LIGHTING CONTROL CONSOLE
TECH DIRECTOR
5/29/97
page
TEATRONICS LIGHTING CONTROLS,
TEATRONICS LIGHTING CONTROLS,
INC.
INC.
2
Setup and Connection
Continued...
INTERFACE TO DIMMERS
Remote control lighting consoles use a low voltage (usually D.C.) control signal to vary the outputs of
the dimmer packs. The lighting industry has standardized on a “zero to ten” volt D.C. control signal.
The Tech Director follows this standard, but can be adjusted to meet many other control voltages to
interface with dimmers which do not follow the standard. Unless a different control voltage was
specified when your console was ordered, it is adjusted for zero to ten volt operation. When adjusted
for zero to ten operation, the control voltage is zero volts when a channel is off, ten volts when a
channel is on full, and varies linearly between the two extremes.
Each channel has its own control wire which runs to the dimmer pack(s). The standard output connector
groups the control signals in groups of twelve channels. A 24 channel console,therefore, will have two
output connectors. Each connector also carries signal return path properly called D.C. common al-
though it is often referred to as ‘ground’. The standard output connector on the Tech Director is a 16 pin
‘Standard Round Connector’ (SRC-16). The signals for channels 1 through 11 appear on pins 1 through
11. Channel 12 appears on pin 16. The common reference signal (D.C. common) is connected to pin
15. Pins 12 and 13 are used for power supply feeds from the dimmer pack(s) and are not connected in
the Tech Director. Pin 14 is not used. These pin-outs are shown in the table on the following page.
Teatronics Lighting Controls, Inc. dimmer packs are ‘plug compatible’ with the Tech Director. Twelve
channel packs will plug together with a standard “one to one” control cable (pin 1 wired to pin 1, pin 2
to pin 2 etc.). Eight channel packs will work with a standard cable also, but control channels 9 through
12 will be wasted. A “Spreader” cable may be made for eight channel packs so as not to waste control
channels. Six channel packs may be connected using a standard control cable, in which case the other
six control channels are looped to another six channel pack. Teatronics Lighting Controls, Inc. control
consoles may be factory ordered with custom connectors and output wiring.
The outputs of the Tech Director are diode isolated to allow multiple consoles to be connected to the
same dimmers. Each output is capable of sourcing 10 mA of current which corresponds to a load
impedance of 1000 Ohms (1 K Ohm) at standard zero to ten control voltage. Due to power supply
limitations, however, only 100 mA of current is available for all the outputs. Therefore only ten chan-
nels could be used if all were loaded to their maximum current. Luckily most modern dimmers do not
load the channel outputs of the console to anywhere near their maximum (Teatronics Lighting Controls,
Inc. dimmers require only .01 mA of current). As a rule, if the input impedance of the dimmers con-
trolled by a Tech Director are rated at 10,000 Ohms (10 K Ohms) or higher, there is no chance of
overloading the console.
