To set the mood ... Oh yeah! Shiny Disco Balls! (Love Da Balls)
Dang! this video is such a hoot! My wife cracked up over this one ...
BACKGROUND:
Some background to this lighting equipment may be useful to those interested ...
I am a 'Grandad' and because of my long term experience in 'all things electronics', I frequently get asked to take on tasks which are 'out of the norm' for me, while I like a ball or two ... I do not usually dwell in the world of disco balls.
One of the grandkids was having a birthday party recently and she wanted "the disco look" at her party, being held in their home. Hmmm, I went about looking to see how I could help out while the solution must not be too involved or costly.
After looking at and playing with a lot of balls, I came to the conclusion that this RAVE Disco Ball would fit the bill nicely. My criteria while searching (and visiting numerous shops) was to have a simple to use, non-fiddly setup impressive looking disco ball which could easily be controlled and of course it had to be safe for the kids (flashing lights can trigger unpleasant effects in some people)
This RAVE disco ball ticked all the boxes ... low cost (paid $59.95 for it, acceptable to my pockets), it was easy to put in place on the ceiling (just used 'straps' as I did not want to drill holes in our daughters ceiling!) and the lighting effects were impressive and fully controllable with the remote control.
The party room they used measured roughly 25' x 22' and the ceiling is a standard height, I think around 8' That is quite a large room but I feel the disco ball could handle larger areas just as well although I would not suggest trying to use one of these 'outdoors' as the neighbours might get just a bit cranky with you "Hey Russ, stop playing with your ball ... it's driving the dog crazy!"
The disco ball uses normal household 240V power so I needed to make sure any cables were well out of reach from the kids, that was not difficult to achieve. Once up on the ceiling and with the power plugged in, I fired it up (dress rehearsal for the party!)
OMG! My Goodness! I was greeted with dancing lights all over the ceiling - this disco ball easily covered the whole ceiling and down the walls as well! Using the small wireless remote, I could completely turn off the disco ball, change the colour patterns, turn on or off a flashing/strobe effect and even have the ball respond to music playing on their stereo system - nice!
WORD OF WARNING HERE! The remote uses one of those little 'button batteries' and although the battery compartment has a sort of child lock, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT not to allow a child to get that battery out and perhaps put it in their mouth ... a big NO NO NO! Not that our grand-daughter would do that (I think) because she is almost a teenage now!
The disco ball was used for just this one party, I guess about 12 hours or so, and then put back in the box ... I loved playing with the ball but my days of putting on the tie-dyed flared jeans, paisley shirts (complete with white frilly cuffs!) are LONG GONE (Yes, I actually used to wear that sort of fashion back in the '70s) so I have absolutely no further use for this disco ball - it now needs to find another young persons party!
After all that, here is some information about this disco ball
RAVE Disco Ball
Made in China
Model: SL-3509
(Multiple retail outlets sell or sold these, mine came from Jaycar)
Technology: 6x Coloured High Powered (1 Watt output each) LEDs
LED colours are Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, White, Purple
Display rotation uses a motor which appears to be of a fixed speed (I didn't figure out how to change the speed in any case!)
Runs off 240V (Standard Australian plug on a 6' lead)
Wireless remote controlled with functions such as Colour control, ON-OFF, Sound Sync, Flash ON-OFF etc
All plastic construction, this means you do not need to allow for the hanging of a heavy weight from the ceiling and actually 'wall plugs plus screws' are provided in the box but I didn't need to use them.
Perhaps you are wondering "How big is this ball of Russell's?"
Medium sized at 170mm (about 6.5") diameter x 140mm (5.5") height
Weight: 300g (Yes, it is light!)
NOTE: Designed for 'home use' and I certainly wouldn't consider this type of disco ball for pro installations such as a club! Not rugged enough nor does it have any external control such as DMX.
OPERATIONAL NOTES (My experiences in 'real life')
No big deal here, just a couple of things I noticed that may be of interest
When running, the disco ball produces a low level humming or buzz type sound - this is the motor inside rotating the display. It is not loud but if you have the music turned off in the room, someone might ask "What's that sound?"
To use the remote reliably you need to be pretty well right underneath the disco ball and point the remote directly at the disco ball. If I moved away or pointed in other directions, the remote was not able to control the lights reliably.
The first two photographs are of THIS BALL running, not some marketing blurb from the manufacturer!
What out for kids with any effects caused by flashing lights (you can turn off the flashing with the remote) otherwise your pretty disco ball may induce an epileptic episode or something milder such as headaches in the kids.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
After the party, I have repacked EVERYTHING that was originally in the box back inside. This even includes the original plastic packaging and protection bag around the ball itself. The remote has the battery already installed but I re-inserted the 'shipping strip' which stops the battery getting 'drained' - just pull this out when you use the remote otherwise it will not work!
Of course there is the so called 'Instruction Booklet' but geez, it's pretty basic and really only tells you what the various remote function buttons are for ... it's included anyway.
The outer box is not substantially damaged, just that small mark on the Green side of the box. Nothing else has any damage at all, not the box, not the disco ball nor the accessories. I am a careful old soul!
Finally, to keep everything nice and clean, I have placed this complete package into a sealed clear plastic outer and now it waits another party to go to!
LAST NOTE, I promise ... as this item is priced at UNDER $30, shipping would be calculated at the current rates from Australia Post but here's the rub ... we have a policy of shipping ANYWHERE in Australia for just $9 IF an order exceeds $30 in value ... Yes you guessed it, just add another thing or two from our family website so that your order exceeds $30 and Hey Presto! the shipping is now fixed at $9 and it doesn't matter if you live in the 'big smoke' or way out in the bush, the shipping cost would be the same in either case.
