DARWIN, Australia — The first Robe Robin 300E Wash fixtures in Australia were delivered to Total Event Services in Darwin by Robe’s distributor ULA, and went straight out on the Qantas Darwin Turf Club Gala Ball, Australia’s largest outdoor seated dinner event, attended by 3,800 people. Total Event Services’s head of lighting Rick Bishop had many positive comments after receiving the new fixtures — which was the first time he’d actually had been able to get hands-on with them. His first surprise came when he picked up the first fixture. “It’s amazingly light,” he said, about the 20kg unit.
The gala dinner was set beside the ocean, under the stars amid tropical gardens. “Setup with the units is very quick and simple,” said Bishop, “especially because of their low power consumption, so four units will happily run off a 10 Amp 240v circuit with plenty of headroom.”
The rig also comprised Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs, Robe LED Blinders and Anolis ArcLine 36 LED strips, along with iLED Star drapes forming a background to the stage. The Gala Ball featured entertainment and a fantastic fireworks display.
Bishop said that when he first fired the Robin 300E Washes up in the warehouse, he ran the self-test for about 10 minutes — “comprehensive enough to follow, but quick enough not to be boring,” then pointed one fixture at a wall.
The warehouse has white Perspex skylights and the standard 400W highbays, but even from 20 meters away, “the Robin cut through the ambient light in all colors and zoom ranges, and the wall was well lit.”
“The full color touch screen display is an absolute pleasure to use,” Bishop added. “The menu navigation is by far the easiest I have ever experienced, with an absolute plethora of information at your fingertips. DMX addressing and lamp functions are directly accessible from the start-up screen, and everything is really obvious for all types of users.”
He also credited the fixture for its zoom and speed when operating live. “The 4 degree zoom is extremely punchy, easily equaling any ACL, and it cut straight through the big LED wash and assorted other moving lights that were on behind them,” Bishop said. At the 40-degree end of the zoom, “there is still plenty of output for a decent stage wash, and movement is super-speedy due to the light weight.”
Bishop also said he was “pleased” with features including CMY with variable CTO, the standard color wheel, the 4 degree to 40 degree zoom and the lamp, which is, as he puts it “nicely optimized for all zoom ranges with Robe’s new hotspot control and a very fast shutter with a smooth dimmer.”
Concluding, Bishop said, “overall, the Robin 300E Wash is an excellent fixture. Robe have excelled themselves and we absolutely love them.”
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
