Super Trouper (headlights)

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Strong Xenon Super Trouper

Super Trouper is a protected name for a series of so-called chasers (spotlights) from Ballantyne Strong Inc. from Omaha in Nebraska , USA .

history

Strong Electric Corporation, founded in Toledo (Ohio) in 1921, was an innovative manufacturer of stage lights and a. also a supplier of electrical components for the Singer sewing machine factory . During World War II the company produced submarine - Searchlight for the US Navy .

In 1948 the company, or Strong for short, developed a new type of spotlight on behalf of a local organizer. This is where the name Trouper came about . Namely from the request made by the client. As a mobile device, it was supposed to accompany the traveling group of actors (“troup”) in an ice revue, inflective : “to troupe (the show)”. The English word trouper also means to be a good and reliable employee (of the troop). The brand name was quickly found. The "Trouper" was designed as a mobile chase spotlight especially for the ice-cream revue Holiday on Ice , which took place in different locations and started in Toledo in 1943, but it became well-known among experts due to its special performance and found its way into the festival installed stage technology in various theaters. At the time of its introduction and for years afterwards, it was the most powerful and brightest headlight in the world. With the Trouper, optical systems were used for the first time in the stage lighting technology, which meant that the carbon arc lamps used at the time for high-performance spotlights could be dimensioned smaller with the same or even greater light output, which also had an effect on the power requirement. The previous generator sets for stage lights of this performance class were no longer required and the normal mains voltage of 110 volts (USA) could be used.

The Trouperette was introduced two years later . It worked with a 1000 watt incandescent lamp and was used in smaller halls, for example in night clubs or schools. The Super Trouperette followed in 1985. Today's (Super) Trouperette models work with HMI lamps and have a Boomerang color changer . Between 1961 and 1967, Strong produced an even smaller pursuer with a simplified optical system called the Troupit .

In 1956, Strong released the Super Trouper , which quickly gained an excellent reputation. Many artists insisted on being illuminated only by the Super Trouper due to the particularly bright and clear beam and had this written down in their stage preparations. Likewise, many theaters and concert stages used the Super Trouper as their preferred chase spotlight, making it the de facto standard in this segment by which all other chasers were measured. Today, however, he has to face numerous competition, including from his own company.

In the late 1970s, Strong switched to xenon lamps , which were easier to use. Technical advancements, but largely retaining the old design, enabled a noticeable weight reduction to today's 87–126 kg ( without power supply unit and color changer ), depending on the model and performance.

The location Toledo was abandoned mid-1980s and the company Strong Electric with the 1932 founded theater projector manufacturer Ballantyne of Omaha for Ballantyne Strong, Inc. merged. Today the company is located in an industrial park in the west of the city of Omaha. The Super Trouper line now includes the Super Trouper Long Throw , Super Trouper Medium Throw , Super Trouper Short Throw and the Super Trouper II, which was introduced in 1995 . Another model series introduced in 1968 by Ballantyne Strong Inc. is the Gladiator with lamp strengths of up to 4500 watts. It is preferably used in stadiums or large concert arenas and clearly illuminates actors up to 140 meters away.

technology

The first "Trouper" models generated their very bright light using carbon arc lamps and were initially operated with alternating current. From 1956, with the launch of the "Super Trouper", direct current was used for operation. The carbon electrodes always had to be manually adjusted by the operating personnel, as they gradually burned down. Horizontally hinged panels were used for darkening or dimming . Individual stages used this type of carbon arc lamp until the late 1990s. The power supply for all (super) troupers came from the normal power grid.

From the late 1970s, xenon gas discharge lamps from Philips were installed as a light source. Today the most powerful Super Trouper models have an output of 1600 watts up to 2000 watts and can clearly illuminate objects up to around 115 meters away.

With only a few exceptions, Strong stayed with the original design, which the first xenon lamps had. Only the technology changed over the years. At first the reflectors were made of galvanized nickel coated with expensive metallic rhodium , which has a high reflectivity . Today the reflector is designed as a dichroic mirror ( dichroic metal reflector ).

The first xenon-based Super Troupers had a large AC ignition system that was specially designed for the original reactive power supply. However, it received a noticeable weight reduction in 1988 with the introduction of fully electronically regulated power supplies that could switch 1 kW to 3 kW.

A boomerang color changer is offered as an additional device , which pushes a new color into the beam path by touching it with the finger and the previous color falls out due to gravity. Due to the high weight of the Super Trouper, there are hardly any undesirable shaking movements of the light beam that are common in boomerang systems on lighter pursuers.

The range of motion is 360 ° around the vertical axis and 25 ° upwards and 45 ° downwards. There are also fixable castors on the base.

Super Trouper II

In 1995, Strong introduced the Super Trouper II. A new DC ignition arrangement is built into it, which enables even simpler and more reliable handling. It allows a shorter ignition time and requires less space than previous alternating current igniters. Two years later, even more compact power supplies (24–30 V) were introduced, which, however, resulted in compatibility problems with the alternating current fuses still in use. The existing model series were gradually converted to pure DC ignition. Here, too, the xenon lamps from Phillips and the color changer used are a boomerang system. The Super Trouper II is used for all areas from 30 to 120 meters and has a weight of 121 kg (with stand without weights). The vertical range of motion for this model is 45 ° upwards and downwards.

Musical appreciation

In November 1980 the Swedish pop group ABBA released the song (and album) Super Trouper , in which the "Super Trouper Beam" was mentioned several times. The song was very successful in Europe and made the term Super Trouper widely known even to non-experts.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b George Braatz: Stars demand Super Trouper. In: The Blade . November 28, 1976, accessed July 10, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b Documentation of the company and product history (PDF, English)
  3. ↑ Herbert Bernstädt: Knowledge transfer, event technology: Follow lights. Retrieved on July 10, 2015 (German).

Web links