My Church Gig

This one is for geeks like me.  Yesterday I modded a new Furman PS-8R II sequential switcher so it would play nice with our old Atlas sequential switcher. For years our techs have had to turn on FOH then run back stage to turn on the amp rack which, ironically, has a sequential switcher.

Our Event Center has been the punk-rock club room of the building (and looks nearly as neglected) since we built and moved in.  The amp rack uses a big rack with an Atlas sequential switcher that we inherited from the building when in was a sports center.  (Our building is a giant remodel.)  I’m finally getting around to installing what I call the “One Switch to Rule Them All.”  Thing is, I bought a relatively inexpensive Furman for the FOH booth figuring that, since it has a momentary switch on the front panel, that it would have poles on the back tied to that switch for remote purposes.  I’m getting used to being wrong.  So, for a punk rock room here’s my punk rock solution.

After the jump: pictures and stuff.

For remote operation the Atlas switcher at the amp rack needs a momentary switch attached to it.  This Furman (above) on the other hand, needs a latch type switch for remote operation.  Instead of devising some custom external circuitry with relays, capacitors, and magic dust I tore into the the Furman to see what could be done.

After CAREFUL inspection (it’s a 120V power distributor for crying out loud)  I found that the internal momentary switch poles always have 12 volts running across them.  It triggers the internal sequence by temporarily shorting that circuit.  You can’t really tie to those poles for external control.  Who knows what the Atlas would do if it saw 12 volts across it’s external switch connectors?  The nice thing Furman did was put in a double pole switch.  The other side of the switch isn’t used for anything.  Golden!

I took a couple of wires and soldered them to the poles underneath the circuit board and attached a mini 1/8″ panel mount jack to the other ends.  Now we have a completely independent switch output.

With a drill and lots of caution I put that mini jack next to the control block.  I took a little artistic license with the scratches – uhm, I mean drill slip.  :)  Now, it would have been easier to just re-purpose a couple of the pins on the block but that would make a very frustrating day for someone down the road who wants to use it with the Furman products it was intended to interface with.   That someone could be me.  I always say, “be kind to your future self; they need all the help they can get.”

We’ll wire this mini jack to an XLR end, run it down an unused snake channel, and terminate it at the amp-side switcher.  The flaw in this system is that it’s possible for the amp rack and FOH to end up in different states when someone messes with it.  The amps will be turning on when FOH is turning off and the other way around.  Another law of the universe is that you can’t stop people from tinkering with stuff with signs and exclamation marks.  You have to accept that it will happen.  That’s why my phone number is on the console.  When we do the remodel next year this will be solved with parts that match.  For now, punk rock is fine with me.

As a disclaimer, I don’t recommend that you do this, it’s not safe if you don’t know what you’re doing, and you can hurt or kill yourself.  Always get the right gear!  But if you’re like me you love to solve puzzles especially when it involves a soldering iron and power tools.

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