The software specialists and engineers at J. R. Clancy replaced the troublesome rigging controller with its own SceneControl 500 automated motion control system.
The new system ends an odyssey that began as far back as 1984, said Scott Mahrer, entertainment technician for Trump Plaza, who arrived at the hotel and casino in 1985 and immediately began troubleshooting the control system in place. "The console was accurate to within two inches or so," he remembered. "If you wanted to move something in another quarter-inch, you had to run it back a couple of feet and reset the target."
Trump Plaza replaced this system in 1990 with another from the original system's manufacturer, retrofitting 24 motors with digital encoders and bringing in a new motion control system-and the Entertainment Department staff members found themselves with new problems. "The ongoing troubleshooting of that system went on for a year," Mahrer said. "Several advertised features never worked at all."
While its entertainment strategies changed over the ensuing years from headliner acts that required minimal scenery to Broadway shows and revues, Mahrer found it more and more difficult to continue using the control system in place. In 2004, Trump Plaza began to focus on an upgrade that would solve the problems they had faced since 1990.
"We started researching, and settled on recommending the Clancy line of products," he said. "We wanted off-the-shelf components, so if something went wrong, we could just replace the part."
"The SceneControl 500 is based on commercially manufactured components that are widely supported and readily available," said Tom Young, vice president of marketing for J.R. Clancy. "The displays are generated by an industrial grade PC, and all movements are controlled by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). PLCs are designed for use in industrial environments, where a high level of reliability is required."
(Jim Evans)
