For those who want to invest in LED lighting on a budget, but who don't have a few £100 to invest in the Chauvet Colour System, allow me to present to you the Skytec 1M Colour Changing LED Tube.

I came across these on a business trip recently to Oxford, where I found these tubes on display in the local gadget shop (I was on my lunch break...honest ). I managed to get a demonstration of these in use, which is the basis of the review.

At first glance, you could be mistaken for thinking that they were 12v fluorescent fitments which used to be fitted to touring caravans!, however on closer inspection, they are very similar to the more expensive LED Tubes, and in my opinion, just as well contructed. Made from tough white plastic, the unit has an opal diffuser which allows for even distribution of the light, and gets rid of the pinpoint brightness associated with LEDs.

The tubes are supplied in 1M lengths, and two different diameters are available. namely the standard 50mm diameter and a wider 80mm version. There are also 90 LED versions, and 144 LED versions.

The cost factor of these LED tubes is further reduced because no dedicated controller is required!. The tubes simply link together using two core cable and daisy chain. A more expensive version is also available, which features a built in controller offering 20 patterns.

In use, the standard versions slowly merge through 7 colours, namely red, white, cyan, magenta, blue, yellow, green. The colour merge is amazingly smooth and very effective and makes for a very eyecatching effect which is just as good as the £100+ versions - providing you can live with the lack of dedicated external controller and subsequent lack of sync.

The tubes are supplied with brackets and mounting fitments, and could be used to line T-Bars or uprights on lighting stands and gantries or other similar displays.

Technical Description

Power supply 230Vac, 50Hz
Dimensions 1000 x 82 x 64mm
Weight 575g

Part Numbers and Description

See the Skytec Page


Availability

Skytec announce availability from Jan 2006. However many gadget shops already seem to have stock.

1M Colour Tubes Appear to be in stock here

Prices range from £25.25 per 1m length for the basic colour changing version, to £51.12 for the 1m version with built in 20 programs.

Pro's

Lightweight and Cool running
Very Cost Effective
Easy to link, using simple flying lead plug and socket
Low Voltage
Bright & High Catching

Cons

Lack of dedicated controller may not appeal to some DJ's

Looks good.

If you daisy-chain them, would they then stay in sync?

I'm guessing that you'd need one of the tubes with the built-in patterns, then 1 (or 3, or 5 or 7) of the cheaper, "no programs" tubes. OR...would you need all the tubes to be the "bullt-in program" type for them to stay in sync - OR is there simply no sync when daisy-chaining any type of tube?

Hi

Please escuse my stupidity nere...

I'm assuming that these are similar in looks to a UV tube only LED not UV, and the colours change. I'm talking construction here not the visual effect.

They make a great decoration for the livingroom rofl

Darren

Hi

thanks Gary...

And the light is dispersed evenly throughout the tube itself, does that mean there's more than one light source, but it's made to look as if there just one source, lol

Wow, bet that looks pretty slick.

Darren

thats correct Darren but also the light can chase down the tube,and do multi coloured in one tube !
If they are like the ones i use on my show...
They can look very impressive... although as in a previous thread i have adapted these inside 2m high lycra curved cylinders, more of a visual impact !

Chris

Hi folks

Ok I tried escribing these to my g/f and she said they sounded very tacky anc cheap.

So, is this the case, are they front screen worthy tacky or is it just my description, lol

Darren

Hi Darren

I don't think they would be front screen tacky... I personally am v interested because they will hide the vertical bits of my ultimax stand/speaker stands and would draw the eye to them without being overkill..

I dont use light screens so it would be something to annouce I was there....

Just my opinion though...

Thats how i started to used mine when i got them Tonsk.!

Darren,

Partychris posted a photo of his show which used something similar clipped to his stand uprights, and from the photo, personally I don't think it looked tacky at all. Bearing in mind these are a functional piece of equipment, rather than an ornament on a mantlepiece in the atmosphere of the disco you see the effect, and not the packaging.

I can't find the thread, but maybe Partychris will post the photo again on this one, and you can get your G/F to view the result, rather than just the description - i'm no Mills and Boon author when it comes to reviews!.

I think they have a use in our industry, they hide the stand metalwork, and any wiring and also throw out quite a considerable amount of light for not a lot of outlay.

I recall seeing a picture of the sexy lycra bit, looked really really pro

Mums gonna make a few "Lycra tubes".... Im gonna see how it goes making a few

i could not find the thread from the previous post so here is a different picture i took, this time the Tubes are used on the Tripods legs and across the stage.
This was because there was not enough height to get the tubes in on top !

tube pic

Ok, so I'mgoing to have a go with these LED tubes, anyone know where I can buy em from t'interweb?

I saw these a few months ago, look OK if that is the effect you want.

Hi Guys,

Still can;t find em anywhere - ADS Where did you see them? and Chris, you said that there was a place in Oxford that were selling them, could someone let me know where I can buy a few.

Many thanks
Josh

There's a link on the original post

Click Me!

I saw them in Exeter

Yep, thanks for that, I did try that link and somewhere else to and everyone says that it won;t be around until Feb 2006 - which is what it says on the skytronic site. So I was intrigued to see if I can make the journey to that place in Oxford and see if they actually have them to see as well as stock levels.

Do you happen to know the shop that was selling them

many thanks
Josh

The shop didn't have stock otherwise I would have got a couple myself - they were retailing the Skytronic one which is due to them (Skytronic) in Jan 2006, according to the Skytec website.

The shop did have all 4 types on demo, hence which drew me to them but you would be unlikely to find stock there until the New Year. It seems for some reason that the gadget world are demo-ing these online and offline, months ahead of delivery Yes, a great present for the Kids at Xmas, provided you mean Xmas 2006!.

I found the link to the online gadget shop when I got home, and thought that this may have been a generic type or had taken stock earlier in the year. Often these things all originate from the same factory and just come in through different distributors, and if one distributor doesn't have stock then occasionally you can come across one who does.

Ok, Thanks chriss for replying so soon