Shez

No practical tests yet - just researching thus far. The G4 option does look like the best bet. There are some interesting side fire disc assemblies available - might be possible to bypass the onboard regulators on them. I've seen some more bulb shaped designs but most appear to be IP rated so would be less easy to customise. Possibly an option to fit some kind of bare COB with pins to fit that G4 socket.

I'm currently looking at a project to build some traditional looking "shell" type footlights. For various reasons, I'm leaning towards LED rather than tungsten - not very traditional I know! Rather than suffer the potentially steppy dimming of using 240v lamps with mains dimmers, I was hoping to be able to find 12 or 24 volt "bulbs" with standard-ish connectors that would fit in d0mest1c holders - BC, ES etc. To be driven by proper DMX LED drivers - LTECH or similar. A niche market of course as plugging them in to a normal (physically compatible) mains outlet would fry them. Short of a few (expensive) marine applications, my searches haven't produced much. Has anyone found anything for this sort of application? Essentially just a bare LED source with no electronics inside a globe. The exact form factor may not be critical here as they'll be mostly hidden behind the shells but it would be nice if they looked at least a bit like an actual bulb. Warm white of course. And budget friendly.

vMix is also good. Only up to eight remote contributors at a time so you'd need to keep adding the next ones in as the previous ones finish.

The twitter compression probably doesn't help but it sounds horribly processed to me. Great for comms but I wouldn't want to hear a performer through it.

Why do you think anyone should notice? I don't. That was rather the point. Whilst laptop headphone outputs are often expected to be pretty poor quality, in the larger scheme of things, they usually get the job done just fine.

USB direct to the desk if available; otherwise Focusrite Scarlett interface. Circumstances do sometimes dictate that laptop headphone output is the only option; it works and nobody has ever noticed yet alone complained.

At my old university theatre, there used to be a rather vintage Thorn brand desk that used patch pins like these. Three preset banks of crescent faders which could be assigned to submasters by three sets of correspondingly coloured pins in the matrix. Crude of course by today's standards but remarkably flexible if you planning your "programming".

I'm currently considering a Hanspree HT225 as as it has a built in stand which leaves the VESA mount free so I can mount a NUC to the back of it. Should make for a very neat solution.

If it asks for card details, you've done something wrong. It won't ask as long as the basket total is zero.

Artnetominator is also really good.

I'm sure I've seen a topic about this previously but my search skills are failing. I'm looking to build / procure a test jig that will allow the testing of Shure type lav / headset mics directly with a desk without needing to be connected to a wireless system. It looks like Shure make a preamp that might work - RPM 626 - but they suggest that's only suitable for their Beta mics. I'm sure one could construct something suitable with a 9v battery and a couple of other components. Anyone done anything similar?

I've now tried with Sennheiser MKE2 - very slightly noticeable but far better - and Point Source CO8 - inaudible (and the best sounding of the three!) Every day's a school day.

Thanks Mac - good to know it's not just me.

I'm currently working with some Axient digital radio mics - very nice indeed - but I'm experiencing an odd source of noise. AD1 beltpacks with headset mics (the usual CPC offering because, am dram) - when the pack & mic are moved around in relation to each other, the background noise level continually changes. It's pretty much white noise. If I wrap my hand around the antenna, the noise drops away completely and it sounds fine. My hunch is that it's RF bleeding in to the headset cable. I've tried with several different packs and mics (including brand new) all with the same results. 10mW on coordinated frequencies. I don't currently have any "nicer" mics to try it with although I might be able to get hold of some Point Source mics for comparison. Anyone else experience a similar issue? The noise level isn't objectionably loud but it is (to me) noticeable.

Indeed - there are good and bad cctv cameras. The ones that can output the various analogue HD formats may fare better, even when just set to CVBS. The last one I installed was set to night mode, not permanent IR - perhaps a subtle difference. Either way, exposure always reacts as fast as a normal camera does in daylight.

Does the SM really NEED colour? Set the camera to permanent night mode if not. One of my venues does that without issues.

What Cedd said. I've happily used the L6 kit for years but have seen endless complaints from other users about them not working reliably. For those I've helped, it's always been user error e.g. IEM transmitter antennae right next to the receivers or even leaving a spare transmitter switched on on top of the receiver rack! RF is never plug & play, no matter how much manufacturers try to tell you that their product is. Worth clarifying that phones can't see L6 kit or try to connect to it - they use the WiFi frequency band but they're not WiFi.

A 30m cable that will work well at 2.4G won't be "relatively cheap". Line 6's own offering - a pair of 15m cables for £150! Raw cable to make your own comes in at just shy of £3/m. I've been meaning to get some longer ones than my 5m cables but have been somewhat put off by cost at the moment. Using P180 paddles mounted side of stage above head height has always worked well for me. Apart from not being able to remotely monitor the receivers of course...

I would refer the honourable gentleman to my old topic here - two years on and not a single problem, no WEEE waste, lots of happy customers and a clear environmental conscience.

I use all of your current suggestions and would add Gear4music to the list as well.

The layout of the loop is key. You* can create a low spill layout that will minimise the signal strength in areas that you don't want it. It's very rare that a simple, single loop of wire is optimum. *It's a bit of a specialist job - Ampetronic did the last one I needed. Signal strength drops like a stone where we didn't want it.

Sadly breaks don't always show up immediately. I had one that took months to manifest - it was somehow still making contact initially but eventually wooden floor movement caused it to fail. I traced it to find the break and discovered a perfectly clean slice right under the join between two carpet tiles.

A stage near me has manually cranked tabs where the SWR goes down through the stage DSL, across diverter pulleys and re-emerges to a standard winch much further upstage. There's no reason why your winch handle has to be directly under the end of the tab track.

If you're coming to lasers from a background of moving head control, you'll have to forget a lot of what you know and start pretty much from scratch. Lasers are very different beasts and whilst there's some crossover in terms of terminology, things don't always mean what you might expect them to. As others have said, you'll struggle to get accurate visualisation as there are fewer standard ways that laser manufacturers implement and name features than there are in the lighting world. You'll have to just try out each channel to determine exactly what it does. Channels 6 & 7 for example may be broadly equivalent to pan and tilt, but could instead be a movement effect (think pan/tilt sine). They also may or may not have much (or any) effect if whatever pattern being projected is "full screen" instead of being zoomed down. Don't expect to be able to control it in exactly the same way as a moving head as (basic) laser control systems just don't function like that.

There was some extra user gubbins in the link - this one works - https://vimeo.com/371918625/d7e92eb45c Looks great Tony!