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buying followspots


tivoliproduction

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Not heard much about the Teclumen range - I have a feeling it could be one of their budget products? Could be wrong there...

 

Anyway what I do know is that RJ spots really are the muts nuts. Why not just get one of the 1200w sourced RJ spots (Manon, Topaze or Korrigan depending on which source). You really do get what you pay for with a RJ spot.

 

Stu

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the biggest problem is that my theatre is run by volunteers and every penny raised is ploughed straight back into keeping the building open, we are not government funded. (absolute no fundiong at all) so all the money has to be spent wisely and effectively. I would go back to rj tomorrow if I could but finances just don't permit at the moment and the foxies just dont seem to do the job anymore (more heat than light) had a look at the new rj followspots on white light stand at plasa the other week and alot of thought has gone into the product and unfortunately the price tag shows at the moment for someone in my financial situation. normally have to make small miracles out of small budgets, it makes the job interesting but sometimes difficult.
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rigging is now sorted, thanks to me working crazy hours with 1 member of my excellent crew to get everything up to scratch. (the dodgy rigging wasnt my fault, was the w****r before me) is hopefully being inspected in the next week or 2.

Ah, marvellous - that's good to know.

 

As a matter of interest, what sort of throw distance are your followspots working at? It just strikes me as a little odd that your Foxies (which, IIRC, are a 700w discharge source, are they not?) aren't bright enough for you. Is the throw extraordinarily long, or something?

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the foxies are indeed 700w msr, the throw is about 30-35m from recent measurements. we have had them since 2000 and the person who spec'd them is an ex bt engineer (no offence to bt engineers, they do an excellent job) they were purchased on the spot without so much as a demo which in my mind is the wrong thing to do. (I wasnt involved as much as I am now, being production manager) like I said earlier , there seems to be more heat than light, even with a brand new lamp in 1 of them. probably more suited to a smaller venue with 20-25m throw.
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Hmm, a Foxie should have no problems dealing with a 100ft throw. This might be a silly question, but have you given all the optics a clean, and checked the lamp alignment within the reflector? If not, you might find it's worth doing as you might be surprised at the results ...
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Have the lenses had a decent and through clean out? Also, make sure the lamp is properly aligned - if the lamp isn't centred properly in the reflector you'll just be chucking away a ton of light.

 

Which lamp manufacturer do you use?

 

Stu

 

PS. Curse your quick fingers Mr. Hughes!

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have cleaned the thing more times than I can remember, lamp seems to be lined up ok aswell, not sure what else to do, the main problem is the techs/directors for shows see how bright the unit is when the auditorium is completely dark but when we have a show they just don't perform as they should. even one of my source 4 zooms is brighter, only just though. (tried the other day out of interest.)

 

more suggestions/recommendations always welcome.

 

asa far as I am aware the last lamp came from GE, will check when I get into work in the morning. will probably spend most of tomorrow seeing what I can do. not much else to do in wimborne on a monday.

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asa far as I am aware the last lamp came from GE

Only reason I mentioned this, is that you may find that a 700w MSR from a different manufacturer might give you more lumens, probably at the expense of the lamp life - but hey ho. Might be worth comparing lamp specs to see if this is possible.

 

Stu

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If you have Source 4 Zooms which are brighter then I think there must be something wrong with your spots or their ballasts. Not that S4 Zoom's aren't bright but the Foxie's should be significantly brighter!

 

One thing to check and this is entirely from memory, but there are two lamp holder heights on the Foxie for different types of lamp, MSR being one the other escapes me. If you have the lamp holder at the wrong height then the main envelope of the lamp will be off centre to the reflector and therefore cause a significant drop in light output. Had a quick look at the Robert Juliat website and can't find a manual but it would certainly be worth researching further if I were you. Certainly before an expensive replacement of the spots.

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Ok… To put it bluntly RJ Foxies are great. Yes ok you can always get better the more you spend but as has been said here they are one of the best value and quality for money you can get (value not meaning cheap just you get what you pay for).

 

I think you mad trying to replace them for some spot which is defiantly not going to be as good as an RJ spot. For a volunteer theatre I would say you extremely lucky to have them, most amateur/volunteer groups have to rely on cct sil follow spots. I know plenty of people which would love them. Put it like this the professional theatre which I do casual work for has two Foxies and the pro lighting people there love them

 

Anyway enough of the ranting, there are two lamp positions check these first before parting with two very good pieces of kit. If this is not the issue and you have cleaned them very well (I mean not a casual front lens wipe I mean take the whole thing apart and clean the lenses inside there are quite a few… something like 7, I can’t remember but I was helping someone service them recently and there were a lot) then there may be a problem with the ballasts which shouldn’t be too much of an issue to get fixed by a professional lighting company (not going to name any you know the companies I mean ;))…

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