LED lighting.

[Stub Mandrel]

4 hours ago, Rosie C said:

The fancy chases that were advertised aren't really practical for me - they need 50+ DMX channels and that would be a nightmare to programme manually.

 

 

Check your manual... some will run on very few channels if you are happy to choose from pre-programmed settings.

 

https://www.highlite.com/media/attachments/MANUAL/42199_MANUAL_GB_V2.pdf

[Phil Starr]

I'm not sure if what you have is the same as mine. It looks like the same case and set of lights but the programming may be different. Mine operates in1,2,3,4,6,7,12, and 24 channel modes depending upon whether you want individual control of one, two, three four  or eight sections seperately. some modes give you access to the built in programs too.  I also have a remote control. On the rear panel I can select the built in programs and adjust things like speed and sensitivity of the sound to light. 

 

Start off by finding the intensity controls for red green and blue, you can then at least control the colours and their intensity from the rear panel and via DMX if you choose. There should be a 3 channel mode which does this.

[Rosie C]

5 hours ago, TimR said:

If it's the same as this you can have 14 and 26 channel mode and/or trigger the differenent built in chases via DMX. 

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://avs.2dimg.com/resources/1738244068_865.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjI9s6tyrqRAxVTWkEAHdsTK544ChAWegQIUBAB&usg=AOvVaw2IPYtO95mlcMgVXo0YnZT0

 

If not the same then very similar. Yes, it can do a range of modes from 5 channels to around 50. But, to mimic the sequences I saw in the promotional video (think of a Knight Rider effect, with a second in a different colour running opposite) then I think you need the 50 channel mode. 

[Phil Starr]

It's likely that the video shows one of the built in effects and these are usually accessible from the internal programming accessible from the four buttons on the back.

 

On mine the display shows a four character code: 1J-- to 8J-- are all chases (which I think is the Knight Rider thing). The two last digints control the speed so 1J00 is slow and 1J20 is super fast changing the first number gives a different chase so there are 8 options and you just have to plough through them to find something you like. If this sounds like gobbledegook it is and the manual will be in mangled translation from Mandarin, no two lights are the same so if you want a second get it ordered before they re-stock.

 

The good news is that it starts to make some sort of sense and once you've got on top of this light the  next one will seem simpler (probably  ) Make note of any settings you like so you can get back to them

Edited December 13, 2025 by Phil Starr

[Rosie C]

That's good to know Phil, thanks! Not that I'm likely to use it at a gig, but in our practice room, while imagining I am a rock goddess , that is another matter! 😊

 

Thanks too for all the other replies, I'll likely just set it to a mode with a single RGB value for the whole bar for now, to use at a colour wash at gigs. As Phil says, if I like it I'll get another for our other speaker stand. 

[Phil Starr]

Thanks Rosie that reminds me. One use for these LED strips which I've exploited is to fix them to the speaker stands or even just place them in front of the stand. If it's out in the audience area they are really quite bright and it keeps the audience away from the stand avoiding the trip hazard of the stand itself and protecting the speaker from drunks. Oh the joys of gigging tiny pubs

[Phil Starr]

11 hours ago, Rosie C said:

but in our practice room, while imagining I am a rock goddess , that is another matter! 😊

I'm glad to know I'm not alone

[Phil Starr]

Just thought I'd show our most recent set up to show the lighting. this was a huge hall probably 250+ capacity but it cgace us a chance to set up as we wanted. The overhead house lights were on so our lights  more effective once the ordinary lighting was off, but you can see how effective our lights were by the colour changes on the floor.  The phone kind of makes them look like white lights but the clours were pretty intense in the room. We had our six pixel bars running together via DMX using the internal program from one of the lights. They are all on 1m high stands. The rear curtains are illuminated by Two 180W led floods on a sequence program, again with one slaved by DMX. At the back is A KAM REM1 with four PAR's, no longer available but similar units can be found pretty much anywhere. The venue had it's own lighting but we only had axcess to the extremely grimy mirror ball and some old school incandescent overhead floods with straw filters. You can see the ones with the barn doors at the top of the pics. The flashing is to recorded music.

 

The Pixel Bars are around £60 ea and the stands £20 so you are looking at £480 worth of lights in these alone but they were bought a couple at a time and were useful even when I only had a pair. Most of the money I've wasted has been by buying random lights on impulse I'm now planning the lighting a bit more and I think getting better value for money,