LIGHTING CONTROL DESK, ‘Rank Strand’, Perth Entertainment Centre, c.1973

[1] Large, oblong, dark-coloured wood laminate over chipboard, stained wooden supports, green painted metal support frame for modules (14), top desk frame for ‘Rank Strand’ Lighting Control Desk. Wooden/chipboard base, open at back, closed both sides, with mesh on front, bottom side (under table), and top of back section. Sides angled down from back to front, with table jutting out from front, supported with wooden struts underneath. Central, green painted metal supports for modules, with two rows of seven holes (for module to screw into), complemented by front and back sides of desk having inlaid green metal strips to assist module support. Cavernous gap in centre of desk to host modules and electrical wiring, no back board. Top and exterior sides of desk covered in dark, shiny, wood laminate; worn/chipped through wear across front table, sides and top-back. Wooden struts and supports throughout desk, with screws and washers. Squared edges all around. Inside: Chipboard disintegrating in places, particularly towards back. Tape residue near mesh on top back side. Table discoloured with ink/paint marks in black and blue, underneath chipboard chipped, two small pieces of green and yellow tape in centre. Sides scratched and faded, sheen faded from laminate, close to ground. Right side laminate peeling at ground.
[2] Wide, oblong, open, wooden, wood laminate over chipboard, angled, pointed feet, base for ‘Rank Strand’ Lighting Control Desk. Worn laminate across back and sides, front open with wood supports running width of frame. Two angled, pointed ‘feet’ jut from either side of front/sides. Chipped and very worn. Sides made from two vertical layers of chipboard, supported with wooden struts. Back board made of single layer of chipboard, with thick support strut. Open at bottom, with two cut-out rectangles at bottom back edge (for electrical cords). ‘G Koove’ scrawled in chalk (?) upside down in cursive, on inside of back board.
[3] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, pin patch module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS PIN PATCH’. Lines of 10 poles/pin patches, columns of two, groups of ten. Numbered ‘1-10’ across top of group (‘1-120’ in total), lettered ‘A-L’ down left and right side of each group. Horizontally hinged Perspex screen over pin patch, with small silver coloured metal handle at bottom end. Dirty, round mark on perspex over first grouping. Deep, silver-coloured metal sides, with holes/screws and supports along edges and centre of bottom. Dusty, with fingerprints over metal. Silver sticker in top centre of right side reads, ‘RANK STRAND MMS MODULE/ TYPE PIN PATCH/ SERIAL No _ _ _ _ _/ CUSTOMER TVW PERTH/ H OPTIONS 1./ S OPTIONS _ _ _ _ _/ BUILD STATUS _ _ _ _ _’. Front side: two layers of black and red edged microchip panels, secured on silver metal, horizontal supports. Underside: ‘wire wound’ blue wiring evident through microchip, multi-coloured electrical wiring from top to bottom with cream plugs.
[4] Appears structurally identical to [3], except for paper/ sticker residue over letters at sides of pin patch. Side sticker peeling. Small dirty marks on perspex and left side of hinge.
[5] Appears structurally identical to [3], except for paper/stickers becoming loose under Perspex. Side sticker differs with ‘H OPTIONS 2.’
[6] Appears structurally identical to [5]
[7] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS BACK UP MASTERS MODULE’. Similar module structure to [3], top/face buttons and dials different; two rows of five columns, scale dial, columns labelled A-E (from left to right), F-L (left to right), numbered vertically, with each dial ascending from 0-10. Dial has white tabs on a black background, white text/numbers. Silver coloured metal screws hold in place. Dirty marks over face of dials (tape residue). Side sticker identical to [3] except for ‘TYPE BACK UP MASTERS’, with no ‘H OPTIONS’ OR ‘S OPTIONS’. Interior largely empty, single large microchip the width and length of module, sits at top of underside. Wide, grey electrical tape extends from chip to cream plug at base.
[8] Structurally identical to [7], letters change to M-R, S-W on columns. White residue on base of each dial. Side sticker peeling.
[9] Oblong, shallow, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS’. Four columns of green and red alternating columns of lights, with black surrounds, at top left corner of module. Ten lights in each column, columns alternate green, red, green, red from left to right. Top four lights in second column missing. Remaining top/face of module has no markings, with few scratches. Underside: mass of black and grey electrical wires and tape, with thin green circular electrical wire behind lights. Three of missing lights pulled out to the back of the module, connected to wires.
[10] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS MEMORY No SELECTOR’. Appears structurally similar to [3], except top side/face of module. Top centre has three square coloured buttons, left to right: blue button with white text, reads ‘SEQ’; red button with a white triangle in centre; yellow button with black text reads ‘ALL /REC.’, all with black surrounds. Below, in centre, triple digital display, with black surround. Bottom, centre, oblong, keypad with square and rectangular buttons, with black text. ‘+’ and ‘-‘ keys at top, descending 9-0, top to bottom, right to left, square buttons, with rectangular ‘CLEAR’ button at bottom of keypad. Side sticker reads ‘TYPE MEMORY No./ SELECTOR’, ‘SERIAL No. A022’, ‘H OPTIONS 4.’. Underside: structurally similar to [3], only three long, vertical chips, length and width of module on far left side, rest empty, but black and red supports remain.
[11] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS CORE STORE’. Structurally similar to [3], except for top/face of module. Top left has square green button, with black surround, reads ‘SEL’ in white text. Top centre has triple digital display, with black surround, underneath which reads ‘LAST RECORDED/ MEMORY’ in black text. Top right has silver-coloured metal key in round key hole, underneath which reads ‘RECORD LOCK’. Remainder of top plain, with few marks. Side sticker differs with ‘TYPE CORE STORE’, ‘H OPTIONS 1.’ Underside: lines of microchips, block of four (two rows), large chips on right side of module. Left side contains thin, regular sized microchips.
[12] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS RATE PLAYBACK’. Top of front/face has two columns of three buttons, each side of double, light-up, vertical display. Left (top to bottom); yellow square button reads ‘REC.’; green square button reads ‘C.C./1’; orange square button reads ‘TAKE/ A.M.’. Centre has double-lit black electric display. Right (top to bottom), mirrors left except ‘C.C.’ button has no ‘1’. Centre, two triple digital displays, left labelled ‘S’ in black text, right labelled ‘P’ in black text. Bottom, buttons either side of arched, centre double dial, covered in bronze coloured label sticker, with scale. Left: blue and white square button, white top reads ‘MINS’, blue bottom reads ‘SECS’. Three rows of double square buttons below, left to right; blue button reads ‘FADE/SEQ’, red button reads ‘MAN’, white buttons ‘C’, ‘/’, ‘+’, ‘-‘, followed by orange square button, with intersecting diagonal arrows. Right: identical blue/white button, below is white square button, reads ‘GROUP’, set of four white buttons identical to left, followed by two orange square buttons, left with downwards facing arrow, right with upwards pointing arrow. Side sticker ripped off, tape residue left. White label sticker over residue, reads ‘… HOUSE’. Underside: same as [3]
[13] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS MIMIC’. Black, metal surround/base panel, with small white square buttons, labelled 1-120, in rows of 10. Bottom, left of centre, square button, reads ‘C.C.’ on green top section, ‘STAGE’ on white bottom section. Side sticker reads ‘TYPE BUTTON/MIMIC’, ‘H OPTIONS 1, 5’. Underside: only top row contains microchips.
[14] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS K CHANNEL CONTROL’. Top left, two square yellow buttons read ‘ALL/ LAST’ AND ‘INDIV/ LAST’, respectively. Next to rectangular, white meter, with black pointer and scale. Below, left, two red square buttons, read ‘FLASH/ FULL’, ‘FLASH/ OUT’ respectively, with triple digital display below. Centre, large black, arched wheel dial, with column of coloured square buttons to the right. Top to bottom; blue and white button, ‘C.C./ STAGE’ in blue/white sections, followed by two red, then two white buttons, ‘OFF’ and ‘TAKE/ LAST’. Bottom left; rectangular keypad, with square and rectangular buttons, with black text. ‘+’ and ‘-‘ keys at top, descending 9-0, top to bottom, right to left, square buttons, with rectangular ‘CLEAR’ button at bottom of keypad. Side sticker reads ‘TYPE CHANNEL/ CONTROL’, ‘H OPTIONS 2 3 4 5’. Underside: same as [3]
[15] Structurally identical to [13], except buttons labelled 121-240, no green/white button and side sticker reads ‘H OPTIONS 6’
[16] Oblong, deep, light green and grey, painted metal, with silver ‘hidden’, thin metal handles sink into top and bottom of body, ‘Rank Strand’, module for Lighting Control Desk. Text at top of module face reads ‘RANK/ STRAND/ MMS MANUAL PLAYBACK’. Two columns of coloured square buttons, either side of central arched black dial, with white tab, in top centre. Top to bottom; yellow button reads ‘REC.’, green buttons reads ‘C.C.’, orange buttons reads ‘SET/ A.M.’ Underneath, triple digital display, one either side of dial. Larger, arched, black dial in bottom centre, with one white and one black tab, flanked with square, coloured buttons. Left; three rows of double square buttons; blue button reads ‘FADE/ SEQ’, orange has left pointing arrow. Set of four white buttons read ‘C’, ‘/’, ‘+’, ‘-‘. Right; set of four white buttons read ‘C’, ‘/’, ‘+’, ‘-‘. Side sticker reads ‘SERIAL No. HE05785250577C’ in black pen, ‘A096’ written above in red pen, with black text struck through with red.
[17] Small, gold plated, yellow plastic end, pin patch pin for pin patch module, of Lighting Control Desk. 250 pin patch pins.

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