d_korman

Check here too, looks cheaper than efoam.

https://www.flightcasehardware.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=61_108

I bough mine from them when I built my X32 flight-case.

Approx dimensions: Height at rear: 5'8"

Height of top step: 42" (designed to butt up to 48" rostrum)

Depth: 8ft. Width at rear: 9ft. Width at front: 5ft.

Also additional matching pillars and profile balustrade for top of rostra,

 

Here's one I made earlier (about 20 years ago). It might look familiar (I reverse engineered it).

I built 8 of the pods. The whole set are functionally and  pin compatible with the  LeMaitre versions.

I used the female contacts from these, set into a Delrin block.

 

Good used condition, believed to be fully working but has not been powered up for a few years.

Collect from SW London.

£250 ono

 

We've changed the scene - it's now a caulking gun.

However, unless the laws of physics are wrong, an empty air nailer with no air supply cannot possibly fire.

Does anyone know anywhere to hire a safe prop nail gun for "A Bunch of Amateurs" pg 32?

One actor puts the nail gun to another's head, then to his own head (not firing in either case) and then shoots it into the air when it goes off with a bang. Using a real/unmodified  nail gun is a no-no, even without anything in the magazine, so I guess it would have to be a one made or modified for the purpose.

 I guess we could use a real air (ie not a Paslode gas) nailer with no airline connected and nothing in the magazine, and use either a blank firing pistol off-stage  (which we can do) or a sound effect to provide the bang and then the actors will just have to act 😃. Would be better if the sound could come from the gun though.

Thanks for any other suggestions.

 

I use the cheap and cheerful (£22) Berry UCA222 rather than the phone/mic socket. It uses the standard MS drivers so you can plug it into any laptop, also works with mac I believe.

8 hours ago, jamesperrett said:

The subscription thing didn't come in until version 4 and I believe they eventually relented and allowed you to buy it. Version 2 was a complete rewrite that was rushed out without sufficient testing and never updated. Version 3 is far better and Adobe allowed people to download a copy which was protected by only a serial number when they switched off their license servers a few years ago. They may even still have that version available - I haven't looked recently.

I'll have a look - I've not really bothered since they released V2 as V1.5 does everything that I need.......

For the current version there only seems to be a subscription option, cheapest deal is £238..42/year. Can't find any sign of earlier versions on their website.

One reason for staying with v1.5 is that it was a one-time licence purchase whereas after Adobe got their hands on it, it became an annual subscription and much much more expensive.

I  run version 1.5 under Windows 7 in a virtual machine, on a Linux host, works perfectly well. You could do the same using a Windows 10 or 11 host.

I did try it on a Windows 10 virtual machine and it sort of works but has a couple of strange quirks.

 

 

We've always used class 1 FR hardboard for this, with matt gaffer on the joins. Have painted several patterned floors on this surface, and then just paint over with black when pattern no longer needed. Not sure the FR is strictly necessary for something that is in such intimate contact with a wooden floor beneath.

I can imagine that trying to apply masking tape sheets without any crease etc would be a nightmare and certainly can't be re-used at a later date, whereas the hardboard can be left down, or lifted and stored until needed again.

I find my self wondering how a live round was anywhere near the set, let alone in the weapon. Surely the armourer would have checked the weapon was loaded with the correct ammunition immediately before handing it to the actor. I smell negligence (assuming it was not murder).

I recorded an amateur choir a week or two ago and knew from the off the guy on the front row who had a voice like a foghorn and sang his own version of the tune would be an issue. The conductor asked if I could work magic and remove him. I couldn’t and I felt her look at me in disbelief! Surely technology must be able to remove one person in a group?

 

My response to that is "I'll do it if you can tell me how to remove an egg from a cake"

How about ball transfer bearings - they move freely in any direction:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284355889648?hash=item4234ee89f0:g:0OsAAOSwoiZgu6vh

 

We used them to build a revolve many years ago.

What are you hoping to achieve? The colour of the cable obviously has no bearing on its suitability to be used for any given purpose. Is this just for housekeeping? "Please Sir, the LX boys have nicked one of my sound CAT5E cables"

 

With my IT Networks Consultant's hat on - IMO I wouldn't bother. In 35 years in networks, mostly in the Finance Industry where the network is critical (I started before Ethernet was released - all point-to-point/star networks back then), I've seen it tried once or twice, and it doesn't take long for the system to break down. CAT5E is CAT5E - they are all electrically the same. People will use whatever cable they have to hand when they need one. By all means code for straight or crossover cables, though that's better done with the cable sheath (red for Xover only), and possibly use coloured Hellerman sleeves to identify CAT5E, CAT6 etc.

 

Now, colour coding the sockets on a patch bay - that's another matter, and can be very helpful.

The first, definitely for me too, but generally the director will give the operator feedback if it's not what they want :)

one of the thresholds is value over/under £135.

 

Thanks, useful to know.

I've just received a spare part for a watch from Germany, valued at €91.00 + €4.95 shipping. It was sent via Deutsche Post and Royal Mail and there were no additional charges levied - it just dropped through my letterbox this morning.

 

I was expecting the "An item is being held at the sorting office because there is VAT to pay on it" slip and to have to go pay the VAT to get the packet. The invoice stated "VAT Shifted", so I'm guessing there might be a value below which HMRC aren't collecting the VAT (yet?).

I've been using Beyer DT250s for years. Just fitted the third set of replacement ear cushion. They are about £129 at the moment (the complete headset, not the cushions!!)

Doorbells is easy - 2 or different ones on a piece of wood with a 9-12v battery - every theatre / company should have one. Ringers for UK phones is a bit more fiddly - as Tim says you can hire them (quite expensive to buy) - google Telephone Ringers for Theatre. If you fancy making one try this link https://www.blue-roo...showtopic=34615 or search for Telephone Ringers in the BR Search box.

 

You can also drive a phone bell using a 100V line amp driven from your FX laptop. Suitable audio file samples (low frequency sine waves) for US, European and UK cadence are easily found online - just loop them in SCS, multiplay or whatever you are using. you can also create the driver files yourself using various audio editing software (Audacity etc).

USB to X32 if I'm using my X32 - otherwise Tascam US122 or even a Behringer U-Control which works perfectly well. If I need additional channels I use the headphone output on the laptop - just be sure to turn system sounds off :blink:

 

In fact with SCS I can use all three together to get 6 channels out.

I'm in SW London on the Surrey border. Roads here very quiet. I live opposite a small park and it is pretty empty, no problem staying well apart. I also live near a huge park, and again, plenty of people out but it is so huge that there is no problem maintaining much more than 2m separation.

 

 

Regaqrding the wind, this was asked on of the TV phone-ins and apparently the wind disperses the virus so 2m is Ok.

Here you go...

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANSMANN-Powerline-discharge-rechargeable-batteries/dp/B00A76B18W

 

Charges up to 4 independently. I've had one (earlier version) for years.

My Avo 8

I do this regularly - balanced XLR-XLR at mic level is fine. I also have an S1000 with TRS only output and TRS-XLR is fine. Just set the input gain on the X32 as necessary.

I run 8 channels of Line6 2.4GHz and they've been pretty flawless from an RF point of view. Antenna placement close to the stage and using the characteristics of the antennas to put a null over the audience is the recipe to success. I've had 1 or 2 temporary drop outs in maybe 4 or 5 years of using them - but it's less than I've had with UHF and tends to have had a cause I found later (Like LX putting their wifi hotspot on top of your rack that was stashed under the stage so didn't get seen).

 

I swear by my Trantec S5's if you're looking for licenced UHF. Aside from the battery doors (which are easily replaced - find my S5 user group on facebook if you want links to the 3d printer files for replacement doors) they're ruggedly built and 1AA for 10 hours life is a big cost saving over the years. The new ones appear to have antenna loop through's so you don't need antenna distribution straight away. They may have even beefed up the battery door in the new model.

 

Line 6 are great so long as you are not using the 2.4GHz band for anything else, but their reliability comes from them stomping all over other services in that band, including wi-fi and some wireless houselight systems - which is why I can't use them in my local theatre, as they cause the houselights to fade up and down at random!