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Looking for uplight setup


7Rentals

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Hello every one,

 

I just started a rental company in Houston and now looking for your recommendation regarding uplights for weddings etc. I have been lurking here for quite some time, but I just registered. I would like to get something from either Blizzard or Eternal. I hear that battery is the way to go these days and it might make me more money renting them out due to ease of setup for the clients or me :*

 

I need 12 to begin and willing to spend any where from 200-350 a piece provided I get some good price. Please throw in some recommendations. The ability to use them constantly while being plugged in even when battery is at 0, is a plus.

 

OS.

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Hey there OS,

 

I am hardly an expert, but here are some ideas for you. I am going to assume that you want a reputable company that will stand behind their products (i.e. Warranties) so I’ll take cheap Chinese knock-offs out of the equation. I will also assume that you want to at least have the better color mixing of Tri-LED’s as opposed to 10mm LED’s, which throw multicolored shadows. So with those assumptions in place, in the need for battery operated/wirelss dmx fixtures in mind, here are some thoughts.

 

Low-end fixtures with only RGBA color mixing and low brightness is Chauvet and American DJ. Fixtures run around $250 to $280. Mid-range fixtures are Blizzard and Eternal Lighting, and they just fit in the top end of your price range.

 

Wireless DMX: first off, if you want wireless control, you will pretty much have to pick a company and stick to it. Right now, the major lighting companies all have systems that are non-compatible with each other, so for the most part you can’t mix and match units from different companies and have their different wireless controllers “play nice” with each other. The two (in my opinion) best companies with wireless fixtures are Blizzard and Eternal Lighting, because their fixtures typically provide better color mixing options and overall light output (brightness levels) than Chauvet and ADJ. I prefer the RGBAW, and RGBAW+UV fixtures, but again, that is only my personal preferences.

 

Blizzard Lighting: this is my favorite company. Great fixtures, very bright, and great customer service. Their fixtures tend to feature the best color mixing and the brightest LED’s for the highest total lighting output, but they are a little pricier. The HotBox’s are built like tanks – very nice quality and small. The Skywire & Skybox series all have built in wireless and battery, but I like their wireless DMX system because the DMX receivers are small and are powered by the fixtures itself – you don’t have to plug them in separately. However, you’ll pay a little more $. The Skybox 5 would seem to be the way to go if you aren’t looking for UV fixtures:

 

Blizzard Lighting Puck Fab 5 Skywire (RGBAW – 90 watts total) $400

Blizzard Lighting SkyBox 5 (RGBAW – 105 watts total) $350

Blizzard Lighting SkyBox EXA (RGBAW+UV – 105 watts total) $400

 

 

Eternal Lighting: Eternal has a whole line of wireless DMX/Battery fixtures. Much like Blizzard, they have excellent color mixing option with RGBAW+UV fixtures, but their higher end fixtures are out of your mentioned price range, and their fixtures aren’t as bright as Blizzards. They use “XT” transmitters like Blizzards, when the wireless isn’t built in, such as the Cube Echo series. Within your price range you have:

 

Eternal Lighting Cube Echo RGBAW+UV (RGBAW+UV – 72 watts total) $309

 

 

Chauvet: Chauvet has some limited wireless/battery fixture options, mostly off the 10mm LED variety. They only have a few with Tri –r Quad LED or better color mixing, and the wattage i.e brightness is very low:

 

EZ Wedge Tri (RGB – 9 watts total) $130 (no wireless DMX)

Freedom Strip Mini Quad 5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $250

Freedom Par Quad 5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $250

 

 

American DJ: ADJ has fixtures equivalent to Chauvet’s color mixing and brightness, mostly RGBA and ringing in at 25 watts total.

 

American DJ WiFly Par QA5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $280

American DJ WiFly Bar QA5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $280

 

 

Mix and Match: The nice thing is, you can actually – to a small degree – mix and match a few fixtures from Blizzard and Eternal Lighting. This happened before all the fixtures began getting the wireless DMX built in, further reinforcing each companies closed wireless DMX systems. Blizzard has “WiCicles”, which is a wireless receiver/transmitter system that plugs directly into a DMX fittings and is powered by the fixture itself – they refer to these fixtures as “WiCicle Enabled”. Eternal Lighting has a very similar (almost identical) system with their “XT” transmitters and receivers. The different wireless signals are not compatible, but both systems receivers and transmitters are powered by the fixtures themselves, so you don’t have to plug them in separately. Eternal fixtures will power a WiCicle, and likewise, a Blizzard fixture will power a “XT” receiver. So if you pick one of their wireless systems, you’ll need to stick with it, but you can branch out and use those receivers on the others fixtures if you like. Granted, you can use “XT” or WiCicles on any DMX system you like, but they will have to be plugged in separately. So within the restrictions mentioned earlier, here are some fixtures with powered DMX receptacles that will work with either WiCicles or XT’s, but bear in mind that all of these fixtures will need separate wireless DMX receivers, which run around $100 each:

 

Blizzard Puck Q6A (RGBA - 60 watts total) Unplugged $290

Blizzard Puck Q6W (RGBW - 60 watts total) Unplugged $325

Blizzard Puck 3 (RGB - 27 watts total) Unplugged $300

Eternal Lighting EchoTri (RGB - 50watts total) $250

 

 

What would I buy if I were you? With the $350 per fixture budget in mind, I’d go with the Eternal Lighting Cube Echo RGBAW+UV if I wanted UV, or I would go with the Blizzard Lighting SkyBox 5 for the RGBAW color mixing, overall brightness, and really excellent build quality - seriously, the HotBox's are made like tanks.

 

There are probably some things I didn't think of, in which case I hope some more experienced folks will chime in.

 

Good luck!

 

Josh Angel

 

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Josh,

 

You have awesome idea about these and thank you for explaining to me in such great detail. You are right that I do not want the 10mm leds, they are older technology and I want to be current.

 

I am completely skipping ADJ and Chauvet as they are not powerful enough. Between Eternal & Blizzard, I wish I could get the Hotbox RGBA as it is in my price range, but unfortunately is not battery powered. I looked hard before posting here, but some how managed to not know about Blizzards Skybox atall. Blizzard Skybox 5 sure is nice, it fits my requirements I guess.

 

Now, the battery life at full on is just 4 hours, which will deteoriate over time as all LI-ION battery does. This is a problem. It does charge & work at the same time, so that is a plus.

 

The luminous intensity is not released yet so not sure how much Blizzards 105 watt is really powerful. The closest thing in my inventory is a 7x12W Moving Head Beam with Osram leds, and that thing is really bright with a great throw, but its a sharp beam angle, so not a fair comparison.

 

These will mainly be used for weddings, please tell me 105 Blizzard Watts is enough power. I am not sure if as a rental provider, the UV add on (exa) would justify the added cost. Not sure who would want to rent UV uplights, I have a couple of ADJ Eco Bar Plus for that.

 

 

OS

 

 

 

Hey there OS,

 

I am hardly an expert, but here are some ideas for you. I am going to assume that you want a reputable company that will stand behind their products (i.e. Warranties) so I’ll take cheap Chinese knock-offs out of the equation. I will also assume that you want to at least have the better color mixing of Tri-LED’s as opposed to 10mm LED’s, which throw multicolored shadows. So with those assumptions in place, in the need for battery operated/wirelss dmx fixtures in mind, here are some thoughts.

 

Low-end fixtures with only RGBA color mixing and low brightness is Chauvet and American DJ. Fixtures run around $250 to $280. Mid-range fixtures are Blizzard and Eternal Lighting, and they just fit in the top end of your price range.

 

Wireless DMX: first off, if you want wireless control, you will pretty much have to pick a company and stick to it. Right now, the major lighting companies all have systems that are non-compatible with each other, so for the most part you can’t mix and match units from different companies and have their different wireless controllers “play nice” with each other. The two (in my opinion) best companies with wireless fixtures are Blizzard and Eternal Lighting, because their fixtures typically provide better color mixing options and overall light output (brightness levels) than Chauvet and ADJ. I prefer the RGBAW, and RGBAW+UV fixtures, but again, that is only my personal preferences.

 

Blizzard Lighting: this is my favorite company. Great fixtures, very bright, and great customer service. Their fixtures tend to feature the best color mixing and the brightest LED’s for the highest total lighting output, but they are a little pricier. The HotBox’s are built like tanks – very nice quality and small. The Skywire & Skybox series all have built in wireless and battery, but I like their wireless DMX system because the DMX receivers are small and are powered by the fixtures itself – you don’t have to plug them in separately. However, you’ll pay a little more $. The Skybox 5 would seem to be the way to go if you aren’t looking for UV fixtures:

 

Blizzard Lighting Puck Fab 5 Skywire (RGBAW – 90 watts total) $400

Blizzard Lighting SkyBox 5 (RGBAW – 105 watts total) $350

Blizzard Lighting SkyBox EXA (RGBAW+UV – 105 watts total) $400

 

 

Eternal Lighting: Eternal has a whole line of wireless DMX/Battery fixtures. Much like Blizzard, they have excellent color mixing option with RGBAW+UV fixtures, but their higher end fixtures are out of your mentioned price range, and their fixtures aren’t as bright as Blizzards. They use “XT” transmitters like Blizzards, when the wireless isn’t built in, such as the Cube Echo series. Within your price range you have:

 

Eternal Lighting Cube Echo RGBAW+UV (RGBAW+UV – 72 watts total) $309

 

 

Chauvet: Chauvet has some limited wireless/battery fixture options, mostly off the 10mm LED variety. They only have a few with Tri –r Quad LED or better color mixing, and the wattage i.e brightness is very low:

 

EZ Wedge Tri (RGB – 9 watts total) $130 (no wireless DMX)

Freedom Strip Mini Quad 5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $250

Freedom Par Quad 5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $250

 

 

American DJ: ADJ has fixtures equivalent to Chauvet’s color mixing and brightness, mostly RGBA and ringing in at 25 watts total.

 

American DJ WiFly Par QA5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $280

American DJ WiFly Bar QA5 (RGBA – 25 watts total) $280

 

 

Mix and Match: The nice thing is, you can actually – to a small degree – mix and match a few fixtures from Blizzard and Eternal Lighting. This happened before all the fixtures began getting the wireless DMX built in, further reinforcing each companies closed wireless DMX systems. Blizzard has “WiCicles”, which is a wireless receiver/transmitter system that plugs directly into a DMX fittings and is powered by the fixture itself – they refer to these fixtures as “WiCicle Enabled”. Eternal Lighting has a very similar (almost identical) system with their “XT” transmitters and receivers. The different wireless signals are not compatible, but both systems receivers and transmitters are powered by the fixtures themselves, so you don’t have to plug them in separately. Eternal fixtures will power a WiCicle, and likewise, a Blizzard fixture will power a “XT” receiver. So if you pick one of their wireless systems, you’ll need to stick with it, but you can branch out and use those receivers on the others fixtures if you like. Granted, you can use “XT” or WiCicles on any DMX system you like, but they will have to be plugged in separately. So within the restrictions mentioned earlier, here are some fixtures with powered DMX receptacles that will work with either WiCicles or XT’s, but bear in mind that all of these fixtures will need separate wireless DMX receivers, which run around $100 each:

 

Blizzard Puck Q6A (RGBA - 60 watts total) Unplugged $290

Blizzard Puck Q6W (RGBW - 60 watts total) Unplugged $325

Blizzard Puck 3 (RGB - 27 watts total) Unplugged $300

Eternal Lighting EchoTri (RGB - 50watts total) $250

 

 

What would I buy if I were you? With the $350 per fixture budget in mind, I’d go with the Eternal Lighting Cube Echo RGBAW+UV if I wanted UV, or I would go with the Blizzard Lighting SkyBox 5 for the RGBAW color mixing, overall brightness, and really excellent build quality - seriously, the HotBox's are made like tanks.

 

There are probably some things I didn't think of, in which case I hope some more experienced folks will chime in.

 

Good luck!

 

Josh Angel

 

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Your primary use may be uplighting but keep in mind, any of the fixtures discussed so far come with yokes and can be truss or stand mounted. The UV feature opens an additional revenue market for you with school black light parties.

 

Eternal's CubeECHO can be well within your price range.

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Bill,

 

The Cube Echo is in my short list as well. I do not know any dealer which can provide good prices on these, Map for the UV version does indeed break my budget.

 

OS.

 

Your primary use may be uplighting but keep in mind, any of the fixtures discussed so far come with yokes and can be truss or stand mounted. The UV feature opens an additional revenue market for you with school black light parties.

 

Eternal's CubeECHO can be well within your price range.

 

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Blizzard Lighting: this is my favorite company. Great fixtures, very bright, and great customer service. Their fixtures tend to feature the best color mixing and the brightest LED’s for the highest total lighting output, but they are a little pricier. The HotBox’s are built like tanks – very nice quality and small. The Skywire & Skybox series all have built in wireless and battery, but I like their wireless DMX system because the DMX receivers are small and are powered by the fixtures itself – you don’t have to plug them in separately. However, you’ll pay a little more $. The Skybox 5 would seem to be the way to go if you aren’t looking for UV fixtures:

 

Blizzard Lighting Puck Fab 5 Skywire (RGBAW – 90 watts total) $400

Blizzard Lighting SkyBox 5 (RGBAW – 105 watts total) $350

Blizzard Lighting SkyBox EXA (RGBAW+UV – 105 watts total) $400

 

 

 

 

Man the battery powered boxes are expensive! I see the Blizzard battery powered boxes have internal receivers which is nice.

FWIW - The wiCICLE transmitters do need to use the powered adapter. Only the receivers get their power from the box.

 

I see the Blizzard lights can also run on AC. I have a couple of HotBox 5's, and they're bright and have very rich colors (RBGAW).

 

For wireless control, I'm also looking at these:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009SXJL50/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1ZA0LKMGHFMHQ&coliid=IWDW5S6JIL8T5

 

I would not discount ADJ - they have bright fixtures that work well.

 

OP, Are you planning on using a controller, and if so, which one?

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Hello All,

 

As far as prices, you can't go wrong with Bill, he'll get you a much better deal than manufacturer's recommended retail price.

 

As far as the Skybox 5's battery life (I don't own any, sadly) I found this on Blizzard's site: "With average usage of color fades in High Output Mode, you can expect the battery life to last up to 10+ hours, color jumping 6+ hrs, or full on for 4+ hrs! Need more time? Just switch over to one of the other battery power saver modes! The normal battery recharge time is 4 hrs, and can be done even while in use!

 

I doubt that you'll have situations for uplighting where you'll be using full on, so you'll likely be looking more at 6 to 8 hours. Most uplighting applications are single color steady, so I imagine you'll be good unless it is a all day event. In those cases, you may have to choose a less bright setting to extend battery life, which would likely still make them brighter than the 25 watt fixtures. That is just guessing though, as I don't own a Skybox 5 nor any of the Chauvet or ADJ 25 watt battery fixtures.

 

Incidentally, I own both ADJ and Chauvet gear, and they are good products, not dissing them, but they are on the low end of price, and I imagine that in order to meet those price points they are likely trading in overall brightness, but they are still quality products.

 

As far as the wireless DMX from Amazon, they are much cheaper, but be aware that they will not work with any other companies wireless systems, and likely no warranty. That is the issue with cheap Chinese knock-off's, but I can understand the appeal. The Blizzard and Eternal wireless systems are anywhere from 30% to 50% of the cost of the fixtures themselves, which is prohibitively expensive. These things would sell like hot cakes if they would be willing to cut the price by about 50%. As it is, they are expensive.... but SO worth it.

 

If RGBA is what you are looking at, but the Skybox 5 and Echo may be a little expensive for you, the Blizzard Puck Q6A Unplugged is worth looking at for $290 each. They would need WiCicles of XT's to be purchased separately though, so you may as well pay the extra to have the wireless built in with the Skybox 5. It would come out about the same, but they are brighter, tougher, and have better color mixing.

 

I have only gotten my hands on Blizzard controllers and Chauvet controllers, and the Blizz controllers beat the Chauvet hands down. The Chauvet feel cheap in comparison. They are similar prices, so I would go with Blizzard's between the two.

 

Just some ideas! :-)

 

Josh

 

 

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While the wireless DMX battery powered fixtures are indeed expensive at first, they become so much less expensive as time goes by.

 

You can load in and set up 20 wireless battery operated fixtures in 20 minutes or less and probably load them out in 15 minutes.

 

Battery operated fixtures without wireless DMX can be placed in the same amount of time but now you need to run control cables and tape them down where necessary. Probably looking at an hour plus to set up and a half hour to load out.

 

Non battery and non wireless fixtures are probably needing up to 2 hours in and 1 hour out.

 

What is your time worth?

 

If you do one event a week the difference between Battery/Wireless vs. non battery/wireless will be several hundred hours. If your time is worth just $ 20 per hour, you could have covered the cost of buying the Battery/Wireless fixtures in the first year . . . And we haven't even considered gaffers tape as an expense.

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While the wireless DMX battery powered fixtures are indeed expensive at first, they become so much less expensive as time goes by.

 

You can load in and set up 20 wireless battery operated fixtures in 20 minutes or less and probably load them out in 15 minutes.

 

Battery operated fixtures without wireless DMX can be placed in the same amount of time but now you need to run control cables and tape them down where necessary. Probably looking at an hour plus to set up and a half hour to load out.

 

Non battery and non wireless fixtures are probably needing up to 2 hours in and 1 hour out.

 

What is your time worth?

 

If you do one event a week the difference between Battery/Wireless vs. non battery/wireless will be several hundred hours. If your time is worth just $ 20 per hour, you could have covered the cost of buying the Battery/Wireless fixtures in the first year . . . And we haven't even considered gaffers tape as an expense.

 

True, but you have to recharge them before the show - how long does that take? Plus, you use your power $ to recharge them, not the venue's.

 

I like the idea, but I'm using them on small stages so battery powered doesn't help me much.

 

Wireless control, on the other hand, is a huge help!

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