Re: [LCtalk] fans

[jim]

Sounds like an interesting project.
Fans of course do not work well when dimmed through a normal SCR type 
dimmer. There are dmx-able fans from mole but they are pricey.  
(http://extranet.mole.com/public/?cmd=view_category&id=1998)

If you use normal household fans you may have to go with just a simple 
on-off controller. these places have an 8 channel dmxable relay that 
would work well for on/off.
http://www.bpesolutions.com/dmxproduct.html USA
http://www.milinst.com/DMX/dmxtext.htm UK
I recently got one and it works fine. But you need so many the cost is 
close to $3000.

The only other suggestion I have is if you got a bunch of fans that have 
a speed control slider, and then hacked them. Remove the speed control 
and replace it with a light sensor (triggered by small lights on a 
regular dimmers) or a dmx to voltage converter. Perhaps you could even 
use a servo to slide the control. Maybe the hack is a bit crazy but I'm 
just throwing ideas out there. Good luck.

Jim