gareth

Maintaining in-house is great, as long as you've got the resources to do it - staff hours, and skills. The second of those is definitely do-able, but available staff time is often at a premium in many venues except the largest ones. Core staffing levels have, on the whole, been pared right back to the bare minimum, which tends to mean that when a venue is dark staff need to take leave or any time-off-in-lieu that they've built up. That's when contracting out becomes more desirable.

They do? That's news to me. I inspect an awful lot of counterweight systems annually - maybe 100+ - between 2 major suppliers - and we don't lubricate anything. They do, yes. I didn't say anything about lubrication - I was talking about annual maintenance, as might be carried out during summer 'dark time'.

Even if you do the maintenance yourself, you're still going to have to have an annual inspection done as part of your insurance requirements. Most venues seem to favour getting a company to do both things at the same time.

Later ones did. Early ones were the simple moulded handle like the one in the photo.

Looks about right. Older Quartets had tiny little handles like that.

But still nothing to help those of us who slipped through the cracks the first (and second) time round.... Looks like I'm going to be driving my Tesco's van for a while longer yet. I'm in exactly the same boat as you, Ian - application failed on a technicality on 2018/9 tax return. (But I stopped driving my Tesco van in October once the dark evenings and horrible weather came along )

Probably not a piece of theatrical pyro - strobing bengals or blinkers are a pretty common firework item, both in consumer ranges and in larger sizes for pro displays.

MagicQ is probably the most scaleable solution (from the MQ500M Stadium down to a laptop with a USB dongle, all speaking exactly the same language) which would do what you need it to do, but is also something that students might then potentially encounter out in the 'real world' - or at least it's a system whose programming concepts and philosophy will translate readily onto other console families.

As well as the cable tails, some older Strand kit (mostly the bigger stuff, e.g. 243 and 252) contain asbestos insulating discs underneath the lampholder. We discovered this while stripping some old units down for spares a few years ago - here's a pic of the kit which ended up having to be taken apart by hazardous-waste professionals in a little sealed tent in our scene dock!!

A thousand thank-yous, kind sir.

Anyone got a PDF version of the old GeniusPro v2.8.5 user manual that they wouldn't mind sharing with me? I'm about to unload an old 520i onto a local school, and it would be great if they can have a manual to go with it - I thought I had one kicking around on my hard drive somewhere from years ago, but I'm struggling to find it...

To echo other posts... definitely check the pins of the old lamp (if you still have it) and the contacts in the lampholder for signs of arcing. I've rarely seen it on Source4s - unlike Strand SLs, where it happens to almost every lantern sooner or later - but you never know. Beyond that, again to echo previous responses, buzz out the continuity from the plugtop to the lampholder - I've seen S4 lampholder wiring fail inside the lamp burner on a couple of occasions before now.

My understanding of the term is that 'plaster line' and 'proscenium line' both mean the same thing in reality. "Two nations divided by a common language", and all that...

Petitions these days are like standing ovations - there are so many of them, many of them started on such a flimsy pretext, that they've been rendered pretty much worthless.

"Part of MLE Pyrotechnics" so my guess is a company looking to branch out as a lot of their previous work (like many others') has dried up... The guy who owns MLE has set up quite a few 'sister companies' over the years. He bought some Kvant lasers and set up a company to rent those out. He bought out the company who used to supply the PA systems for their outdoor events. He bought some high-end drone kit and set up an aerial photography/videography company. There's another company which deals with the firing system which they manufacture. Yet another one which encompasses the retail fireworks side of the business. The 'robot markout' venture is the latest in a substantial portfolio of companies.

You need Kazeja...

True, there are exceptions - but generally speaking, if you're driving anything over 3.5t MGVW you'll need to be on a tacho. If you get pulled by PC Plod or VOSA, wouldn't it be easier to just let them check the tacho and get on your way, rather than having to prove that you're only 49 miles from whatever you define as 'base'?

Even if you're only driving to 'carry equipment for your work', you still need to use a digital tacho card whenever you're driving, and to understand and apply the tachograph rules and regs.

Numbering circuits or channels L>R or R>L is another matter entirely, and subject to much more variation from venue to venue and person to person. Bar numbering is far less subjective in a pros or end-on kind of space.

LX1 is furthest downstage, working upstage as the numbering increases. FOH position numbering for bridges, slots, booms, etc. likewise works away from the pros - bridge 1 closest to the stage, incrementing numbers as you move away from the pros. In non-traditional spaces - studios, for example - then obviously this doesn't necessarily apply, and there will quite probably be a space-specific system of designating lighting positions which will vary according to the way the space works. The fact that you've asked this suggests that you've encountered someone who's suggested that it should work the other way (low numbered bars upstage).... which I find quite astonishing, to be frank!

You're effectively creating a short Y-split, which is not to DMX standards. You might get away with it - but for the sake of a short piece of cable and an XLR connector, why compromise? Power-wise... if it was me, I'd have a panel on the back with a 16A in and out, and a separate breaker for each of the hazer and fan with appropriate distro internally.

Go to the Members page (top left, under the logo), click Use Advanced Filters, change the Show All drop-down box to Admin, click Apply Filters

Yeah, I saw that (bit hard to miss it!). But the forum definitely isn't "closed down", it's still very much active - and I'm sure new registrations will be opened up again soon enough once the issues they're having are resolved.

The Chamsys forum looks very much 'still there' to me! Still active, too - last post was made just this afternoon. https://secure.chamsys.co.uk/forum/index.php

The current trend for a surfeit of 'associate producers', 'community arts practitioners', 'assistant directors' and so on, at the expense of the skilled technical staff who actually make the theatre happen, is a blight on the theatre business.