ABB125

Thanks everyone so far - analogue isn't something I'd previously considered as everything we do currently is digital(ish)! Is this the sort of camera you mean @J Pearce? I think we have something that looks similar bodged onto what looks like it might have once been a mic stand, I'll have to investigate. We (and an associated organisation) have a random collection of various analogue video things, when I have time I'll have a proper look through to see if any of it might be useful (assuming of course that it works!). In terms of a composite splitter, are the really cheap plastic-y things like this "good enough", or does more money need to be spent for something of a better quality? Is composite to VGA workable, so that the existing PC monitors can still be used? Various adapters appear to be available, should something like this work or would it have to be a powered device like this? I'll also have a look at the assortment of random screens* we have to see if there are any with composite input. *ranging from what look like small black and white CRTs to 15 year old "commercial-style" big screens which came out of a library I believe...

We have some really cheap, rubbish Praktika video cameras ("camcorder"). These are used, in conjunction with an assortment of Blackmagic SDI microconverters and PC monitors to set up video feeds when we run musicals with a pit band hidden away from the stage: one feed of the conductor being sent to all the locations they need to be seen in (typically 4 separate places), and one feed of the stage being sent to the conductor (so they can see what's going on). Every single time this setup is used, there are problems and it takes many, many hours of frustration and trying the same thing in different ways to cobble together something which just about works. Usually, there are different problems each time, which adds to the "fun". Sometimes we test the system with a Sony NX5 just to make sure that the individual components do actually work, but for various reasons we can't use an NX5 for the actual shows. Generally, the biggest problem is getting the cameras to work with the HDMI to SDI microconverters. The cameras have a mini HDMI output; we use either an adapter cable straight into the converter, or an adapter then standard HDMI cable. It has recently been suggested that one problem might be the resistance of the HDMI cables - is this likely, and if so what would the "correct" resistance be and how would I be able to check this on existing cables/before buying new ones? Another problem is that some of the equipment doesn't always work in a specific way, but there's no way of knowing so you spend hours wasting more time. For example, at least one of our stock of PC monitors simply refuses to work with SDI microconverters, but is totally happy if you plug in an HDMI from a laptop. Or, the HDMI inputs on the monitors don't work, so you have to use DVI instead. (Yes I do try to label these things when I find them, but it's not always me who sets it up.) Based on what I've said (I'm happy to clarify things if needed) are there any other obvious issues with this setup? Anything which a more experienced person would see and go "well of course it's not working properly, because..."? Any better ways of doing it (bearing in mind that the overriding priority is minimal latency; video quality is almost (but not quite) irrelevant? If money was no object, what would be the industry standard way of doing this?

Thanks very much, I'll do a bit of experimentation when I have some spare time.

The venue where I work has a room with two ICT300s and two EM251 subs. Currently the audio goes into a Martin M1 processor, then into the amp, but it doesn't sound particularly brilliant. In addition, there is quite a bit of buzzing/noise which as far as I can tell is coming from the M1, along with a regular quiet "tapping" noise in all the speakers (at a frequency of around 70-80bpm). I would like to try running the system using a different processor. However, I have absolutely zero experience in EQing speakers so have no idea how to go about it. Any suggestions would be gratefully received! Obviously I'll need a crossover at around 120Hz, but other than that I would quite like to improve the sound a bit. For reference, the current setup is sub on the floor, top attached to the wall, diagonally opposite each other (eg: one sub+top in the top left corner, the other sub+top in the bottom right corner). And it's currently a mono system* (which I would like to change, but that's less of a priority). *Various inputs (the only one which actually gets used is a stereo minijack for phone input) into an analogue rackmount mixer. This has mono out into the amp room, where an XLR Y-split converts it back to "stereo" for the processor.

Just an update on this, I've now managed to connect to the BLU-100 and download the existing file. I've also worked out how the control ports work. Thank you once again!

Thanks very much! I'll try this when I'm next at the venue with a laptop.

(Note: I'm fully aware that London Architect has been replaced by Audio Architect.) The venue where I work has two rooms controlled by Soundweb processors (a BLU-80 and BLU-100). The two systems are not networked, but they do have a mono XLR link between them in either direction (ie: each room is completely separate from the other, apart from the XLR links). Each room has a BLU-3 wall switch. I've recently been trying to work out how the system in each room is configured. However, I've come across a few issues: The BLU-3 switches don't appear to be available in Audio Architect, hence I'm using London Architect (if they are available, please let me know!) There is essentially zero information that I can find about how to use London Architect - everything online appears to be about Audio Architect instead. My entire understanding of how the software works basically comes from looking the file I extracted from the BLU-80 (yes, I do have a copy of the original, etc) I can't work out how the BLU-3 is linked to the BLU-80 in the software, and how to "program" its functions - any help would be appreciated I can't seem to connect to the BLU-100. The software detects that it's connected, but it is "unreachable". I also tried using Audio Architect, and again got nowhere. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Thanks very much for any help!

Thanks. Having read that, I think the picture below is incorrect? Am I right in thinking that the chassis ground (see image below) is the metal housing of whatever audio device I'm using, and the signal ground is the bare wire in the above image? In which case, assuming these diagrams are for cables rather than devices, what is the chassis ground on the cable? One thing I'm not sure about having read that page, should the metallic sleeve be connected to anything? I assume that it's connected to the bare ground wire so doesn't need to be.

I'm in the process of wiring up some install XLR cables. However, this is the first time I've made XLR, so some advice would be appreciated. There is conflicting advice on the internet about whether the tab circled in the image below should be connected to the ground wire. The cables run from a 19" rack, which is the main patch panel for the venue, to a plastic patch box under the stage. The main use case will be providing signal for l'Accoustics LA8 amps for the few occasions when we use KARA. Essentially, should I run the ground wire through the hole in the tab before soldering it to pin 1? Thanks

A bit of a beginner question (sorry!). Do UV and haze go together well (ie: we have haze for other bits of the show, then we stick on some UV for one scene whilst there is still haze present)? My instinct would be that they don't; I'm expecting the UV to interact with the haze particles and light them up, but I have no idea what this will actually look like. Thanks

Thanks very much all of you! Very helpful

Thanks, that's very helpful. Would I be right in thinking that 1250W lamps are ok in these fixtures?

Can anyone identify what light this is? It's a set of four conjoined 1k (I think) floodlights, with socca input/output and two 15A sockets (for the two socca "channels" which aren't used by the fitting). The linear bulb is slightly offset to one side, but not as far as in a Strand Coda (for example). There's no manufacturer or model identification plate, as far as I can see. I've heard them (we have two) referred to as "nocturnes", but the only thing I can find online is a Strand Nocturne, which this isn't (unless it's a very, very old version!). I've got some pictures here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XSnAjCe5H231ZSvBAadg-SGOFw9AOxT1?usp=share_link. Apologies for the poor-quality - currently everything is in an unwanted state of disarray that we have no control over... Thanks very much!

Thanks very much Thanks - I'll have a look. Today I found one axial sil in a different location. Something very wrong has been done to it though - someone's bodged in a GX9.5 lampholder, so it now has a T19 lamp. Which literally doesn't fit all the way into the reflector dish; where the glass widens slightly at the join to the ceramic, it hits the reflector. I really don't think it's meant to be like this... (It also scrapes horribly against the hole at the back of the reflector dish when you insert it! That makes sense - one of the one's I've found has "I'm great for gobos" labelled on it!

I've just realised I forgot to add the second part of my questions: any maintenance tips? The condition of the fixtures is variable, some are very good, others not so.