Improvising

[tom_the_LD]

I once had to have someone operating dip switches on a parcan worked quite well

Dip switches on a PARcan? Was it an LED PAR?

[gareth]

I once had a lamp blow in the middle of the show. Luckily, I found another lantern that was focussed more or less in the same place, so I brought it up and saved the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

[smalljoshua]

Didn't we have that in another, now closed, topic?

 

Josh

[casey_cole]

We made our own cans sets. Got a 12V transformer to power them through XLR which also carried the signal. Bought some combined headsets and mics and made up the circuits. Cost us about £100 for three sets - high gain on the mics, mute buttons, power LEDs, sturdy beltpack cases ala Canford. Those that we left are currently in the process of making another couple for follow-spot ops.

 

Pretty chuffed with those.

 

CC

[gareth]

now closed

Precisely my point. :D

[Guest lightnix]

now closed

Precisely my point. :P

But before it is (please)...

 

I once got handed a load of parcans to rig that were all covered in pigeon poo and had several damaged ceramics, with bare conductors exposed.

 

I was on the mobile in a flash, ordering a steam cleaner and new ceramics with silicon tails; to be expressed to the venue ASAP, so that I could get the system working, even if I had to stay up all night to make it happ told them there was no way I was going to even touch it and walked away - thus saving my day (and evening) perfectly :D

[Old Bloke]

My technical director will often use a wooden rod meant for pulling the projector screen down to move lights!

This is (or at least, it used to be) standard practice in TV studios. The lanterns had fittings that enabled adjustment from the floor using a specially desgned pole. Me - I use a stage brace when desperate!

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

I've had to use a £10 Maplins lapel microphone & in-line DI/XLR adapter inside an acoustic guitar before when the guitarist's pickups went down literally as he walked on stage.

 

This happened to me & my solution was to use a radio mic. Worked well!

[Blaize110]

We made our own cans sets. Got a 12V transformer to power them through XLR which also carried the signal. Bought some combined headsets and mics and made up the circuits. Cost us about £100 for three sets - high gain on the mics, mute buttons, power LEDs, sturdy beltpack cases ala Canford.

 

Yeah. Weve done that too. But the strain relief for the wires wasnt that good so mid show we had someone on the floor with a torch in his mouth and a soldering iron in his hard trying to solder the miniature wires back on so the followspots could be cued!

 

One year we also wanted our one and only parcan to be one of four colors depending on the outcome of a school competition so I was tasked with standing by it and, when the winner was anounced, holding the appropriate colour gel infront of it until everyone had filed out of the hall and it could be turned off!

[SoLiEn]

We made our own cans sets. Got a 12V transformer to power them through XLR which also carried the signal. Bought some combined headsets and mics and made up the circuits. Cost us about £100 for three sets - high gain on the mics, mute buttons, power LEDs, sturdy beltpack cases ala Canford.

 

Yeah. Weve done that too. But the strain relief for the wires wasnt that good so mid show we had someone on the floor with a torch in his mouth and a soldering iron in his hard trying to solder the miniature wires back on so the followspots could be cued!

 

One year we also wanted our one and only parcan to be one of four colors depending on the outcome of a school competition so I was tasked with standing by it and, when the winner was anounced, holding the appropriate colour gel infront of it until everyone had filed out of the hall and it could be turned off!

 

now earning you the nickname of human scroller.

[Blaize110]

now earning you the nickname of human scroller.

 

<_< ** laughs out loud **.

[berry120]

One and only parcan? Wow, I know school budgets are tight, but those things don't cost much!

[HobitLight]

Well, we don't even own one!

[Ike]

EDIT: http://www.parts4you.us/pic/pa6.jpg This kind of thing.

That's not a europlug it's American, if you chop that off and put a British plug on it you'll be putting twice the voltage at the wrong frequency up it! OK you might be lucky and it might be an autosensing power supply but I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Ynot]

Also we have a European transformer so we have to get a pen in the earth slot before we can plug it in

Then you need to get the correct UK-EU converter for this one, then!

[starsky]

Oh yes. We had Walkie-Talkie comms. It didn't work. We managed to have a channel with the police, and one with the fire brigade. They didn't work at all!

 

Either your not in the UK or those were some very special radios considering for the last 5 years at least both the police and fire services have been using encrypted TETRA systems.