Light Dimmers
Features
Our Pulsar Series Light Dimmers offer a powerfully flexible dimming solution.
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12-Channels of AC Light Dimming
- Up to 1500 Watts per Output Channel
- 255 Brightness Levels per Channel
- Programmable Fade Rates for Each Channel
- Flicker-Free Light Dimming
- Fuse Protected 120VAC 60Hz Operation
- Incandescent and LED Lighting Compatible
Pulsar - Computer Controlled Light Dimming
The Pulsar Series AC Light Dimmer allows you to set the brightness level of multiple lights directly from your computer. The Pulsar series controllers are designed to offer an industrial grade light dimmer solution with a heavy emphasis of connectivity to computers using a wide array of interface technologies. Whether you need to control lights across the room or from the other side of the planet, we have a solution available that offers flicker-free operation in an industrial design built to last many years.
Why Choose NCD?
With NCD you know you have a proven reliable, easy to use, and extensible product because we’ve been in the business for over 20 years. This means you don’t have to spend valuable time researching how to jig-saw pieces of your project together to get them to work cohesively. Being manufactured in the U.S.A. you know you’ll get good support and a quality product. NCD also ensures you won’t have to put any time into soldering or building a PCB, just pick your boards and power them up. Knowing that every sensor, relay controller, and component is built around the same concept will save you guess work on how well software will work with any board.
How It Works
Put simply, Pulsar Light Dimmers are built with versatility in mind. Any Pulsar Light Dimmer can be used in a variety of applications because of the swappable communication interfaces and the variety of wattage options. Simply connect the Pulsar to your computer through any of our Wired, Wireless, or Network communication options and you can start working right away. The communication port allows you to choose from any of the Interface Technologies we talk about below and can be used for anything from Serial Control to Cloud Control.
Communication Options
Selecting a Communication Technology
The Communication Technology you choose will dictate how you will control and monitor the board. If you want to monitor over a LAN or WAN you can choose WiFi, Ethernet, or Web-i. Need wireless control? Choose S3B, Bluetooth, 802.15.4, or ZigBee Mesh. Want Reliable Wired communication? Choose USB, Serial, or RS-485.
The choice is yours and can change to suit your application.
WiFi Dimmers
Much of our development work was done with embedded WiFi. Put simply, we adore this technology and we think you will too. Configuration requires careful attention to our instructions, but once configured…wow. It’s simply amazing and holds so much promise for future development work.
We are working to make configuration easier, but for now, plan on reading our manual found on the product pages BEFORE purchasing. Configuration requires a WiFi Configuration Kit.
S3B Long Range Wireless
Digi XBee-PRO 900HP embedded modules provide best-in-class range wireless connectivity to devices. They take advantage of the DigiMesh® networking protocol, featuring dense network operation and support for sleeping routers, and are also available in a proprietary point-to-multipoint configuration. Supporting RF line-of-sight ranges up to 28 miles (with high-gain antennas), and data rates of up to 200 Kbps, these modules are ideal for extended-range applications requiring increased data throughput.
Digi XBee® modules are easy to use, share a common hardware footprint and are available in a variety of different protocols, enabling users to substitute one Digi XBee for another with minimal development time and risk.
Bluetooth Dimmers
We offer Bluetooth communications because of its popularity with mobile devices. iPhone, iPad, and iPod developers should be warned, Apple iOS devices encrypt the Bluetooth protocol deliberately, so our Bluetooth interface is compatible with every computer ever made, including Android, PCs (and every version of Windows that supports Bluetooth), and Linux (and all variants thereof that support Bluetooth), but it will NEVER work with Apple iOS devices.
802.15.4 Dimmers
This is one of our favorite wireless technologies. It is easy to setup and use and very reliable. You need a 802.15.4 modem that plugs into your USB port to talk any number of 802.15.4 Wireless Dimmers with up to 1 mile range! You can purchase a modem with the device you choose.
ZigBee Dimmers
ZigBee Mesh networking is pretty slow, but extremely powerful and very reliable when you follow all the rules. We highly recommend you purchase a ZigBee Development Kit from www.digi.com before attempting to use this communication technology…this one is for the advanced user. But it has the distinction of offering a low-cost Mesh networking protocol…which means wireless data hops around the wireless network until it reaches the destination device…very cool! Very powerful, very long range, but NOT for the timid.
Serial Dimmers
Serial communications may seem like old hat, but they’re also one of the most reliable and proven communication protocols available and are in fact the basis of most of the other communication options here.
You can choose between a Serial DB9 Connector or a 3 wire terminal connector for simple wire hookups. DB9 is the standard serial connector while the 3 wire terminal is usually more advanced and for existing ECM’s and serial splicing applications.
USB Dimmers
When it comes to ease of use, USB can’t be beat. With the reliability of Wired Communications and the pure simplicity of USB Technologies this is one of our most popular interface technologies.
To use USB simply plug it in to your computer/ECM, the driver should automatically be installed or already be installed, and open a COM/Serial Port to it. We use an industry standard FTDI chip for added reliability and compatibility across all Operating Systems.
Ethernet Dimmers
Ethernet communications combine the reliability of a wired connection with the power of network communications. Control your devices reliably from anywhere in the world by implementing a simple socket directly to the device.