Germany - Further to the launch of their ARC3 last October, Astera has now released an improved version of their tablet controller. Now referred to as the AsteraTouch (ARC6, formerly ARC3), with a more intuitive control system and user-friendly interface, Astera has pushed the boundaries for easy-to-use wireless lighting control, says the company

The Astera range features handheld LED controllers for all types of user, from the simple infra-red controller (ARC1) with limited features to the more advanced radio frequency controller (ARC2) with a greater range and extensive control. The AsteraTouch improves the current range with its visibility and enhanced usability. Due to the seven-inch, 1024x600-pixel captive touchscreen, the often complex Astera control system is simplified into easy stages, but more importantly, it still maintains the comprehensive control and customizabilit

UK - Allen & Heath has launched GLD OneMix, an iPad app that gives musicians wireless control of their personal monitor mix. GLD OneMix locks control to a single Aux mix, providing instant access to a customised easy-to-use monitor mix environment.

Multiple iPads can be set up by an admin user to give numerous musicians personalised monitor control without affecting each other or the FoH main mix. A musician's own aux monitor mix is assigned and locked into the 'My Mix' layer, and a selection of input splits dedicated to the individual musician can be added. Similarly, all other instrument send levels can be assigned to any of the three extra layers, allowing unique personal monitoring configuration. The range of accessible settings is defined by custom permissions for each layer.

When in User mode, the musician is presented with simple-to-use access and control of their aux m

USA - City Theatrical reports new additions to its product line of low voltage dimmers and some changes to the existing low voltage dimmers.

Low voltage dimming has always been used for incandescent lamps in scenery, props, and costumes, and is often paired with City Theatrical's SHoW DMX wireless DMX to allow wireless dimming. The real growth in this area today is the dimming of LED tape, which has growing use in all areas of entertainment.

City Theatrical now has a line of 10 products for lighting professionals, and has rebranded the entire group of dimmers to make it more logical to choose which one to use. The dimmers in the new product line are:

D1 Dimmer A 15A single channel dimmer; D2 Dimmer A tiny (the size of a credit card and 1/2" thick) two channel dimmer with a capacity of 5A per channel; D2 SHoW DMX Neo Dimmer - a tiny two channel dimmer with a with a capac

USA - ADJ's new Pixel Pulse Bar will have entertainers and lighting designers thinking "outside the bar" when it comes to visual effects, says the company.

The Pixel Pulse Bar comes equipped with the added feature of five-zone pixel chase effects. Users can highlight five different colours on the fixture and create a striking spectrum of energy-driven chase effects for "a thrilling high-velocity lightshow".

As a result of its five-zone pixel control, the Pixel Pulse Bar allows entertainers and designers to be more creative and gives them the power to enhance and broaden the scope of their lightshows without adding multiple units to their lighting arsenal, said Alfred Gonzales, national sales manager for ADJ.

"The Pixel Pulse Bar is versatile LED colour strobe/wash fixture because of its ability to create 5-zone pixel chase effects," said Gonzale

UK - Richard Martin Lighting (RML) has recently added the Robert Juliat Alex Followspot to its already extensive inventory, available to hire today.

The Alex Followspot is a 2500w Tungsten unit and suitable for television studios and theatre productions. It contains a mechanical dimmer, which allows a constant colour temperature during dimming while additionally maintaining the flat beam which, as we know, is important when using sensitive camera equipment. Having a tungsten lamp allows for the units to be used with conventional theatre and television lighting, making sure no hot spots are visible.

With a G22 locking system exclusive to all Robert Juliat products, a localised on/off switch, and 7° to 14.5° zoom, the Alex Followspot is a product designed for big impact and ease of use.

Steve Wells, operations manager at RML said of the purchase, "Investing in Fol

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced its CO2 hazer, producing "outstanding fine-particulate atmospheric effects for large venues".

The Martin Jem Ready 365 Hazer uses advanced water-based fluid, which gives a comparable performance to industry-standard oils, producing the ultimate transparent haze, suitable for concerts, events, TV studios, theaters, clubs, cruise ships, theme parks and more.

The Jem Ready 365 Hazer houses advanced technology, including automatic shutdown with battery backup to prevent clogging and running out of gas by producing limited haze, even if gas pressure is lost. This allows the user to exchange the gas cylinder quickly without loss of effect. The Jem Ready is gas-efficient, sipping small amount of fluid per use and leaves no residue or smell.

The easy-to-use, plug and play system requires minimal setup time, runs nearly silent and

UK - Essential Supplies UK has designed and created a new 100% dimmable multipurpose LED event light. The combination of LED lamps and versatile multi-purpose housing creates a light fixture with a warm white, halogen-like light with the energy saving and reliability of a LED source, making it perfect for events, says the company.

Simon James, director at Essential Supplies comments, "Uplighters are the backbone for lighting most marquee venues, they need to be low tech, no DMX data cables to go wrong, or flickering colour changes, just a simple plug and go uplighter. At Essential Supplies we have been looking into making an LED version of our traditional uplighter which has been a market leading product for over 15 years. Now with the right LEDs and driver, we have matched, and exceeded, the quality and warmth of light output offered with traditional tungsten with a new LE

UK - Citronic has introduced a medium-size active line array - CLA-1460 - for concert halls, night clubs, houses of worship and other medium to large size venues.

Each array comprises an active sub unit and a set of 4 full range active wide dispersion enclosures. The entire system can be tailored to the venue or application via a PC link, editing the internal DSP controller for crossover, filtering and gain characteristics.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Osram has for the first time achieved maximum image quality for pure laser-based projection with a combination of laser and phosphor materials. The new phaser technology contains modules which do not need to be replaced during the complete service life of the projector. They will be used for the first time in projectors from the end of this year.

Until now only green light was generated via laser with laser-based projectors - LEDs were responsible for the blue and red primary colours. With phaser technology, where 'phaser' stands for phosphor and laser, Osram for the first time presents a process which achieves outstanding image quality with projection by the use of laser, made possible by blue laser diodes. The beams of the diodes are focused directly onto a wheel coated with red, yellow and green phosphor. When the wheel rotates the colours are generated in sequence,

UK - ASVL Group has introduced the new QTX SG300 and SG350 Shotgun microphones which offer focused, long range sound pickup.

Powered from a single AA battery inside the microphone body with a 3-way switch for off, cardioids and hypercardioid polar response patterns. Each has a balanced output and is supplied with a 4m XLR lead.

Also supplied is a short XLR to 3.5mm jack lead, hot-shoe mount and foam windshield for location camera work. They are available in shotgun and long shotgun versions to cover a range of broadcast, stage and surveillance applications.

(Jim Evans)

Europe - Launched at Prolight + Sound 2013, the Kreios SL is the first LED spotlight from Osram with a high light output exceeding 3000 lumens. 'Excellent colour rendering, with a high CRI (colour rendering index) of 95 and a broad dimming range (5-100%) makes the Kreios SL an extremely versatile fixture', says the company.

It is currently the most powerful LED spotlight available on the market and has been designed for a broad range of illumination applications where a zoom able light source is preferred; in particular, for background lighting of TV and studio recordings.

Kreios SL replaces standard 100W to 250W halogen spotlight solutions and is an especially economic alternative for event, TV and studio experts. Its long lasting and high quality LEDs give a service life of up to 30,000 hours, therefore no relamping is required. Comparable halogen spotlights would usually ne

UK - Due to continued growth, Rubber Box moved premises this year into a larger building, putting everything under one roof. It has allowed the company to expand its already extensive range of standard boxes and look at developing more new products.

New to Rubber Box this year is a range of audio breakout boxes. Says the company, "We looked at the market and found there is a need for a range of audio boxes. We then had discussions with audio and sound engineers and took on board their comments and suggestions to come up with boxes specifically designed for the audio market: We currently have five new standard boxes that have been added to our 'On the Shelf' range."

Rubber Box has been designing and building custom boxes for customers for over 20 years and will continue to offer the same bespoke service in the audio box range.

The audio box range will use the same t

USA - Martin returns to the annual DJ Expo in a big way with an energizing booth, #615 featuring the popular new Rushrange of affordable effect lighting.

Held 12-15 August at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, DJ Expo an appropriate environment to showcase Martin's new range of installation effect lights before North America's most ambitious DJ and club professionals.

The Rush Series marks Martin's focus back on the exciting world of DJ and club effects with a comprehensive range that includes profile, wash, beam, strobe and pin spot luminaires.

"The response to ush has been overwhelmingly positive since its launch earlier in 2013, and momentum has only gathered throughout the summer," stated Brian Friborg, president, Martin US. "Martin looks forward to a great show and invites all lighting industry professionals to the Martin booth for a demo and a closer

Germany - Sommer Cable is releasing a fully reworked and unified MonoCAT cable family. The different hybrid cables all contain network lines complemented by signal or power supply elements. This allows to connect digital sound, light or video control desks using only one cable and, as the case may be, with only one plug-in procedure. This is also suitable for applications on OB vans or in the installation or conference sectors.

Owing to the reworked internal Cat 7 construction in SFTP with a line gauge of 0.22 mm2 even greater transmission paths are now possible. This allows a trouble-free transmission of signals based on gigabit ethernet over distances up to 100 m. The power wires have a cross-sectional area of 2.5 mm2 to avoid problems with longer distances here, too. The highly flexible overall structure with our proven and robust S-PVC jacket (temperature range -20 ... +75&d

USA - The new compact Design Wash LED Zoom from Elation Professional is billed as "everything a lighting pro could expect in a colour wash and more -- and. . . less". Powered by 108 high-output 3-watt Osram Ostar LEDs (40 red, 28 green, 30 blue, 10 white), which put out up to 400 foot candles at 20' / 3,900 total lumens, this moving head fixture creates "stunning colour washes via RGBW blending, allowing you to use your DMX controller to dial up just the right hue for any live show, production, church, nightclub or stage wash application".

It also comes available in a Cool White model, the Design Wash LED Zoom CW, which contains 108 x Cool White 7,500k LEDs. Providing an extreme output of 8,300 total lumens, the Design Wash LED Zoom CW is designed for when a bright white light is needed for flood or key lighting at auto shows, exhibition booths and broadcast

UK - Miltec will be showing the production versions of their Mini-Map miniature LED screen. The Mini-Map is a miniature LED screen measuring 155mm x 155mm with 36 pixels and is controlled via DMX512. Two versions are available, one for touring and one for installation.

The touring version has a steel case, PowerCon in and out, 5-pin XLR in and out and an M10 mounting point. Optional extras include a hinged mounting bracket and a flush mounting adaptor for building into flat sets. The idea behind the product is to allow small and medium sized companies to produce effective pixel effects on a budget and using standard cabling.

Other pixelmap products on display (Stand F10) will include the 3D-Tube, the successful Batten2 LED batten and the EPW2 and EPW 3 moving heads, recently seen at Glastonbury.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Black Light now has one of the largest hire stocks of ETC LED lighting in the country. The company has recently invested in over 100 pieces of ETC's technically-sophisticated range which offers incredible performance, exceptional flexibility and low energy consumption.

"LED is the way forward," says Calder Sibbald, Black Light's head of hires. "We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible choice and the latest technology and we think that ETC's range offers an unbeatable combination of features."

The new additions to Black Light's stock include Source Four LED Lustr+ and Studio HD Profiles, Desire D60 Vivid, Desire D60 Lustr+ and Desire D40 Vivid luminaries.

"We bought some Lustr+ Profiles last year and they have been out on hire almost constantly ever since," says Sibbald. "We know that this range is perfect for

Denmark - Martin's MAC Viper Quadray has been officially launched, adding to Martin's award-winning MAC Viper Family of moving heads. This, multi-beam luminaire has been deployed on international tours, including the Sarah Brightman tour with lighting design by Andi Watson, and Pitbull with lighting design by Justin Geiger.

The MAC Viper Quadray allows for the projection of four individually controllable rays of light - a new effect providing a unique aspect to any show.

An efficient effects engine provides designers and programmers the ability to create a whole new variety of looks that would otherwise be difficult or even impossible to program via a lighting console.

The MAC Viper Quadray houses a narrow-range zoom and includes the same high-quality feature set as the MAC Viper AirFX, including a vibrant colour mixing system and stunning aerial designs. Additionally, it fe

UK - Miltec will be showing the production versions of their British made Blakite speaker range (Stand number F10).

The new range was designed by Miltec and is manufactured in the UK using custom drivers supplied by Fane. All seven models are made from birch ply and finished in high quality black or white paint.

The range consists of three full range speakers and four subs. The three tops have 8", 10" and 12" drivers with 1.7" compression drivers. The sound is very clean and detailed, making them suitable for conference and theatre as well as schools, live music and clubs. Features include a 35 degree wedge angle, optional rubber feet, flying points, PowerDrive bracket mounting points and a pole socket.

The subs are all front loaded and available in 12",15", 2x 15" and 2x 18" formats. The sound is warm and deep but very controlled. The

UK - Surrey-based AV designer and manufacturer Smart-e Limited has launched two new KVM long-range extenders, the FDX-3000S and FDX-3500S, capable of transmitting over very long distances with no signal loss.

The FDX-3000S extends signals over 400m with multi-mode fibre, whilst the FDX-3500S using single-mode fibre, transmits to devices at up to 15km distance from the source.

Consisting of a transmitter and receiver pair, this equipment is capable of distributing DVI-D, stereo audio and USB keyboard and mouse with the option to send RS232 commands to the display. The receiver features 2 USBs, 1 audio, 1 DVI-D video and RS232 inputs.

Featuring high content resolutions up to 1920x1200 at 60Hz, the extenders support USB touch screens, are compatible with KVM switches and have a programmable DDC table. Powered from a single DC supply, the unit can be mounted in a standard 19&quo

Denmark -Martin's new MAC Viper Beam is a beam fixture with linear zoom system that projects a very narrow pencil beam of high-intensity light. The final fixture in the MAC Viper family, it is available as an easy-to-install front lens replacement kit for any standard MAC Viper AirFX.

Designed for high-impact, big beam effects and longer throws, it houses the same high-quality feature set as Martin's MAC Viper AirFX, including a vibrant colour mixing system and "stunning aerial effects". It has also inherited the same compact form, impressive speed and light quality using the same 1000 W source as the other Viper Family luminaires.

With 80 percent greater intensity than the MAC Viper AirFX, the MAC Viper Beam can cut through all forms of ambient lighting. Its linear zoom creates a tighter beam and the auto-linked focus means that hard-edge effects hold their focus th

UK - Having developed its revolutionary new JT30 and JT40 trusses at the start of 2013, James Thomas Engineering has announced the launch of its complete JT Truss range. The original JT30 and JT40 square configuration has been extended to include triangular and ladder truss options and an ultra-convenient 'out of the box' arched roof system.

JT Truss is a high-capacity, light-weight truss system aimed at the permanent installation market. Unique universal male/female forks allow versatility of connection and are held together by specially designed tapered pins which ensure fast, easy removal and form clean, strong joints.

Off the shelf lengths are available from 0.5m - 5m with a choice of solid corners or gates, 2- to 6-way corner options and a 3-way T-corner connection. Custom lengths are available to order, as are James Thomas Engineeering's (JTE) project consultation servic

USA - Elation Professional is making it easy for lighting professionals to get 'on board' with the next step in LED technology. The company has introduced the Cuepix Series, a collection of blinders and strip lights powered by advanced Chip On Board or COB LED technology.

The Cuepix Series will debut with four models: Cuepix Panel- 25 x 30-watt COB LED Tri Color RGB matrix blinder; Cuepix Strip WW- linear strip with 5 x 30-watt warm white COB LEDs; Cuepix Blinder WW2- blinder with 2 x 100-watt warm white COB LEDs and Cuepix Strip Tri-- linear strip with 5 x 30-watt Tri Color RGB COB LEDs.

COB LEDs differ from surface mount (SMD) LEDs in that the multiple LED diodes are directly mounted on and electrically connected to its circuit board as one lighting module. Since there is no conventional device SMT (surface mount technology) packaging, interconnection lengths are shortened a

UK - A free copy of Cakewalk Sonar X2 Essentials software is now included with every V-Mixer purchase from Roland Systems Group (RSG) providing a recording solution to go with this multi award winning range of Roland digital consoles.

Providing professional tools in a digital audio workstation (DAW Software) for live recording, the Sonar X2 Essentials package features the Skylight interface allowing you to move seamlessly among the elements, instantly going from recording to editing to mixing and back again. The software will be provided free of charge with every purchase of the V-Mixer live digital mixing consoles including the Roland M-480, M-380, M-300 and M-200i.

"The V-Mixing System has been massively popular in the UK market and it makes sense for us to offer a complete solution to our customers by including a great recording product such as Cakewalk," commente

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