Professional-Grade Theatrical Automation Controlled From Your Lightboard: New ADC ConTour™ Winch Review

(The copy below is reprinted from a review in PLSN Magazine)

The ADC ConTour™ Winch from Rose Brand is a professional grade, zero fleet, spotline winch designed with an emphasis on safety and ease of use. While its name is ConTour and you might assume that it’s just for raising and lowering contour drapes, it has a lot more lifting uses. In addition to curtains, you could deploy this winch when you need accurate, reliable, safe automation of props, lightweight scenery, lights, and special effects.

Specifications

The ConTour Winch has a 50 lbs. dynamic load capacity, a travel speed of 0 – 3’/sec and 60’of lift-line travel. Its lightweight, compact size allows the ConTour to fit in tight rigging packs, or to mount completely within the frame of ADC’s 14” automation truss making for easier truck packs and load-ins. The ConTour Winch can be controlled via a variety of protocols including Modbus, DMX via Art-Net, sACN, or via Axis1, ADC’s programmable touchscreen controller.

The ConTour Winch was designed by theatrical automation professionals who understand the lifting needs of productions. Hard points in the steel enclosure allow for a variety of mounting options including cheeseboros and direct bolt attachment. The unit can operate in a standard line-down orientation, horizontal draw, oblique angle, or inverted, provided the system remains under minimal tension.

On-board jog controls allow a tech to operate the winch locally during set up, and to override an E-stop error directly from the winch. The user selectable, switched power supply means ConTour Winch can be installed in virtually any venue around the world. Data and power can be daisy chained to simplify cable runs.

Designed with Safety in Mind

The ConTour Winch was designed from the ground up with the highest safety standards in mind: SIL3 compliant; Emergency stop circuit over ethernet (eliminating the need for additional cable runs); 24VDC primary, power-off brake ensures safe conditions in the event of a power loss; and User programmable over-current shut down.

The ConTour Winch has been reviewed, approved, and stamped by an independent engineering firm for mechanical design and SIL3 compliance, and has certification from internationally recognized testing laboratories to ensure compliance when used in venues all around the world.

Quiet, Smooth Lifting

The heart of the Contour Winch’s zero fleet design is ADC’s patented yo-yo drum which uses a flat, ½” fire-rated Kevlar webbing and quick attach system. Using webbing instead of traditional aircraft cable makes the ConTour Winch’s lift line virtually silent and ensures smooth motion as the ribbon winds up cleanly around the pile-on sheave—no snarls, tangles, or wire kinks.

Dual roller guides allow the ConTour Winch to be mounted up to 30° off-axis to the direction of the lift-line’s travel. The guide assembly can be easily adjusted for inside, outside, or center alignment of the lift line. The Kevlar lift line is quickly attached and detached tool-free by just slipping its eyelet over the mounting post, speeding up load-in and maintenance.

If you are in the market for a compact, light-duty, quiet winch, we recommend you contact Rose Brand for a demonstration of the ADC ConTour Winch.

SPECIFICATIONS

Dimensions: 11.75” x 10.75” x 14.625”

Weight: 43 lbs.

Capacity: 50lbs (22.7kg) @ 50% duty cycle; 35lbs (15.9kg) @ 100% duty cycle

Lift Height: 60’

Speed: 0-3’/ sec

Lift Line: 1/2” fire-rated Kevlar webbing

Power: 110 to 220 VAC 50/60 hz (field selectable); 690 W (6A @ 120VAC, 3A @ 220 VAC)

Connector: PowerCON True 1 Input and Output

Power Linking: 3@ 120VAC, 6@ 220VAC

Control: Modbus, DMX via Art-Net, sACN, TwinCAT

DMX: Six Channels

Data Cable: etherCON / RJ45

Local Control: Jog Up / Jog Down

Learn more about the above and its sister product, the new ConTour Winch SDR25. The SDR25 enables you to send both power and data down a single lift line. See our page on ADC automation products at www.rosebrand.com.

Video shows a pre-test of the ConTour Winch lifting a curtain and various weighted sandbags at ADC headquarters during product development.