UNITOUR

Stable and reliable mains power is a fundamental requirement for any industry. In the live events industry this is even more important. If the power goes off in a factory for a few minutes minutes it is easy to recover and most customers will never be aware that it happened. If the same things happens during a live concert or theatre performance, every customer immediately notices. Power distribution has traditionally been little more than 'switches and wire'. What is needed is a smart system that can monitor every component in real time to predict potential problems before they become faults.

By individually monitoring the Earth Leakage Current (ELC) and conventional current (CC) of each output (Australian Patent Application No. 2021215292) the UNITOUR can notify the operator when any output is close to tripping the associated RCD circuit breaker. Additionally the incoming power feed is monitored for incorrect wiring and earth/Neutral faults, warning the user if system safety is compromised. All of this information is available locally via a large colour touchscreen UI, as well as remotely via PC, Smartphone, Tablet, SMS or e-mail. The modular design of the system allows for quick swap of modules in case of transit damage.

The UNITOUR meets the demands of today and the future. Current concert and theatre lighting rigs require dimmers to control the conventional lights that are still commonly used. Unlike any other power distribution product available, UNITOUR provides this functionality as well the more common power switching control. As lighting evolves from conventional lights into LED, each output of the UNITOUR can be configured to be either a dimmer or a switched output. This ensures that the investment made today will still be usable in 10+ years time as the industry evolves to use mixed sources and then only LED lights.

The UNITOUR is built to withstand the rigours of touring. The unit is constructed with a solid steel chassis, housed in a rugged road-case for protection. Large wheels are provided for easy loading in and out of venues. The UNITOUR is fully modular. If any module gets damaged (which can occur when units are loaded in and out of trucks many times each week) they can be swapped over in less than one minute, ensuring that the 'show can go on'. The front panel is fully illuminated via hidden dimmable LED lighting. This is important in the backstage environment of a concert or theatre, where there is usually no ambient lighting. The front panel can be clearly read without the need for a torch or other external light source and there is no light leakage onto the surrounding area, The UNITOUR is normally powered by specialised 400 Amp 3phase power feeds, which are common at concert venues, but may not exist in the warehouse where it is configured before the tour. To solve this problem we added the ability to use a PoE ethernet hub to power the Control Module, so that the unit can be configured without 3phase power.