Robin D

There are differences but as the LED's age you will get more so. Personally I've never found it a problem as so rarely projecting onto an empty set with all white walls etc. Even the soft talent will be wearing clothes I assume and every surface type reflects colour differently. How do you cope with different skin tones? Back in the day, filters burned thin and let more light through. Didn't change them every show. If you really need a hotspot or two to be identical, use same type and age of fixture onto the same surface. I would stop obsessing and remember that theatre is about 'suspension of disbelief' in the audience. You are sketching a picture in their minds, not trying to create reality. To get an absolutely even mix you need each unit exactly the same difference from the target, hitting at the same angle. Even then the beam from next door unit will encroach.

I don't know the device, but I take it you have found the manual at https://marshall-usa.com/pdf/CV565-CV365_Manual.pdf and been through the trouble shooting section? Are you certain your laptop supports HDMI 'in' and is it configured to use it? Many do not, despite HDMI being a 2 way protocol) meaning a HDMI to USB converter with appropriate driver is required (preferably USB-C for video.) My current laptop has no HDMI either in or out.

Could be a number of things unfortunately.. Sorry but I am struggling to understand what you are describing, but if we start with some questions it might help. To confirm: If you connect the dongle to just the Roboscans they work fine. If you connect just the Mac's, do they work fine? Are you terminating the DMX line? I know most of these units are supposed to self terminate, but putting a known terminator as the last in the line, may make a difference and rules out self termination as a possibility? Have you tried just adding one device at a time? It may be just one of them with a fault that is causing the issue and then taking the rest of the line down. If these devices have master/slave settings, (I don't remember) then are they all set to slave or standalone. If any are set to master, they will output DMX onto the line to try to control the devices downstream. Why are you using a phase reverse cable? If it's because Mac's need it, then you need another before linking on to the Robo's to reinstate it as normal. If that is the case, put DMX through the Robo's then phase reverse, then Mac's ending with a terminator. Does everything work then? Are you certain you have not patched the devices in the software with an overlapping DMX address? Consider getting a DMX splitter and running them on two separately terminating lines? Are you using DMX cables or microphone cables. The latter work 9 times out of 10, (or perhaps 99 times out of 100) but the 1 in 10 can be a nightmare to debug. What dongle and software are you using? Can you borrow a proper desk and try that to prove it's not the dongle causing issues especially with DMX timing. Good luck.

If stage weights are out of budget, you can make your with a few square kids beach buckets, thin strips of timber and bags of postfix cement plus a cheap screw in handle for each weight. Cut the strip of timber to fit the bucket then an offcut of timber screwed to it at least the depth of the lip on the brace. Place in the bottom of the oven with a couple of layers of clingfilm over it. If the bucket has ramparts, cut a sheet of ply to cover them. Next cut some strips or squares of timber slightly longer but at least two knuckle widths of the handle size and at least as deep as the handle once fitted. . Cast the concrete, then insert the top squares of timber such that the concrete comes above the final handle height. Allow to set. and turn out, Drill the finished item to fit the handle. Do it properly and they will stack, albeit not as tidily as the proper stage weights. Did this for an Amdram group near where we lived years ago, but can't find the photo's. If I remember rightly, it cost us a bucket per weight as we ended up cutting the bucket away.

And of course privacy and GDPR (video is data) needs consideration. Make sure the University hierarchy are aware of what is planned. I don't think it will be an issue as the policies and procures to be followed should already be in place. If it's to be put onto social media, any performance of copywrite material must explicitly allow recording and sharing. That also includes rehearsals.

The Behringer C2 are cracking little units at the price. Put them up against some Rode M3's in a venue and no-one in the tech team, yet no-one, (except the Op on the desk) could tell any difference in sound quality. Very sensitive to noise coming up a stand though. easier to hang if you can.

Was there line of sight from the mic to the receiver? Or did the audience act as a barrier? Has similar with some Trantec units and had to move the receiver rack to solve it. Yes phones are an issue. Ask that they turn them off. Not all will but 200+ looking for a signal, and a lot probably looking for WiFi will create a lot of RFI. Not everyone will do as you ask, but many will if you point out that it's not the most modern of equipment you are using and by leaving them on, they may well spoil their child's performance. Had another issue when going back to a venue where all had worked seamlessly on a prior occasion to find I had placed the racks within a few feet of a newly installed WiFi access point.

If you can find one in bone china, it will be much stronger than normal china and less likely to break if dropped, although it might chip. Almost any charity shop/car boot/ antiques shop will have a choice. The other option, is to put a suitable rug down where the china is likely to be knocked so it has a soft landing. The problem with melamine ones is they do not 'sound right', and the chink of a cup meeting the saucer, is part of the atmosphere. (NB: The sound can be sucessfully mic'd with a carefully placed boundary or lavaliere if its a big venue.

Just to update this. A call to Monacor in Germany gave me the current UK distributor who are Epic Audio. https://epicaudio.co.uk/. Neil there has proved very helpful in arranging a return to their workshop via a more local distributor. I am still chasing the church warden with the other questions, but it looks like a resolution may be on the way. Will try to remember to update as and when the matter concludes.

I will endeavour to find out more. 👍

Hi @sunray and thanks. What is the device you have pictured please? Some sort mains filter?

Thank you @bruce. I have not t witnessed the crack. No fluorescent tubes. Nothing with motors. The organ is out of use as they don't have anyone to place it, the bells are hand pulled (by a prize winning team), heating is by tubes under the pews. Lighting is all incandescent (or candles). Heating is always turned off before the service starts I am told. It's an 8th Century church updated in Victorian crimes. Nothing appears to have changed recently. The power is the same supply to the whole village, so while I may be on a different phase, it's actually been reliable since the substation was upgraded about about a decade ago. The lace was rewired less than 20 years ago. There is only the one set of sub plus pillar. Everything stays connected all the time. I suspect a problem with the internal PSU, but it could be many things. Ian reports that there is no pattern in terms of how long it's been on. I guess I will have to find time to go down to have a play to see if I can recreate the problem.

Our village church purchased one of the from a dealer who no longer exists a few year back. Perhaps 6-8 years. I am not an attendee but know the church warden well and have previously done sound and lights for concerts. Now it emitting a loud crack every so often. I suggested he contact the UK agent, no response received, or Monacor on Germany, also zero response. He rang Germany and no answer. Does anyone know anything about the company or have a current contact, or know anyone likely to undertake a repair please? Monacor Active Speaker System. model C-RAY/8 number 25.5630, Maker, Monacor International. Germany. Google shows the UK distributor as 'permanently closed'. The main website is still up and running. If I need to I will dismantle it myself, but have a lot on at the moment so would rather not. Thanks in anticipation. Robin

I have some LEDJ 9hex10 that have been faultless. (Fingers crossed).

I had similar in our local church (Dating to the 8th century) for a funeral of a village and church stalwart that was being streamed for overseas family. Someone else was handling the video, I just had to give him, and those sitting in the overspill marquee outside, the audio feed. The vicar wanted to move about so radio mic was the obvious answer. All worked great until they turned the organ on (a very old electric organ in a beautiful walnut cabinet). Terrible interference as soon as the vicar walked anywhere near the organ which is placed to one side of the aisle. Given the timescale... the coffin was already being carried in lead by the vicar. It was a couple of quickly placed Behringer C2 cardiods (No sneering please, they are cracking little units and great value for money.) plugged straight into the desk. I had taken them down to the church as originally told they would have a choir, but that didn't happen so I hadn't rigged them. Fortunately I had already run in a convenient snake from near the alter for the pulpit mic, through the priest door, back in through a tower window to the desk otherwise I would have been well and truly stuffed. Proves the old adage that you can test things in isolation, but environmental factors can still get in the way!

Does that mean I operate at the level of an 11 year-old????? 🤣🤣

Far from it Edward. I think you make many valid points. There was one other thing that I remember after posting. If I remember correctly, I think your support people said I could do it with an FLX but not the FLX(S) being the ability to exclude things from a DBO. There was a need to ensure that a couple of blues above the stage stayed on at all times for safety and also because one of the kids was terrified of complete dark and had a meltdown!. Even on my very, very old 70's Colortran 2 preset desk I could set independents that were then excluded from the master fader or DBO. I may have misremembered or misunderstood the absence of the feature. I had the drama teacher, Head of Drama and Deputy Principal breathing down my neck and was getting close to panic myself by then! 😘

And there is the rub. Your average school teacher understood the fader per channel concept. They do not understand more modern concepts such as I faced at zero notice with the FLX (S) that the school had been persuaded to buy from a supplier who was less than keen to assist. They got the call to help before I did. If you actually have the someone to use it, you also need Time Knowledge of what's in the rig and to have it properly patched, a clear understanding from the Director of the actual lighting requirements. In my experience, rarely do one out of three see the light of day and the call for help always goes out far too late. The keen student, (or even someone like me with limited experience on the modern stuff, but then I am advancing in years!), is never going to do a great job. I know that, but then you have generally a large group of children keen as mustard to perform, tickets sold to parents and a rapidly approaching first night, what do you do. The school I was referring too, I ended up teaching the Head of Performing Arts the fundamentals of DMX, as well as how sound gets to and from the stage to the sound mixer through a stage box! Now it's dead easy to knock the teachers and those that allow these situations to occur, but surely desks could be designed to be more intuitive thus reducing the learning curve? As said earlier I am certain the FLX is a cracking little desk but faced with the late hour, the lack of working knowledge of the desk by me, (but I had more idea than anyone else.)! It's also easy to criticise the silly old codgers like me who live in the dark ages. Maybe I should have kept up to date as an amateur, but with generally two 'stage/dance school type shows' a year using mainly my own gear for the last couple of decades years,, why would I a) invest £000's in a new desk, or b) invest in training on any number of modern desks I might just be called upon to assist with at very short notice? My background is electronics and IT consultancy but have been retired for several years. I also agree, it's not 1995, or even 1965 (with 2 x Junior 8's)! Sooner or later, something of the modern technology needs to be simplified or schools are going to stop doing shows and that will be a real travesty. The only thing anyone in the school knew how to do with the FLX was to use the colour picker to change the scene colour. Training certain teachers will help, but teachers move on, and is the incoming person going to get training on the equipment? You all know the answer to that. It's a huge challenge but one that system designers could really assist with if they stepped back from their own knowledge base and really put their minds to it. The alternatives of hiring in a LD and operator are just not going to happen whatever the purists here might thing should happen. I sometimes wonder if I should have persevered with the FLX, but driving home that evening having been thrown out by the caretaker who wanted to go home, I knew that with a hour or two next day before the opening matinee for local feeder primary schools, I could put a half decent light show on using the Smartfade sate in my garage. Rightly or wrongly, that's what I did. None of this helps the OP. I felt that adding my ten penneth worth was the right thing to do, but again, if anyone thinks that was wrong, I apologise.

I was forced to use a FLX S24, having never previously seen one pre pandemic and struggled with it as I was having to 'busk it'! The big issue I struggled with was knowing what layer I was on, therefore constantly having to look at the desk. That would be fine if you had time to sit and programme in a show, but on this occasion it was not an option. (I was asked to help after the tech and about two hours before the first show. I spent most of that time trying to work out what was what on the grid and really wanted to run it as a set of scene submasters, but there are just not enough of them. I had seen no rehearsals but knew Hairspray as had previously done it. It will be of no surprise to those here to be told it was a school! At least with the Sirius, you could set the scenes up per fader and then you simply had to know which fader was which. I am sure the FLX is a cracking little desk after a learning curve, planning and some rehearsals but it was a lot harder to busk with than my old Masterpiece!. The next day I took in my trusty Smartfade ML, as at least I knew my way around the desk and all the faders are in a line. I ran the rest of the run ran on that. To be fair to Z88, the emergency phone walkthrough I received was first class thank you.

Don't Eaton also own Zero88? If so, it may be one that @jonhole may be able to mediate on.

One school near here had house light control through the desk whenever they were ALL turned off at the normal bank wall switch. If you wanted to be safe when changing a lamp, you had to power down the dimmer rack. Really odd. However they were dimmable fluorescents that hardly dimmer away smoothly. I always rigged some uplighters and shut the houselights off before the audience came in. So much more controllable and pleasant on the eye.

If not already centrally supported, cut some 2 x 3 timber to the internal height and fix to the centre underside as a additional. Uses some offcuts to make two blocks for each side. Drill them through such that they fit to the underside of the ply and you can get screws through sideways to fix the new leg into place. If going on a polished floor ensure the floor end of the boxes have felt pads fitted. I just glued the end, cut felt oversize and staple gunned the excess onto the sides of the leg. Alternatively see if you can find something rigid that is the same height as the internal and put them on the floor with the stagebox over them. I had a similar problem with a school temporary stage some years back. I was allowed to borrow piles of books that I put under each stagebox to solve the problem for that show. Then I modified the boxes as above for the showing a week later, having discovered the school had been complaining about them for years, both for the amount of flex and creak, plus the drum effect with kids on them.

Do these light the back wall of the stage (furthest from the audience)? That is upstage and the wall or curtains often referred to as the cyc short for cyclorama. The upstage downstage is because in some theatres the stage tipped towards the audience known as a raked stage. Either way, I am with @sunray on this for two reasons. Cheaper LEDs will not dim smoothly (never power them from a dimmer pack) and while the power saving of LED is a worthwhile goal, in reality, unless the stage is in very regular use, the return on investment is likely to be longer than the lifespan of the new units. They are on for what 3 hours max per show? Multiplied by the number of shows. The savings will be miniscule if you only do a handful of shows a year. LED''s are also a lot more complex as they contain electronics. They have to have a data feed and clean power. Most have fans that need regular maintenance to avoid them stopping and/or getting noisy. Nothing worse than a really quiet scene accompanied by the whirring of a dozen or so fans. I too look after a village hall and keep it as simple as I can. I use LED's to add rich colours and movement, but everything else is old, but works.

I resisted responding earlier as have zero experience of an X32. Please don't take this as fact, but I know someone who uses an X18 with a wireless access point attached to which he connects at least two devices including I thought wireless headphones. I think it's aimed primarily at providing mobile control of the desk, but if the feature is available on the X32, it may just be a case of getting a suitable access point, attaching the camera to the network and routing output to it. There must be X32 users here who can help with this, or tell me I am talking out of the wrong orifice.

Sorry. Meant to come back to close this out. I decided given the time available to purchase one of these. Works a treat. 😁