15xStrand Pattern243 stolen from our venue

[mala]

My first post here...so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place-mods feel free to move it.

 

Basically the title says it all....I freelance for a London company based in the Shepherds Bush Pavillion(old Odeon cinema) some peole here may know it.The venue is split in 2 parts and upstairs is the remains of the cinema,which is occasionaly rented out for events,in the roof above the screen we used to have 4x4 banks of patt243'

these lights were part of the original late 60's install from when the cinema was divided into two.

I took one down to test,a few years ago...and to my surprise it worked straight away.As the venue is ours and no one except me had access to the roof...the lights had been left in situ where they were rigged originally in the 60's.

 

That was until sometime in July,when a well known London lighting company came into to put a rig in for an event.....the lights were still there when this companies rig went in....but the next time I went into the roof after this company had de-rigged a few weeks later....our patt243's had all gone!

 

To put it mildly I'm absolutely livid...have spoken to the owner of said company(who shall remain nameless for the time being...) he is speaking to his freelance boys who were on the job....so far of course they deny all knowledge.

 

My reason for posting here is in the hope that if any member here is offered or stumbles across 15(or less if they split 'em) Strand pattern243's that are the 1KW version(not that common from what I can find out)...with original asbestos? heat proof cable-Mmm nice!

 

Then could they please get in touch with me here via PM or call JVPEvents on 02087351800 and ask for Merry or Vince.

 

Almost the most irritating part of this,is that I was going to refurb-make safe the innards of the lights and use them for an upcoming event for which the client has asked for retro looking lights....now I have to go and hire the damn things!

 

sorry for the long post and thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Merry

[tokm]

Are they in any way branded? i.e. name of the venue/theatre, your company? Assuming some of these 1kw variety turn up, how would you go about proving they're yours? Just worth a mention as it gives people something else to look for.

 

Shame you haven't got any proof of who took the kit, a good naming and shaming would certainly teach whoever took the kit (be it this lighting company or someone else)!

 

Best of luck finding the kit. Perhaps after a little fuss is made, they'll mysteriously appear along with a 'oh we just found them hidden behind some cases at the back of the unit, however did they get in there' :)

 

T

[adam2]

I fear that the lanterns have been stolen, but are you quite certain ?

Could they have been removed and left elswhere in the premises, if in the way of the hired kit.

I am not familiar with the venue, but sounds like the sort of old, rambling building with plenty of oportunities to misplace large items.

 

I would suggest a thourough search, presuming that this reveals nothing, I would contact the police with the details of the hire company.

[Ynot]

Keep a weather eye on Fleabay...

[David A]

Seems a weird thing to steal, big and heavy with practically no value, [unless you want retro stuff for its looks], the 243 was always a 2k, now if you had 743s or 223s, they are worth stealing.

[sguy42]

Seems a weird thing to steal, big and heavy with practically no value, [unless you want retro stuff for its looks], the 243 was always a 2k, now if you had 743s or 223s, they are worth stealing.

 

The earlier 243s had a P40 base and could take a 1kW or 2kW lamp.

 

I'd need to check but I seem to remember at launch only the 1kW lamps were available and the 2kWs came slightly later.

 

The 243B similarly had the P40 base (although I don't know what made it different from a regular patt 243)

 

The 243BP had a bi pin base which took a 2kW CP41 lamp.

 

Hope that clarifies.

 

Shane

[David A]

Why would Strand have made a lamp twice as big and twice and as heavy and much more expensive to compete with their own Patt 223 with the same light output?

Having checked Strands website, you are correct, they did produce it as a 1k, and it was 7 pounds dearer, crazy people.

[andy_s]

clearly even that long ago Strand were concerned for the environment and offering energy-saving options . . .

 

but seriously, maybe the larger lens was considered to be desirable even where the available power supply wouldn't allow for the deployment of 2kW units in sufficient quantities? I'm speculating, really, as I've never came across these low powered 243s myself.

[mala]

thanks for all the replies,

To answer some questions and give a little more info:

 

Unfortunately they had no markings on the unit/not branded...reason for this is that they were never taken down(except the one I mentioned that I had tested and still have) from the position they were originally installed in the 60's(maybe earlier) some 14M above the floor where they were bolted to bars(no hook clamps) in a lip of the roof just to the front of the stage/screen..the only access to the lamps was through some hatches in the suspended plaster ceiling..access to the roof is not at all easy..once you are up there, then there are some rickety old cat walks to the lamps position...the lamps original positions were about a 2M away from the where the lighting company in question put their rigging points for the show they did.

 

The bolts on the yokes were pretty much seized up and the lamps weigh 14kg each..not a pleasant climb back through the roof carrying that

 

No one else except myself and the owner of JVPEvents knew what these lights were and I'm the only person who goes into the roof....whilst it is an old rambling building I know every single part of it having investigated it all..even abseiling down off the back of the original and now bricked in fly tower(before Odeon split the place into 2 levels in '69..it also had a theater stage)...when I noticed the lights had gone I checked everywhere in the building.

 

As for the lamp questions Here is what the one I still have has in it.....I'm no expert on these old lights nor generics in general..as I entered the biz as a moving light tech and rigger...I thought I had found some spares lamps for them,but they turned out to be T6's..show's you how much I know about old lights :D

 

btw Strand fitted out the entire building when it was first built in 1924,apparently including loads of crazy colour changing uplighting to the whole space..I would love to find some photos of the original look of the inside of building but have only managed to find exterior shots...from paperwork I've found, Strand were involved in maintaining the lights in the building right up till '83 when it closed as a cinema-last film shown "The Twilight Zone"..which just about sums up the building :blink: JVP took over the building in 2002/3 when we converted the old bingo hall downstairs into a "white box" venue we installed trussing,new power and distro-soca+NL4 runs to the truss etc......sadly the building is due to be turned into a hotel soon...would love for it to be restored back to a 2500/3000 capacity venue but I guess you make more money out of hotels or at least you do on a monopoly board .

 

As I said we wanted the lights for various fashion/corporate jobs we have coming up....to use them just as practicals really..the fashion/retail crowd love these retro lights which is I guess why they have been stolen,the people who took them knew they were worth cleaning up and selling on.I have been in touch with Jim Laws lighting about buying some from him and have had a reasonable quote..not as cheap as just using the ones we had of course!

 

Regarding the lighting crew that I'm 99% certain stole the lights I have given the boss of the company 2 days to grill his crew and will be calling him back tomorrow...if the lights are not returned I will not only be naming and shaming the company but also giving as much info as possible to the police......but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[paulears]

Not daft at all - we've got 6 1Ks and a dozen 2Ks. You have to remember that in those days, 2K dimmers were the norm and it was very common for these to be paired left and right. In fact in my venue (built in 59) front of house had 10 circuits (yes 10) in a 1400 seater house Front of House. Each outlet was paired left and right, and the same situation was common on-stage. Dimmer sparse, so running two on a bar on one channel was very common - so having a big lens meant squeezing the last bit of light out. I still have 223s too, and although they're pretty good on bars as wash, in light colours, 243s on the ends work better. The other thing of course, is that 2K lamps are very expensive - 1Ks being cheaper. The bigger lens also gives a softer light. Although the downside to using these is that the catches wear and having one flop it's lens panel out in mid-show is a bit of a moment!

 

One thing - were yours green or grey? - that's helpful if people come across them.

 

This is theft - pure and simple, so report it and even though they won't want to be involved, you can give them the name of the only firm to have had access - much better luck than I have had this season with theft.

[mala]

Green or Grey?...well Mmm...grey but a slightly green grey..that doesn't help does it...I'll take a photo of the one I have left and post it tomorrow

[PLE]

To add to the history lesson. The Pattern 243 predates the 223 by a few years. As I understand it they were built as a 2Kw for TV and a 1Kw for theatre. Prior to that Strand sold the Pattern 102 which was a rebadged Mole Richardson unit. The P40 and G38 lampholders were designed to have the same fixing centres and arranged so that the light centre positions of the 1kw and 2Kw lamps were the same.

[RoyJ]

:blink: I am really sorry to hear of the theft,as we deal in vintage equipment I will keep my eyes open.We do not have any 243's mainly due to lack of space.I also agree with the other post a lot of the lanterns of that time were dual wattage.If we get offered any 243's I will let you know.Regards Roy

[mala]

Thanks Roy :up:

 

Here's some pics of the one that remains,I haven't cleaned it up this is what it was like when still in the roof...looks like someone took pretty good care of them..considering I took this one down over 20 years after the cinema closed

heres the link

 

they are a silvery grey...I was wrong about the green tint

[RoyJ]

Thanks Roy :up:

 

Here's some pics of the one that remains,I haven't cleaned it up this is what it was like when still in the roof...looks like someone took pretty good care of them..considering I took this one down over 20 years after the cinema closed

heres the link

 

they are a silvery grey...I was wrong about the green tint

 

Just to let you know I've also let Jim Laws know,about the theft,regards Roy