or more years old.

The venue’s personnel will provide some basic instruction, but any other advice about the reliability and functionality of a board this old?

Thanks

Joe


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## soundlight (Oct 18, 2007)

Oooohh...yeah...that's one old board. Any info on what model/make it is? Back to the days of Slider Patch!


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## rmarston (Oct 18, 2007)

Oh yes that is definately one old board - I used a 5 scene preset model of that board years ago. The first SCR dimmers - dimmer curves were bad and wow what filament noise.


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## derekleffew (Oct 18, 2007)

jwl868 said:


> ...but any other advice about the reliability and functionality of a board this old?


Well, I wouldn't worry too much about reliability. The fact that it is still functioning even somewhat makes it more relaible than anything ETC has ever made (NOT to knock ETC.) As for functionality, the only Ariel Davis I've ever used has been the A/D "slider": A master controlling six individual dimmers, essentially linear autotransformers. Can be thought of as a single-scene preset. From Off to Full, the dimmer handle travels at least 12". 

Many of the parts were re-purposed for EC's infamous "Slider Patch" patch panel, where the handles moving vertical were the circuits and the horizontals were the dimmers.

Please take pictures and post them. Many of us would love to see a control system of this vintage still in use. As I recall, Electro-Controls bought Ariel Davis around 1968, so your board is closer to 40 years young!


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## jwl868 (Oct 20, 2007)

Attached are a few pictures.

Joe


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## derekleffew (Oct 20, 2007)

Cool! That's the most sophisticated Ariel Davis "desk" I've ever seen. A patch panel and manual dimmers built into one enclosure is rare indeed. Looks like there are 12x 1000w? linear ATDs with handles 11 & 12 missing. The 6Kw master on the right (dims1>6) has a handle (and maybe the entire assembly) from either Superior or Ward-Leonard. The handle on the left (dims7-12) looks like a Luxtrol handle. My high school's cafetorium had the same 2 sets of 6 sliders, but no masters, and no patch panel, as the Xrays were hard-wired and had extra outlets on the sides of the fixtures. I bet there's a Date of Manufacture somewhere inside +/- 3 years of 1965.


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## rmarston (Oct 20, 2007)

Looks similar to the AD board I used in high school ( probably 50's manufacture). This board had 4 master reostats with 6 slider auto transformers to each master. Two of the masters doubled use for the house lights. The patch panel was a rats nest at the bottom front of the board.


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## avkid (Oct 21, 2007)

Talk about a beast.


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## jwl868 (Oct 29, 2007)

Thanks for the input. (I've been too busy to get back to this post.)

I have essentially no experience with lightboards. Basically, how was this one supposed to function? How do the two small sets of sliders on the left relate to the 60 sliders on the right? And what should the two large levers on the left do? And are the switches on the lower front of the unit basic circuit breakers?

(I'd like to have a basic idea of this before going in.)

Joe


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## icewolf08 (Oct 29, 2007)

Hmmmm.... I think I have one of the 6 fader units (just the actual faders) hanging around with some of the old stuff here. It is a heavy sucker, but at least I have an idea of what it might be now. Will post a photo when I can.


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## derekleffew (Oct 29, 2007)

jwl868 said:


> ...
> I have essentially no experience with lightboards. Basically, how was this one supposed to function? How do the two small sets of sliders on the left relate to the 60 sliders on the right? And what should the two large levers on the left do? And are the switches on the lower front of the unit basic circuit breakers?...


Disclaimer: Some of the following may not be 100% accurate, as I can't read any of the dyna-groove labels, or most of the handwritten masking tape labels, but here goes...
The "switches" on the front ARE circuit breakers. It appears the ones above the "turn these on" are constant power for "PA System," "stage screen," and "Keep On." (If only _everything_ were labeled with P-Touch labels!)

Slider Patch Panel. The sixty sliders on the right are the lighting circuits, but I bet there really aren't that many. Boards like this were often built to stock sizes, or over-sized for future expansion which never happened. The female connector to which you plug in a light should have a number 1-60. You then find that number's slider and, by moving the slider upwards and letting it go on the horizontal 1-12, you've "selected" which dimmer will control that circuit. The sliders often want to stick at odd places, you generally lift the handle slightly and often have to jiggle it to get it to lock into the dimmer you want it to be. If you slide the slider to slot#30, then press and hold the button on the meter (or maybe turn ON the meter's circuit breaker) the meter will tell you how many watts you have on that circuit. It's possible to assign every circuit to any one dimmer, and thus over load the dimmer and trip it's circuit breaker immediately. I'm pretty sure each of the twelve dimmers is only 2400watts, and it's possible that the total load on dimmers 1-6 can only be a total of 6000watts, likewise with dimmers 7-12.

One the left side: The large handle [labeled CURTAIN WHITE] above dimmers 1-6 is the master for those dimmers. Setting dimmer#1 at 5 (50%) and bringing the master to 5 (50%) also, will bring the lights on dimmer#1 to 25%. Repeat for dimmers 2-6. The other master [labeled BLUE RED] above dimmers 7-12 works exactly the same way.

I admit to having no clue what the 2 large handled switches are with the hand-drawn arrows at 2 o'clock, I'm guessing it's some sort of transfer or possibly repatch capability, but probably doesn't work, hence the masking tape labels.

In your first post you said "The venue’s personnel will provide some basic instruction..." so I'm sure they know how to work the system to it's best advantage. You probably won't have to change anything on the slider patch. Be aware when fading just one dimmer the brush inside will sometimes lose contact and the lights on that dimmer may flicker off and back on, no real way to avoid this, I'm sure the brushes are old and worn.

This board was designed to basically operate thusly: With no lights on and both masters at 0 (00%) set the desired levers for dimmers 1-12, then fade up both masters to 10 (100%). [Single scene preset] At the end of the scene, fade both masters out and reset dimmers 1-12 to new levels, and fade the masters back up. The two masters don't have to work together however. Another thing, if you need a quick blackout, DO NOT slam the masters! This is very hard on the mechanics and electrical contacts. There should be a switch or breaker for each master and it's much better the switch OFF then gentle bring the handle to zero, then turn the switch back on. That may be what the big switches on the front are for. At 2 o'clock they work as I've described above. At 12 o'clock, they're OFF. At 10 o'clock, they may act as 2 6000w dimmers, but you have no power to dimmers 1-6 if switch on the front is not at 2 o'clock.

This all sounds more confusing than it really is. The board will be a challenge, and many would scoff at it, but this type of control was how it was done in every theatre in the US from 1900 until 1975, including every Broadway musical. Many would argue that learning lighting on a system like this makes one a better designer when using a Light Palette, which actually uses many of the same concepts (tracking vs. non-tracking).

I'm sure the venue personnel can and will explain all this in better detail than I can. Good luck, have fun. Never let them see you sweat.


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## jwl868 (Oct 30, 2007)

derekleffew

Thank you for that information. It makes sense, now that I see what the parts are supposed to do.

And to make sure I get the concept, please bear with me on this example:

Dimmers are at 0, masters are at 0. On the slider patch panel, I put sliders #1 and #2 at position 1 (for Dimmer 1) and put sliders #3 and #4 at position 2 (Dimmer 2).

Then, I move Dimmer sliders 1 and 2 up to 100%. And then I move the Master to 100% and the lights (Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4) come up.


Alternatively, could I first move the master to 100%, then move the sliders for Dimmers 1 and 2 to 100%?


Joe


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## derekleffew (Oct 30, 2007)

jwl868 said:


> ...
> Dimmers are at 0, masters are at 0. On the slider patch panel, I put sliders #1 and #2 at position 1 (for Dimmer 1) and put sliders #3 and #4 at position 2 (Dimmer 2).
> 
> Then, I move Dimmer sliders 1 and 2 up to 100%. And then I move the Master to 100% and the lights (Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4) come up.
> ...


Absolutely correct!

The "slider patch" is only used when setting up the lighting. During the show it's pretty much forgotten about. One thing I forgot, always make sure everything is at zero when moving the slider patches, or you can get quite a spark (arc) and this is bad for the contacts, as the veritcal sliders move across the horizontal dimmers. This is why you generally have to "lift" the slider handle maybe 1/4"-3/8" to move it and then let it go and wiggle it to make sure it makes good contact with the dimmer's buss.

Answer to your "alternatively": Yes, in theory you would be accomplishing the same thing, but in practice, you'll find it difficult to physically move (lots of Newton force required) dimmers 1&2 either up or down, you'll need two hands, and as I said before, you may get a flicker as the brushes lose and make contact. Not saying it can't be done, just warning you of the issues. Sometimes there is no other way, if you want only one dimmer to fade up or down while the others stay where they are.

When is your event? Can't wait to find out how it went.


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## rmarston (Oct 30, 2007)

Looks like the 60 sliders on the right make up the matrix patch panel. From the photo, there are 60 load circuits patchable to 30 dimmers (sliders on the left side). The 12 sliders on the right are the autoxformer dimmers, each group of 6 controlled by reostat handle above each bank of 6. The only puzzle is the matrix shows a dimmer capacity of 30 and yet there are 12 dimmers shown? wonder where the other dimmers are?


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## jwl868 (Oct 31, 2007)

The show – The Nutcracker - is in December. Its an annual show and this is the studio’s 18th or 19th year. [Me – I’m a parent-volunteer basically the stage manager, such that it is.] For a variety of reasons, we have used different venues over the years, probably none more than 3 years in a row. During my tenure [about 9-10 years], we’ve used a middle school, a high school, and a private theater and each of those venues provided light and sound staff. Our light and sound demands, though, are limited – The stage just needs to be fully lit most of the time and we use a follow spot for soloists. [There are other limitations, I suppose: no one to do any lighting design; not really knowing what is available at the venue; no real time or budget to implement a design; and as much as anything, there really is no perceived need for a lighting design.] There is one dress rehearsal at the venue, and at that time, we go over our needs with the person in charge of the lights and sound at the venue, give them free-reign, and we cue the lights and sound as we go. 

The subject venue was used by the studio before I got involved, probably 12 years ago. Same board obviously. A few other details about the venue’s stage lighting: there is one beam over the audience and three electrics over the stage. The beam has 11 separate spotlights (fresnels maybe. Looks like gel frames, but no gels, but I don’t think they are easily accessible anyway). Each electric has enough sets of strip lights to run the width of the stage, about 45 feet. (I think there are 5 strips per electric. Each strip light has red, white, and blue lights. And that’s it.

Joe


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## rmarston (Oct 31, 2007)

I have done Light design for the Nutcracker some years ago - any possibility for side lights, and what about special effects - snow, and fog? Sounds like the venue you have is very limited.


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## avkid (Oct 31, 2007)

Shinbusters are a must for ballet.


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## Logos (Oct 31, 2007)

Not if you haven't got them.


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## avkid (Nov 1, 2007)

Logos said:


> Not if you haven't got them.


I could make a floor tree for less than $100 utilizing parts from the local plumbing supply place.


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## who_touched_the_patch (Nov 1, 2007)

I really love reading the tape messages on old and slightly unfamiliar boards.

"TURN THESE ON!"

Very important step.


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## Logos (Nov 1, 2007)

avkid said:


> I could make a floor tree for less than $100 utilizing parts from the local plumbing supply place.



I meant the lanterns and the circuits. I make floor stands out of 42x75 (3x2 for you guys) and throw them away afterwards.


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## jwl868 (Nov 1, 2007)

The budget is very limited, to say the least. We have no side lights (or any other lights for that matter) of our own; the venue doesn't have them either. 

Special effects are somewhat limited (mostly budget, partly venue unknowns, partly time availability). For the growing tree, we have "giant" branches and a giant trunk on a pipe that is flown in just downstage of the "real" tree. And there's a grandfather clock with th remote control on the mechanism to make it move to midhight when Drosselmeyer casts his spell.

Some year we'll make it snow. The venue for the previous 3 years had no fly space, so I haven't given it any thought. Its probably too late for me to design something for this one (Somewhere on this MB is my request for help on that, but it got put on a backburner. And then someone in the organization said they had something, but never came through...) Plus, there are only 3 empty pipes, and I need to use them all do fly in drops. (Testing any design is also problematic - limited access to the venue and limited space in the studio, though I could do testing in my garage.) Maybe next year I can do the snow after I've gotten more familiar with the venue.

Don't know about using fog in the show (Though the battle scene could use something.) Again, it's a budget and equipment issue.


Thanks for the input, though.

Joe


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## Edrick (Nov 1, 2007)

who_touched_the_patch said:


> I really love reading the tape messages on old and slightly unfamiliar boards.
> "TURN THESE ON!"
> Very important step.



I'm going after the kid who put actual labels on the brand new lighting board that was installed. At my new high school, I hate when people mark up brand new equipment with real stickies.

Except in this case since it's a bit ancient


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## derekleffew (Nov 1, 2007)

jwl868 said:


> ...We have no side lights (or any other lights for that matter) of our own; the venue doesn't have them either...


 And STEVETERRY has the nerve to say that Altman 360 ERSs should go to the dumpster! Another poster here is asking about trying to use a scoop as a Linnebach to project clouds as he has no ERSs. Yes it would be wonderful if everyone could buy as many new SourceFours and Selecons as he/she wanted, STEVETERRY and SteveB, but we all know that's never going to happen, unless you're, say...Cirque du Soleil or the like. Thus our morbid, perverse fascination with outdated, impractical, inefficient fixtures. To many, anything that emits light is useful. At my venue, I was the only one who would use the 200+ pre-SL Strand LekoLights, as everyone else demanded SourceFours. While I was away, every single one of them went to the landfill/recycling center. A local college wouldn't even take them, as they were "only interested in SourceFours." I work with the "latest and greatest" every day, but still have an appreciation for what came before. Maybe it's misplaced nostalgia-ism.


Rickblu said:


> I'm going after the kid who put actual labels on the brand new lighting board that was installed. At my new high school, I hate when people mark up brand new equipment with real stickies.


 Brother P-Touch rulez! I own three of them, and have more tape sizes and colors than I will ever use. Once, in order to program and operate an ETC original MicroVision (with round, silver, unlabeled, buttons) I had to cut 1/4" squares of white gaffer's tape on each button and change them when the black Sharpie™ wore off. What really irks me is when a programmer will put tape of any kind on a Hog or grandMA, when the board allows the user to label the faders on the LCD right above.

Good luck with _The Nutcracker_, jwl868. With a front wash and RWB Xrays, and a followspot, you should be able to create some pleasing looks. Sorry you don't have 500 S4s available, but often the theatre is "make the best with what you have."


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## icewolf08 (Nov 1, 2007)

Rickblu said:


> I'm going after the kid who put actual labels on the brand new lighting board that was installed. At my new high school, I hate when people mark up brand new equipment with real stickies.
> Except in this case since it's a bit ancient



Have to agree with Derek on this one, I label things all the time. I wold rather have things labeled well than not labeled at all. ON my console I always label my subs and macros. This way, if I get sick, another crew member can come in and sit at the console and know what I have programmed where.

Cable runs are labeled, often I will label my multi break-outs as to what circuit they actually come from. I just got a new label machine that can do labels of all sizes, and can do heat-shrink tube. So useful!


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## Edrick (Nov 1, 2007)

I'm all fine with labeling either with P-Touch as said or Dymo professional labels, or with Board Tape. But he cut random sized not even straight labels stuck them on the board and wrote with washable marker.


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## Logos (Nov 1, 2007)

I get a lot of the work I do because I don't insist on having SOTA equipment and will do my level best to acheive what the client wants with the minimum gear that is available. This isn't to say that I don't breathe a sigh of relief when there is decent gear available but there's a lot of pleasure to be had from acheiving what you want from a difficult start. (That doesn't sound like what I was trying to say but I know what I mean.) I just wish I had a few more 1K Fresnels and a few more decent profiles in my own kit. Never mind lets see what Santa brings.


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## jwl868 (Dec 10, 2007)

Friday’s dress rehearsal and the two shows (The Nutcracker) Saturday went very well. (One of the main dancers sustained a season-ending injury about two weeks before forcing changes in dancer sand choreography.) Our light board operator (a friend of the studio owner) had done lighting for community theatre for years and had no trouble with the board. (There were a few nuances – certain sliders couldn’t be run up too far without popping a circuit breaker and some of the beam lights did not work or apparently weren’t controlled by any slider.) The followspot turned out to be a little weak, but we managed. And setting up the stage took about 20 minutes longer than I had expected so I was holding up the start of rehearsal. 

The worst glitch was when a CD started skipping during the first show. All we could do was stop the dance, put in the spare, and go again.

With such limited rehearsals at the venue, essentially no tech rehearsal, and a different set of technical volunteers from year to year, I’m always amazed at how well the shows go. From the stagehand perspective, the show is the epitome of the cliché: Two hours of total boredom and 3 minutes of mindless panic.

Joe


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## derekleffew (Jan 10, 2009)

I thought this obituary of Mr. Ariel R. Davis (1912-1997) would be applicable to this thread: Deseret News | DEATH: ARIEL R. DAVIS.


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## Esoteric (Jan 11, 2009)

icewolf08 said:


> Have to agree with Derek on this one, I label things all the time. I wold rather have things labeled well than not labeled at all. ON my console I always label my subs and macros. This way, if I get sick, another crew member can come in and sit at the console and know what I have programmed where.
> 
> Cable runs are labeled, often I will label my multi break-outs as to what circuit they actually come from. I just got a new label machine that can do labels of all sizes, and can do heat-shrink tube. So useful!



Isnt that what board tape it for?

Mike


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## Esoteric (Jan 11, 2009)

Logos said:


> I get a lot of the work I do because I don't insist on having SOTA equipment and will do my level best to acheive what the client wants with the minimum gear that is available. This isn't to say that I don't breathe a sigh of relief when there is decent gear available but there's a lot of pleasure to be had from acheiving what you want from a difficult start. (That doesn't sound like what I was trying to say but I know what I mean.) I just wish I had a few more 1K Fresnels and a few more decent profiles in my own kit. Never mind lets see what Santa brings.



I hear you! Winning "The Lighting Designer you want to have when you only have two clip lights and a flashlight to light a show" worked wonders for me!

I have used units I didn't even know the manufacturer of, scoops as wash lights, pageants, units with no lenses, bare light bulbs (before Sean Adams made it "cool" although I did get the idea from him), practicals, candles, lighters, lanterns, whatever it takes to get the scene lit.

On the way you discover some useful tricks that you use even when you have access to VL3000s and Source Fours.

Mike


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## dramatech (Jan 11, 2009)

This thread has been a walk down memory lane. I started working with Ariel Davis dimmers when I was 12 years old. We had one of the 6 slider units that plugged into a panel backstage at our church. The six outputs could be hard patched to several different light bars oabove the stage.
My high school had a unit with three of the 6 slider units plus master controls over each and one large handle that the three masters could mechnically lock onto. There was a patch panel on the lower surface. The large handles that are in the picture of one of the other posts, are used to transfer the master control so that it no longer masters the slider units and has it's own output connectors. 
I just recently built a 24 dimmer system for Florida Southern college that replaced the exact model that I had in high school and everthing on it works.
I worked for Ariel Davis the summer that I was 16 assembling dimmer racks.
Ariel Davis did build some of the very first SCR dimmers, and they provided one free with their new "quickconnect" patch panel to the "Pioneer memorial Theatre" on the University of Utah campus. Prior to that the U of U used Kinsbury hall for all of it's drama, ballet and opera. The dimmers at the Kinsbury were rows and rows of Ariel Davis 6 slider units, with the house lights controlled by motorized magnetic amplifiers located in the basement and controlled by a home made keyboard. The system was used for all of the lighting up until the Ariel Davis dimmers became available. 
I also helped out on a program using 20 of the Ariel Davis six sliders in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. We used fifteen miles of extension cords fort that pageant.
Ariel Davis sold out to Electro control, who eventually became the architectural division of Strand. After Ariel Davis sold out to Strand, he tried to develop some equipment that got around his own patents that he sold with the company. The effort didn't last very long, but I worked with one of those systems in the library of Williamsburg, Virginia.
Bye the way the six slider units were built in two models. ONe had a capacity of 100 amps total with 20 amps maximum per slider and the smaller and first model was a total capacity of 50 amps total with the sliders also 20 as the larger model. Thanks Derek for the link to the obituary.


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## dramatech (Jan 11, 2009)

Oops! I forgot to mention that those slider units were two phase, with one phase for the left three handles and one phse for the right two. They could be made to operate either one or two phase


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## derekleffew (Jan 11, 2009)

You're welcome, dramatech. I might as well "complete the circle" by including this link to the sole other thread on CB: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/8927-ariel-davis-dimmer-distro.html. Would you possibly have built this one:



or is that a later model? (More pictures at: Mike Nicolai's Photos - Ariel Davis Power Distro | Facebook .)


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## dramatech (Jan 11, 2009)

That would be hard to say, It is the right model and built in the same time frame.
I have used two other dimmer systems, That used the "quick connect" type of patch panel. Both were from companies in Salt Lake City. One was in the performing arts center in Redding, CA, and the other one was at the Nora Mayo Hall in Winter Haven, FL. They were both 2 scene preset SCR dimmers. The one in Redding, I believe was a brand named "Major". They were both from an era, that would have been during the Electro Control period. I know nothing about them, except I find it curious that that they both are from Salt Lake and use the same patch system that Ariel Davis sold the patent to Electo control.


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## FMEng (Jan 11, 2010)

Ah, the memories! My first lighting experience was with a Davis dimmer with a slider patch. I was probably around 12 years old, assisting at church.

There is nothing quite like operating a dimming system whose controls spit little arcs as you adjust it, and makes a noticeable hum when you energize the main breaker. The new systems are a lot more flexible, but it just isn't quite as romantic.

They also produced a fair amount of heat. The control room with a bunch of dimmers could get rather uncomfortable.


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## pathway (Jan 13, 2010)

This thread has also been a walk down memory lane for me. My first job in the industry was assembling dimmer panels that used these slider units (I worked for EC's Canadian subsidiary where we did final assembly on everything the company sold north of the 49th). The dimmers were an innovative product but they probably wouldn't meet today's electrical codes. We were still building them in the mid-70s, mostly for schools in out-of-the way places where reliability and ease of use were the main concerns.

I've attached a couple of catalog shots I have from the early days (late 50s?), so you can see what the state of the art in lighting control technology used to look like. One of the board ops seems to be wearing specialized clothing to protect her from the showers of sparks emitted regularly by this type of gear.


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## jstroming (Jan 13, 2010)

Haha i think shes a nun.


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## derekleffew (Jan 13, 2010)

derekleffew said:


> ... That may be what the big switches on the front are for. At 2 o'clock they work as I've described above. At 12 o'clock, they're OFF. At 10 o'clock, they may act as 2 6000w dimmers, but you have no power to dimmers 1-6 if switch on the front is not at 2 o'clock. ...


pathway, can you tell what the two handles below the breakers did (post #5, near the bottom of picture #4)? 

Thanks for the other pictures. Got any more (of any console/fixtures)?


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## dramatech (Jan 13, 2010)

The two handles that you are refering to, were transfer switches on the one that we had in my high school. We had three of them. The way they worked, was that our house lights were controlled by the large handles at the top of the console. Once the house lights were all of the way down, the switches would be thrown, and then they became master controls of the six sliders below them. Ours had three positions. One was the house lights. One was the master control of the sliders, and the third was a series of three 20 amp breakers per control that fed connections on the patch panel.
In theory it was a great idea. The problem was that we could never take the house lights all the way down, and use the controls for anything else. The admin was afraid that if we took the house all the way out, that the students would "make out".


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## gordonmcleod (Jan 14, 2010)

The canadian rep for Major in the 70's in Canada was a company called LiteCon which was run by two ex Strand employees
They packaged a small system for schools that was either 6 or 12 4K SHD magamp controlled SCR dimmers and slider patch in a rollaround blue and black metal cabinet that had amp mil spec connectors for the load connections via a snake
It was a cleaver design


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## derekleffew (Jan 14, 2010)

From _Concert Lighting_, James L. Moody, Focal Press, 1989:

> One such dimmer rack, shown in Figure 10-4 and built by Sundance, uses Skirpan 2kw and 6kw dimmer modules and a Rual slider patch system. ...


Was Rual a manufacturer of components or the entire assembly? Did Ariel Davis not have a patent on the slider patch system? ... See US Patent 4234767 - Circuit selector, (Application No. 05/939125 filed on 09/05/1978--rather late in the game, one would think!? ... Sept. 1971: 3603747) It appears Ariel Davis was closely aligned with Rual Industries. And I seem to recall Rual making audio equipment, particularly monitor and page systems?


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## gordonmcleod (Jan 14, 2010)

I remember that we used to by our slider patchs from Rual industries rather than Ariel Davis


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## pathway (Jan 14, 2010)

Yes, according to the information I dug out of our Dead Sea Scroll dept, the two switches are indeed for transferring dimmer control between the houselights and stage lights, and for feeding power directly to houselights in a panic scenario. The ID label on the left switch is still there but not the right one which would be the normal/panic switch.

From what I recall about Ariel Davis (who passed away just a few years ago in his 90's [Link to obituary]), he was in fact a victim of a hostile management takeover at a point where he owed the banks a lot of money. The new owners (3 Salt Lake City men, one of whom was A/D's sales manager) renamed it Electro Controls. As mentioned in a previous post, Ariel Davis not only lost his company but also the rights to all his patents.

Rual is in fact Rual Davis, Ariel's brother, and he introduced a new variant of the Quick-Connect slider patch in the 1980's but perhaps too little too late as dimmer-per-circuit had already become the state of the art, and load patching was rightfully consigned to stage lighting history.

> EDIT by Mod.:
> A different obituary of Ariel R. Davis lists three brothers, none named Rual. In fact, Rual is Ariel's middle name, as well as the name of his father Rual Dennis Davis.



And yes, I do have a lot of old A/D and E/C photos and product docs I retrieved when Strand took over E/C in 1986. Let me know what you'd like to see!


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## derekleffew (Jan 14, 2010)

Can we begin with a new thread discussing the ever-exciting Plexus 1000 (we've already had the still-cool-today Premiere)?


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## SteveB (Jan 14, 2010)

derekleffew said:


> Can we begin with a new thread discussing the ever-exciting Plexus 1000 (we've already had the still-cool-today Premiere)?



No. 

It sounds like a machine used in exercise. And as it's winter here in the northeast USA (That's a thing where the temperature goes WAY below 80f - for all you desert inhabitants) and you hibernate and avoid the health club/exercise machines religiously, we shall prohibit discussion of any devices that remind me that I'm getting fatter.

SB


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## pathway (Jan 15, 2010)

> Can we begin with a new thread discussing the ever-exciting Plexus 1000 (we've already had the still-cool-today Premiere)?



At least the Ariel Davis stuff brought back some pleasant memories. I've spent the past three decades trying to forget the Per-Plexus. Thanks a lot!


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## MPowers (Jan 15, 2010)

Cool, I rebuilt one of these back in 1965. It wasn't new then. Davis was bought by Electro Controls in the late 60's, Electro Controls was bought by Century-Strand, whch became Strand which....... Anyway, it's old in fact as well as in design. These are pre solid state dimmers (some overlap at the end) multi scene preset boards. The technology is simple, each of the dimmer control slider panels of six sliders sits above a single LARGE linier coil auto transformer. Each slider is a wiping contact, tapping off the same large coil. Each dimmer has 2 or more inputs on the patch panel which could be turned on and off independantly, allowing each dimmer to control several different circuits. This allows you to have 6 autotransformer dimmers in the space and weight of about two single units of the same wattage. The trade off (TANSTAAFL) is that the total capacity is NOT 6 times the capacity of a single dimmer, but roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of that. You could load, on some models, as much as 2k on a single dimmer, but the whole unit could only handle for example 4k, so not all the circuits and or all the dimmers could be on at full at the same time. It was innovative for the time and if you've ever run or patched one of the old piano boards, http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/glossary-m-s/7918-piano-board.html you'd see what a step forward it was at the time. 

Michael Powers, Project Manager, ETCP Certified Rigger - Theatre
Central Lighting & Equipment Inc., Des Moines, Iowa


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## jasonschaefer (Mar 20, 2011)

The college in our city, Martin Luther College used to have one of these Ariel Davis dimming consoles in their auditorium. It served them well until the late 1990's. I remember as a kid "helping out" in the control room. I remember a lot of heat coming off of this system, so the room needed good ventilation.

It was a treat to see some of the nostalgic photos. Thanks for sharing!


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## bigdanny (Mar 9, 2012)

This dimmer system brings back many memories.This is the first type of dimmer system, I ever ran. Many times I, had to clean or replace the brushes in the transfer switches.The one operated was one bwhere you had to patch the patch cords to the slide you wanted and the other end, you would patch it to the correspondingplug receptacle for the stage light position.If you were not careful, you would accendtly pull the plu cable out. The dimmer equipment was located on the metal pinrail level on the stage rigging side. Also, that was the same spot the High Voltage was at in that Auditoium.It was a real trip using that equipment. The last show we ever used that dimmer system on, took for ever to run. The dimmer system kept overheating and we could run it for so long and turn it off and then turn it back.It took about 4 hours to do a 2 hour show.


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## avery (Mar 9, 2012)

I'm pretty sure the Soviets used this board to launch ballistic missiles.


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## Bobbsy (Jul 13, 2012)

I know this is a very old thread but I just Googled for pics of an Ariel Davis lighting board and found it!

Even the 40 year estimate for the age of this console is conservative. I started high school (in Drumheller, Alberta) in 1968 and the auditorium (i.e. gym with chairs in it!) had exactly the unit shown in the photos. The school in question was built in 1963/4 and the lighting was installed then--so you're looking at gear that's approaching its 50th birthday. (Alas, I'm approaching my 60th!)

I ended up doing most of the lighting for the years I was at that school--mainly because (through experimenting and trying things) I was one of the few who could get the lights on at all. Most of it was done to endless jokes about "beam me up Bobbsy" because it was the days of the first run of the original Star Trek and the resemblance to the transporter controls was pretty obvious.

A few years later, I went onto university in Calgary and the theatre there had exactly the same slider-based patch panel located back stage. It worked well and was a lot more tidy than plugs on tails and lots of sockets. The actual controller at the uni back then was super high tech--a five scene preset! This was five rows of small dimmers (96 from memory but don't quote me) at one end and two rows of five buttons with a fader that could move between the top and bottom row to transition between presets. The "senior" lighting guy got to do the mixes while the junior worked flat out changing all 96 dimmers on a row to the next state it would be used for--on some shows it got seriously busy and took two people doing the presets!

Ironically, after playing with all this I drifted mainly to TV and film and did mainly sound--but have gone back to doing some theatre stuff since I took early retirement a few years back.

Anyway, thanks again for posting those pics! They made my evening!


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