Equipment Category – Date


Dimming and Multiplex - 


View in Alphabetical Order
Liquid Dimmers  (Strand  (1915 - 1945)
Glazed earthenware jars, complete with fixed & moving lead cones.
Rheotor  (ADB  (1925)
Variable transformers
Early Metallic Dimmers  (Strand  (1925?)
Type A or Type B
Early Resistance Dimmers  (Strand  (1925?)
Wall-type or portable
Bordoni Transformer Dimmer  (Siemens  (1930s)
Arc Resistances  (Strand  (1945)
Radial Switch type, standard type or parallel type
Plate Resistance Dimmers  (Strand  (1945)
Flickerless
Slate Type Slider Resistance Dimmers  (Strand  (1945)
Sunset Resistance Dimmers  (Strand  (1945)
Type A, Type A1, Type B, Type D, Wall Mounting Type
Tubular Resistance Dimmers  (Strand  (1945)
Type T1, T2, T4
Automatic Dimmers  (Strand  (1945-1969)
Type PTU or CYU
Transformer Dimmers  (Strand  (1945? - ?)
Thyratron  (Strand  (1952 - 1966)

Valve Dimming

SCR Dimmer (?name)  (ADB  (1958)
SD/WH  (Strand  (1959 April)
The first 220/240V SCR dimmer
CRD Dimmer Rack  (Strand  (1963)
Edkotron  (Century  (1964)
Thyristor Dimmer  (Electrosonic  (1964)
Name TBC
JTM  (Strand  (1965 - 1975)
Inexpensive variable-load dimmers housed in compact 20-channel or 10-channel racks.
TM  (Strand  (1965?)
Portable Touring Equipment  (Strand  (1968?)
PTM  (Strand  (1968?)
Plug-in dimmer modules and associated racks
Mini T Dimmer Rack  (Strand  (1970)
6 way dimmer pack. 50 - 1000W per channel. 
Furse Electronic Traveller Switchboard  (Furse Theatre Products  (1970 - )
4 channel portable dimmer rack
Mini 2 Dimmer Rack  (Strand  (1971)
Astral  (Skirpan Lighting Control Corporation  (1973)
Solid-state dimmer
E.S.6000  (Electrosonic  (1974)
Modular solid-state dimming. 6/12/18 way.
Portapak  (Electrosonic  (1974)
6 x 2.5kW touring rack
STM  (Strand  (1975)
Successor to the JTM
LD Dimmers  (Avolites  (1976)
First Avolites product
Perma 12  (Strand  (1977)
Wall-mounting 12 thyristor dimmer rack.
Portable High Power Dimmer Pack  (Strand  (1977)
Portable pack with 3 or 10 x 5kW maximum capacity Thyristor dimmers. 
FD Dimmers  (Avolites  (1978)
MCM (Modular Crate Mounted)  (Strand  (1978)
30 x 20A or 60 x 10A Thyristor Dimmers
Minipak  (Strand  (1978)
12 channel dimmer
K Series dimmer  (Skirpan Lighting Control Corporation  (1979)
D Range Dimmer  (Thorn Lighting  (1979?)
CD80 Dimmer Banks and Modules  (Strand  (1980)
Tempus  (Strand  (1980)
Portable dimmer packs
CCD/CWD Dimmers  (Dynamic Technology Ltd / DTL  (1982)
Compact dimmer series (2.5kW / 5kW)
Staka Pak  (Dynamic Technology Ltd / DTL  (1982)
Portable dimmer paks
Rackmaster 260 / 290 / 490 / 660  (Zero 88  (1982 - 1993)
Permus  (Strand  (1982 - ?)
Developed from Tempus dimmers
Genesis  (Teatronics  (1983)
Act 2  (Strand  (1983 - ?)
2 channel lighting control / dimmer
Dimension 192  (Berkey Colortran  (1984)
Range of dimming equipment.
Act 6  (Strand  (1984 - 1994)
6 channel dimmer rack (6 x 10A dimmer)
Delta 5  (Zero 88  (1986)
4 x 5A Dimmer Pack
PIP  (Strand  (1986)
Plug-In Professional Dimmer Modules
Sigma 5  (Zero 88  (1986)
4 x 5A switching pack
DC90 Dimmer Racks and Modules  (Strand  (1987)
Act 3  (Strand  (1987 - 1994)
3 channel dimmer rack (3 x 20A dimmer)
Eurodim  (ADB  (1987 onwards)
Permanent Dimmer Rack  (Arri  (1988)
Portable Dimmer  (Arri  (1988 - )
Portapak 3  (Pulsar  (1988 - )
Touring dimmer system - 36 channels, 10 amps per channel
PDD Digital Dimmers  (AVAB  (1988?)
Professional Digital Dimmer System
ENR  (Berkey Colortran  (1989)
Developed by Entertec for Colortran
SMX  (Strand  (1989)
Strand Multiplex
CD80 1.2kW Pack  (Strand  (1989?)
24 channel compact dimmer
Betapack 1  (Zero 88  (1990)
6 x 10A Dimmer Pack
24 channel demultiplexer  (Strand  (1990 - ?)
Control of 24 analogue dimmers.
EC90  (Strand  (1990 - ?)
Modular digital dimmer with reporter
Andi  (Strand  (1990s)
German Modular Dimmer System
CD80 Digital Pack  (Strand  (1992)
Data Booster  (ADB  (1992)
Multipro  (ADB  (1992)
DMX / Analogue protocol Converter
Micro-Scope  (Artistic Licence  (1993)
LD90  (Strand  (1993 - ?)
Digital Dimming
ID Dimmer  (Zero 88  (1994)
System 6  (Strand  (1994)
Compact wall-mounted dimmer cabinet: 6 x 15A or 6 x 20A dimmers
Act 3+  (Strand  (1994 - ?)
Act 6+  (Strand  (1994 - ?)
6 channel dimmer rack (6 x 10A dimmer)
ART4000 Dimmer  (Avolites  (1995)
Digital Dimmer  (MA Lighting  (1995)
Linebacker  (Zero 88  (1995)
Apollo  (Electro Controls  (1996?)
Dimmer rack
Betapack 2  (Zero 88  (1997)
Sensor  (Electronic Theatre Controls / ETC  (1997)
Modular dimmer system
Dig 6  (Strand  (1998?)
6 channel digital dimmer
ART2000  (Avolites  (2000)
SLD Dimmers  (Strand  (2000)
Dimmer rack for 24 or 48 dual dimmer modules. 
S72 Demultiplexer  (Strand  (2002)
DMX to Analogue Demultiplexer for up to 72 channels
dimMA  (MA Lighting  (2004)
Digital dimming system for fixed installations
EC21  (Strand  (2005)
Installation dimmer rack
3 Pack  (Strand  (2006)
3 way dimmer pack
6 Pack  (Strand  (2006)
4U high, 19 inch digital dimmer pack.
Betapack 3  (Zero 88  (2006)
6 x 10A Dimmer Pack
Matrix  (Electronic Theatre Controls / ETC  (2006)
Sine-wave or SCR modular dimming system
ProPack  (Strand  (2008)
High density high power dimming in a 2U rack mount package
S21 IGBT Dimmer Box  (Strand  (2008)
1210  (Strand  (2011)
Twelve 10A dimmer or relay switched channels in a 4U high 19 inch rack module.
DMX Recorder  (Swisson  (2012)
DMX-Tester  (Swisson  (2012)
RelayRack  (Strand  (2014)
12 channel 10 Amp Relay Panel
Alphapack 3  (Zero 88  (2016)
Betapack 4  (Zero 88  (2020)

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