DJ lighting on a budget SUCKS. SCREW USED??

[eshadeol]

What I have- 8 similar par 56 that are like elation or martin 56, from China, are totally fine after I repaired them. I purchased 8 ADJ QA par 36's that link fine - except one light of the adj came in with a wimpy fan and missing AMBER. I used that lighting setup in the former statements as my first light in a dmx setup so I may program chases, now without amber amber in one light of a 8 par chase. I'll buy a replacement adj to replace that one bad apple and use the one bad amber as a down light on a tripod for solid red or blue. I have two ultimate stands with the adjustable legs, its the tele-lock , not air assisted AFAIK , model 99bl ultimately support.

I wanted a simple symmetrical light rig ultra easy to set up. I hate setting up lighting , but love the effect it gives with a nice buzz (few beers), after a solid week of hard work. No crowd expected, just for me. I like the uplighting around the inner parameters of the block wall in back yard. 8 adj qa par 38's actually. . The bigger china imported from alibaba.com 8 total -equal 6 elation or martin were clunky , but I took them apart and adjusted, tightened, soldered, and now work ok. 1 of the par 56 doesn't respond to dmx, so I still need to get in there and tinker. I use those on the 11ft tripod and on the other 11ft tripod I use a laser show with convenient remote control. Chauvet laser failed until I used a cell phone Sprint' old adapter. The adj laser worked fine for now.
So in a nutshell I have no extremely durable (to the touch) lighting, and I want to settle into a few effect lights with very little moving parts , a good reputation , sound active , no fog / haze required , doesn't get over childish; such as : people sitting a table looking at lighting moving heads, and one of them says , " look at how silly those moving head lights look dancing / spinning to the music?!"
That is exactly what moving heads look like to me, wasted energy, as if I should be giving my attention to those silly plastic parts. I would rather have less intrigue into the moth in the flame called moving heads, and put money into a light show that doesn't think for you , doesn't cause excitement for you, I hate canned laughter or laugh tracks, and that's what the moving head phenomenon reminds me of for smaller rigs and even large ones, as a matter of fact, larger gigs n rigs remind me of the laugh track even more; a kind of thinking for you , objectivised onto you excitement and drama. I can think for myself, thanks, but, all your input would help. Brainstorm , we shall.
I need a visually loud at times and subtle at times- center piece -and am considering a 20 inch mirror ball ( yes xl ) on a separate tripod upside down with a color changing beam x 3 fixtures aimed at sides and front on beam would be the messed up par 38 qa by adj, slow spinning mirror ball, I dont want dmx to control speed and variable direction of travel of mirror ball. I might neead a few beams to point at the mirror ball, or would it be more economical to buy modern day mirror ball type effects like jelly domes, or low moving parts products like the scanners inno accu adj scanners. Dont want to set up for an hour with audio and lighting.perhaps a foldable scaffolding system in aluminum tht is 10ft high, kind of hate tripods. I have more questions. Thanks for the advice in advance!

If you guys have any thoughts which centerpiece should be purchased, please let me know. I don't mind the mirror movement of scanners or rollers.

[Grant Bunter]

Are the 56's single cans or 4 flats on a bar?
If they are singles, plug the one that doesn't go to amber into power and set it up with the dip switches to auto cycle, and if it then shows amber, it's a DMX addressing issue.

I've been in lighting wayyyyy longer than audio.
Sad to say, super quick setup with lighting involves time and money to reduce setup time, and only really works if you use the exactly the same setup everywhere every time, though if you're just doing this at home, that is possible for you.
If you don't like tripods, the next step is truss (which bolts together) +/- winchups.
Any type of truss that folds for packing convenience in lighting is inherently unsafe, as the point of the fold is usually the problem area. You don't want anything to fall down, ever, for both safety and protecting your investment reasons.

You have to study load ratings and where the lights should be hung to meet the load rating criteria, for any lighting rigging, even tripods.

Other things that speed up lighting setup time are custom looms for power and DMX cabling, so that they can just be laid out on the truss or tripods, so you can hook up, plug in, and you're off and running.

You have to remember that LED par 56's have similar lumen output to incandescent Par 38's.
You need LED par 64's to have the same or similar lumen output to incandescent par 56's.

The incandescent versions of any of the Par series will draw 5 times more power than LED versions.
For me, this means using 8 incandescent Par 56's requires 1 separate circuit to my audio circuit, so that's something you should consider, though you can get multicolour capable LED Par 38 globes with remote, which reduces power consumption a lot, but at a cost...

[eshadeol]

Got off work just a bit. Bit of delay. Whoops.
Grant Bunter, I am aware of the dangers of the weakest link, but , yeah amber isn't working via dmx nor manual 0-255.

Going to do a bit of research so I may have a fold out lighting system all plug outlets / dmx inputs/ outputs possibly integrated into the trussing. No pvc piping or heavy metal, maybe aluminum or magnesium.

Thanks Grant.
That must've been some time setting up lighting. After a while you get quick, I suppose.

I'll check into load ratings and NOT guesstimate in this arena of "over head death".

[eshadeol]

Quite telling of my communication skills; sorry Grant, I only have singles of all - 56's and 36's. Good to let the readers know about led vs halogen vs incandescents, --- true true. I gotta stay in LED territory , due to quaint /low access to power outlets. Like how cool they are during tear down.