Pro Series 16 Channel Starter Package - Computer Show

What can you do with Pro Series Light-O-Rama controllers? Check out this video from one of our customers in Japan!

Light-O-Rama Showtime professional high voltage AC light controllers can make lights do amazing tricks. Think of the light dimmer switch as you enter a room and how it controls one electrical circuit. Multiply that circuit by four, eight or 16 and imagine the lighting possibilities. Now put all those dimmers in a box and use a computer to control everything. Each circuit can blink, twinkle, ramp up/down or take on just about any effect you desire. Go to the next level and start linking more controllers together in a Light-O-Rama data network and imagine the possibilities of everything being synchronized. When you’re ready to really dazzle your audience, add music and/or video and your lights will dance creating an unforgettable show.

Professional or Residential? 

What makes a professional high voltage AC controller better than the residential version? 

Professional high voltage AC controller units are UL-508 certified, work in 3 phase electrical environments, can easily be configured in the field (no need to plug the controller into a computer) and have a two year warranty. Residential high voltage AC controllers are designed for lighter use and have a shorter warranty. You can mix/match professional and residential controllers on the same Light-O-Rama data network.

What kind of lights work with professional high voltage AC light controllers? 

These professional controllers are designed for 110-240VAC environments typically meaning if you can plug the lights into a wall socket you can plug them into our controller. Most incandescent and LED based lights will work fine. Make sure the lights are rated to fade or dim in order to take advantage of all of our capabilities. We do not recommend using non-dimmable lights. Pixels cannot be connected to our Pro Series controllers, but Pro series controllers CAN be used in networks that also have pixel compatible controllers.

Amperage Capacity

For a 30 amp controller (LOR1602), each side of the controller (channels 1-8 and channels 9-16) can handle 15 amps of AC power in total. Any one channel circuit can handle up to eight (8) amps of AC power. This means that if you connect 8 amps worth of lights to channel 1, channels 2-8 (the remaining channels on that side) can only contain another 7amps combined (8+7=15). 

For a 15 amp controller (LOR160o), each side of the controller (channels 1-8 and channels 9-16) can handle 7.5 amps of AC power in total. Any one channel circuit can handle up to 7.5 amps of AC power. This means that if you connect 7.5 amps worth of lights to channel 1, channels 2-8 (the remaining channels on that side) can't have any lights plugged in or the capacity of that side would be exceeded.

Pro Series (LOR160x) AC light controllers plug directly into wall plugs and we recommend these be dedicate power circuits for power hungry applications.  Our 30 amp units require two independent 15 amp power feeds.  If you have more than 15 amps of power (via your light strands) connected to your controller in total (not per side), you must plug the two power cords of the LOR160x into DIFFERENT outlets.

For more detailed information about amperage capacity, click here.

Durability and Safety

Each ShowTime professional high voltage AC light controllers is encased in a metal enclosure designed for durability. When mounted correctly, the controller will provide a weather-resistant environment to keep the control circuitry functioning in almost any typical outdoor condition. We do suggest common sense usage and keeping the cable access holes pointing down so the entire enclosure can shed the rain. We also recommend the pigtail power outlets be at least one foot off the ground. Keep the unit away from heavy splashing water and forced water flows such as from irrigation sprinklers.

Worried about the electrical inspector or the fire marshal? Don’t be. Our professional grade high voltage AC light controllers are UL508 certified. Why is being certified so important? It’s all about safety. We’ve invested the extra time and effort to make sure our circuit design and production facilities meet the high expectation of Underwriters Laboratories and they have taken the time to certify this product to live up to their standards.

How Many Pro Series Controllers Per Network?

Multiple ShowTime professional high voltage AC light controllers can be connected to the same Light-O-Rama data network. See some examples below of a typical network layout. Each controller has a unique location code (we call it the Unit ID) so it knows when to respond to commands from the computer. Over 200 controllers can function on the same Light-O-Rama data network giving you the ability to independently command thousands of channels. If you need more, add another data network or give us a call.

DMX Compatibility

Light-O-Rama light controllers are smart enough to analyze the type of data network they are connected to and adapt to DMX-512 if needed. Depending on the unique network assigned to your Light-O-Rama controller, it will occupy that DMX-512 address plus the next 15 (for a 16 channel controller.) The control channels (depending on the controller) must be in the same DMX-512 universe.

Sequencing

What do you need to get your Pro Series high voltage AC light controllers to flash your lights to music?  If you’re the creative type our ShowTime Sequencing Suite provides all the tools needed to create your own incredible show.  If you don’t have the time or inclination to create your own shows, we have plenty of off-the-shelf songs already sequenced to lights in our sequence store.

What’s the difference between professional controllers?

Model	LOR160x (1600, 1602, 1602-MP3)	LOR800
Suggested usage	pro/commercial	pro/commercial
Fully Assembled
Number of fully independent electrical channels	16	8
Steel enclosure
Warranty	2 years	2 years
Operate stand-alone if required
Can run commands from ShowTime Director or computer (via one of our adapters) when connected to Light-O-Rama data network
UL508 Certified
Amperage rating design (at 120VAC)	LOR1600: 15 amps LOR1602: 30 amps	15 amps
Use in 3 phase electrical environments
Unit ID address setting	Set on controller	Set on controller
Dedicated On/Off switch inside enclosure
Easy access fuses inside enclosure
Can operate with almost any other Light-O-Rama controller on same LOR data network
Built-in wireless Easy Light Linker	no	no
120VAC or 240VAC, 50Hz/60Hz operation
Dimensions (without electrical pigtails)	10.5″w 11.5″h x 5.0″d	10.5″w 11.5″h x 5.0″d
Weight (approximate)	22 pounds	15 pounds
Can understand the DMX-512 protocol?

Connecting everything together

Having trouble understanding how your computer will control the rest of the world using Light-O-Rama products? It’s not that hard to understand once you master the basics. Here’s an example of controlling your outdoor Christmas lights.

1. The Light-O-Rama ShowTime Sequencing Suite works on your personal computer running Microsoft Windows and allows you to design your own shows. The ShowTime Sequencing Suite then runs your shows and sends the right commands at the right time to the various control channels. The ShowTime Sequencing Suite can even keep music and video synchronized to the controller commands.

2. Speakers to play the music accompanying your show are attached to the computer sound card.

3. Your personal computer communicates to the Light-O-Rama controllers using a device plugged into the computer’s serial or USB communications port. The blue line shows the standard serial output of the computer (RS-232 or USB) connected to our adapter that transforms the signal to the native Light-O-Rama network protocol (the green line) that then connects to our various types of controllers over standard computer network wire. We recommend Cat 5 LAN cables available from us and off-the-shelf from your local big box store in the computer section.

4. The Light-O-Rama professional or residential high voltage AC light controllers include special effects such as simple on/off, intensities, smooth fading, twinkling, shimmering. Over 200 controllers can be daisy chained, mixed and matched on one LOR network giving you the ability to command thousands of channels. Need more channels? Add another Light-O-Rama network.

5. Electrical power is supplied to the controller placed close to your lights so you don’t need to run long extension cords. Commands from the ShowTime Sequencing Suite are performed on each controller. Power to each of the attached lighting circuits is controlled independently.

View the user manual for the LOR1600W here.