LICODA

Every time I enter the office I am eventually greeted by a wall of lighting catalogs. Approximately 350 vertical square feet of shelves jam packed with binders ranging in size and color. I believe there may have been a time when the size of a specifier’s catalog collection reflected on their stature in the industry, certainly their knowledge, and perhaps their abilities. These days are gone.

I have often asked myself and my colleges “Why do we keep these things around?”. The answer, quite simply, is that the online catalog has not incorporated the browsable nature of traditional catalogs - or has it.

Luminaire websites are rarely built to allow a user the ability to flip through or browse a manufacturer’s product offering without first knowing something about their products. Or, the user may be required to traverse an array of web pages (link-click, followed by back button, repeat) just to see the goods. Traditional hard-copy catalogs allow the specifier to view, page-turn by page-turn, the entire offering - at the time of printing.

Ah, here is the dilemma. How does a manufacturer offer the up-to-the-minute content of a webpage with the experience of a catalog?

Perhaps the .pdf file format can solve this problem. The simple stroke of the “page down” key is strikingly similar to a page turn. If the file is created with a proper table of contents and/or use of built-in bookmarks, similar to tabbed page dividers, then maybe the digital catalog will replace traditional catalogs. We can finally free up that wall space for award certificates, inspirational display boards or a new flatscreen and gaming console.

I don’t know if this is the answer to the current question running through the minds of the industry. But, I do know for sure, I’m going to find out.

Brad Stevenson of Douglas Lighting Controls was the guest speaker for a San Diego IES meeting. Brad provided an excellent overview of lighting controls systems and mentioned some interesting pros & cons of digital vs. analog switches, as they pertain to lighting controls systems.

I asked Brad to provide a short write-up of these elements to publish here. See below for Brad’s synopsis of digital switches.

While the use of digital switches is ideal for many lighting control applications care must be taken with the digital switching layout. All digital systems communicate over a dataline but all datalines are not equal. Some datalines require a start-point and an end-point and do not allow t-tapping or splicing. While these datalines are simple to draw (panel-to-switch-to-switch-to-panel-to-sensor, etc) they are not simple to maintain. Removal of a single switch will interrupt the dataline and will therefore disrupt the entire lighting control network. This can cause disastrous results as removing a switch from a classroom will interrupt communications in an entire school.

When using digital switches the best practice is to run a trunk dataline, in conduit, between each of the lighting control panels. Then run a separate branch dataline connecting the switches in each tenant space or classroom block. This simple design ensures all panels remain connected to each other and further ensures that the removal of a switch within a tenant space cannot affect the lighting controls in other tenant spaces.

These days, most people assume the latest technology has to be the best and therefore, a no-brainer when it comes specification on a project. As Brad has pointed out, there are still occasions where analog based systems may perform better than their digital counterparts.

Thanks, Brad.