Galaxy (1980 - 1996)
Strand
Galaxy
96, 144, 190, 240... 768 channels
Affectionately known as Lightboard III by David Hersey and Richard Pilbrow.
The first in the West End was installed at the Apollo Victoria for The Sound of Music, lit by David Hersey.
The Galaxy desks were also in common use at the BBC, and were only taken out of service when ETC's Congo desk was brought in. Many were installed at the BBC production centres in White City and at Elstree.
When Galaxy 3 was launched, around 300 systems had been produced (between 1980 and 1987).
Galaxy 1 (originally just Galaxy, of course!). Produced for the 'Television, Theatre, Conference & Exhibition Centres' market. (1980 - 1983). Analogue outputs (up to 768 control channels in total, in multiples of 48 channels per card.).
Galaxy 2 (1983/4)
Three different models:
Arena (basic control for theatres, concert venues, nightclubs)
Premier (major opera houses and theatres)
Studio (TV / Film)
D54 outputs (up to 768 in total - 2 x 384 channels of D54).
The Premier version, for larger theatres, had Learn Profile function to reproduce complex lighting changes. Media storage on 8.5 inch floppy disk.
Galaxy 3 (1987): 999 control channels, up to 1536 dimmers. Up to 4 x multiplexed D54 outputs of 384 channels each. 3.5 inch disk drives.
Galaxy Nova (1993 - 1996)
Simultaneous D54 and DMX512 output
The System
A Galaxy system consisted of a control pod (the case for the control surface panels, which can be built into furniture or be a stand-alone wooden desk) and a processor crate (containing power supplies and the processing electronics and dimmer / control outputs). The crate could be mounted under the pod, or remotely in the dimmer room. The pod was connected to the crate via a pair of 9 way D connectors (one for data relating to button / wheel movement and displays on the pod, and one for control signals between the pod and crate).
Additionally, a display (Galaxy 1 was colour-capable and also supported monochrome monitors, Galaxy 2 used a colour display, and by Galaxy Nova up to 4 displays were supported). and external back-up system were used.
A number of different options were available for control pod sizes and the control surface configurations. Some studio installations used custom-built cases which were integrated into the control room furniture.
Standard Modules:
Memory and Output Module
Channel Control
Theatre Playback
Standard Playback
Group Masters
Optional Modules:
Preset Masters
Effects Module
Memory Backup
Motion Control (Galaxy 3 onwards): Recording and playback of pan, tilt, colour, focus and iris for Strand PALS luminaires.
The software to run the various components of the desk was stored on EEPROM memory chips on the cards.
Related Venues:
- Apollo Victoria, London
- Barbican Centre, London
- Royal Festival Hall
- Bolshoi Theater
- Churchill Theatre, Bromley
- Kings Theatre, Edinburgh
- Sydney Opera House
- Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon
- Manchester Palace Theatre
- Moscow Art Theatre
- Theatre Royal, Glasgow
- BBC TV Centre
See also:
- Lightboard (1975 - 1982)
- MMS (1973 - 1980)
- DDM / System DDM (1971 - 1980)
- Riggers Remote (1978)
- Designers Remote / Designers Control (1984?)
Documents
360 channel backup for the Moscow Art Theatre
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[651kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Galaxy & Pani PEF-M - Staats Opera Vienna
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[1.34Mb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Galaxy at the English National Opera
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[850kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Galaxy for the Moscow Art Theatre
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[583kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Galaxy for the Moscow Art Theatre
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[604kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Galaxy Mimic for Bolshoi Moscow
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[801kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Geographical Button Mimic for Moscow Art Theatre
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[614kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
Galaxy at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, for The Sound of Music (1981)
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
[772kb JPEG]
From Alan Luxford Collection
LSI Automated TV Studio Installation in Hannover (May 1988)
[3.19Mb PDF]
From Lighting & Sound International
Exhibits in the Backstage Heritage Collection
Catalogue & Journal Entries for Galaxy in the Backstage Heritage Collection
Back to Control - Memory (Strand)
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