Junior8

Here is how it's done!

I was wondering about this Zoom business but after the first online meeting I was left mystified as to why we've been leaving home at all for this sort of thing for the last few years. Plus the same agenda was got though in about a third of the time.

And they're weather proof too.

For the sake of clarity in most cases the biscuit tins were like these most even came with a pressing mark on the base and lid which was temptingly about the size of a standard lampholder and perfectly central (you can just about make it out on the picture). (They were also ideal for Christmas Trees) Further explanation for the young - these tins were used to supply biscuits to retailers who then displayed them in glass topped cabinets like this. Which meant a) you could have any weight and assortment you liked and b) bags of broken biscuits were readily on sale!

I've just been reading Stage Lighting on a Shoestring from Don's second link. Youngsters may find it amusing and enlightening in almost equal measure. £1 in 1961 is about £30 today making the minimum budget suggested £1000 at current prices. It also illustrates just who the Patt 45 was aimed at.

Oh well these things happen...

264 as it appears there are two sets of shutters. They look to be colour coded, but I'm sure I remember using some that had different handle shapes (both circular and pointy) for each shutter type. However, it's possible that this wasn't how they came out of the factory as it would have been in the late '80s. Strand had a variety of shutter handle types over the years and perhaps shutters from different eras were put in at some point. I've no idea why the idea that you could to both 'sharp to shutter' and a soft-edged shutter in the same beam didn't stick around. Probably the cost of a lot of redundant shutters, I guess. It was marketed initially I think as a 'bifocal' profile spotlight. Was the design of the lamphouse the only way they could get a 1KW prefocus lamp in at the time?

At Derby Playhouse we used about half a dozen of those colour changers with the control box until maybe the late 90's. I then repurposed them as projector shutters and used them until the early 2000's. I think I have a picture of the controller somewhere but haven't been able to find it quickly. The wheel had small magnets attached and the position was read by a reed switch on the mounting frame. They were a lot quieter than scrollers. Yes I saw them in the catalogue but I seem to recall that buying the complete system, as with most Strand stuff, was fairly expensive. They must have sold thousands of the wheels though.

LIke this There was a control box available but I never saw on in use. As the previous poster raid they were usually switched on and left. In many venues they were mounted on Strand swivel arm wall brackets - can't remember the ref number but someone paid £52 for one this month on ebay You might be interested in

Horror now but it's what they had back then. It is half a century or more ago.

As late as 1970 Furse products were still supplied with three separate asbestos covered conductors passing through a simple cable gland. It was archaic then. For strapping cables to bars it was insulating tape and the new plastic type had happily replaced the old fabric type which could be very unpleasant to use and rolls stored for any length of time became incredibly manky. When I went into the coin machine industry in 1973 working on a drinks machine line somebody had invented the plastic spiral cable containment system for wiring looms which gave a very tidy job but wasn't so clever in pre-manufactured looms which turned out to be faulty when they were installed as you had to wind back yards of the stuff making simple repairs pointless - indeed I made a loom tester especially for the job so that we could test the blasted things before they went in and could send them straight to the bin. (It might have been an idea if they'd been tested by the makers.) I don't recall cable ties being widely available in all sizes back then indeed I can't recall when I first saw one but I don't remember anything like the really long ones which have been developed once folk realised just how wide the application of the locking zip principle could be. Kerry might have a groove on his finger but a really nice string tied loom by a skilled worker could be a joy to behold.

Try and talk them out of that - it really could turn into a can of worms. What is the width of the space?

I'd bet good money they simply don't approve it.

I always thought they were marketed to people who fancied the idea of spotlights without the money. I can recall a number of tatty 'pub corner' and cheap club stages equipped with half a dozen backed up with a few coloured reflector lamps in angled batten holders. Any profiles were pointed at the mirror ball naturally...

I had two until 23 years ago when I was still working with such stuff - very useful as fill in follows. Unlike the Mk2 Ns which I never really liked. The Mk1s were a super little tool. I saw a couple for about a tenner each at the Great Dorset Steam Fair junk market section around 2010 and should have bought them.

They are simply a box with a lamp in, no reflector. Even worse they were available with a 250W lamp. The Furse JFR was their version of the same low cost device. As for your project if you can't source a Strand lens I'm pretty sure the lens in a Furse SPR is identical. I don't think I ever saw a Patt23F in captivity.

Given the front cover of PE this week which was a timely intervention https://shop.private-eye.co.uk/ and as we are fast approaching the time when event organisers will have to finally decide their plans for next year I do wonder whether any will be able to make plans since the government's approach to managing this virus, reaction to statistics and imposition of restrictions at short notice, has not changed in seven months. I see Michael Eavis is talking about massive testing arrangements if Glastonbury takes place next year (one does wonder at even mentioning this idea) though they are aiming for a date in June while Boomtown is already selling tickets for August despite the fact that they still have roll-overs from 2020 un-refunded. At least the Jockey Club aren't yet selling tickets for the Cheltenham Festival meeting yet and given the jumpiness of Gloucestershire County Council that's sensible. Goodwood Motorsport are only promising alerts at this stage. I suppose if you are in this event business you have to at least think about business as usual - but can it be? And will the punters be prepared to lay out big sums in advances at this time? What sense are those inside the game getting about things??? (Also with so many organisers clearly not knowing the difference between 'postpone' and 'cancel' when will they fit in the events 'postponed' from 2020?)

Unincorporated Associations can be a very efficient way to run small organisations but I found when I was treasurer of one such, a Youth Advice group, that it made applying for grants from all sorts of funders impossible. They simply wouldn't deal with us. In the end we incorporated as a company limited by guarantee which was really quite simple. Since then the position of Trustees in Unincorporated Associations has been the subject of much debate and looking back I think we all underestimated the possibility of each and several liability if something went badly wrong despite having the correct insurances.

Unless you are able to source used suspension equipment of any kind that comes with a warranty that is worth the paper it is written on forget it. If you can't afford to the job properly don't do it at all. That being said I think you have made things much more difficult for yourself by rejecting wall mounting. A floor standing system might seem easy - and for a temporary fit-up the only solution - but you could well find that the presence of legs makes other things like exits tricky. Faced with a small space like this my first impulse would be for standard wall bars not truss but you may have good reasons for your preference. But if you could wall mount if you were to use Doughty 300mm stand-offs and 2m ali barrel each unit would be well within the amount an individual sponsor might well fund for their name on a plaque by it and it would be new. Just a thought

Putting the video up was worthwhile for informing newbies about Summerland. I often still refer to it when discussing safety without consciously realising it was nearly fifty years ago. That made me feel really old - which of course I am I thought the sound after the installation was just fine btw.

Always very very hot water on a sponge first (it's sometimes worked for me and I always give it a go first) then White Spirit - give it time to work - then go on through the rest of the list above. I agree with the comment on WD40.

Brother in law was a PO Telephones linesman up to 2001 and would agree with everything Kerry says. Throughout the eighties he was always bemoaning the drive for cheap rather than best in what he always referred ti until he retired as the Post Office.

I was a teacher for 21 years and enjoyed every minute of it I only left as I do think once you get between 45 & 50 you are really too old to easily relate to the students as each year passes. I realised I was turning into Mr Chips and the thought terrified me. I'd only add two things.1) Unless you are determined to teach only under elevens try not to limit the age groups for which you are training - exam work with 14-16 year olds which I ended up doing most of the time is incredibly fulfilling. 2) Don't fall in love with teaching, it is very easy to do this if you make a go of it - treat it like any other job and make sure you make time for yourself. Jolly good luck and if you need any sounding boards at any time we'll still be here! (My one negative note - if you find it isn't for you, and you might, walk away. It won't be your fault. I worked with quite a number who stayed when they should have gone and I can tell you it is the most miserable job that anybody could do just for the money in my opinion. Sorry for adding that but I think it ought to be said.)

Find out if they run them themselves or use a contractor and what their waste policy is. Veolia have set up the one I use so that only about 10% goes unsorted as domestic waste the rest is sorted at the site by bin or container. I was told that they often send five or six containers a week of electricals for re-cycling. Hampshire have good info on all their sites online which make clear what they will take and what they do with it.

I take all this sort of stuff to the local recycling centre where they separate the electronics stuff which goes to Africa by the container load, I think for disassembly.