On Saturday my FC-4 package arrived. As always, shipping by EFX-TEK was amazingly fast. Although I didn't have time to play with my FC-4 boards on Saturday, I did break one out and set it up yesterday to control my Christmas lights. I am happy to report that set up and programming is simple beyond words. (For those of you unfamiliar, the FC-4 is a control board that allows you to control incandescent light levels through a Prop-1, 2, SX, or PC using Vixen).
I probably went a bit unconventional, and used indoor two-prong extension cords from Target to connect to the AC terminals. It seems to work fine, plus now I can easily attach three lighting instruments per channel (up to the wattage limit, of course).
Once I had my FC-4, Prop-1, and requisite cabling secured to a scrap piece of 1"x4" lumber, I was good to go. I downloaded the FC-4 test code from EFX-TEK and uploaded it to the Prop-1. Things worked perfectly, so I got to work programming my sequence.
Fortunately the FC-4 test code comes with a bunch of subroutines. All you need to do is copy and paste them from the program section to the subroutine section, add a "RETURN" to the end of them, and call them up as necessary. I tweaked some of them to suit my needs, just changing the timing and such.
Anyway, if you haven't yet gotten into prop control using Jon and John's products, you are missing out on a lot. I know the whole "programming" thing is intimidating, but it really couldn't be easier. And for those of you who are already EFX-TEK fans, take advantage of the FC-4 holiday sale. You'll absolutely love it.
I should also mention that Jon wrote me a program (actually three) last night for a random flicker. I'm hoping to simulate the Indiana Jones Adventure flickering light effect in the queue for next Halloween's project. I'll try out the programs tonight. Being able to fade incandescent bulbs is HUGE.
Monday, December 10, 2007
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