Cerbertech

Thanks everyone for the help, the black is very crumbly and looks like melted something as it flakes off, can't see any other obvious damage.

As they are cheap enough will order some and replace to see if that resolves the issue.

I knew the hive mind on here would help figure out what they were!

Thanks for the quick response and info.

Am pretty sure these have failed as the black scrapes off easily the pictures were after cleaning up the board a bit.

I am also thinking that they may have had a plastic coating like the others with more markings that has melted.

Trying not to have to drop the second one as its in an awkward place to get access but may have to see if there are other markings.

A local pub that I regularly engineer bands at has an installed rig with Studiomaster PA15 cabinets as the tops, one has stopped working so after dropping it and taking out the amp module there is a clear failure of what look like 2 capacitors on the final output stage / crossover board.

Google has failed me to get any info on the boards at all.

Has anyone come across repairing these and can help identify replacements, only marking is the number 220 on top of the cannister? 

We use some LED bar strips mounted on the pole between subs and tops to give a bit of side light when we are tight on space.

To close this off they have arrived and will operate whilst charging from the usb socket, yet to try them out in the wild but they work through walls with a router and 2 hotspots enabled next to them.

We have ordered a pair to try out will report back on how they go and whether they run from plugged in cable as well as internal battery.

For these small gigs the controller is a generic DMX controller similar to the Stairville DMX-Master MK II ENC so no remote control option

Thanks for all the feedback and comments, I understand the risks but a couple of our regular venues have made changes to layouts due to covid that will make cable runs more difficult to where we will now have to operate from.

 

The bike rallies we do are in remote fields so less concerned there.

 

Our get ins / outs are always time restricted as well meaning putting straps round pillars etc to support cables is not that practical.

 

These are a dedicated transmitter and receiver based system, my main concern is if you need the charger or whether they can be powered in use, I guess if nobody here has used them we will have to buy a pair and try them out.

The ones I am looking at are separate receivers and one transmitter but I do get the crowded Wi-Fi band risk, these will only be deployed in small pub gigs and small outdoor stages in fields.

I could go the self build route but like the compact size of the ones I am looking at and already have USB power available built into the hard power to each stand so would only be one extra cable per location, each stand is already short DMX links.

I am looking for a low cost wireless DMX to enable us to be able to operate our band rig from anywhere in a venue rather than having to run cables.

 

Been looking at these : https://www.gear4mus...ASABEgLNsPD_BwE

 

Chauvet D-Fi XLR Wireless Dongle

 

They are rechargeable but also have a USB inlet, as we may use them for longer periods of time can they be powered from this socket?

 

Has anyone here used them?

 

Chauvet instructions and the web are not very forthcoming and everyone we asks wants to sell us the charger, but rather not buy it unless we really have to.

We are seeing containers rise to $9000 dollars on some China routes - not industry related as its in my day job - but landed in the UK that is nearly £28 extra on a product that currently does ok volumes at a retail of around £100 with 40% or so margin - we can't take the loss of margin on the extra and the customer may not stomach a 25% price increase, so volumes will drop.

 

We have factory commitments that are in production - can delay next phase but we are also ending up with costs to store what is produced already in the far east (although cheaper than UK storage admittedly).

 

We either pay the prices or someone else will - versus not having stock for season launch or it being late to market.

 

This will ultimately affect our direct competitors as well but is another challenge we don't need in retail, but at least we are still taking some money unlike other sectors.

 

Seems that the import bubble is slowly leaking for many reasons.

 

That article was a good read and mirrors exactly what we are seeing / hearing.

If it is a large scale company - check for a whistle blowing policy - most have some form of confidential, the best ones even use an external company to handle employee concerns.

Studiospares move has meant more local to me - great for last minute and broken stuff but a smaller trade counter style operation, no more bargain corner of ex-demo bits going cheap (reminds me I still have a sub stage box to finish from the old store). The staff did not all transfer and are not now as knowledgeable either, the warehouse also acts as the website fulfilment.

I can second the recommendation of the Thoman T-Amps for cheaper reliable amps, we have 2 of the TA 1050's (one for subs one for mid highs run off a crossover) and a TSA 4700 (4 channel used for monitors) on our medium sized rig

 

https://www.thomann....mcs=8fba84_2981

 

There a variety of powers and sizes available and come with a 2 year warranty.

Hi,

There is a manual here that has a few examples of how to set it up in : https://www.manualsl...?page=27#manual

 

To use all boxes as monitors and FOH will need another amp, also depend on what size room and material you will be playing, hopefully the diagrams give you a start point.

Maybe Use Zoom Webinar for the main broadcast, each team captain is a panelist so can ask questions and mute and unmute themselves everyone else just watches.

 

Everyone can still use Q&A for sorry I did not hear that etc.

 

Then each team uses Teams / WhatsApp to text chat each other, that way even if a captain forgets to mute the answers are only in text form?

Probably not Gobo wheels on the side but a colour changer spinning disk with different coloured gels.

 

They were used without control i.e. just continuously spinning in a lot of clubs, more advanced was a separate switched circuit for the motor and guess work switching to get the colour you wanted.

 

Good luck with the restorations and look forward to seeing the progress.

I am a happy user of the T-Amps, have a TSA 4-700 that drives monitors on our powered FOH rig, but occasionally does the FOH or a mix of both.

 

Also have 2 TA 1050 that do FOH duty.

 

All are regularly used and have had only 1 channel fail on a 1050 that was fixed with only 2 weeks of extended warranty left - return to Germany was less than 10 days back to me working.

Found this :

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Square-Taper-budget-Commercial-Accessories/dp/B00TW9E074/ref=asc_df_B00TW9E074/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309785471682&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2672608702022383209&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006933&hvtargid=pla-561782907267&psc=1

"I occasionally make the mistake of thinking it will taste like that back in the UK"

 

That's because it is often actually a different drink.

 

European is brewed there, we just have our own version made here, am sure they don't achieve the same recipe. Indeed some like Stella are actually different strengths.

 

Lots of contract brewed in the UK product using licensed brands.

The other possibility is to note that one can make gobos out of brass or copper, and the process for doing it is no different to making a PCB, except that one has to coat the metal with resist oneself, unless someone knows of a source of pre-sensitised brass or copper sheet. Schools often have the kit to make PCBs, especially the hard stuff like etching tanks with evil chemicals in them and a decent UV exposure box.

 

One can get spray-on resist such as Electrolube PRP (usually part number PRP200 for the 200ml spraycan) from the usual suspects, which was intended for coating non-presensitised PCB material, but that stuff went the way of the ark.

 

Rather than double-side coating the metal blank with resist, it should be possible to coat the non-exposed side with paint, lacquer or something similar.

 

The secret to making good PCBs (and by extension, gobos by the same method) is have a good master film, and Mega Electronics LaserStar film and a 600dpi laser are the right things to use.

 

If anyone has a go at this, do report how you get on.

 

Did this many times when back at sixth form and university in the late 80's and early 90's. Takes practice to get the etch timing correct. and as stated image quality is everything although we were using Letraset and felt pens on plastic OHP slides as all the printers we had access to were dot matrix at the time.