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Hi....

I am a rookie to this lighting design thing, so please forgive me if some of the questions seem silly.

I am putting together an installed system for a small church venue, and I would really like to go the LED route for most of my instruments due to the low power consumption and low heat thing. How many of the Par64 LED lights can you chain together? My count is up to 41 instruments which includes wash lights, truss warmers, and some other off stage accents. In addition, there will be 4 of the elation Powerspot 250's in the system. I am planning to control it with the MYDMX software. Am I asking for trouble chaining this many instruments together? Will I have to have two separate universes to do it? Channel wise, I am fine. Instrument wise.... I dont know.

Any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated!
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you can do as many as one universe allows which is 512 channels. but i recommend getting a opto branch 4 that way you can split up the signals to different areas of the church and it also helps boost the signal as to help prevent data loss from long dmx runs which is usually considered to be over 100 feet. My dmx is a great computerized lighting controller just make sure the laptop running it is 32 bit processor rather than 64 bit as the software in NOT compatible with a 64 BIT OS yet. if you need anything else please feel free to post another question. Welcome to the forums. Sincerely,
The main issue is: How much power do you need?

Look at the manuals, calculate 100%(simple addition) and if your numbers are less than 1800 watts, you're good for a 15 amp circuit. Less than 2400 watts? That's a 20 amp circuit.

As far as how many fixtures on a circuit? Well, that's debatable. If you can SAFELY do it, then it should be fine. Regardless, ensure you use only UL approved cabling. Contractors in some areas are NOT allowed to put more than 12 wall boxes on a single circuit. This means you will need some degree of power distribution.

I do also recommend that lights and sound should NEVER cross paths because the power consumption is different. Lights tend to draw steady, while sound can be a little more dynamic, drawing what it needs when it needs it. Also, some lighting(even top of the line stuff) can run nastiness into the electric, so you'd want to keep those on different circuits so you don't get buzz and crud in your audio.

Terminology:
Fixture: typically, any single lighting component that emits light, regardless of type(par can, special, mover, wash, flood, spot, whatever)
Instrument: As in what a musician plays, pounds on or whatever is necessary for the unit intended to produce sound to make it produce the sound it is intended to produde.

Please do use the right terminology. We all need to be on the same page.

So, my Par38's take up 150 watts each. 8 on a tree takes up 1200 watts. 2 trees take up 2400 watts, or a FULL 20 amp circuit.

In comparison, ADJ says the Par64 Pro's(LED color changers) take up 30 watts.

Simple math: 1800/30=60
(Circuit wattage/wattage per fixture= fixtures).
I don't think I'd need that many for a single 15-amp circuit, but isn't it nice to know that if I get kicked in the head by a horse and lose sanity and judgement that I could? Of course COULD vs SHOULD are two totally different things.

Add it up, do the simple math. If the numbers look reasonable and electrically, it's all available, then you're fine.

Regarding Jingle's DMX splitter advise: I agree yet disagree.
With that many fixtures, it would be wise to have one, mainly to distribute the signal out among so many fixtures otherwise you just have a lot of extra cable. I bet you're running in zones(areas with many lights, not necessarily matching, but could be as well), so these splitters will help bring some control to the chaos. As far as 100-foot limitations: I disagree, as I use a 200-foot cable and I know companies that use a 350-foot cable with no problems at all. While the advise is sound, I don't agree with the length limitations completely. So, I agree with the need, just not the main reason why.

You're over-complicating this. Relax, you're headed in the right direction.

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