Marc Hoppe

Thanks everyone- as usual, your collective input was on point. 

I ended up tapping into the comm system, burying a mic in the earpiece of the headset, and attaching one to the boom arm of the headset- there was just the pilot, doing a "standup" of sorts, or a presenter to camera, if you will.  When I got everything back on the ground, the best sound seems to be predominantly using the lav on the boom arm of the headset, mixed with some of the comm system/headphone mic (those two sounded so similar playing back on the laptop speakers, but the comm system alone was exactly as you mentioned: distractingly gated. 

Thanks for your valuable input/affirmation! 

Cheers.

Marc

Agreed on all points, thanks guys.  I can't be in the plane, so it's a wire an d drop the bag situation, which means I need to preemptively cover as many bases as I possibly can!

Great advice, thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

Hi,

I have a shoot where I need to tap into the comm system of a civilian fixed wing aircraft- I have the Remote Audio adapter for civilian fixed wing aircraft, but I have zero experience with this and it's a plug and leave the bag scenario. 

How hot is the signal that comes out of the comm system- is it a line level signal? I'll try to get a lav taped to the headset as well, if possible to cover bases, but what else should I be looking out for?

Thanks in advance.

Marc

Right on, I think the lack of Zaxnet is what's kept me from getting a Maxx, despite the fact that I have an IFB200. 

On 5/1/2018 at 4:27 AM, Joe Dunlap said:

 

 

I wish Zaxcom had a camera hop the size of their little transmitters that I could sneak on. 

What about the ERX receivers?  TC and scratch audio in a smallish lightweight box that weighs little with 2 lithiums in it.

I bought a 416T on ebay, and shortly after bought a PSC Alphamix, also from eBay I believe.  As soon as I could, I bought 2 Lectro 211 systems, and that kit served me pretty well for a quite a few years.

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I have one of those and I like it, but I am ideally looking for something lighter and less bulky- ideally the Storacell solution that does not tear my batteries up.

I don't think bending the tabs out would work Derek- my holders are pretty firm and I feel like they bend right back into place or if too much pressure were applied, they may snap.

I am picking up one of those modular ones Jason and will let you know what I think.  Thanks.

Thanks Brent.  I thought about doing that with a dremel tool as well, good to know.  I tried clipping the tab off of one and that's exactly what happened- it fell right out.  I'll give that a shot.

Thanks for that link Constantin- I thought I thoroughly searched Amazon but htat's the first I saw of these.

Interesting find Eric- I'll have to look into that. THough I was looking for something smaller, say a 12 pack holder rather

 than a place for all my batts at once.

Jason, those are the same exact ones, but I find them damaging the ends of the batteries.  Have you noticed any nicks on the ends of your eneloops?  

I think it depends on what segment of the business you want to start in and gain experience.

I got my start doing a lot of work for a guy who owned several camera and sound packages.  He had mostly ENG and corporate type gigs for shitty to mediocre rates, but I wasn't undercutting and I got plenty of experience.  I took a lot of that work for longer than I probably should have, but I wanted to make absolute certain that I had the proper experience for the gigs I would be taking (I got burned by a dying 9 volt early on in my career and lost a potentially great client because of it).  When I felt that I was outgrowing the gigs and the rate, I began buying used gear of my own and putting the best package together that I could afford while renting and supplementing the rest

I do some network stuff, corporate, web, reality (occasionally) doc, etc..., but not features or episodics.

That being said, I am sure the landscape in Montana is different than New York.  Best of luck.

My $.02

Marc

What are you guys using to carry rechargeable batteries?  I've been using these yellow ones, which are fine for alkalines, but the pointed nub eventually tears the wrapping on the rechargeables with repeated use.

I bought several of these other cheap carriers from the Container Store, but they are pretty poor construction and 2 have already broke on me.

Looking forward to see what others are using.

Marc

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I just emailed Howy- I was asking here and on the facebook group because it was after Zaxcom business hours and was wondering if I was missing something obvious.

Thanks.

Marc

This is some of that weirdness...

Zax.mov

That's what I've been trying to do. The weirdness still occurs after the factory reset. 

I'm not so much worried about the fragility of the connection, but I don't want to put any additional strain on it. It's much better now in my Stingray configuration, but in my Petrol and Orca setups there was a lot of contact between the antenna and the side of the bags.

Thanks JohnPaul. I have a handful of 2.4 GHz antennas, including BNC ones that I use with an SMA>BNC adapter. They all seem to perform similarly, I just was wondering if I could use a Lectro type whip antenna to minimize the stress on the connector.

Marc

Would a Lectro AMJ antenna work well with a Nomad for Zaxnet? And what length would a 1/4 length wave be of for the 2.4GHz spectrum?

I suppose I could just put one on and test it out.

Marc

Do you have any range issues with these Jose?

Wow, they obviously don't realize that they're in no position to negotiate, do they.

Thought is toss it up for people if they were available, but it's obviously not worth it.

I got an email early this morning from a german company whose mixer lost his passport. They need someone drom today through 2/10. I have no details, but if you're available, and in Chicago, reach out to them. This is the message I received.

we have a big problem. our german sound assistant lost his passport, so he dont can fly to chicago now. we start today at 3 p.m. with shooting in chicago and we need very urgent a sound assistant from today until 10 feb (evening). total 4 shooting days. could you help us? you can contact me by email: an@guttutgut.com. thank you very much, Anja

Ironically enough, I'm heading to Chicago today for another shoot until next Friday.

Marc

Very nice design Larry. Well done.

" As mentioned by others in this thread I've also told myself that I won't work the cheap stuff anymore because I usually end up feeling cheap when hour 13 arrives and we still haven't wrapped."

I usually would end up feeling abused!

" how to up-sell their rates. I think a better topic would be :HOW TO UPSELL THE PRODUCER "

I disagree with this, just move on to better gigs...  not only do they pay properly, but they really are better gigs.

I agree with the Senator here- I don't try to upsell anyone, rather, I know the value of my goods and services and charge accordingly. There are plenty of less expensive people that producers can hire, and that's fine by me, but what I offer doesn't come in that package. If price is the only consideration in hiring a mixer, then I will gladly lose that gig every time.

The clients I have and am looking for understand the value they get when they hire me and they understand and accept that my service and experience does not come cheaply. I don't want to upsell a client and risk them feeling ripped off. I want to be paid a fair wage for a job well done and create repeat business.

Marc