Stuart91

One of the Top Gear live shows did a large scale driving game like this - the audience held up one colour to steer left, and another to steer right. There was some sort of system working out the ratio of colours and translating that into a driving command.

We're using Xero for online bookkeeping, so it's not much of an issue as we submit VAT returns much as before, via their software. However I appreciate it'll be a major PITA for folks who use spreadsheets or their own bespoke solutions.

+1 for Axient if you can afford it, they are spectacularly good. We rented some in for a high-profile event and I'd love to have bought some. Alas, I fear that the OP's compensation from OFCOM will not be generous enough to extend to that.

They're distributed in the UK by CUK Audio (Link here) who can probably point you in the direction of a dealer. Indeed - always a big plus as far as I'm concerned.

We've got some Sony systems that operate in Ch38 and have a similar form factor - in fact you can get up to six receivers in a 1U rack. This looks like them here. I bought mine second-hand from a BR member, so I'm not sure what availability is like from new. Ours haven't been used masses but have been very dependable thus far.

You'd do yourself no harm to have a DMX terminator on hand, which you can plug into the last light in the chain. A terminator can sometimes prevent flickering on long lines. A terminator is nothing more than a resistor put across the two signal cores, usually soldered into an XLR plug. You can make some up yourself if you're that way inclined, but they're readily available on eBay and Amazon too. (Or you can just scrounge one from any passing lampy, they usually have one in their pocket) :P

I don't think the electrons care what colour of insulation is around them. Most of the pre-made DMX cables that I come across have the red core on pin 2 anyway.

Not enough. Above a certain noise level hearing protection is mandatory so 'strongly recommending' doesn't cut it. One of the news stories claimed that the peak level in front of the brass was 130dB (with no weighting etc. given) Most disposable earplugs are going to attenuate by 20dB or thereabouts, so you will still have a problem.

One of our guys bought a posh meter a few years back. I can't remember the exact spec but I'll get him to dig it out. It might be worth getting it calibrated beforehand. I've got Smaart, and some calibrated mics, but I'm not sure I'll have the chance to set it up properly - timings are tight and the mix position is sidestage so a handheld solution may be simplest.

Thanks for all the contributions this morning. Alas the festival site is 6+hrs away from me, so I don't have the option of doing anything in advance of actually arriving there. I am scheduled to be in the vicinity for a couple of days running in, so I could try and take some measurements then. That's pretty accurate. It's a hard-paved pedestrianised street. The way it's laid out we have buildings down both sides, maybe 10m either side of the stage, and another ~30m in front. I've been there once before and it didn't feel too reverberant - there wasn't any noticeable slapback on stage, for instance. The organisers have been quite careful with their choice of acts. The most worrying band has a lot of brass in their line-up. I figure 88dBA in the audience wouldn't be unrealistic. I'm a bit limited in terms of truck space, but I'm planning on using some cardioid subs, and small format line array cabinets. We've done some plots on the subs that indicate ~30dB reduction in level behind the stage. I figure the main arrays will just need to be aimed quite sharply down. Hopefully there will be enough audience in front of the stage to minimise bounce off the ground.

There's a venue like that near me. If the crowd cheer too loudly the power cuts off. Which is fantastic during the first dance at a wedding. That's what I reckon. The real problem is that the event licence depends on us at least appearing to keep within these levels. Unless the council can be persuaded to take a more enlightened approach to the situation.

Simon, you've hit the nail right on the head. That's the exact document that I've been given. The email that I've seen from the council to the organisers didn't mention any weighting etc., just the measurement positions. Reading between the lines, I get the impression that the council folks don't have much experience of this kind of thing. BTW "Noise Council Working Party" would be an excellent name for a band...

I've got an interesting situation brewing for a festival I'm covering later in the summer. It takes place on a pedestrianised shopping street. There have been noise complaints in previous years (mainly one vocal person who is implacably opposed to the festival). As a result, the local council have imposed some noise restrictions. The limit I have been given is 65dB (no weighting stated). This figure has apparently been arrived at by assuming that the ambient noise will be around 50dB, and allowing me 15dB of "headroom" above that. This seems like a ludicrously low figure - we might almost be as well not bringing any PA at all! I am pretty sure that the ambient noise will be well over 65dB but have no easy way of proving it. Festival management were hoping to get an acoustic consultant to take some measurements but it doesn't look like that will be possible to schedule ahead of the event. Is there any even vaguely authoritative source that I could cite, with typical figures for this kind of thing? It's a busy shopping street, with market stalls and open air eateries. There is a quite heavily trafficked road about 40m away from one of the measuring points. I'd like to be able to at least have a coherent argument for a more sensible limit.

Unrelated to the ongoing names controversy: Please actually ensure you are applying to the correct company. I've just had an email in from someone waxing lyrical about how someone from our company gave a talk at his college and that really enthused him about the prospect of working for us. Nope, none of us have ever set foot in that establishment.

There is an Intensity Master fader, which is a grand master for the intensity channels of all fixtures. It'll need to be up for you to see anything. I can't remember if it affects the programmer content though.

There's normally a flip side to this kind of situation, though. I bought our first Fat Frog console around 2004. I remember it being a purchase that took quite a lot of deliberation beforehand, and we were struggling to justify the cost. Looking back, the console has paid for itself in spades, but we were quite concerned about spending what was quite a large lump of money for us at the time. Would we have paid an extra £100 on top for USB functionality rather than the floppy disc? I honestly don't know, but if the additional cost didn't swing the decision against Zero for us, it would have for some other buyers. You can repeat the same process and argument for every other piece of new(ish) technology that you include with any product. Times change, sometimes faster than we realise. In 2006 almost every non-Apple PC was still shipping with a floppy drive, and USB storage was an order of magnitude more expensive than it is now. So what seems obvious in hindsight maybe isn't quite as clear-cut for those making production decisions at the time. Based on my own experiences with Zero88 products, and their training and support, I'd happily buy again, and spend a little less time agonising over the purchase this time around.

Needs a flock of hungry seagulls following it for a start...

Very good. Is there a prize for being the first to mention it? ;) One other random question - what's the logo/symbol just to the right of the empty screw hole?

I see you lost one of the screws at some point... :D All looks very nice though. If I was being handed that as a finished commercial product I don't think I'd be disappointed.

Luckily, in this case, it seems they all retreated to a nearby bar to watch the action unfold. From what I can glean from a google translation some of the wreckage landed on some portaloos, which thankfully were unoccupied at the time. The chap walking across in front of the camera seems a little upset at the turn of events though.

Presumably without the HMI lamp there is no UV present, so it would be safe to remove the pesky interlock switch? (I've found they can become temperamental, especially on older units that have been bashed around)