Digital Control -- A TC420 product update
The quality control of the TC420 digital LED controller has been slipping ever since 2020; it's to the point now where changes to my approach and product offerings must be made.
One of the main selling points of this controller was its ability to have a full menu of preprogrammed cycle and intensity level options, giving you, the end user the ability to follow a seasonally adjusted approach which could mimic the natural cycles of any tropical or temperate biome. I normally ship each TC420 with 4 different light cycles (11, 12, 13 and 14 hours) with 4 different intensity levels per cycle; making a total of 16 preprogrammed options ready to go right out of the box I ship to you.
So what's the issue?
About 50% of the new units I load up with my normal programming package have a glitch; the TC420 will randomly switch from the program you've chosen to run, to any of the other available programs (modes) that have also been loaded up. If you'd like to be using the highest intensity 14 hour cycle, but suddenly find the controller has decided to switch over to the lowest intensity 11 hour cycle this can be pretty annoying. You end up having to check which program is currently selected every day.
The upshot is, one of the main featured selling points of the TC420 is now harder to come by and requires extensive testing before I ship one out as being a fully functional unit.
Having said that, if you don't do seasonal changes but find that you are constantly running just one light cycle only (all my large displays run for 14 hours and at high intensity levels) many customers really only need to have one or two programs loaded up on the TC420. The controller will still manage the start/end times for you as well as giving you the sunrise/set effects that make this unit a pleasure to use.
What's the solution?
For those who still want and need all the seasonal options, you can still get that (16 presets loaded up and ready to go), but since these fully functional units are harder to come by now, the price will have to go up, reflecting the time and cost of figuring out which ones are fully functional.
If you know what daily light cycle you want, and have some ideas about the intensity level needed, only one or two programs can be loaded up to a TC420 which will have a much lower cost than the ones which are fully vetted to run as originally designed.
I'll attempt to organize the store items for the TC420 and the many controller/driver options in a way that reflects these new realities, but I expect that to cause a bit of confusion, so please don't hesitate to call me, so we can match you up with exactly the right product for your needs.
As always, if you'd like a custom programming option for the TC420, I can do that at no additional cost.
425-471-1425 (Kurt)