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I think it was Giles Favell who worked at Steeldeck To answer the original question... yes 3.2mm high yield tube is now the de facto standard in the scaffolding industry since it is treated as having effectively the same structural properties as the 4.0mm tube everyone used to use. (3.2mm high yield has been the standard in many other countries for years). It's also worth pointing out that EN 39 (Loose Steel Tube for Tube and Coupler Scaffold) permits wall thickness of 3.2 - 4mm.

Yes, 'shins' generally just refer to lanterns installed in the bottom of the booms. To answer the question, @James Remo clearly provides the model answer for a product that already exists but I share the one concern that perhaps it's a little high when fully stowed. If that's the case, honestly I'd probably fix a 50mm tube onto a pair of linear guide rails (running vertically) in a frame and use a Wahlberg Winch 1 DMX winch (sub-1000 euros) to pull it up, let the weight pull it back down. You could alternatively drive a leadscrew with a DMX motor which would probably give you more precision positioning (same principle - run it up and down linear guide rails) - attach the 50mm tube to the ballnut so that when the motor turns the tube runs up and down the leadscrew. I don't agree with Tom's assessment that you'll need somebody costing thousands of pounds a week there to run it... any more than you'd need such a person to get an elevator up to the grid or open the motorised dock door.

If London is an option then perhaps somewhere like Whitelight could be an option for you? You're still learning about theatre lighting but you wouldn't need to be in an actual theatre. You'd be in a warehouse in Wimbledon. Geographically that seems pretty well suited as well. Otherwise Orbital Sound (Brixton), Delta Sound (West Moseley), Kinesys/TAIT (Hampton Court), etc. Plenty to learn in these environments too.

... unless you need access to your finger tips. Also for big rigging you may find that hide rigger gloves protect your wrists better.

The various products you need can be found here: https://www.efoam.co.uk/packaging-foam.php

Best thing to do would be to call Total Solutions in Birmingham. If they ever made a 3m Litebeam circle truss, they'll have a record of who they sold it to.

I thought this might be of interest to some people. 18th September at the National https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-future-of-followspots-tickets-679262722087

Sounds like you're looking for the ISC R-ALF auto locking pulley: https://www.iscwales.com/Products/r-alf-lh-alf-locking-pulleys/RP431-R-ALF-Rescue-Hauler-Pulley-2-Way-Auto-Locking/ They also do a single direction locking one, which could also work for you if you want to be able to haul it out at full speed without engaging the brake: https://www.iscwales.com/Products/r-alf-lh-alf-locking-pulleys/RP433-LH-ALF-Material-Handling-One-way-Auto-Locking-locking-Pulley/

If you are delivering the equipment to the UK venue then I am fairly sure you will need to charge VAT. Exempting VAT for foreign suppliers only works when you are exporting things. If it is sent to a UK address then I believe VAT is chargeable.

I know this is really old now but if anyone does still happen to care, I just thought you may like to know that Canford have, in the past, made a bone conduction headset for theatre comms. I spoke to them about it at some length about 5 years ago,

You are correct that this doesn't fall under LOLER, I would say the cable ties fall under PUWER. As far as the PUWER thing goes, the designer is responsible for ensuring that all equipment used in supporting this installation is sufficiently strong enough to support the loads imposed by the equipment and any additional loads imposed by its intended use. Whilst you may not believe that the zip ties are acceptable, they may have been chosen at the conclusion of a thorough design process which ultimately specified them as the most suitable attachment means. Realistically that is of course probably not the case and they've probably been chosen because they're cheap. But to a point you have to respect the decision of the designer here. They may be able to prove that the cable ties are of suitable specification and they may be able to show that the cable ties are the most effective method. Sadly, you don't know. If you believe that there is an imminent risk to safety then you can report it but ultimately if the designer has done their job properly and concluded that cable ties are the most suitable attachment method then you may have to accept that.

That doesn't make it fall under LOLER. The line you have quoted refers to attachments used for anchoring, fixing or supporting the lifting equipment. If there is no lift involved then it is not covered by LOLER

When I was a venue technical manager, I worked in a good venue with a slightly sub-rider system (Nexo Alpha) and then a venue with a well above-rider system (Kara). My observation was that every act you get will specify a top end system - even small bands who'll be happy to get the gig. And that's no bad thing, it's just a sort of don't ask, don't get thing really. If you're doing a one off outdoor event and they're hiring in a PA just for you, what do you want? You put that one. Technical riders at the receiving venue end of the spectrum are not quite the same as technical riders at the stadium touring end of the spectrum. In the latter, it forms a critical part of the contract without which, the artist reserves the right to not play. In the former, it forms a backbone to help the promoter identify whether the venue is suitable for the artist / production. Turbosound is, as you allude to, well out of the A-league these days. So you will get a mix of opinions. Typically I'd say the less experienced engineers tend to stand by the requirement of a good system more than the old hands. In theory, a PA shouldn't need upgrading. Electroacoustics haven't changed ever. There is no reason the system shouldn't be able to perform at the same level it did when you bought it. All that's changed is whether that level is still acceptable within the expectations of the artist and audience. My experience is that audiences do expect a better sound quality nowadays. Leaving with ringing ears is no longer in fashion and better systems do tend to be able to provide a louder-sounding gig at lower actual SPL, thus providing a more enjoyable experience without lasting effects. Within the scope of the market you are serving, the number of artists who will actually turn down the show due to you not having a good PA is relatively small. However, where promoters are choosing what venue to put their shows into, the PA will of course contribute to their assessment of the venue's suitability, so having a system which is less than adequate is not a good business plan. I think what you need to aim for is a system which won't necessarily be everyone's favourite but is also not bad enough to say no to. A better PA will also contribute to a positive audience experience which is, ultimately, good for business. This is good for you. I don't think you need to find the budget for D&B V-Series. If you could find the budget for Q Series, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'll actually turn that down. The same would be said for dV-dosc, or for W8LC. These are still premium brand systems and will remain respected for a good while yet. And I am confident that - especially with the benefits of line array for your distributed audience - you'd observe a noticeable improvement in sound. The small minority of artists who do require the additional capabilities of the latest concert touring systems will of course be left to find their own or choose a more suitable venue. But I'd honestly estimate these to be sufficiently few and far between that if you did invest in a current-spec system to be able to provide for those shows, it may not pay for itself with the additional few bookings it is able to attract.

Good answer - Community make, in my experience, the most resilient outdoor boxes in the industry. I do a bit of cruise ship installation work (stage engineering, not audio) and you see community speakers on outdoor decks that have been there for 10+ years, exposed to all that salty sea air, high winds, excessive moisture... and still going strong. Not many 'outdoor' speakers are going to be good for that. The other ones I see regularly are the EV Evid speakers.

I know that this isn't specifically what's being asked of you but I'll say it anyway. I do some inspections work and often we condemn rawl bolts or chem fix anchors - both leaving the stud sticking out of the wall. When we condemn them, rather than removing the fixing, we tend to chop the ends off with either an oscillating multi-tool or a 4-inch grinder (depending on how quick you need to be and how much aesthetic damage you're allowed to do to the surrounding wall/ceiling). This does leave a little piece of steel in the wall but if done properly it should be flush - so comes with the benefit of not leaving a hole. The problem with pulling out expansion fittings from concrete is that depending on the condition of the concrete, you may find that you pull out more concrete than you wished for and you end up leaving big cavities all over the wall that your client didn't ask for. These can be costly to fill in and the filler will never match the old concrete (short of giving it to a scenic artist to sort out).

Oh god I'd almost forgotten...

The point is valid... the one in question does not appear to be a direct knock-off. But being a customer to a company who produce a lot of fake stuff still funds the counterfeiting, whether the product you're buying is actually a counterfeit itself, or not. I respect the fact that buying stuff at this price level means whatever you buy is going to be Chinese anyway so whether it's from one place or another doesn't really affect what business options there are for British manufacturers. After my year of working in the construction industry in China I'm probably a little more opposed to buying that stuff than average. I appreciate we all have a budget to meet and we can't afford to put first rate brands into every gig... but it sadly doesn't make the whole thing any less evil.

Is used an option? Powersoft are possibly the most well known company for building high power amplifiers in 1U chassis. But they are a little pricey so probably won't get one brand new, but a second hand one could be in budget. Most of what they make is a fake!! I'm fairly against it... whether it's a deliberate counterfeit or an amp which looks and works a lot like a proper brand thing but isn't. It's still costing those brands sales - brands which are good for our economy - and replacing them with sales that benefit our economy in almost no way at all.

Hoist UK Mini Pilewind sounds ideal for this. Mount the winch and 2/3 pulleys onto your existing bar (providing, of course, the weight is OK. If not, you may have to put the winch on the floor, or bolt it to the roof by other means and divert). Get the pulleys up high enough and hopefully you can avoid losing too much trim height.

Exactly this... combined with the fact that the plant hire industry is pretty cut-throat, means if you offer to take a machine off somebody's hands for a long time and pay more money than they're paying for it over the same period, many will go for it. If they don't, there's a solid chance somebody else will. Always worth chatting about expectations too. If it goes wrong, do you need a replacement in an hour, a day, or a week? If you can be a 'low maintenance' customer by easing your expectations, additional discounts can be possible. Also worth making sure they know that this machine is going to live inside a nice clean tidy arts centre for the entire time it's on hire and probably come back cleaner than it went out. Partly so they can try and give you something relatively clean, but again they may also offer a better price for knowing that the machine is going into a clean environment where it'll be looked after, not driven around a dirty building site all day every day getting covered in plaster.

Looking back at your old expenses of hiring... what's costing more? The machine or the delivery & collection? It's common that the hire fee is actually relatively low and the bigger expense is getting it to and from your site. If you do a long term hire, then firstly, your hire fee will be reduced; and secondly, you'll remove all the delivery and collection charges. The benefits of a long term hire are you still get all the perks of a hire machine where it comes to maintenance, inspection, repair etc. If you've not done so already, I'd encourage talking to your hire company about long term hire pricing... and compare that to buying, once you've considered all the possible additions that are exclusive to owning.

https://www.artec3d.com/3d-models/motorcycle-engine-hd I don't think you necessarily want to go to the expense of sending the STL to a mail order 3D printers, but with some free software you should be able to at least get a good look.

For me it is simple - catering exists because it means we can eat at the job site thus saving time vs stepping outside for catering which (especially in the case of outdoor festivals etc) could be some distance away and thus traveling to catering would delay the job unnecessarily. But I do not necessarily expect to be fed because most people in the world do have to arrange their own lunch at work. So, for me - if the catering option provided at the work site does not constitute a balanced and nutritious meal, then we will leave site, find somewhere that sells one, take an hour's rest at that location and then return to work. If this delays the build/break as a result of our time off-site then this is their lesson to provide better catering. I know this sounds petty but frankly my experience nobody actually acts on problems like this until it hits them in the pocket.

It's not even just for the sake of less experienced operators. It also just means you can snap dimmer and colour changes in perfect synchrony. If the fixture supports it, you can also fade from colour to another directly (on the CMY flags) rather than changing gels. Blackouts are easier, etc. Even the most experienced operator will never be able to get their timings as good as the computer. Some systems also allow you to change, on the fly, which remote controls which fixture(s). So if you do have some very experienced operators and some very inexperienced operators, then your more experienced operator(s) can operate more spots than their own by changing what they control at different points in the show.

Cut a pair of holes in an ice box (high up on opposite sides is optimal, in line with each other). Screw one bathroom fan through one hole, with the extraction facing inwards, and another through the other side, with the extraction facing outwards. Works a treat, very quiet with the fans designed for low noise. Thank me later.