[ceecrb1]

First things first..
I hate my line array for just one reason, its big and heavy...
I know my limitations, I am NOT a truss guy, and I dont pretend to be.
Today I am only asking if, within the gear I show, there is a viable option for me to find a local person who does know what hes doing to carry it on with... ie am I being stupid and should leave it, or is it the starting point that can be "built on" by hiring a professional who can perfect it?
There is almost zero cash available here... if I cant make it work, it wont work and I have to carry on floor stacking....

these 4 array sections weigh 252kg.
The hanging point most used is roughly 30cm from the rear of the box. (where the AJ is in the photo).

I cant use a tower, in the one and only test we did, with a max 250kg tower we bent it and had to buy replacement parts.. so I'm not even thinking of going any further with that option...
really getting them just 4-5meters in the air is more than enough..

I "normally" hang these from our 52cm truss , on the outside of the legs when we are crossing the stage front when there are lights being used but lately I've just been rigging these and these alone with no lights and having to floor stack them, in this situation they dont cover the area well nor do they sound great....

SO, is there a way to use a heavy support truss leg and roller with a motor to get these things in the air?
Ie a truss leg/support with no truss, and the motor chain going over the roller and pulling the array up.

I've added some photos of the general kit I have available, there obviously is more parts but it was just a quick run round the warehouse to give ideas of what we own..
These rollers have a good 40cm from truss to roller so enough clearance.. obviously we have longer sections than the 1m ones in the photo, also hinges but with that you know what size I am talking about... I know that
base legs are missing etc but they are upstairs... and its hot there!!
With this option I really dont see where I can even attach a motor too.. but again.. its something we are willing to get someone in, to look into it if there is a viable option ehre.

as I say, vidiot being crazy or is there something in this?
Thanks in advance.

https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink

This post has been edited by ceecrb1: 11 June 2012 - 02:58 PM

[Simon Lewis]

Edit - read your post a little more carefully.... Have a look at the photos below (Litec towers) as these are typical array towers. I suspect you will find a V section that makes the base, and a section of truss with a winch or motor attachment point. If you know the truss manufacturer, you should be able to find a manual on their webpage? It's worth getting this, as you have a fairly serious bit of metal work with a big weight hanging off it... it needs to go up and stay up until you're ready to bring it down ;-)

This post has been edited by Simon Lewis: 11 June 2012 - 06:51 PM

[ceecrb1]

yeah they do... I just have the usual zero budget problem...
I'd love a pair of those!!!!


I'm pretty much trying to work out if I can "make" that with what I've got.. even if it turns out that legs are dirrectly under the array and I have to work out some way thats a pain to get the array over the support etc....

Like I said, if its not feasable.. I just wont bother.. but the benefits of getting the array in the air for coverage and quality are worth looking into... but I'd rather have bad coverage and bad quality over a dangerous rig....

[Simon Lewis]

Having helped assemble a 5m Litec array tower recently, I can say that you need several people to push it up... it looks lightweight, but with the pulley block, chain winch and a few lengths of truss, it soon gets heavy!

[ceecrb1]

I know...
we do have a unit, within the company they call it the "bike" that is used to raise the legs with the motor..... it raises up the whiching point.

Generally this array only leaves the warehouse for larger jobs where there are many techs.


I'm also playing with the idea of rigging 2 wind up towers, one on each side of the speaker, and creating a truss bridge where I can hang it from...
BUT our towers have a max lifting weight of 100kg, obviously 2 towers gives me 200kg... but thats not enough....
Each section weighs 49kg according to the manual, and then there is the steal structure on top of it to hang it.. plus cables.... so clearly not an option.

[splodge360]

we fitted a winch to the back of our towers for lifting up the long arm with only one operator.

Unfortunatly heavy duty load bearing rigging, will always be more expensive than lightweight lighter load trussing.

you could try a sister company to ours in spain:
Admark espania on YouTube

[brainwave-generator]

splodge360, on 12 June 2012 - 03:58 PM, said:

we fitted a winch to the back of our towers for lifting up the long arm with only one operator.

Unfortunatly heavy duty load bearing rigging, will always be more expensive than lightweight lighter load trussing.

you could try a sister company to ours in spain:
Admark espania on YouTube

Errr Mr Splodge are you sure that's a good picture to demonstrate anything rigging related? That shackle is not right. At all. You must not side load Bow shackles (IE hook and strop in the bow, nothing on the pin). Basic rigging - you should not be erecting structures for PA hanging at public festivals if you can't see that this is wrong!

Anyway - to the OP:

The bottom line is that if you don't have anything big enough to lift your line array, you can't lift your line array. It's that simple. You'll need to rent a bigger solution from somebody else. If you bent a 250kg tower with a 252kg load, then either you or the tower company are getting your weights wrong. A 250kg SWL will likely have a breaking strength of a ton or more, so it should not be damaged by a load only 2kg above it's safe working load. This is not to say you should ever attempt to lift beyond the SWL of your lifting equipment, but just to say that hanging the entirety of the SWL, plus another 1%, should really not cause damage.

If flying it from cantilevers on your ground support is working for you, keep doing it. It's by far the easiest way. Just be sure that your truss, and the sleeveblocks on the ground support, are happy to take a 252kg cantilever load at the distance in question. In any case it sounds to me like you should be communicating more with your equipment manufacturers, and in any case, a competent rigger.

[ceecrb1]

So far I havnt hung it from stand alone tower.. only from large trusses when we "truss up" an entire stage etc.

But definately thanks for the input... really its all I was looking for, I'm not being TOO crazy and we can pay the engineer at the local truss company to do the maths... we were just looking for that initial 2nd opinion before going any further forward.