Stuart91

A huge amount of them ended up in the Millennium Dome. The shipment was split between two trucks, because if one truck was in an accident and wiped out all the units, the factory wouldn't be able to produce enough replacements in time. The thing that seems to be the struggle these days is getting a serial interface with the correct pinning etc. I remember keeping one XP laptop far beyond a reasonable retirement date, simply because it could talk to our remaining Soundwebs without issue. If you can get round the interface issues, then they're an absolute steal at £100. We found that the 9088ii had a significantly lower noise floor than its predecessor, so it might be the one to go for.

The PSA say here that they're looking to hear from companied in your position:

How far could that run before voltage drop became an issue? I know a church that tried something similar (running DC to guitar cables via a floor box, so that the wall warts were out of the way). It was a dismal failure and was ripped out almost immediately.

I saw a facebook post from King Sound Reinforcement that seems to indicate that they were successful. One of the problems with leaving it to local councils to implement is that they won't all be consistent with how the rules are applied. Best of luck with it.

One thing I found (on an iPad rather than a laptop, but still on the headphone output) was that the limiter is linked over both channels. The musician was playing backing tracks out of one channel, and a rather loud click out of the other. The track was ducking in time to the click. Took quite a bit of head-scratching until we got to the bottom of it.

Amazon will also do food deliveries, they seem to stock mainly non-perishable items but could be a useful way to top up. The handful of non-food deliveries that I've had are taking 3-4 days to arrive rather than the usual overnight service, but that's still probably better than waiting on a supermarket delivery slot.

Good argument, Tom. And yes, I suspect they haven't thought about previewing the Blu-Ray to line up the start. (Do you still get unskippable trailers and "YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR" adverts at the start of discs? It's so long since I've actually sat down with a DVD...) Some sort of small rack with Blu-Ray, ATEM, and a preview monitor might be the answer. All the other gubbins can hide down the back.

Thanks - that makes a lot of sense. I've had some similar problems with a Kramer unit which wouldn't pass signal from an HDMI input to a non-HDMI output.

Ok, I'll explain all this to the lead customer and see if he can be bothered with a splitter (or HDFury) ahead of the switcher. If we can hide it all away neatly then it might be feasible. It may be that he uses the switcher when he's leading a session, and novice volunteers don't bother (or resort to Dave's biscuit tin idea). I have a variety of splitters kicking around so can try a few out first without any spend. It's a properly set up project, so I expect they'll have all the correct licensing and permissions in place. Nonetheless someone might have a bee in their bonnet about stripping HDCP - I've had people complain about far less in the past. At least it's not critical and easily abandoned if it becomes a sticking point for some busybody.

I like the lateral thinking here! Unfortunately, whilst that would work with a conventional lens, they are probably going to end up with an ultra-wide projector, so blanking off the light output is a good bit more difficult.

Good point, but it would take up about 20% of their total budget for the project so it's hard to justify.

Thanks for the replies. Seems fairly conclusive that the Mini ATEM is not what we want here, and quite understandable given their target market. I've got an HDFury on hand so could give that a try. I'm wary of adding another box to the situation, but I suspect it could be hidden away inside a rack or something. The equipment is going to be operated by volunteers, some reasonably tech-savvy, but also some complete novices so I need to try and keep it all as "plug and play" as possible. An extra incentive is that they're ~90 mins drive from me, so nipping over for a quick bit of troubleshooting isn't going to happen. We haven't bought the projector yet, but from similar models that I've played with, there doesn't seem to be a way to seamlessly switch, without some sort of message appearing on screen. One other suggestion has been that they simply play the blu-ray disks on a laptop, and switch between Powerpoint and the player software. This eliminates the HDMI sync issues, and HDCP will be fine with a straight connection between PC and projector. Of course, it opens up a whole new can of worms of how to do it elegantly on the computer...

Here's the scenario - I've got a customer who's setting up a community cinema. They'll be using a fairly bog-standard projector, probably a Hitachi / Maxell ultra-wide model, but a standard office style machine rather than anything cinema-specific. They are looking to use a computer to run a looping slideshow of notices / adverts beforehand, then change over onto the movie itself when the time comes. They'll be using Blu-ray Discs, which I'm assuming will be HDCP protected. The challenge is getting a smooth switchover between the two, without any obvious glitching or on-screen displays. The customer has suggested a Kramer switcher/scaler since they used one of ours at a conference, however it seems like overkill for the task, when they only need two inputs and no scaling. I'd expect that most cheap mechanical "crash switches" will confuse or annoy the projector, and at the very least it'll have to re-establish the sync, so it's not going to be smooth. The ATEM Mini looks like a good option. It's relatively inexpensive, and simple enough to operate. The one thing that I'm not sure about is how it would handle HDCP. There's no mention of it in the manual, and I don't suspect it's an issue for most of their target market. Has anyone got experience of using the ATEM Mini with HDCP protected content? Or are there any alternative solutions that I should be considering for these guys?

Like Paul, I also have a fondness for Tannoy. It's a pity the range was so thoroughly gutted after Music Group took them on.

It's possible that vulnerable people may be encouraged to stay in lockdown/quarantine longer, so that the rest of the economy can start moving again. Clearly we can't stay in lockdown forever, and varying the restrictions geographically is fraught with all sorts of potential problems.

I spent some time last night in the Wireless Workbench webinar, and it was very worthwhile. Really appreciate the effort that's gone into making these happen. Definitely worth checking out anything relevant to what you do.

Following on from that point, I wonder if there's any mileage in trying to claim a refund on PLI cover, for the period where no work is happening? My own insurers demand details on turnover and payroll before issuing a premium each year, and the actual figures for 2020 will fall well short of expectations. Their own risk has gone down significantly.

NJD do a 12 channel dimmer at 4 amps per channel. First google hit is an Amazon seller, £22.50 per channel so a bit pricier than Andy's solution but less alterations required.

There's talk of using hotels for less serious patients, if all you need is oxygen and clinical supervision, it's an easy way of achieving it.

Realistically, though, we don't need to build temporary structures. There's all manner of conference centres, sports centres, and exhibition halls sitting empty that would work as a basic structure. Perhaps hang (well laundered) marquee linings inside to subdivide. There'd still be work dealing with temporary power etc.

Very true. The usual issues with scrap thieves etc. will only get worse if any sources of legitimate income dry up, and police are stretched.

Most of those figures are a percentage of reported cases. It doesn't include the many people who get mild or no symptoms at all, and hence aren't on the authorities' radar. 2% as Andrew suggests is probably more likely overall, but still gives a scarily high body count. Re. the political aspect, I'd suggest that political discussion is acceptable here when it directly impacts us. Our venues, and our industry as a whole, have just been shut down by government decree. And a vague, poorly worded decree at that, which causes more uncertainty than it resolved.

Three weeks ago, I'd have tended to agree with you, but look at the state Italy is in right now. The UK is on the same curve as them, only a few weeks behind. And we're not any better equipped to deal with it. You're perfectly entitled to retain your scepticism but please don't ignore the safety advice, especially around elderly or vulnerable people. (Handwashing and reducing contact is a pretty cheap way to hedge your bets, especially given the potential downside) Nobody in the production or events industry, that's for sure. TBH I'd usually suspect incompetence ahead of conspiracy with this. Someone will always find ways to make money from a situation, no matter how grim. But I doubt anyone will be exacerbating the outbreak so that money can be made. (Or maybe the virus was released by a cartel of hand sanitiser manufacturers. It's from the same playbook as the florists that murdered Princess Diana) Yep. There are some quite brutal triage decisions being made in Italian hospitals. Many patients with complicating health issues (i.e. something else wrong with you in addition to the virus) aren't being ventilated, so that the limited supply of machines can be used for those more likely to make a full recovery. We're not talking decrepit coffin-dodgers here, apparently people in their 60s are in this situation in some areas. It's not a pleasant way to die. You don't want to put anyone through it if it can be avoided.

The link didn't seem to work, I think this is the page here?

Depends on how you define "overheads" I suppose. Fuel to get to the gig, I'd think of as a direct cost of sale. (Albeit one that's hard to break out since most of us fill up a tank at a time) If you're looking at what you need to pay out during a month with no work done, and hence no "cost of sale", then for a home-based business the figure might be closer to reality. There's also less of a defined line between personal and business expenses, for things like phone, utilities, transport, etc.