Stuart91

Thanks - I'll give them a try. Neither is in my usual arsenal for these kinds of tasks.

I'm "refurbishing" a couple of old cable trunks that I picked up recently.The previous owner had stuck some large tour labels on at annoying jaunty angles. I've tried my best to remove them but there's still a thin, but very obvious, layer of residue that isn't shifting easily. So far I've attacked it with IPA, label remover, and some "Goo Gone" gel. They all help a little, but nothing's shifting it completely. I have a variety of wire brushes etc. and the impression I get is that anything energetic enough to lift the residue is going to mess up the underlying surface too. Is there anything else that I could use to get rid of the residue?

I'd tend to agree - we've got another customer that's chosen to go down this route and they seem to be getting along very well. (They used a BlackMagic 4-input PCI card for the capture though) I suspect some people will prefer to have the physical controls of the Mini, but the lack of flexibility is very annoying. Out of interest, which dongles is it that you're using? I'm not sure, it'll be an interesting thing to try at some point. The specs seem to claim that every input can be scaled/converted to whichever output format you choose, but I've no idea what "suggestions" will be offered via EDID. One strange things that we did get was the camera connected to Input 1 comes up with almost a "split screen" effect, there are two versions of the image squashed up and stacked above each other. Unplugging and replugging the HDMI seemed to fix it. I'm not sure if that'll happen every time, or if it was just related to the other faffing that I'd been doing.

I've sold and maintained kit from both Chauvet and Prolight, both are fine in my opinion. Not sure about size, but one of the things I like about Prolight is as a dealer I can call up and speak directly to the service engineers. They have been very open with information and helpful - difficult to pull off with the lower margins compared to "branded" kit. I'd agree with that. It might be useful for the OP to compare with the angles available on their existing lanterns. I've never been a fan of motorised zoom - it's just one more thing to go wrong - and without remote control of the pan and tilt, being able to control the zoom is less useful.

The way I understand it is that with the output set to "auto" whatever is plugged into input one sets the output. So if you plug a 1080i50 camera into input one, the output switches to 1080p50. In the control software you can fix the output. Otherwise there's the possibility that the output will glitch every time input 1 gets re-plugged. I'm not sure what happens with sync etc. The ATEM apparently works throughout with YUV colour space only, so my issue was probably caused by the splitter not carrying EDID from the ATEM to the computer correctly, the computer outputs RGB, and the ATEM displays it as YUV. I agree with Dave - the ATEM is very impressive for the price, but there are quite a few minor gotchas, which mean that if you're doing anything out of the ordinary with it you can hit problems. Two challenges I've found (apart from the PC colour issue): There's no way of doing a Multiview whilst also having the Program output available via HDMI The Key on/off button can only be used to activate the Upstream key, not the Downstream Key. That wouldn't be a problem apart from the fact that the DSK has a much more limited feature set, no Chroma for example.

I managed to get back onsite today, and swapping the PC from Input 1 to Input 4 eliminated the problem. Nice to have a simple fix for once! I suspect the more proper solution is to use splitters that handle EDID a bit more intelligently.

Thanks, that makes sense. I've got a Lindy HDMI Matrix which has some EDID management options - I'll try it and see if it can make the problem go away. Unfortunately, it's about the same price as the ATEM, so a pretty expensive sticking plaster! The graphics card has VGA, DVI, and HDMI outputs, I think it can drive two at once. At the moment the VGA is the "local" monitor, swapping over onto the DVI (using an adaptor) gave me the same problem. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising, since DVI doesn't seem to support YUV colour space.

Thanks, Dave. BlackMagic support said Input 1 was a "super input" but couldn't explain what made it different, apart from the way it can be used to determine the output signal format if that's set to auto mode. The YUV thing makes sense - I've seen some mention of that in other threads about the Mini. It certainly looks like some sort of colour mismatch - if we were in the (old, familiar) analog world I'd have been looking for dead pins on a VGA lead. The HDMI splitter sits after the PC, one output goes to the ATEM, the other into an older Kramer scaler which feeds the projector. The problem persists even with nothing plugged into the other output of the splitter, so I don't think the Kramer is sending anything that confuses the source.

I've got a small installation that's using a BlackMagic MiniATEM switcher. The setup is relatively simple, there is a PC going into input one, and three cameras in 2-4. If the PC is connected straight into the input (just a direct HDMI cable) then it looks fine. The challenge is that the PC signal needs split beforehand, so it can feed a projector in the room as well as the webcast. With the HDMI split in place, the projector looks fine, but the colours on the ATEM look inverted - the light blue of a typical Windows background is a garish green. The problem appears on the USB stream as well as on the HDMI output of the ATEM. Confusingly, if I set the ATEM HDMI output to be "Input one direct", the colours look fine. But that's a bit cumbersome for normal use - the operators just want to be able to bash buttons on the switcher rather than using the computer. I'm guessing that it's some kind of EDID confusion introduced by the HDMI splitter. I've tried two different models of splitter (albeit both cheap Amazon efforts) with the same result from both. Different computers produce the same problem, so it's not anything specific to the customer's PC. BlackMagic support have suggested moving the PC into a different input, which I haven't had the chance to check yet but is the top of my list. I've also got a Lindy HDMI matrix sitting which has some options for how EDID is passed so will try that too. Are there any other possibilities that I should be looking at?

Do you get the breakthrough whilst the transmitter is turned on, or only when it's off? If it's the latter, see if there is a "squelch" control on the receiver, and increase the level on that. Squelch is a way of rejecting low-level signals, sometimes systems come out of the box with it set to a minimum which lets almost anything through once the transmitter is off. There's also a possibility that some of the system cabling could be acting as an antenna and picking up the interference, particularly if cables are poorly screened or have a pin 1-2 reverse on an XLR. (In the church I grew up in, Radio 2 was clearly audible on the induction loop system. Nobody complained about it for years. :** laughs out loud **: )

Dave Rat did an extensive headphone test and comparison some years ago. Maybe worth a look if you want a very thorough overview of the subject.

FWIW the Sennheiser Freeport range has been discontinued, the closest equivalent that they do now is the XSW-1 series. The Trantec S4.4 series is more or less identical (I think Trantec actually manufactured Freeport for Sennheiser) and is still a good budget option.

A friend of mine had something similar happen to a backdrop a stroppy comedian brought for a show. Apparently it wrinkled up like a crisp packet in a campfire. The performer did not take it well, but didn't have a leg to stand on since they'd been quite short with the inspector and ignored their polite question about flammability.

It would be a great target for hackers. Make it draw a giant phallus instead of whatever it's supposed to. Good point. Momentum is everything, and people's memories are short.

One other thing to think about is what might happen in years to come. People move on, organisations change. Within a relatively short space of time there could be users (and management) with no idea how to operate the winches safely. I've seen a similar situation several times where an enthusiastic individual has secured funding and support for an installation. Within a few years they've moved away and we're asked to put in something less complicated instead. Prime example was digital desks getting removed in favour of a simple analogue one. It's a good argument for keeping things as simple as possible, especially true of things like motorised winches where periodic inspection and maintenance is crucial.

To be fair, though - if you can charge ~£200 a time for waving a machine around a venue, you can treat them as consumables...

Hats off to him - I've seen too many people hold on until the bitter end, with a far messier and nastier outcome for all concerned. (Not to mention others who have continued to extract money only to leave freelancers and suppliers out of pocket when the company folds) I don't imagine anyone closes down their company lightly, it takes both foresight and courage to do it at the right point.

I was talking to someone who is involved in fitting out pub interiors. Apparently some companies in our area have been charging ~£200 a time to saturate the premises with "antiviral" fog, and are recommending it's done on a regular basis. What's worrying is that it might give people a false sense of security - why bother scrubbing the place if the magic fog will kill all the nasties?

Good point - I might be best to do some experimentation with the cameras and see how they react to lower voltages. I'm a bit more sceptical with PTZs that have motors etc. rather than just a sensor and solid-state electronics but we'll see.

My one experience of NDI hasn't been particularly positive. It was being used to send Powerpoint from a laptop to another that was doing the webcast. The audio, however, was coming directly via a headphone jack, and was arriving almost half a second earlier! I can see the advantages of NDI for actual CCTV applications and things like feeds to other rooms. I suspect for IMAG I'd need the top of the range stuff, which our install customers are unlikely to want to splash out on. The Baluns that Jon has suggested look like they could work well, I've seen plenty that break out power and video, but these are the first I've come across that carry the control signal as well. The step-up for the voltage might well do the trick too.

Thanks Peter - that's certainly an interesting option. I think the mains cores are a bit too heavy (4mm2, so could take ~32amp!) but I'll get in touch and see if they do anything more modest.

Yep, that's the nail on the head. There's no cable been bought for this project yet. I do have various stocks of coax etc. which is what I've been using for my initial experiments with the kit. The rig is going to have two purposes: demonstrating the PTZ cameras to potential install customers, and eventually on-stage use for IMAG or live-streaming. When we install cameras, it's not a problem to have separate cables for power and signal/control. But for both these applications I'm needing something neat and quick to deploy, that won't have committee members clutching at their pearls. That's why the original notion of being able to get everything down a single CAT5/6 was so attractive. I could potentially still do that by supplying at 48v or higher, but that'll require a step-down transformer and some kind of breakout box at the camera. I'm also a little concerned about having non-standard RJ45 connectors kicking around on stage, waiting for someone to plug them into the wrong thing. If I can get a single-jacket cable with thicker cores for power, then I could potentially use something like a 6 pin XLR. It might even be possible to shoehorn a shotgun-style cable into the connector, although I doubt that'd lay as nicely on stage. I'd rather have a single connector than a breakout just to keep things neat and fast. It looks like something suitable does exist but only in China and restricted to massive wholesale quantities. I figure there's got to be someone that carries them in smaller quantities in the UK, just can't see them...

Hi folks, Thanks for all the contributions. The camera's aren't IP, they are using TVI, which can run down bog standard RG59 coax but can also be adapted to come down one pair of a CAT5 or 6 cable. The control for the PTZ is RS485. I'm keen to avoid a taped loom, partly for neatness but also for ease of deployment, I'm thinking I might be able to use a single connector (with a breakout box at the camera) if I can find a cable with a small enough outer jacket. I'd originally hoped to be able to use a single CAT5/6 cable, using two pairs for the signal + control, and ganging the other two pairs together for power. But according to the manual the cameras will draw 1.7amps @ 12v. Plus I'm not sure how tight the voltage requirement is, I wouldn't want them flaking out if the delivered voltage drops over a longer run. One suggestion I've had was to use 48v for the run, and step down at the camera. That would probably run happily down two pairs, maximum run is going to be 50m tops. But as Tom suggests it adds complexity, and I think I'd be happier getting the right cable, even if it means a bit of compromise on the form factor.

It is essentially CCTV cameras that I'm trying to run with this, so I've tried various suppliers and not found anything suitable. There's plenty of the traditional "shotgun" style cable around that has two-core power and an RG59 coax side by side. I'd take something like that if it had a CAT5/6 there instead of the coax.(There are versions that have CAT6 + coax with no power, but I can't see anything that's CAT5/6 + power) Most IP cameras seem to be either mains powered or PoE - it seems like I'm sitting in a slightly awkward halfway house.

Correct, but it's an attractive option for getting out to a FOH desk - will keep it in mind for that.