Malcolm Gordon

Perhaps I should have said "at the base end". From the product description - "Konig & Meyer gooseneck made of steel. Ideally use for mic stands. 3/8-inch female and male thread."  However I hadn't zoomed in far enough to see the (very coarse) male thread on the base. So apologies for the incorrect comment.

Because you are connecting female to female (or should be with the usual mic clip arrangement) you need to use something like this https://www.trewaudio.com/product/windtech-m-18/ (wrong thread, wrong country) or a length of 5/8" threaded tube inserted in the mount as a gender changer.

Perhaps if Ninjadingle had written ‘when first powered up’, it would have underlined the method. With your device in pairing mode try opening the HA door(s) and closing. This works with my Phonak Nova aids.

Keeleys of Hoddesdon (www.keeleyhire.co.uk) have several, but they are 100 miles from you and the till flags look to be £sd.

Thanks all for the advice - I’ll start with Concord Theatricals.

Does the fact that it is integral mean that Disney won’t grant permission or that they will charge an arm and a leg? This must have come up before - the play is about 20 years old.

 It is not a specific track but the film that’s mentioned by a character. Changing the script would involve gaining permission from the rightsholder, wouldn’t it?

I would be grateful for some guidance. My society has had to change its next production and is now putting on ‘Life x 3’ at the end of April. This specifies the playing offstage of a track from Disney’s ‘The Fox and the Hound’ as an effect. No performance element is involved.

Which part of Disney should I approach for permission?

Many thanks.

Cut a screwdriver slot in the end of the thread, to hold it steady whilst using the spanner?

2 hours ago, Robin D said:

1. It's easy when picking out tracks to have two or more at the same time as it does not automatically stop the playing track if you launch another unless I am not using SFR cues correctly. 

2. I normally set the project up with default audio outputs when creating the show (Usually at home because I need to test before getting to a venue), but then when connecting via USB to a mixer or the like, you get no sound output. Caused me to panic 15 mins before a show went up. I ensure the USB driver was loaded into Windows, and even made it default to no avail. To fix, go into the Editor with the show file open, then click on the the very top line in the left column (The project file name). All the project settings will appear on the right as tabs. Just pick out the correct output devices, save, and away you go.

1. In general use SCS is designed to be able to have multiple tracks playing at the same time, potentially to different devices, for sound effects etc. Playing backing tracks is a bit more specialised. SFR cues will do just what is asked of them, e.g. act on a particular cue or all playing cues. In linear mode if you want a running track (1) to stop when the next track (2) is played, you add an SFR cue as a sub-cue to cue (2), fading out cue (1), actioned at the same time or with a relative time difference if required. If you don't know which cue will be playing then you can select 'all playing cues'. However if you are going to play cues randomly you would need to add that sub-cue to each cue.

2. I have been using SCS since 2005, so much of what I do is automatic, but I still get caught out sometimes. The program has become a bit more forgiving over the years but, in general you need devices connected and the drivers loaded in Windows before starting SCS if the program is to find them. I use a laptop with an optical as well as normal audio output, and set the project up with alternative device maps so I can swap between the two if necessary.

11 hours ago, John M said:

Hi Robin. I now have the pro version but I cant see anywhere that lists the cue operations eg how would I do the following -  play track 1 using the space bar then auto stop at the end, Play track 2 play and continue to track 3  without a break, Auto stop at the end of track 3. I  cant see a drop down list of functions/cues so I assume they have to be typed in. If that's the case what order are the commands and what format are they. I have looked at the help menu but I am obviously missing something.

No specific command format. In SCS Editor select 'Add Audio File Cue'. In the blue Sub-Cue area second line browse for the required audio file (...), trim the Start and End points as required, enter Fade In and Fade Out times (my default is 0.200 secs in, 0.500 secs out), to avoid possible clicks at the beginning of the track and an abrupt ending. Leave 'Activation' in the green area as 'Manual' (with space bar).  Repeat for tracks 2 and 3, but for track 3 set 'Activation' as 'Auto Start' (from dropdown) '0.0 seconds' 'after end of cue' 'Previous Cue'. For the latter you can also enter a specific cue if required. When SCS gets to the end of track 2, track 3 will auto start. Depending on the tracks, if you want achieve a seamless transition you could change it to '0.5 seconds' 'before end of cue', for example, or longer, and adjust the Fade Out of track 2 and Fade In of track 3 to suit.

The resultant cue list is usually worked through in a linear fashion using the space bar. To take tracks out of order you can navigate the cue list with up/down arrows or the mouse. Alternatively, to play tracks completely randomly you could set the Activation for each cue as 'Hotkey (Trigger)' and allocate a specific key to each track. A single keypress will then play that track.

HTH

For a number of years I have been successfully using a M-Audio FW 410 with my WS7 Sony Vaio. However, the 4-pin FireWire socket has become unreliable, so that an inadvertent nudge of the cable can cause a loud bang, a loss of connection and the need to power down and reboot at both ends, since hot-plugging, although theoretically permissible under the standard, is not recommended to avoid circuit damage.

I managed to find a Roland UA-101, predecessor of the Octa Capture, with a USB 2.0 connection, and have migrated to that. 

FireWire audio compatibility is a bit of a black art. Apart from the actual socket, a pre-requisite is usually a Texas Instruments chipset, but even then it may not work reliably with particular soundcards. This article explains the problem.

Check out the Screen Monkey documentation - Reference/Getting Started/Working with Clips/Pausing a Clip. Does that help?

4 hours ago, Ynot said:

On a different tangent, I seem to recall there used to be a theatre museum near Drury Lane I think, but I believe that didn't survive for long 😞

I remember visiting it. According to Wikipedia it was created in 1974 and moved to converted premises in Covent Garden in 1987. I think the entrance was in Russell Street. It was closed in 2007 and the collections moved to the V&A, where it became the Theatre and Performance Department but much of the collection has remained out of sight. In 2021 it was facing closure again under the V&A's restructuring and there is a campaign to save it.

Although I am not a business, I have been using Musicguard for fifteen years to cover equipment I take to small indoor events, for theft and the risk of a speaker stand falling on someone. I have never had to claim. You would have to check the conditions for any exclusions.

That's a fascinating exposition of intermodulation, which is very helpful.

Many thanks both for that reassurance.

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread, but I didn't find a relevant more recent one.

For a very undemanding simple PA I have a Pulse Megamouth radio microphone system (successor to the Carlsbro Speakezee). It is on the exempt legacy frequency of 173.8 MHz. I now have the opportunity to purchase one of two Megamouth Mk3 units, unused but in stock for years. The frequencies available are the legacy 174.1 and 175 MHz. Would it be advisable to go for the 175, in case drift brings 173.8 and 174.1 too close together, or is it wiser to test if possible anyway?

However when it was installed by BT they did not know how long it would run on battery....

This BT page says "up to an hour".

 

The syringe idea was still being worked on but I had options for either a sprung version (but was struggling to keep the tension up throughout the entire stroke of the syringe as the spring extended).

Would a constant force 'Tensator' type spring such as by Spiroflex work here? One could perhaps adapt a brush spring as here. I've no idea if singles are stocked and can be bought.

In the Windows world there are many on this forum that would nominate SCS (Show Computer Systems) as the pre-eminent software. It's written in your city (Brisbane) too.

Show Control System is AFAIK UK-based,

 

No, SCS is in Australia: PO Box 5584, Alexandra Hills, Qld 4161, Australia | ABN 40 219 268 559

For the benefit of anyone reviewing this later, SCS = Show Cue Systems (the perils of predictive text on a phone). Alexandra Hills is 14 miles from the centre of Brisbane.

The mic plug does have a locking nut. I did try waggling the jack in the socket and the cable itself, without effect. The way the mic is used it is unlikely to have encountered sweat. I am also told that the mic has been replaced.

I have just spoken to the user and enquired about batteries, to be told that a fresh set (of Duracells) lasted a bit longer (i.e. more than 20 minutes) before the crackling set in, which suggested to me that voltage regulation might be an issue.

They have the supplier on the case, and will also try relocating the receiver aerials, to improve reception. However, I would have thought that the effect of poor reception would be immediate rather than time dependent.