My Collection: Urbis ZX3 Zebra

With thanks to AgentHalogen_87 for this lantern. This is not an ordinary Zebra ZX3. A simple side-profile showcases some immediate discrepancies - such as the odd paintwork on the canopy and white glare panels on either side of the bowl. As it turns out, this ZX3 Zebra was one of an estimated six which were modified for stage lighting. Three of the six are unaccounted for, but they may still be used as stage props. I believe the zebra version was chosen so the light from the lantern could be projected onto the stage with more control.

The lantern came in its original box.

The white glare shields would have had black stripes previously. I expect that the black stripes were stuck to the outside of the bowl (whereas the white strips are on the inside). Some faint scrape marks near the white strips may indicate their removal. 

The canopy has a trio of modifications to it. First, the NEMA socket has been replaced with a standard power lead connection. Second, the front end has a rope for aid in mounting or angling the lantern fitted to it. Thirdly, the odd black paintwork - The lantern must have been white originally, but may have stood out too much and necessitated the black makeover.

The power socket doesn't exactly fit across the NEMA socket's hole, and has been hot glued at one end. The two cables you can see are for an external controller.

The original post-top fixing nuts are still in the side-entry plug.

The canopy was manufactured in October of 2008, a while before the rest of the lantern.

None of the old 140W cosmopolis gear remains. Instead, the lantern is fitted with a decoder for internal controls and a driver for the LEDs.

To the left are the ten switches for controls. I think I now know what they all do:

1 - Red

2 - Green

3 - Blue

4 - Light Green/Yellowish

5 - Purple

6 - Cyan

7 - Light Blue

8 - All Colour Flash

9 - All Colour Fade

10 - When switched off the lantern colour and mode can be controlled externally by DMX.

The driver is a Artesyn LCB150Q.

The "lamp" is by far the most interesting modification. It was created by wrapping RGB LED tape around a 32mm diameter section of PVC pipe. Then, it was hot glued to the outside of the old lamp-holder (you may have spotted the old snipped lamp wires in other photos).

Here are a few of the coloured modes activated, starting with Red:

Green:

Blue: