Monday, November 30, 2015

How to Care for your Astera Battery?



Let's start off with a little history;  Astera batteries were not always as reliable as they are now.  We used to use Lithium Cobalt (LiCo) mixed cells.  These were serviceable, good even, but not GREAT.  Now, we use Samsung SDI batteries.  And they are GREAT.

So, how do you care for your Astera battery?  How do you prolong its life?  How do you ensure that you are getting the very best out of the quality components inside our fixtures?

When you receive your fixtures, they should be fully charged.  But check this to make sure.  There are a few guidelines to follow as an end user:

1. Charge your fixtures immediately after use.
2. If putting them into storage, make sure they are fully charged, not empty.
3. If in storage for longer than 3 months, make sure you recharge your fixtures.


Our batteries will be at 70% capacity after 300 full discharge cycles.  That means that after 300 times of your battery being completely filled up and then completely drained, your battery will still have 70% of its original capacity.  Now, most likely users will not completely drain the battery before recharging - on average it will be at 30%-70% before people recharge - therefore your battery will probably last much longer, especially if you care for your battery with the above guidelines.

As for the charging time of our fixtures; you can usually fully charge a fixture within 5 hours.  However, there are exceptions; if your fixture is hot (greater than 45°C) it will not charge as quickly (can be up to 20 hours).  If you require fast-charging, make sure you wait for the fixture to cool down before starting the charging process.  It may also take longer if you are charging your fixtures while using them (they may not even charge at all!).  It is important to know that if you don't have 5 hours before an event, the batteries are designed to add charge quickly in the first two-thirds of charging time, and slower in the final third.  So, you could charge your fixtures for 3 hours and still get it up to 75% full.

The most helpful thing to know for end users is how to use your fixtures in an economical way so as to prolong its runtime/battery health.  How to get the most out of the battery so that your fixtures are not completely drained each time (which greatly increases the charging time).  Well, we have a few features that you can use:

Minimum Runtime
This is a feature that allows users to set the runtime to match the length of their event.  If your event is 8 hours, and you need 1 hour for setup, set the runtime to 9 hours and the fixture is then guaranteed to last for your entire event, and most likely even longer (remember, it is Minimum Runtime).  The light will adjust its intensity to make sure it has enough juice to last for the full 9 hours.  Set it to 20 hours, and it will adjust itself to ensure it lasts for 20 hours.  This is especially good because if you have a long event and you just have the Master Brightness at 100%, the fixture may lose power half-way through.
Minimum Runtime / Standby Mode
via AsteraApp™

Standby Mode
Many users charge their fixtures, arrange set up, and then set all fixtures to black in preparation for an event.  But this is wrong.  The blackout function is only intended for short-term intervals of non-use (up to a few hours).  The correct (and more economical method) is to use Standby Mode.  What happens when Standby is activated is the output is switched off, the CRMX receiver is powered down, and the fixture enters a state of low power consumption.  There is no constant link between your fixture and the controller, therefore it consumes much, much less power.  For example, the Lightdrop™ will last approximately 3 days in Standby Mode, and the SpotMax™ will last 20.

Colour Use
Not strictly a feature, more of a tip, is to prolong your runtime by choosing your colours wisely.  White, for example, will not give you as long of a runtime as Red or Green or Blue. We know this is not always possible when a client demands specific colours, which is why we recommend using the Minimum Runtime feature explained above.


If you have any further concerns about batteries or charging, do not hesitate to contact us via our website.


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Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Astera Makes Wireless History


Kaiser Showtechnik GmbH, our exclusive distributor for Germany, illuminated the New Schleissheim Palace in Munich on 25th August 2015.  The setup, stretching more than 300 metres along the palace façade, was “100% Wireless” and the largest of its kind to ever take place – using over 600 wireless Astera fixtures.  The project made use of and fully showed the capabilities of our long-distance RF technology found within the AsteraBox™ and AsteraApp™, as well as LumenRadio's PLASA Award-winning CRMX Wireless DMX capability (integrated inside all X-Series lights), which has been integral to the industry’s acceptance of Astera as the standard for wireless lighting.

The production was to mark the beginning of our recently announced partnership with Kaiser Showtechnik, who produced the video, and their investment in marketing Astera for the German-speaking market.  A 14-man production crew was brought in to organise the project and capture the beautiful effects, brought to fruition by lighting designer, Chris Schatz.  The footage was then compiled and edited by CorneliusFilms.

The video can be seen on Astera’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

Commenting on the video, Sebastian Bückle, Sales & Marketing Director at Astera, said, “We’re delighted with the video.  Finally the industry can see our lights for their intended purpose.  The scope and power of the Astera system, as well as the technical ability, are on full show, and we couldn’t be happier with the result.”

The AX3 Lightdrop™; a 15W wireless, multi-use spotlight, was brought in to up-light all 150 window ledges, while the AX7 SpotLite™; our 60W wireless all-rounder, fitted with 30° diffusor sheets, was utilised as a building uplighter and garden illumination, and finally the AX10 Spotmax™; the most powerful wireless spotlight on the market, also fitted with 30° diffusor sheets, was used as a floodlight to add the finishing touches to the colourful event.


Astera develops and manufactures the brightest and most compact wireless spotlights on the market.  Based in Germany, Astera has a complete arsenal of high-end lighting solutions from small and versatile ambient fixtures to more powerful flood and spot lights.


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Monday, November 2, 2015

TIP: Confirm Your Astera Lights with an ARC1

The ON button on the IR Remote (ARC1) has the exact same function as either the ON button on the AX3 or the ENTER button on lights with an LCD.  It confirms things.

It is extremely useful if, for example, you wish to factory reset twenty AX10 or AX7 at the same time; you just use the 'Lights Factory Reset' feature within the app, and when your lights are flashing white waiting for you to 'confirm' the reset by tapping them, instead you just press ON with the IR Remote a few times and you are done – everything should be confirmed.  No need to bend down and confirm each AX10 or AX7 individually (which can take forever!).


Use A to activate reset, B to confirm.  No need to touch C at all.

You can also use this IR function to confirm lights as part of a set, however this is more likely that you will include lights into the set that you perhaps did not intend to, so the IR Remote needs to be pointed directly at the lights you wish to confirm.

Note:  This has worked for all Astera lights since 2010*.  It's just one of those hidden tricks that hasn't been promoted (until now) because it got lost in the shuffle of other great benefits to our system.  

* It does not work for all AL6 Wireless Wallwasher fixtures because they do not have an IR receiver.


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