ShowPro Raytheon FC IP65

The ShowPro Raytheon FC IP65 is a very a high-powered RGBW LED driven strobe, with a maximum output of up to 1100W. It’s a well built, hardy, robust fixture. With 12 controllable sections, six DMX modes and compatibility with Art-Net and RDM, the Raytheon FC is a bright and powerful strobe suited for use in any situation. Effectively, the Raytheon has been brought in as a replacement to the Collider FC LED strobe, for those who know.

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Construction

As it’s an IP65 fixture, it looks and feels like a brick. I don’t think it was designed to be the prettiest looking light, and that’s OK – function over fashion does the trick. If this thing was to fall from height onto a stage you would likely find more damage to the stage than to the light itself. It weighs a solid 13.5kg and it is made from die cast aluminium with a matte/flat black brushed finish. For a metal object, it does well when it comes to reflecting and absorbing other light on stage. With reasonably compact dimensions of 585mm x 189mm x 308mm, it is about the typical size for a strobe, maybe even a touch smaller.

The lens and face of the light is not that big compared to other strobes of a similar size, but the output is incredible. The size of the face of the light might matter to some who are using them as an eye-candy type fixture, but as far as a strobe doing what a strobe does, it really doesn’t matter that much.

It is hung on a single clamp. Between that and the range of the yoke, it can be hung at any orientation. With its IP rating and the fact that it is a simple strobe, there are no user serviceable parts inside. In fact, nothing moves except the yoke. This is a big plus when it comes to service and maintenance.

Optics, Colour, and Brightness

The Raytheon FC IP65 is very, very bright. You would not need many of these to adequately fill out a stage or blind an entire audience. It features 144 10W RGBW LED chips in an array running 24 x 6. It has a respectable beam angle too, at 30 degrees which gives you a wide throw for a strobe and good intensity. As is the case with most lights, and is especially true with the Raytheon, don’t look at the light source – it’s blindingly bright.

The Raytheon FC features additive colour mixing with a mix of four different coloured LED chips (those being red, blue, green and white). The unit is capable of mixing some very bright, saturated colours. A Warm White (WW) LED colour chip could have been handy to have instead of Normal White (W).

Applications and Features

It’s a strobe light, first and foremost. Anywhere that asks for a strobe you could put the Raytheon, be that indoors or outdoors. It could handle an outdoor festival, a nightclub, or even a permanent install. Technically, you could use it as a flood light or to light a cyclorama or back drape because of its brightness, throw, and colour mixing. That said, for a light that is this bright, this powerful, and this specialised, it would likely be overkill to use it as anything but a strobe.

It features a halogen effect mode in which the colour temperature and dimming curve behaves like that of a halogen fixture. It can be run in a pixel mode with 12 individually programmable sections of 12 LEDs. This makes for some pretty cool eye-candy looks, especially when used en-masse. It is a neat feature to have that would probably be a bit more effective if there was a larger face on the unit.

Control and Programming

For what is essentially a static LED fixture, it sucks a lot of juice. Don’t be fooled into thinking that it has a low power draw simply because it is LED. Beware: one by itself takes up nearly half a 240V 10 amp circuit.

It can be controlled using 3 pin or 5 pin DMX as well as ethernet RJ45. It has its own on-board control panel which is password protected (up down up down, like they all are…). It has 6 DMX modes / personalities including 2 different pixel modes and a halogen mode.

The Halogen mode is great if you want to use the Raytheon FC as a crowd blinder, much like what one might have specc’d a Mole-Richardson style fixture for in the past.

Verdict

It is a great strobe, it is a true strobe, and it doesn’t try to be anything else. It is very bright and very durable. I get that it is an LED fixture, but I am impressed with how cool it runs, relative to its output and power draw. I’ve seen much less powerful LED fixtures run a lot hotter straight out of the box.

The strobe itself is towards the top of the market as far as power and brightness is concerned. Any addition or extra would take it away from being a strobe and would add another feature that just adds costs or adds a point of failure, as could be evident in the case of adding a motorised pan and tilt. Inevitably, with the way technology is going, we will see a day a few years from now where we have a brighter LED strobe that uses less power. For today, the Raytheon FC is a great, durable strobe you could use in any setting.

Product Info: www.showtech.com.au/product/raytheon-fc

Distributor Australia: www.showtech.com.au

Distributor New Zealand: www.showtech.com.au/homenz/

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The Specs

• Lamp source: 144 10W RGBW LED
• Beam angle: 30°
• Voltage: 100 – 240VAC 50/60Hz
• Max power: 1100W
• Power connection: powerCON TRUE in/out
• Signal connection: 3 and 5 pin DMX in/out, 1 x RJ45
• Dimmer: 0 – 100% 16-bit
• Size: 585mm x 189mm x 308mm
• Weight 13.5kg