Striplights are nothing new. They have been around as cyc lights to wash large areas with color, footlights to add front key light for cameras, and since the concept of LED lamped models, eye candy and audience light. Each one of these fixtures could stand on their own two feet, or trunnions, as they are referred to in theater-speak. Or add some half couplers, and you can fix them to a truss. But one thing that has always been difficult was hanging them vertically from a truss with just one clamp. Chauvet Professional took that into consideration when they designed their latest strip, the IP65-rated COLORado Batten Q15.
Adaptable Rigging Solutions
This one-meter-long, 15-cell strip of light has adjustable trunnions that can slide either way on a track along the backside. This makes it great for hanging on trusses and avoiding crossbars. It also makes the fixture easier to hang on the front face of a truss vertically and symmetrically. There is also a center point to attach an Omega clamp, which is good if you wish to mount it off the axis of the chords.
Added to this model are endcaps that join two units together seamlessly with two pins, for a perfect alignment of the LED cells. What I find particularly great is their ability to hang these fixtures down from a truss on one clamp and have additional units clamp together at the weight bearing ends and be structurally sound. This proves to be an extreme labor and time saver, as techs no longer need to hang vertical pipes to a truss, then clamp the strips onto said pipes to hang in an icicle formation. (Please note, however, that Chauvet legally does not permit more than two fixtures hanging from one clamp). The unit has specially designed truss hanging hardware as well as floor standing plates. The adaptable rigging solutions set this batten apart from others.
Output, Color and Effects
Lighting-wise, this fixture is equipped with 15 x 20W RGBW 4-in-1 LED cells. Each cell has a native 16° beam spread that is fixed. To compensate for those looking for a wider swath of light output, the fixture comes with a wall wash “filter” that gives the beam a 16° by 43° beam spread with guaranteed smoothness of intensity. There is also an anti-glare shield available to slide in place.
The colors mix as evenly as what we have come to expect from RGBW dies with solid reds, blues and greens as well as most pastel colors. Individual control of each cell is easy in an extended DMX mode. Users can choose modes that either mix using hue and saturation levels or by the four individual RGB+W channels.
Users may prefer to use the dedicated color macro channel over mixing, which includes 10 primary colors including black and white. There are an additional 14 channels that one can use to specify a white output in a variety of color temperatures, ranging from 1800K to 8000K. The color temperatures are simulated renditions of tungsten lamps as accurately as they could be.
The dimming can be set to any of the five different curves the user may choose from. The brightness is moderately good for a batten this size, with 6,325 lumens emitted. Strobing functions include Sync, Lightning and Random modes, with multiple rates of each. I do note that, unlike most fixtures, the user can strobe individual cells at different rates instead of as a whole. In other words, one can have the 15 cells of the fixture randomly strobe within themselves. But this feature can only be accessed in the hue saturation color mixing mode (76 channels per fixture). The most DMX channels the RGBW color mixing modes take are 66. The fixture can run on a minimum of six channels. The PWM is adjustable to six rates going all the way to 25,000 Hz.
At a Glance:
Weather & Rigging-Ready
With its IP65 rating, the fixture can easily be used on any outdoor show or installation. It’s built ruggedly with aluminum alloys and could easily tour or enjoy a long life in a theater or nightclub. There are built-in auto programs for dimmer and color chases, etc., plus excellent (and numerous) rigging options.
COLORado Batten Q15
- Light Source: 15 x 20W RGBW LEDs
- Output Lumens: 6,324
- Lamp Life: 50,000 hours
- Native Beam: 16°
- Size: 41.22” x 7.28” x 6.55”
- Weight: 28.8 lbs.
- Power Cord: Seetronic PowerCon (IP65)
- Data In: 5-pin IP65 XLR
- MSRP: $1,599.99
Manufacturer: Chauvet Professional
More Info: www.chauvetprofessional.com
