f.a.l. Kayman Units PF 152

SUPER RARE units from f.a.l.!  These are the Kayman fixtures.  I believe this was an attempt to design a similar fixture as the LAMPO Derby and Unico type units.  How these units work is quite simple.  Instead of spinning a lamp with a slip ring / brush assembly, this unit rotates a large mirror to make the 16 beams of light (through 16 lenses on the front of the unit).  Very primitive design, but very unique as you can adjust the mirror in each unit to make the beams swirl in a concentrated area or around the room in a large area.  These units were in very poor condition when they were received so they all were stripped down, sanded, repainted and reassembled to their current condition.  The unit uses a very bright 36 volt, 400 watt HLX lamp at the front of the unit with a guard around it so no light spills from the front.  The mirror rotates on a Micro Motor that is sound active.  If you notice the pre-restore pictures you can see the intense heat blistered the paint on the lenses that were close to the lamp.  Since this occurred I removed the paint on the bad lenses and kept the color on the good lenses.  Originally all of the units were colored, but now only 2 are because of the color removal.  The fixtures can be controlled by the sound active circuit via the microphone on the side of the unit (With an adjustable sensitivity knob), or 0 -10 volt analogue via the ¼” input on the side for manual remote control.  Very cool and SUPER RARE units made in Italy. 



After the restoration... 

 

Fresh from painting!!

 

 

Original condition of the units...

 

Coemar Venus M-4 Flat 1200 Watt Fixture

The king is here!!  This is the exceptional Coemar Venus M4 - 1200 watt unit.  This is the unit everyone is looking for!  I sold off the MSR 400 older unit that I had to pick up this beast!  The unit features 4 separate 24 volt DC Crouzet high torque motors that move the saucer projector into different positions.  There is 1 motor for the base (main rotation), 1 motor to rotate the internal dichoric color wheel (with 8 colors), 1 motor that rotates the large saucer and 1 motor that moves the top section of the unit back and forth 90 degrees.  The base, color wheel and saucer move a full 360 degrees for total movement.  The pivot motor moves the top section of the unit back and forth 90 degrees and automatically reverses once it reaches the end of the track with a switch end of the end of the track.  The pivot assembly rides on 8 heavy duty bearings which allows the unit to travel back and forth.  The 1200 watt version adds 2 extra cooling fans compared to the MSR 400 version.  There is an additional high velocity cooling fan (The 400 only has 1) and an additional fan is added to the base for the large ballast to be cooled.  The unit is controlled by the dedicated M-4 controller (also named the Mentor).  There are 9 wires that connect the controller to the head and use the popular 10 pin Harting connector for easy set up and connection.  With the controller you can run each motor independently with the 3-way toggle switches, let the unit move to sound via the RCA style connector on the rear, let the controller cycle through internal programs with adjustable speeds or program the unit with your own sequence.  The unit is 220 volt operation.  The head weighs about 130 lbs (Kg ) and the controller is around 25 lbs (Kg ).  Unit made in Italy.  

Interesting facts about the Venus units:  The early units had a silver / black controller.  Newer units had a black controller with green lettering.  The newest versions had a controller made by FLY of Italy and featured adjustable speeds for each motor.  The units were available in 400, 500 and 1200 arc (discharge)lamp versions as well as 750 and 1000 watt halogen versions as well.  The Venus also was available in M-2, M-3 & M-4 models.  This meant 2, 3 or 4 rotation motors.  The Venus had many variations of the type of beam output.  This was achieved by the type of glass used on the outside perimeter of the saucer as well as the type of effects and colors that rotated inside the unit around the lamp.  The glass was available in curved (to make 1 large beam from the unit.  Same glass found in the Coemar Coral and Mantra units), curved with focus (To make many focused beams.  Same glass as the Coemar Spartan, Cybernetic  and Bello) and curved with focus thin beam (This used the same glass as the Coemar Multi-Tunnel  and Piovra and added a metal plate with small holes so only a thin focused beam of light would emit from the unit).  The internal effects were available in white and colored (done with dichoric glass) as well as different beam configuration such as horizontal beam (Flat slits cut in the assembly around the lamp), standard (1 large slit cut out of the lamp assembly for light to project out of), blade (Where there is metal spacers with or without dichoric glass and a very rare eclipse attachment where light will only project out of opposite ends of the unit as 2 focused beams.  The units were only manufactured in 220 volt models.  The controller (that is required for the unit to operate) was actually sold as a separate piece when these were new.  

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