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Dicky

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    Working in the industry
  • Current Employment or place of study
    Theatre Consultant at Charcoalblue LLP Previously - Freelance, Arts Council Wales, Theatre Consultant, BS7909 Tester, Lighting rigger, Servicing of Panasonic Video Projectors, Autocad, Dad, Husband. Ex Chief Electrician at Wales Millennium Centre
  • Professional organisation membership
    ABTT BECTU NAPIT for BS7909 testing
  • Full Name
    Dicky Burgess

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    www.charcoalblue.com

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  • Location
    South Wales
  • Interests
    BS7909 temporary electrical installations - follow me on twitter @bs7909 or instagram @bs7909_

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  1. The Panasonic RZ970s have lots of fans to keep the lasers cool, and the noise is similar to a lamp based projector. This is a few years old now and the technology does change all the time, so worth getting all the info you need. most manufacturers should give a dB rating for how loud they are. It's true that lasers are more optically sealed, I can only speak about Panasonics, and yes, there is a lot less dust inside the optical path on a laser than on a lamp based projector.
  2. The big difference here is the pt-mz770l is a laser source projector, and the big difference between that and a lamp based projector is that the light levels don't deteriorate anything like they do as with lamps. On some of the 10k panasonic lasers that I service, I'm seeing negligible difference in light output after 4000 hours of runtime, which is incredible compared to the lamp based units. I've had lots of good information and help from AV partsmaster, who stock a wide range of projectors, they might be able to help with the lens questions. There is also a Panasonic lens calculator Here which may help you out. These projectors do need a good clean every so often, even if they're sold as 'maintenance free' the fans do clog up with dust, so worth making sure it's taken down once a year and hoover the dust out! Dicky
  3. For 1 year only the ABTT and PLASA will hold a joint exhibition at Olympia on 5 -7 September 2021. More info here https://www.lsionline.com/plasa-and-abtt-join-forces-for-2021-event?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Seems sensible and cost effective for the exhibitors and visitors
  4. I think there are good colleges and bad colleges, good courses and bad courses. The course you choose may have a big bearing on your employability at the end of it, I'd be wary of a course teaching 100+ students on the subject of audio, that's a big number. A good place to look at colleges would be the Federation of Drama Schools as these are reputable establishments, that on the whole have been going for quite some time. Many of them are traditional 'drama' schools, which have acting students, and musicians, as well as technical courses. Full disclosure - I was a student at RWCMD 1992-1995. Back then, there weren't many technical courses about, I think I had the choice of 3. These colleges have a lot more links with industry than perhaps some of the less well known establishments, for example, ex-students may now be employees in professional venues and will offer work placements at their venue. Don't underestimate the power of the Alumni! If you ask the colleges you are interested in, they should be able to tell you what sort of roles students go into when they finish. That said, I have had quite a lot to do with the apprenticeship scheme at a previous employer, and for some of the apprentices, that I taught skills to, they have gone onto work professionally in the industry. This is by far a cheaper way of learning - but you have to want to learn, as it won't come to you if you sit there and don't engage with your employer. If you find yourself as an apprentice working in a large venue, you'll be exposed to a huge variety of professional productions, so you will see what it's like working in the 'real world' - (not something easily replicated at a drama school btw). I'm sure, like college courses, there are good and bad apprenticeship schemes too, I have heard stories from ex-apprentices that they were used by their employer as a regular additional member of staff, as the venue was short staffed. So in either cases - buyer beware, and get as much information about the route you want to take - before you take it, as it's harder to change (not impossible) once you're signed up. Dicky
  5. One of my other jobs is servicing video projectors. I use a compressor with a moisture trap, no problems at all for fans, circuit boards, plastic parts. I do use a can of air for the sensitive optical parts though. Dicky
  6. Dicky

    Snow!

    So just a bump to this. For Christmas day, I borrowed a snow machine (a snowbreeze) from a convenient locally placed venue, and set it up to wow my 4 and 8 year old on Christmas day. The fluid I was given for it was quite old... probably at least 10 years old... But on a test, it seemed to work absolutely fine, lovely coverage, loud noise (expected) So at around 4pm, I suggest to the children to head outside for a 'christmas disco', and I set off the snow machine. For around 30 seconds it was great, everything you want from a snow machine.... Then I started to smell something absolutely dreadful... And 5 seconds later my 4yo son vomited on the decking ..... For some reason, the fluid had taken on a really horrible smell, which when turned into snow...... So there's a lesson to you all, the snow machines are great, but if the fluid smells a bit off, then get some new stuff, before you start off a barfarama.. (goonies ref.) Hope you all had a great christmas Dicky PS, the machine in question is about 15 years old, so it goes to show that with a bit of TLC, they do work well, just don't leave them with fluid in them.
  7. Dicky

    Snow!

    I think for the effect you're after, and it's outside, the £70 machine is probably your best bet, there's not much to clean up if it's outside (it just disappears fairly quickly), and the effect can be pretty realistic. I once used one to cover a small garden as a surprise for some children, and it was great. The video that there was a link to was the same sort of machine that I used, but the foam snow came out as you would expect (as a 'flurry' not as a snow slug - never seen that before from those types of machines! If you want to store it, as Clive suggests, the pumps are what fail, so when you want to store it, I would run some distilled water through it to clean the pipes, and then take let it take some air in so the pipes are empty, then it *should* be able to be stored for a reasonable length of time. The manufacturers might have other info about this too. They are really loud, as it's the fan to blow the liquid through the fabric nozzle has to operate at quite a speed to make it work - so as long as sound isn't an issue you're good to go. Dicky
  8. Lidl are selling at the moment a battery powered rechargeable soldering iron for £10. I was looking for something to replace my very worn out mains powered iron. I don't do a lot of soldering, so no need for a Weller or the like, but I was amazed that this little unit heats up in 25 seconds, and you can sit it in the charger when it's hot. A nice piece of kit, not quite sure how they do it for the money, but it's got a 3 year guarantee too. And it recharges from a USB socket (mains-usb adaptor supplied). Link here for anyone that's interested... Won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I've been impressed with the quality of the parkside range, much better build quality than similarly priced offers from the likes of screwfix/toolstation etc. Dicky
  9. There is a product that matches what you need, and it's made by 3M. I had a roll of it many years back and it was a completely clear, thick, durable tape, that I would put over the top of a barcode label to stick it to cables. (the cables were already purchased, not made in house). I've had a look on the 3M site and I think it might be this... My link The product I had was the same tape that was used by SLX and the like for their barcodes, and was pretty bomb proof, but pricy. Think it was £70 a roll, but you don't use much of it, and it's cheaper than re-making connections and putting heat shrink on! It might be worth asking a company who make cable-wrap barcode labels (Barcode + 10cm of clear tape) what the tape is that they use for that, as it's probably the same stuff.. I've tried dance floor tape and you'll end up replacing it as it's not good at flexing with the cable.
  10. My point about the Storyhouse press release was that it is an example of how that venue has made a deliberate move to open up and engage with their audiences and local community. A couple of quotes in that article that stood out to me are: "We will open in any way we can to safely serve our community with great stories and joyful shared experiences. We will relentlessly pursue our mission at this time when our diverse communities need us most." "There are plenty of headlines about theatres going into hibernation, we are a diverse business so that's not for us. We will be open and supporting our community from day one, just as they are showing such support for us right now. It's time for the country's theatres to think about how they can re-open to serve their communities" This response by Storyhouse to the COVID-19 situation is in stark contrast to some other venues, who have announced closures for the foreseeable future; some of which have huge spaces inside, not just their auditoria. It's times like these when some 'out of the box thinking' helps you open up. Every venue is different, and Storyhouse is unusual in that it has a public library as part of it's operation, as well as a restaurant and bar, which perhaps makes opening up, easier than other venues. So if at the very least, Storyhouse opens their library and bar, they have got people coming into their venue, creating income. You have to start somewhere. I was hi-lighting what I thought was a good news story, in a pretty bleak place for theatres at the moment. Not every theatre can re-open like Storyhouse is planning to do, but should they be applauded for their drive to reopen in any way they can? Damn right they should, and good luck to them.
  11. The point of the post was to hilight the fact that with droves of theatres with their doors shut doing NOTHING, and consultations for redundancies, I know which venue I would rather be working in.... The one that's going to re-open in June... This shows the difference between venue operators who think outside the box, change the way they do things to keep the wheels turning and to stop redundancies. Standing still with your doors closed and waiting to see what happens with other venues isn't the way to get your way out of this unfortunately.
  12. But some great news here from Storyhouse in Chester.... My link They are re-opening soon, they have looked at what is possible to do given current restrictions and they are changing and evolving and opening their building... This is the forward thinking that venues across the UK could do with looking at, rather than just shutting their doors until they can put a performance on in their theatre.. Well done Storyhouse.
  13. Sadly many people I know are currently facing redundancy, as if a company does not want to, or cannot afford to top up the government furlough scheme in August or beyond, those staff will need to be given a redundancy consultation period of at least 30 days. This means that a lot of theatres are going to have to make this decision in the next 2.5 weeks, as the last day for starting the consultation period will be 1st July. If the company wants to make more than 100 people redundant, you need to give 45 days notice, which the date for this has already passed. I think there is going to be a lot of bad news coming out in the next couple of weeks unfortunately, so you need to be aware that it is coming, whether you like it or not. It's a dreadful time for our industry, and my thoughts are with everyone that is affected.
  14. sad but probably inevitable news here link Dicky
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