Do It Yourself
for those who are brave enough to go it alone... with a little help from your friends
784 topics in this forum
-
- 0 replies
- 2.5k views
12 Volt Minder UPG 71730 Low Voltage Warning Device for 12 volt battery systems. Prevent low or dead batteries by installing Volt Minder which has both LCD voltage read out and audible alarm. Customer adjustable low voltage setting, with a range of 10.5 to 13.8 volts, and audible on and off switch. Automatically monitors charging system and detects battery loads. $ 30 with cigarette lighter adapter cable. very accurate voltmeter too! http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-products/UPGvoltminder.html WE DONT SELL 'EM BUT USE THEM WOLF WOLFVID.COM
Last reply by wolfvid, -
- 11 replies
- 2k views
This isn't exactly DIY but it isn't full up expensive gear either. I've always wondered what I could use the digital-only output bus 2 on my 744T for (since it can be set up to have different outputs from output bus 1). I HAVE used the 744 as a 4 channel digital interface--using one digital output bus to feed the SPDIF input of a Traveler and output 2 to feed the AES input of same (with appropriate internal routing in the 744)--that worked well. But what about in the bag etc? Well, here's a cheapo accessory from Gefen that is a 24 bit 48k stereo DAC that runs on DC. I hooked it up to output 2 of the 744, and it worked. Sounded good. Not a lot of level--sort of -15-…
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
- 2 followers
- 3 replies
- 1.6k views
Hi does anyone know how to make a cable for the following story? a sanken cos11 (red mark) wired to TA5F for lectrosonics sma, i need to make a cable TA5M to sennheiser... does anyone know how to make this cable? Thanks...
Last reply by Eric Toline, -
- 9 replies
- 2.1k views
Sometimes when filming in public places, the lockup capabilities can be stretched pretty thin. PA's will hang up posters apologizing for the inconvenience and ask for bystanders to please keep quiet etc., etc. The signs and posters are still easily overlooked and people will ignore them. On a particular shoot when this was a problem, we were near a hardware store that was selling clip-on bicycle tail lights for 1.99 incl. batteries. I bought a few and clipped them to the posters and the flashing red LED's caught people's attention and they would go to read the posters and then actually keep their voices down. The lights can sometimes be pretty effective.
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
- 1 follower
- 18 replies
- 2.9k views
Over the years, there have been occasions where I have turned down my Comtek feed in order to mute it from the listeners between takes, and then forget to turn it back up when we roll. Since there are times when it's appropriate for the sound crew to keep the mics up for our own technical reasons, but at the same time keep the mics muted to the "public", I needed to make myself some kind of reminder to unmute the feed when we roll. I finally built a simple little box that would switch off the Aux send to the transmitter and at the same time, flash a bright red battery-powered LED to signal the muting. Turned out to be very useful.
Last reply by soundperson, -
- 5 replies
- 22.3k views
I'm thinking of building a stereo to mono summing box so that I can send a mono signal and was wondering if anyone has done this... any suggestions/refinements? I'm probably going to make it along the lines of this one from the Rane Note "Why Not Wye": I'd be using it to sum the 2-channel output of my mixer, since I want to keep both channels separate to the recorder for ISO's. It doesn't necessarily have to be a balanced signal since it's just the scratch track. What do you think? John
Last reply by copelandprime, -
- 5 replies
- 1.8k views
My old (OLD!) Weller soldering station is dying. Probably nothing I couldn't fix with a good soldering iron, but now I'm facing the soundie's version for "There's a hole in the bucket." And anyway, it's really old. I need a new iron/station, but geez, Weller makes a million models, and I'm not familiar with other brands. I'm not sure what to buy. Would love some suggestions and perspectives. A bit of background: I used to be quite handy with an iron... using one was a big part of my job. But that was a long time ago. Now I just occasionally make and repair basic cables and stuff. My needs are simple and my skills meh.... Also, I don't want to spend a lot of money. N…
Last reply by Doug Osborn, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 2.2k views
So, I work with a cameraman who has had some bad luck with the flip-out screen on his XDCam. It has been replaced a couple of times already (from getting bashed!) So he now shoots with the screen all closed up! I can no longer read the meters over his shoulder so I came up with this little box that shows me when audio is present in the camera. I primarily use the Zaxcom stereo hop as a camera feed with a backup recorder running in my bag. It runs from a 9V battery and has separate left and right (Ch1 & Ch 2) LEDs. The audio feed comes from the headphone jack or 5-pin audio out. Dimensions are about 2.5" X 1.5" X 3/4".
Last reply by Soundwil, -
.thumb.jpg.b62d3b0667e4ee0fd0c7f8e5d8c15591.jpg)
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 2.6k views
I was looking around at some battery solutions, and found this item. Looks pretty cool. A 4-pin XLRF could be soldered on, or Hirose, etc., if you didn't want the plug that's already molded on. I was thinking about buying a couple, but the smallest number I can find is on this site for a minimum order of 12. http://www.sourceresearch.com/store1/quickstore.cfm?ProductID=90868&do=detail Is anyone interested in having one or two or three? I would have to stick it in a box and send it, so that would be a little over $5 in the US. So if $12 would be fair (there's a similar thing on eBay for $13 with a seemingly lower build quality), I'd buy a handful and mail …
Last reply by Marc Wielage, -
- 9 replies
- 3.8k views
I am looking for a recommendations for a 5 wire cable (4 wire plus shield). I'm looking to wire a 5 pin to 5 pin. I thought about using some star-quad but I heard from various sources that by using a star-quad in this application wasn't a good thing since star-quad wasn't designed to operated this way. Thanks Jack
Last reply by johnpaul215, -
Duplex Box
by Graves- 2 followers
- 24 replies
- 5.9k views
Anyone make their own? I made one using a 5 pin xlr (pin 1 shield, pin 2 +, pin 3 - mic / pin 4 tip, pin 5 ring for headphones) I grounded the shield on the stereo hp 1/4" jack to chassis of the 5 pin xlr. Mic works great, 48v works, but the headphones turn down when I turn up the volume from my SD 702t. Cable is Canare L-4E3-2P. Should I use a 6 pin xlr? I removed the ground from the headphone jack in the box and the same, actually, it works better with the ground removed, but still no volume adjustment, level goes down, not up. What am I missing? All solder joints are solid and resistance is at a minimum..... 000.5 or less on all connections using my multi meter. Thank…
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
- 2 followers
- 20 replies
- 5.3k views
So I have these sennheiser g2 packs lying around and decided to attempt a wireless timecode system with them. I built a lemo-1/8th cable to output from my fusion, and took the sensitivity down to -30 on the transmitter. Meters read a solid -10 or so when plugged in. The receiver is getting the signal cleanly with no hits, and when outputted to a ts-c in read mode, it will scroll if you touch the chassis of the lemo connector. If you do not touch the chassis, it will lock a static number once and not scroll. In gen mode it does nothing. The ultimate goal is to wirelessly jam a red camera, but the red won't flash its little chain symbol and it shows no indication of com…
Last reply by John Blankenship, -
- 1 reply
- 1.6k views
First off I want to give a big thanks to Mike Van Tine- he was a big help with info on how to do the 3047 card install on an older mother board... I've said it before: he's a go-to guy! All I had to do was cut 2 board traces, add a shunt wire and a 10k ohm resistor & it's good to go... Of course, my wife kept looking over my shoulder & pronouncing me wacko: "brave man, maybe not too smart- but brave". Hey- it worked... now it's time to install the 4-pin Hirose power connector. I was tempted to put in a 4-pin XLR, since there's plenty of room, but the Wendt X3 is also 4-pin Hirose & I've decided to standardize on that. John Here's a pic:
Last reply by John Steigerwald, -
- 1 follower
- 12 replies
- 9.2k views
I'm wiring a 5 pin XLR female to a 3.5 mini TRS female so that I can have stereo (left / right) in the female TRS for a headphone feed. I wired the 5 pin as: Pin 1to sleeve of TRS Pin 2 to tip of TRS Pin 4 to ring of TRS Pin 3 and 5 I tied both into the ground of pin 1 When I tried this I was getting signal to the headphones but there was a lot of noise. What am I doing wrong?
Last reply by Erick, -
- 4 replies
- 1.6k views
Greetings all: I have a simple technical question: I'm finally wiring up some camera return adapters for my 788T/CL-9 Sound Devices setup. The 2 returns on the CL-9 are line level balanced XLR inputs. Camera return will be on an unbalanced stereo 1/8" TRS connector. What would be the appropriate wiring for the TRS 1/8" female to XLR male cable adapter? Thanks! -Adam
Last reply by Adam Jones, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 4k views
I picked up some consigned NP-L7S's recently, and one turned out to be faulty. Since they were used, I had no real choice but look into re-celling. I figured that either way it would be a learning experience. First, they make these things NOT to be opened! I was able to eventually get in, but it required a combination of finesse and brute-force. First, I removed both of the stickers from the outside of the case. I wish I had heated these up first, as I had a bit of cleanup on my hands afterward: Next, I removed the four screws from the top and bottom of the battery case: Once the screws were removed, the case was still glued shut. I heated t…
Last reply by Fernando, -
- 10 replies
- 2.1k views
Hi All, Attached are a few pictures showing a cable I bashed up, it was mostly "GID" (get it done) and a bit of DIY. I needed to record 5 channels of house wireless (dialog + solo singer) and the musical cue. My initial recce found the house mixer to be a Mackie configured for live sound (e.g., onboard effects, no direct outs) and the aux's were inaccessible due to routing issues. The ideal thing would, I suppose, have been a split before the board but this posed two problems: I didn't have 6 channels of split (relatively easy to solve) and, explaining why / obtaining permission to re-patch the mic inputs (much more difficult). Although the board lacked direct…
Last reply by Celac, -
- 17 replies
- 3.7k views
Here’s an idea I’ve had for a while. Hot swappable dual battery holder with 5 12V DC outputs. Isolation for the Lithiums, filtering on each output and fused up to 6A. Before this I was using a Battery bud with an NP-1 Cup. It worked fine, but not ideal. I have a new board for this mod that makes one of the outputs switchable between 5, 9 and 12V DC. It took a while to put it all together but well worth it. Here are some photos that show a bit of the process.
Last reply by jacefivesound, -
- 0 replies
- 1.2k views
http://www.mutr.co.uk/autoheal I'm sure we will all find great uses for this new product. BVS
Last reply by BVS, -
- 5 replies
- 1.5k views
Hi everybody, I am lucky enough to grab mr Mondo Vilas used 208 mixer. I tremendous step up from my 106. But i hate the knob colors. I would like to replace the purple knobs for the Aux 1 and Aux 2 controls. 18 knobs total. Anybody here every replace their knobs? I'd go with the white or grey. Obviously, simple DIY project. Would love to go directly to the source not thru service company. If possible. Thanks, john
Last reply by johngooch, -
- 3 replies
- 1.8k views
Saw this in my never ending internet browse. Not bad for 16 bucks, course you usually do get what you pay for. Still could be a decent addition to a kit as a backup. http://ossmann.blogspot.com/2010/03/16-pocket-spectrum-analyzer.html
Last reply by dfisk, -
- 32 replies
- 7.8k views
There have been a couple of threads about building cart power solutions, but I couldn't find much in previous threads about which SLA batteries people had good or bad experiences with. I know a couple of folks like the 12v 33ah MK cells, and I know that Powersonic 35AH are an old favorite, but has anyone had the opportunity to do side by side tests of different brands? Or does anyone just have vaguely uninformed guesses they'd like to share? FWIW, I'm planning to build a couple to use with my PSC Powerstar on my new cart, so any thoughts are welcome. Thanks everyone, A.
Last reply by Jeff Wexler, -
- 6 replies
- 2.1k views
If you can do it yourself then you should just do it. In my case, Chinhda did not have the time or the desire to make the one off bracket that I wanted to have for my little Cooper CS-306. I wanted to be able to mount the Deva attached to the mixer so I could carry it as an all in one for mobile work, insert car work, etc. So, I made the bracket myself, took me a few hours and $28.00 in parts and material. It will get the job done and I did it myself. The angle of the photo makes it look as if the Deva is over-powering the mixer, and it is to a certain extent but the whole rig is very stable and a relativley small footprint. At some point in the future I imagine I ma…
Last reply by Jeff Wexler, -
- 1 follower
- 11 replies
- 2.5k views
I finally got fed up with buying little things I knew I had but couldn't find. I've certainly accumulated a lot doohickeys, thingamajigs and assorted whatchamacallits over the years, but they were scaterred throughout the house; in a drawer here, in a plastic bin over there, in a bag up on a shelf. It was time to centralize. Also, I wanted to have an area where I could build/repair/solder in my office, away from the computer/paper part of it. I came up with this desk; Looks like any other desk except for the drawers with flexible dividers. I didn't fill all the drawers, so there's room to grow. I also added a 3x diopter lamp…
Last reply by old school, -
- 7 replies
- 1.7k views
I have the cable that SD provides, but its too damn short. I have a section of RJ12 cable here and wanted to see if anyone had experience with this before I go buy a crimper. It looks to me like the C.Link requires a crossover type cable. Any experience or input would be greatly appreciated. I would contact SD, but they are out for the weekend and my shoot is sunday. I suppose if I don't get this sorted out I'll just link TC and WC on their own cables, but having matching header TC would sure be nice. Thanks in advance, Wyatt
Last reply by Wyatt Tuzo,
