Is Advanced Programming possible on a Unison Consolette Portable Station?

Our church uses an Element Console, and also has a Unison Consolette Portable Station and several Unison Heritage Button Stations. Both the main console and the Consolette can control house and theatrical lighting in our Sanctuary. All other lights in our building are on a programmable timer system. I would love to be able to program on and off times for the Sanctuary as well, and even better...be able to do it off-site by an internet connection. Is there any way to do either of these?

  • Yes and not a good idea.

    OK, the long version. Assuming you have a Unison Paradigm rather than a Unison Legacy, the schedule can be easily reached via the built in web page server. There are many things you can't do, but setting up a basic schedule using existing presets is pretty easy. Plug into the Paradigm processor or anywhere on your network and type it's IP address into your browser.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AvFy2yaK3c for details.

    Accessing your system remotely is as simple and as dangerous as connecting the Paradigm (and your lighting network if you have one) to the internet. None of the gear has any security protection so anyone with some basic hacking could control your lights, or infect your console, or other messy stuff. VPNs and firewalls are great but are not guaranteed. You would be responsible for all security!!

    Another possibility would be to set up a link between your other lighting system and the Paradigm so there is only one schedule to maintain. Without knowing a lot more I can't say how hard that would be. Maybe just linking networks or running some low voltage wire, maybe programming in Bacnet. Paradigm systems can talk to almost anything but you're likely to need your local dealers help and an electrician. Just a thought.

  • Do you know what the other lights control system is?
  • Rick, thanks for your response. The other system is a Lighting Control & Design (LC&D) GR2400. It is not connected to the internet; we just make programming changes on the control module itself. I doubt that they are compatible. Being able to make changes remotely, through an internet connection would be nice, but not necessary at all.
    Here's my scenario: we have 84 halogen house light fixtures in our sanctuary, totaling somewhere around 60,000 watts. We don't want those lights staying on all night! I would love to be able to program them to turn off by timer at 11pm each night (should we forget), like all the other lights in the building. I know the Element console and the Consolette 'talk' to each other, because I can set a scene on the Element, and record it onto a button on the Consolette and wall keypads. Is there a way to program some sort of shutdown timer on the Element that would work through the Consolette?
  • An "All Off" by the Paradigm schedule is about as simple as it can get. Watch the video to use a computer or do it from the front panel. You will want the manual handy to follow the menu tree.

    And as always, call ETC tech support if you need specific help!

    Doing this by the Element is only possible if they are networked together. The Consolette only captures the current DMX levels for recording presets.

    Connecting to the GR2400 is very possible but would require some new wires and therefore an electrician and significant cost. There are many, many other possibilities but the Paradigm calendar is the easiest and cheapest way to get what you want.
  • Thank you so much. Lots of research to do, but you've given me a great starting point.
Related