MixingWizard

26 minutes ago, ImagineerTom said:

The only real “robust” machines are the old jem designs, now rebranded as Martin. I’ve seen those units dropping with water and dropped of the back of a lorry still working. Any of the modern drop ship brands (antari, chervut, etc) are designed to hit a price point not actual long term stability. 

Hmm, maybe used ZR45s are the way to go. I assumed Antari were fairly high end judging by the price point, but it's not a brand I'm familiar with. As far as I can tell they're the only people offering an IP rated one, but who knows under what condition they actually test that. 

Hey all, 

I've been having a nightmare with our atmospherics hire stock and could use some advice. We do a lot of outdoors events so our smoke machines don't get very well looked after. Up until now my strategy has been to buy relatively cheap units (mostly Chauvet Hurricane) and treat them as semi-disposable but I'm starting to realise it's a false economy. The last batch had a 50% failure rate after doing maybe two events, and after having spend a considerable time repairing/cleaning them I've just prepped a job only to find a number of dead ones again! 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a smoke machine that will survive being outside in a dry box in all weather for several weeks at a time? Ideally one with multiple control options (timer/remote). I'm currently looking between the Antari IP rated ones and the Look Solutions units. 

Thanks, 

MixingWizard

Thanks for all the advice chaps. I've ended up going for far eastern hardwood ply and have been really impressed with the quality of it. Half way through painting and slightly regretting not getting buffalo board but it'll be worth it when done, and it least it will match anything I hire in. 

2 hours ago, TomHoward said:

How much are the hex board sheets costing if you don't mind me asking if they are cheaper than marine ply?
I guess you won't be able to repaint if that makes a difference?

We use Wickes hardwood ply (£40 a sheet, £36 with the discount card) and Leyland Trade Vinyl Silk black - but ours is Steeldeck so that is pretty much what it comes with.
We don't trim the ply - let it hang over 3mm-ish on all edges and to be honest we don't jig it just line it up over all edges.

Try not to put the Tek screws through where the bolt holes are...

Have you done yours post 2020? I haven't found any outdoors rated ply for less than £80 a sheet, let alone marine grade. Admittedly I don't think I checked Wickes as I just assumed it would be more expensive. 

I believe the last quote I had for hex board was around £60 a sheet. I'm now having second thoughts about it. Although I really don't fancy freshly painting 40 plywood boards, I can see how the hex board would scratch easily and look a bit rough if you just painted the gaps. Then again, TopDeck (and it's variants) come with it as standard -maybe it's a tougher version?

https://www.spp.co.uk/flightcase-hexa-plywood

Interesting, that was actually one of the reasons I was going for it - I assumed the texture would be grippier.

Hello all,

I'm about to begin the potentially arduous task of re-boarding 40x 8x4 decks. It seems like it should be relatively straightforward, but as I've never done it before I could use a quick idiot check. 

I'm planning on using 18mm class 2 hex board sheets sourced from a flight case company, as it seems to be the most cost effective way of doing it, and saves me having to paint them all beforehand. Can anyone see a potential issue with this? I looked at marine grade but it's insanely expensive, and as far as I'm aware they come with class 2 as standard. 

Next up I'll make some jigs to attach to the bolt holes on the frame, allowing me to line up the board nicely with the correct amount of overlap. I'm hoping the boards will just drop in place without needing any trimming but I suspect that won't be the case.

Then I guess just Tek screws to the aluminium!

Sounds easy. Am I missing anything?

Cheers,

MixingWizard

On 2/15/2023 at 1:17 PM, Stuart91 said:

When you say "weatherproof", are you going to be putting the speakers out for a gig, then bringing them back in again the same day, or leaving them out indefinitely?

I'll see if I can get hold of Community around here. 

It will mostly be day jobs, but there are times where we need to leave them outside for a month in all weather. 

Hey all,

I'm on the hunt for some relatively compact weatherproof passive speakers in the sub £1000 price range, but I'm struggling as it seems to be a fairly niche category. Most of the speakers I have found appear to be designed for install rather than touring use.

They would mainly be used for speech reproduction and occasional background music use. 

I'm currently looking at the Nexo P8s as they would double as a nice set of wedges for smaller stages, but I'm wondering if that will lock me into using Nexo processing like a lot of their other speakers? They also don't state an IP rating that I could see. 

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,

MixingWizard 

Thanks everyone, just ordered the Navi, looks really tidy!

Hello all,

I'm looking at picking up a new anemometer for our outdoors jobs. We usually use the wireless "weather station" type ones but they have a tenancy to disintegrate. I'm struggling to find a simple one that is compact, easy to rig and ideally battery powered.

Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks,

MixingWizard

I use an xDuoo X3 II lossless player for this. It doubles as a high quality player, a USB DAC for your laptop and a very reliable Bluetooth receiver (you can also use the Bluetooth to change tracks on it remotely).

On top of that it has a line output as well as a headphone output so you can get proper line level into your desk - it always seemed sketchy to me that you would tune a PA using the headphone amp on a phone, which is designed to drive a completely different source impedance. I'm not quite clever enough to know if that actually has any real world difference though. 

I've had pretty good experiences with the Sparkulars (I rent a couple out quite regularly). Just bare in mind the powder is relatively expensive, and I would definitely DMX them rather than using the remotes, the remotes can be a bit sketchy. 

Hello all,

I just wondered if anyone knows of an accredited training one can take to prove competency in building a stage platform or a small truss structure? It's something I have noticed more and more clients asking for (particularly schools). It seems there is no real regulating body on a lot of this stuff - until you get into larger builds we're not really covered under the same umbrella as scaffolding, and there's no way I can justify the cost of a structural engineer for a few litedeck. 

Most of the HSE guidelines I've read define competence as a combination of training and experience but the vast majority of people I know have learned on the job - excluding actual riggers that is. 

Even the IStructE Temporary Demountable Structures guide repeatedly mentions the responsibility of the client to get proof of competency, but it never actually gives an example of what that proof would consist of.

I'd appreciate some guidance on this. 

MixingWizard