IRW

It's not an official gov.uk petition, so even less likely that anyone of any significance (with regards to the furlough scheme) will take notice of it unfortunately. This is one that will not be getting my details I'm afraid.

Hi All

 

I'bve been using a very old 520 for a show recently (the show file that was loaded when I turned it on was from 2014 so it hadn't been out of the case for a while!) It worked great until just before the final performance when suddenly the subs stopped working and the LCDs went blank (although DMX still outputs and all the buttons still work) The midi port also stopped working which was unfortunate as we were using Qlab to fire MSC into it.

 

Luckily we got through the show and since it was the final one it wasn't a disaster, but I would like to get the desk fixed for old times sake. Does anyone have any idea what may have happened? I have a suspiscion it was to do with the midi as I noticed that someone had re-plugged the midi so my adaptor went from the in to the thru, which shouldn't cause a problem but seemed to have happened that day so seems unlikley to be a co-incidence.

 

Any ideas appreciated!

 

Richard

If someone's replugged the midi, does that mean the desk may have been moved? Even so, if it's not been used for a while before the current stint, one or more of the cables inside may have become dislodged? IIRC, the subs/LCDS are on ribbon cables, although I can't remember exactly where they run as it's been a good few years since I last had my head under the bonnet of a 520, and I don't seem to have any lid-up photos to reference!

 

I can't remember how midi gets to the mainboard, but loose cables may explain why the console still functioned. Might be worth popping the lid up and checking all connectors are firmly home.

Pretty sure we have one or two who've worked at or are still on the books at the Garrick.

I've seen a mail sent to one of my people today with the announcement that they are starting up again on Nov 1st.

Not clear yet what the programme will be - their What's On page still lists shows from Sept, so maybe they'll just pick up from there.

However, unless the SD limits are down to 1m (which as far as I can see they're not) I don't know how they're expecting to cover costs without some big-time discounts on the mostly pro acts that I can see there.

 

Anyone have any inside knowledge?

 

On the social distancing distance, as I understand it, 1m is permissible with risk mitigation (which can include face coverings), certainly 'in the workplace'. Whether one can apply this definition to an audience in an auditorium or not isn't evident, but could be viewed in the same way as customers in shops?

Source: https://www.gov.uk/g...ancing-guidance (Sections 1.1 & 1.4)

 

Being a modern-ish venue, the LG has a fair amount of 'circulation space', and decent size foyers. Having spent many years working on / poring over CAD plans of the building, I can quite easily envisage how they could implement one-way systems and such like (FOH at least...backstage would be a bit trickier). Similarly, the 'natural ventilation' system probably lends itself quite well to keeping the air 'fresh', as 100% of the air being drawn into the auditorium is 'new' (in that there is no re-circulation), assuming the system is still fully working. (It took me the best part of a few years to get my head around the intricacies, and then I left...!). If they had the desire, it would also be a cinch* to add some sort of intake UV sterilisation system, as all the air for the auditorium/stage comes from 2 main plenums fed from 3 intakes**.

 

When I was in Buxton for LIIR the other night, one of my colleagues had a message to say LG was intending to put a panto on, but other than that, I'm not aware of any details!

 

 

* a little bit of conjecture on my part- I don't fully understand how UV-C air sterilisation works, other than what I've learnt from Big Clive...!

** otherwise known as holes on the side of the building through which the air drifts naturally into the plenums

To be honest, I would espect something described as 0-10V to be 0 to + 10v. Generally speaking, if someone's selling the negative version, I think they'd make a point of emphasising it, and that particular seller should know the difference.

In answer to your questions about whether you could rewire your dimmer pack, in short, no. Some dimmers, such as Zero 88 betapacks, are clever enough to 'autosense' and adapt as neccessary, but this is done using onboard electronics, not a simple wire swap.

1. Promise less, deliver more: Never promise (or even lead a boss/client/director etc to expect) something which you're not 100% sure you can manage. If you promise the earth and deliver anything less, you'll be left looking daft. If you promise what you know you can achieve, and then do it well, you will gain a reputation as someone who can deliver. If you manage to pull off something extra or better, even just slightly better, then you'll gain a reputation for exceeding expectations. But never put the basics at risk while trying to pull off the fancy extras.

Addenum....

breaking the rules on lighting angles is "art".

 

To a degree...!

 

More relevant now than ever.... have a backup. It's highly likely that we will have a similar shutdown in the next few years so having a skill or social circle outside the industry that you can escape to wold be a very wise move.

 

I would also add to this, don't let your pride get in the way of putting food on the table...Most people on here know me in my technical management/theatrecraft tutoring or touring LX #1 capacity, but given the extreme unlikelyhood of any theatre work this side of September, if not later, and with a baby due in September, I can currently be found bobbing around Liverpool doing home deliveries for Tescos...!

I believe we are being asked to put a light in the window at 8.30 on Tuesday evening for Florence Nightingale's 200th birthday, & wonder whether sticking a couple of Par-64s in every room will save putting the heating on again (a bit of careful aiming could really upset the neighbours).

 

And a bit of careless aiming, or a 'scrollered' tilt lock, could give you a bit more heat than you bargained for...! :s

I might use a cone-cutter as Tim suggests, but only in a pillar-drill.

Oh yes should have said that ... they are evil and a bit dangerous in a hand drill.

 

Slightly OT, but I've only ever used cone/step bits in a hand drill, and not had a problem (as far as I can recall, I'll have always had the workpiece clamped, or otherwise immovable)...am I lucky, super careful, or havn't done enough of them to find that one that will bite me? :s

Hey folks,As I'm sure many other people are at the moment, I'm having a good tidy up, and I've come across this little tub in an old toolbox that's been lurking at the back of a cupboard for probably about 15 years!

 

I know they were orginally for a lighting desk which I have long since parted company with, although I never used the pins myself, partly because I had no idea what to do with them (at the time, we had no manual for the desk, and I wasn't quite as clued up as I am now!). To be fair, the desk didn't have any sort of ID on it, and may well have been built by someone for all I know!

Anyway, if they are of any use to anybody, please drop me a message! Or, if you can just shed some light on the system they were for, I'd be interested to read about how I could have used them! They seem to have an array of different diodes inside them.http://www.irwdesign.com/br/pinpatchpins.JPG

 

Edited to add:For reference, they're about 40mm long in total, and the open one in the middle is a bog standard 1N4148 diode.

 

Aha! Found a picture of the desk...this was after I re-'fur'bed it...from what I recall, the big blue panel was originally black, and the blue furry bit was a black leather kind of thing.

http://www.irwdesign.com/br/lxdesk2.JPG

 

I think the pin patch was something to do with the yellow faders at the bottom right (submasters?). The pin patch itself is the white/orange matrix.

 

If you are interested in going down the OSC route, I could have a look into whizzing up a basic 'If this command comes in, send this command out' jobbie that could run in the background of a computer that's already involved on the network?

so due to the lockdown I have plenty of time on my hands so started to go thru the broken pile at the end of the lockup.Started to go through 6 mac500s and now left with two that are not doing anything on the tilt.Motors,wiring and drivers are all ok,checked the current sense resistors and the readings are the same as the ones on the working pan side.Anything else I can check

 

When you say they are not doing anything on the tilt, do they seem to have any power to the tilt motors, or do they just swing in the wind?

I suspect that even in the current climate, an individual would struggle to make one hugely cheaper than the canford price, unless they have the parts 'on the shelf'...at £7.40 for two connectors + £3.50 CPC handling charge + VAT, say a fiver for postage to you, and a tenner for labour, you're already at £28...! Might be cheaper just to buy the bits, and a box of chocolates for the next proddy LX you bump into...!

 

Edited to add: Beaten to it, by James Remo, who obviously does have the parts 'on the shelf'!

 

I don't know if I'm allowed to mention specifics here due to my contract, but the (not insignificant) production company I have been working for has literally just pulled all of the spring tours currently out with immediate effect. Many of us have been doing load ins today, and we're now going to be doing the get out tomorrow!

Patt 123 and 223 (well, 743 as I converted them) lanterns. Less so the barndoors prone to flapping in the wind.

Ditto. And Ditto.

 

Me too. Got a small collection of each in the garage. The 123's are perfect for one particular job I do, where the old 'stand green' blends in prefectly, and the nice wide beam covers what it needs to, with a lovely 'feel'. They're probably the things that are worth the most (eBay-wise) that I have in terms of equipment, but they're the last thing I'd sell!

I think you are talking about fall arrest rather than fall restraint, Ninja, which latter is simple, cheap and maintenance free and is where a steel wire rope might be a possible solution. My link

 

Surely a fall/work restraint would be the better of the two options? With a restraint, you should not, in theory, not be able to be in a position where a fall becomes possible, whereas an arrest system could well leave someone dangling, along with all the rescue plans and such like that would then have to come into play?!

I'm wondering when standard fresnels became worthy of the term 'legacy'.

 

Shhh...they'll be 'vintage' soon, then we can all get them chromed up and flogged on ebay for the price of two lustres!

Bizarrely, meltback can be caused by using an iron that is too small and/or not hot enough.

 

Aha! Given I was probably using a cheap maplins jobbie at the time when I would have been soldering analogue cables, that could explain it!

37 pin (?)

 

That they were. I had to solder one once...before I was 'good' at soldering! :s

 

As a side note, did anyone else ever used to find that the insulation on individual analogue cable cores used to melt back further when you so much as looked at it with the soldering iron in your hand?!

I maybe wrong, but im sure many years ago I saw a little craddle that you could stack your stage weights in. then slide a bar across the top to padlock them in place.

 

Im trying to find something so we can keep track on our stage weights and stop them dissapearing.

 

Was I dreaming or is this something that exists.

 

Thanks In advance

 

Tom

 

To be honest, that sounds like something that could almost be made in 20 mins out of the scrap wood pile...!

 

with cloth insulation...

 

Asbestos ?

 

+ 1. Beware Will Robinson! Just seeing this sort of insulation on theatre lights should start tentative alarm bells ringing!

50 minutes later... Something along these lines?

http://www.irwdesign.com/SuitsYouSurtitler/Suits_You_Surtitler_v0-5.zip

Unzip the directory somewhere sensible, and run the main file.

Ian

 

How do your surtitles arrive with you? A plain text file? One of the Opera Festival's that I'm involved with just uses Powerpoint, and like you, I've always thought this a rather poor (and not to mention time consuming) way of going about it.

 

Given a brief, I could probably write something basic and cross platform in a matter of minutes (or hours for something a little more user friendly...!)

 

 

 

 

We have a Chauvet Geyser P7 fog machine which we initially bought for a specific effect because we could colour the output with any additional light source.

 

So my question is, what is the maximum continual burst that I can expect? We are getting about 10 seconds, is that about right?

 

Yep, that's the same as one I bought for a show in the summer- I was a bit disappointed, as I don't think I'd spotted this in any of the literature (seemingly like you!), and I'd hoped to run it for about 20/30 seconds. If you need a 2nd, to prolong what you are trying to do, it's on my to-do list to move it on again at some point soon...!

Ooh, ooh, pulleys! Me please!

 

I think theres a bit of confusion upthread between 'load'(/force) and 'mechanical advantage'...Tom and Tim had it right, and after a bit of trawling, I've found this page that seems to explain it quite well:

https://www.educatedclimber.com/mechanical-advantage-explained/

 

Essentially, when you start introducing purchase systems, the 'load' exerted on the bar will, if anything, start to decrease, on the basis that you are using the mechanical advantage of the pulley systems such that you have to exert less force to lift the load (that is not changing in mass, and so will ultimately 'weigh' the same to the fixings in the ceiling).

 

 

Of course if you spread your top pulleys across separate bars/hanging points, you will exert even less (downward) force on the bars, but that's for another diagram...!

 

Ian

Just wondering what everyone uses and would suggest to use for cleaning the exterior of lighting fixtures. I've got some source 4's, floods, pars etc that could do with a bit of a clean on the outside just to give them a bit of a new look. Any special cleaners etc? Thanks Guys.

 

A bucket of hot water with a little bit of washing up liquid added is effective, cheapest, and mostly environmentally (and COSHH) friendly, along with a decent supply of rags (talk to wardrobe dept, or RS sell them by the box). I find that stiff washing up brushes can also help, and shoe brushes are brilliant at cleaning awkward heatsinks (i.e. minuette corners, Starlette bodies, Cantata extrusions etc).

 

An airgun on the end of a compressor can also be very useful for blasting out things such as S4 back ends, but, in the interests of not launching dust into the air (or eyes) I'd always advise to use something like this in tandem with a hoover (and potentially safety specs) to collect the stuff you're shifting ;)

 

 

If you have anything that's particularly stubborn, a bit of foam cleaner and/or IPA and/or sticky stuff remover can help, but in moderation.