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LED celing tiles in a wood or aluminium grid might work, but I'm pretty sure you will only find 600mm x 600mm, and you get the grid lines...

I was peripherally involved in a floor made with RGB ceiling tiles, using aluminiulm extrusions as the supporting grid and a thick (8mm? 10mm?) perspex or similar sheet screwed down over the top. I'll see if I can dig out some pictures...

I've no particular expertise in this area. I've looked around and I'm a little overwhelmed by the range of kit on offer from £2.99 to £299.

 

Can someone please recommend a slightly more robust CAT5/6 cable tester? We've had a couple of variations on this kind of thing but they haven't lasted well. We're basically only checking continuity so we don't need lots of functions but we do need reliability.

 

Thanks in advance.

What are you testing?

If you are just checking cable continuity, then go for an almost disposable tester like the one you mention. Buy a couple, try and look after them, but don't worry too much if they get lost or broken.

Next step up is one that will measure cable length. Very useful in working out where a break is in a cable, or more usually, which end has a bad RJ45 crimp! I'm told by a colleague that these aren't bad, and just a little more useful than the basic models.

After that, your next step is into devices that do all of the above, probably have multiple cable identifiers, and can ping IP addresses and pick up an IP address from a DHCP server, which is very useful for checking that your devices are on the correct VLAN. Personally I use the older version of the Fluke Linkrunner

Finally, do you need to verify and certify cables? My old fluke can't certify cable, I use a separate Fluke for that, but the newer version of the Microscanner 2 will do it.

Artem.com may have or be aware of something.

Try colleges that do aeronautical engineering courses. I know I have seen a helicopter being used for demonstrating training aprentices at some shows. It arrived on a trailer, and was presumably a decomissioned airframe that they are used to loading up and delivering to site. A Gazelle I think from memory. Can't recall which college/ organisation I'm afraid.

Anyone got a few old flying pulleys sitting in a box in the corner of the workshop they want to sell?

New workshop has a nice RSJ I want to fly a bar underneath for prepping lights on.

Ideally a single, a double and a triple, for rope not steel wire.

Don't have to be pretty, just cheap!

Can collect if close to Birmingham, or would like someone who can post or courier.

Thanks all.

I think he said £50 each.

£50 seems steep unless they are in excellent condition

I liked the Minuette back in the day, but they are quite an old lantern now.

Check the shutter blades, at that price you should have 4, with nice straight edges, not buckled by heat. Check the lenses, particularly the rear one, which can crack. Will usually be fine with a crack, until you try to project a gobo!

If they are ex hire stock, they might well have been resprayed multiple times, so look for original paint as a sign of how rough a life they have had.

They do come up fairly often on ebay, so don't rush to buy the first ones you get offered.

Consider the Selecon Acclaims which in my opinion are a more robust unit, or if you can find he money, some source 4 Jr zooms.

There are plenty of commercially available GDPR compliant visitor books on the market. Designed to keep visitor names secure, but still provide a full list in case of fire or whatever.

Probably simpler than a tech solution.

https://www.securitysafetyproducts.co.uk/security/visitor-books/signin-book-500-names-data-protection-act-compliant-blacked-out-names-visitor-books.php

I used to have an Arri Reflexion, which did pretty much what you want. Might still be the odd one kicking around secondhand.

Connect it between your existing desk and your dimmers, and it can capture the DMX stream and save it to one of a dozen faders. then take your main desk away.

['ll be meeting with Avolites in a couple of weeks anyway

I did a job a couple of years ago at the London Eye, we had to get DMX to all 32 capsules, I'm pretty sure Avolites were involved in doing this, possibly in conjunction with Stage Electrics who are involved in most of the gigs there. Basically 32 DMX streams were sent wirelessly from one desk on the shore to 32 receivers in the capsules. I can't recall if it was 32 separate universes or not. Took some setup and fine tuning, but performed flawlessly on the night.

Edited to add:

Ah, just noticed that you also want to run video over your network - we did that with wireless video links form Presteigne Broadcast, but we weren't integrating the video and the lighting, it was just cameras sending form the capsules to the shore.