bigmaho

Senator, you are absolutely wrong on at least one account and probably more. I've been pretty neutral on gun control but now I'm totally for it. The availability of automatic assault weapons, high capacity mags, the lack of restrictions in buying a weapon at gun fairs and unrestricted availability of ammo are insane. I believe now that you should have to get a license to buy a gun and ammo. The 2nd amendment was written at a time when bearing arms meant a sword and a muzzle loaded rifle. The founders couldn't anticipate automatic weapons, machine guns, rpgs, etc, so it's obvious to any sane person that there are limits to the 2nd amendment. Here's the actual amendment as passed by congress in it's entirety "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Notice the intent, that arms are necessary for the security of the STATE and the third word is REGULATED. When the courts interpret the founders they take intent into consideration. There is plenty of leeway in this amendment to allow people to bear arms but also to allow the state to regulate that right. It's time. Actually it's way past time. Maybe you can't stop these nuts but you can severely reduce the damage they do.

For the price it's hard to beat. I use it when I need a 'sacrificial' mic, ie when there is dialog and full load gunfire from the same person, or plant mics during stunt scenes, or when a PA wants to borrow a mic for the weekend. It's not a Schoeps or Sennheiser 50, but it's close. AT one point there were a bunch of counterfeit Chinese ones around. Look for the ones made in Russia.

Agree with Jeff. The Zaxcom setup is the simplest, doesn't have any of the FM and companding artifacts that my Audio Ltd transmitters have when booming a quiet scene, and they have features no other wireless rig has including remote gain and frequency control, a high quality built in IFB receiver, and recording capability with time code. Sometimes my boom rig (and I have both the 992 boom pack and a 742 transmitter) is my complete rig when there's a splinter unit doing drive bys or we're asked to go to camper land to record a wild line. The Lectro and SD rig will work just fine, especially since you already have much of the gear, but if you are planning long term you might want to give Zaxcom a 2nd look. Billy

I closed on my new system in New Mexico last week. I bought 20 panels in a 420 panel solar 'farm' the the local utility installed in a car port at a local public school. My share of the output of the farm is credited towards my electric bill for a property I own in Taos. It's gone from being a good business decision to a great one. I hope this format takes off. It's a great idea.

Interesting aside. VIncent D'onofrio loved playing Orson Welles in Ed Wood but thought he didn't do him justice, so a few years after Ed Wood he produced, directed and acted in his own film about Welles called "Five Minutes Mr Welles" about the making of The Third Man. It's available on Youtube. Check it out. I think it's great. Billy Sarokin

The proprietary battery system in the 992/942 is a bit of a pain, but I prefer it to the earlier models that used 4 AA's. The battery life is excellent (approx 8+ hours) and it's a quick change system. I keep a charger on my cart and my guys change batteries once a day at lunch time. For run and gun days, just buy a few extra batteries. Billy Sarokin

I use 2 of the 942 tranceivers. You can use any of the Zaxcom receivers, though the QRX receiver also has a built in Zaxnet transmitter. If you use the other receivers you should also use a separate Zaxcom IFB transmitter. The 942 is fully digital, has long battery life (6-8 hours), can be remote controlled via Zaxnet (you can remotely control gain, frequency and the built in recorder), it has a built in mixer so the boom operator can monitor either his mic directly, the return ifb feed, or a combination of both. It receives and generates time code and has a built in recorder, so it can be it's own independent recorder if necessary. It also provides 48v phantom power and the newer versions also accept digital inputs for use with the new generation of digital mics (such as the Schoeps super CMIT). Billy Sarokin

Just read the first of the series so far. One interesting fact, of the $90+ billion in subsidies granted each year, film/tv comes in a waaaay distant 4th at approx $1.4/billion/year

Google Ken Regan and hit 'Images'. Each one is an icon. Incredible photographer and a wonderful guy. People like him are what make this business so special. Was very sad to hear the news yesterday.

I believe the Zaxcom IFB transmitter can be used with the Sound Devices recorder to transmit time code and audio. The ERX receivers are tiny and light weight and output both TC and Audio. They also have built in tc generators incase the rf signal drops out.

Unless you have custome cables made up that mate the reverse polarity jacks on the amp to normal polarity jacks on the ifb and antenna

And Jeff, I like how your antenna cables are banded together. Did you have that done or is it just shrink wrap at the antenna end?

I haven't found that as nearly critical because the amp outputs a watt from pretty much 1mw-100 mw input, so no matter how much you lose in the ifb-amp run it pretty much all gets made back in the output of the amp. That said, keep the runs as short as possible and use as few adapters as possible. I had custom cables made up, 3' sma - N for the IFB-SIgnal INjector run, then a 3' N to N female chassis mount for the injector to the output bay on my cart. My usual cable from the cart to the antenna is 12', but I also have a fat 100' cable for when I have to remote the antenna tree (it's RG-8 equivilent). RG-58 doesn't work for that long a run because the loss is too great.

btw, one oddity. When I had the 2.4 gig amp mounted on my cart and a long (10-20') cable to the antenna, I was causing wi-fi interference on the set and my 2.4 gig range was awful. Once I mounted the amp on the antenna and used a very short cable, the range increased dramatically (in most cases it's a bit better than the UHF receiving range) and the wi-fi interference disappeared. My guess is, the old system had very high SWR and was spewing rf everywhere except into my antenna!

Again, just watch out for reverse polarity connectors. Usually the 'consumer' (ie, unlicensed) L-Com 2.4 gHz had reverse polarity sma connectors. The licensed versions have normal polarity connectors. It's possible to connect an rp cable to a non-rp jack. They will mate but there will be NO connection. This has been the root of many problems when interfacing this gear. Also, keep cable length from the amp to the antenna as short as possible. Many antennas are made to have the amp mounted right on the antenna. My cable from the amp to the antenna is 6" long. Best (and Happy Thanksgiving) Billy Also, while the cable from the transmitter to the amp can be fairly long, keep the

The Power utility, Kit Carson electric feeds the output of the farm into it's grid. Each individual owner gets credited in kWh for their share of that total output on their electric bill. So, for instance, if I use 1000 kWh on a particular month at my home but my share of the farm is 800 kwh, I am only charged for 200 kWh on my bill. If I create more than I use (this particular studio has electric heat, so Nov-Feb I'll probably use more than I'm credited for), than the excess power builds up as a credit on my bill. It's sort of like the dollar you deposit in the bank isn't the same one you withdraw but a dollar is a dollar is a dollar....

Kit Carson Electric is a member owned electric co-op that serves most of north central New Mexico, including Taos. I'm not sure of the role Clean Energy Collective plays. Kit Carson built the solar farm (the first of 3 they are planning, but it is such a good idea I'm sure it will grow), and Kit Carson runs the farm and allots the solar output to the individual owners (who have to be Kit Carson customers). I think CEC markets the idea and runs the application process and financing. Let's say the farm has 1000 panels and I own 20, KIt Carson will credit my existing account with 2% of the total output of the farm for the next 50 years. If I move or build another home in the Kit Carson area they would just transfer my credit to the new account. If I left the area I would have to sell my share in the farm on my own (or more likely work it into the price of my property when I sell it). I think this is a great idea. I have solar on my main residence and a rental I own and this is by far the least expensive, simplest and most efficient way to go. I would start pushing utilities, municipalities and even big box stores with huge roof and parking areas to copy this example. While I feel for the coal miners in West Virginia, wider implementation of solar PV can eliminate the need for burning coal in our utility grid and eliminate the highly destructive and dangerous mountain top mining in the Appalachian Mountains.

ooops, just realized, you're in California now. Check with the Clean Energy Collective out of Carbondale Colorado. They specialize in putting together these solar farm deals.

Hey Dave, Here's a link to the Kit Carson Electric site. http://www.kcecsolar.com/learn.aspx I just closed today on a 20 panel deal. The unit in Taos is in a condo and is shaded, so I went with the off site solar farm Kit Carson Electric built. Here are the specs of the deal, and from application to closing took 2 weeks. Each 240 watt panel cost $845 (that includes all the infrastructure, maintenance, inverters, wiring, permits etc). It also factors in the Federal tax credit. So the total cost for the 20 panels was $16,900. I paid 10% cash ($1690) and they arranged financing at 5% for 10 years for the balance. Monthly payments will be $160 and monthly savings (at current utility rates) will be approx $140. So for a while, to save the planet, will cost me $20/month. The beauty of this deal is that it is for 50 years. Solar Cells drop in output approx 1%/year and are usually replaced after 25 years. Kit Carson will replace these cells at least once over the life of the deal, so my grand children will still be benefiting from my $20/month in the year 2062. If you're in Vegas run the Kit Carson plan by your local utility.

They really should be on every roof. And while you are at it, check out solar thermal (hot water) systems. Usually 2-3 panels can supply all the hot water needs for the average family. It's much less expensive than solar electric and more bang for the buck. Looks like you have space for 2 more panels on your roof :-)

btw, I don't know if it's available in CA, but my little utility in Northern New Mexico, Kit Carson Electric, has a great new program. They built a few solar farms out in the desert and individuals can buy panels in the farm and you receive the full output of that panel. It's a great deal. They provide financing and the panels are in optimal locations AND even though panels have a 25 year life, they will maintain them and replace them for 50 years. I have a condo in Taos that has tree coverage so it's not suitable for solar. So I'm going to buy 20 panels in one of the farms. It's a great concept. I hope the idea spreads.

Last month was the first electric bill I paid since last March. It was 42 cents. Just got my bill for Oct 11-Nov 11. It was up to $35. I'll pay for electric, about 1/3 the usual cost, until late January, then I'll be in negative territory again until next October. This is cloudy/stormy New York. I'd be doing even better if I were in sunny southern CA!

l-com.com

It's in the software.