ETC’s Market Share Increases

“With some 17,500 ways of Sensor now installed in central London,” says Mark White, ETC’s regional manager for UK and Ireland, “we must be getting close to 50% of dimmer installations.” Electrical contractor Mark Bradbrook has been working with technical sales manager Roger Hennigan at St John’s, Smith Square, the Vaudeville Theatre in The Strand and The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre.

At the Vaudeville, over the course of just three days, Bradbrook Electrical fitted 166 ways of Sensor dimming to replace a 40 year old system. On the first Monday, he did all the preparatory work; the following Monday he disconnected the old systems and installed the new; and the following day, he did the commissioning and testing ready for that evening’s show.

“We turned what would normally be a five day job into three days’ work because of the lack of time available,” explains Mark Bradbrook. “It was nerve racking on the second Monday when we started taking out all the old dimmers – the point of no return. We had to get everything up and running before the show the following day.”

Meanwhile, St John’s, Smith Square, benefited from Sensor and Unison, replacing the first ETC SmartPacks ever installed and taking the classical concert hall from 24 ways to 80 ways of dimming. And at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Bradbrook Electrical and White Light continued an ongoing programme of upgrades with additional ways of Sensor dimming to complement the 12 SmartPacks which have been installed over the past few years. The facility has also invested in 32 Source Four luminaires with Enhanced Definition Lens Tubes (EDLTs).

“I always recommend ETC dimming,” explains Mark Bradbrook, “because it’s reliable, good value and always works. The theatre asked for three quotes, and ETC came back with an extremely competitive price, helped by the fact that Mark White wrote an extremely effective letter explaining why ETC was best for the job.”

Sensor’s highly integrated design means fewer parts for fewer failures, while plug-in modularity allows for more configurability, customisation and easy maintenance. Advanced Features (AF) systems use dimmer modules containing embedded current and voltage sensors. These sensors constantly monitor dimmer status information, which is analysed by AF control electronics to diagnose and report dimmer specific load changes (individual lamp failures) or dimmer module faults.

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