Is this an LED fixture?

No, and that is rather the point. Each strip carries ten real halogen lamps, warm white at 2900K, and they shift warmer still as they dim, the way filament always has. LED sunstrips exist and draw far less power, but the amber settle of a real lamp fading to black is what people hire this fixture for. The trade-off is heat and lamp life, which is our problem rather than yours: every lamp is fitted and tested before the strip leaves us.

We do not have a lighting desk. Can we still use it?

Yes. Sixteen chase patterns are built into the fixture, with speed and brightness set on the back panel, and there is a sound-active mode that follows the music. Set one strip as master and the others follow in step, so a row across the stage stays together without a desk at all. If you do have one, a single spare channel is enough to dim the whole strip.

How many strips would we need across our stage?

Each strip is exactly a metre long. Measure the opening you want to cover: a six-metre school stage takes six strips end to end for an unbroken line, or four with small gaps, which still reads as footlights from the third row back. Tell us the width and the look you are after and we will say honestly how many it takes, and bring extra in from trusted suppliers if the row is a long one.

Is it safe along the stage edge with children performing?

Treat it with the same respect as any halogen fixture. The housing runs hot in use, and Showtec specifies half a metre of clearance from flammable surfaces and 0.8 m to whatever it lights. For a footlight row that means keeping strips clear of tabs and stage skirting, and placing them where feet will not find them in a blackout. Tell us about your stage when you book and we will talk the layout through before the get-in.

Home Services Equipment Hire Stage Lighting Hire

Sunstrip hire — Showtec Sunstrip Active DMX

A sunstrip puts a row of warm halogen lamps along the front of a stage or behind a band, for the retro glow that LED fixtures do not quite match. The Showtec Sunstrip Active carries ten 50W lamps in a metre-long bar with the dimmer built in, so it runs from a DMX desk or on its own with sixteen chase patterns. Lay it down as a footlight or hang it as a blinder. It hires at £12 per day.

The Showtec Sunstrip Active MKII is the standard sunstrip: a metre-long black bar carrying ten 50W halogen lamps, each behind its own small lens, with the dimmer pack built into the housing so it plugs straight into mains rather than a dimmer rack. The lamps are warm white at 2900K and behave the way filament always has, growing warmer still as they fade. That glow is the reason to hire one. An LED batten can copy the layout, but not the colour of a real lamp settling to black.

Laid along the front edge of the stage it is a run of footlights: panto, music hall, anything Victorian or vaudeville. Faced out from behind a band it is a blinder, brought up on the last chorus. Stood on end either side of the stage it frames the picture in warm points of light. And because every lamp can have its own channel, chases run along the strip, which suits dance numbers that want the light to travel.

Control is as simple or as detailed as you like. One DMX channel dims the whole strip, two split it in half, five work in pairs and ten give you every lamp separately. With no desk at all, sixteen chase patterns are built in, with speed and brightness set on the back panel, and there is a sound-active mode. Several strips run in step with one set as master. DMX is 3-pin XLR in and out.

Each strip draws 500W at 230V, with Neutrik PowerCON in and out so a row links along one cable run. The bar is a metre long, weighs 4.66 kg and comes with its floor brackets, so it sits on the stage with no rigging at all; M10 fixing points take a hook clamp if you would rather hang it. These are real halogen lamps and they run hot. Showtec asks for half a metre of clearance from anything flammable, which matters when a strip sits near a house tab or a skirted stage edge. Indoor use only.

Hire by the day. Strips line up end to end into a full-width footlight row, and we can bring in as many as the show needs.

What you get

The strip, with all ten halogen lamps fitted and tested before it leaves us

A PowerCON mains lead, and link leads to chain strips together — tell us how many and we will make up the run

Floor and wall brackets as supplied with the unit, so it stands on the stage floor as a footlight without rigging

A hook clamp and safety bond for hanging: tell us what you are rigging to and we will confirm the fittings

DMX cabling to reach your desk and link the strips — let us know the distances and we will sort the run

Not included as standard: a lighting desk, stands or truss. All can be added, as can a technician to rig, patch and operate

Good for

Panto and music-hall numbers wanting a proper row of footlights across the stage edge

School rock nights and band gigs: warm blinders behind the drums, brought up on the big chorus

Dance school showcases, using the lamp-by-lamp chases to travel light with a number

Am-dram period pieces and Victorian settings that need warm, old-fashioned stage light

Village hall variety nights and cabaret, framing a low stage without any overhead rigging

Awards evenings that want a warm wall of light behind a presenter rather than a cold white one

What you need to know

What it does

A metre-long strip of ten warm halogen lamps. Lay it along the stage edge as footlights, face it out as a blinder, or run chases down the line.

Power

500 watts from an ordinary 230V socket, with mains in and out so a row of strips links along one run.

Control

DMX in 1, 2, 5 or 10 channel modes: one channel to dim the lot, or ten for lamp-by-lamp chases. Sixteen built-in patterns and a sound-active mode when there is no desk.

Where it goes

4.66 kg with floor brackets included, so it sits on the stage with no rigging. M10 points take a hook clamp for hanging. Halogen runs hot: keep half a metre from curtains.

Who runs it

Anyone, in standalone mode: pick a pattern on the back panel and go. Chases from a desk across several strips take a little programming, and we can send a technician.

Full technical specification (20)

Manufacturer and model	Showtec Sunstrip Active MKII
Order code	30714
Fixture type	10-lamp halogen strip blinder and footlight
Lamps	10 x Osram Halopar 16 GU10, 230V/50W, 35 degree beam (fitted)
Colour temperature	2900K
Lamp life	2,000 hours
Power consumption	500W
Power input	230V, 50Hz
Power connectors	Neutrik PowerCON in and out
DMX connectors	3-pin XLR in and out
DMX modes	1, 2, 5 or 10 channels
Standalone control	16 built-in programs with speed and dimmer adjustment, sound-active, master/slave
Dimming	0-100%, built-in dimmer pack
Display	4-digit LED, digital addressing
Fuse	T6.3A / 250V
Minimum distance to flammable surfaces	0.5 m
Minimum distance to lighted object	0.8 m
Dimensions	1000 x 130 x 80 mm (L x W x H)
Weight	4.66 kg
Mounting	Two wall/floor brackets included; M10 fixing points for hook clamps

Common questions

No, and that is rather the point. Each strip carries ten real halogen lamps, warm white at 2900K, and they shift warmer still as they dim, the way filament always has. LED sunstrips exist and draw far less power, but the amber settle of a real lamp fading to black is what people hire this fixture for. The trade-off is heat and lamp life, which is our problem rather than yours: every lamp is fitted and tested before the strip leaves us.
Yes. Sixteen chase patterns are built into the fixture, with speed and brightness set on the back panel, and there is a sound-active mode that follows the music. Set one strip as master and the others follow in step, so a row across the stage stays together without a desk at all. If you do have one, a single spare channel is enough to dim the whole strip.
Each strip is exactly a metre long. Measure the opening you want to cover: a six-metre school stage takes six strips end to end for an unbroken line, or four with small gaps, which still reads as footlights from the third row back. Tell us the width and the look you are after and we will say honestly how many it takes, and bring extra in from trusted suppliers if the row is a long one.
Treat it with the same respect as any halogen fixture. The housing runs hot in use, and Showtec specifies half a metre of clearance from flammable surfaces and 0.8 m to whatever it lights. For a footlight row that means keeping strips clear of tabs and stage skirting, and placing them where feet will not find them in a blackout. Tell us about your stage when you book and we will talk the layout through before the get-in.

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See the rest of our stage lighting hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.

Talk to us

Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.

Call 0333 404 0621, email sales@1stintheatre.co.uk, or send us the details of your production.