Jump to content

geordi

Members
  • Posts

    953
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by geordi

  1. Get it replaced and in your hands, THEN walk. That is unprofessional and you shouldn't have to put up with that kind of abuse from anyone.
  2. Damn John, that is a sad tale indeed. I could tell you about some similar BS happening on the stage side, which has made me question my desire to be involved with IA (at least in The South) where featherbedding seems to be the MO of the elected aristocracy. Those in power don't want to share, except with those that they consider friend. If you aren't part of the clique, then the answer is you can politely just bugger off. (But thanks for the money anyway) Anything they can do to be difficult, will be done. 2 different members have been able to transfer from a "mixed" local to 700... But the answer I was told tonight when asking yet again for a transfer card was that their transfers were "different" somehow and I was ignored yet again. The first time I asked for the card was 4 years ago. Meanwhile, I was informed that despite an admitted error by the treasurer, in failing to record a payment from me (when I had the stamp) and ALSO failing to even send out any notification prior, I would remain expelled for non-payment. This, despite the fact that this treasurer never answers his phone or messages, and multiple members (including the ones that were somehow able to transfer) had attested to. Talk about entrenched - he has been a WORTHLESS treasurer for as long as I have been in this local. I was cordially invited to START OVER and re-apply as a new member if I wanted to be reinstated. Knowing that this would put me up for yet another application fee AND the vote-by-the-clique... I figure to start over somewhere else where they actually follow their own bylaws entirely, and not when they feel like it. Sad. So much for representation and supporting each other. Its all about the e-board and the benjamins.
  3. 320 (M, Savannah) that also used to have the movie rights of an SM local that have been taken/given to 491 (for reasons I cannot fathom) checking in: We elect our BA from the membership, however he has seen fit to move his person and lifestyle full-time to NYC to pursue membership in Local 1 as of at least 3 years ago. He has NOT decided to do the honorable thing and resign his position... Even though an absentee BA is badly hurting the stage business in Savannah, AND we have lost jobs with companies that refuse to work with us specifically because he is our BA. It isn't all sunshine and daisies here in The South, now is it?
  4. How's that license money you spent working out for you? Feeling like you have a "voice" to speak over the billions-powered noise from AT&T / Comcast? The 700 zone is being used, but it is only in small blocks by the cellphone networks, with multi-mhz "guard bands" of dead air in between. Gee... Hmm... An enterprising and intelligent micro-transmission user like a sound mixer might be able to utilize those guard bands in the same way that they used the "white space" guard bands between adjacent TV broadcasters, and find plenty of air to transmit in, without causing any interference to the "big boys" with their fixed block transmissions. Oh yeah, since their cellphone transmissions are using all-digital broadcasting, they aren't subject to the same kind of intermod distortions of analog sound radio or analog tv static. We might be able to operate almost-up-to-the-rim of their broadcast bands. Of course, that would take an enterprising lobbyist with the ear of a powerful senator (a real one) to get anyone to listen to the idea... There aren't any tough technical reasons it couldn't work, if only someone would listen to the idea. How's that "voice" again? Is yours being listened to with your license? Maybe we will hear about something at NAB from the big boys...
  5. Safety is EVERYONE'S JOB. http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-crew-member-killed-in-georgia-train-accident-1201114468/
  6. And that is why I refuse to sign it. No safety meeting, but you want me to sign away my legal rights? How about no. Reason number one why, and I'm sad to say that I'm sure I know people on this set: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/midnight-rider-crew-member-killed-in-georgia-train-accident-1201114468/
  7. Wireless non-bluetooth keyboards from Logitech should work - they come with their own pre-linked micro-dongle.
  8. Thinking about it some more... Would there be any issue with going with 4 smart wheels instead of 2 smart and 2 dumb?
  9. I was able to download the full video. If anyone wants the link, let me know. This kind of crap needs to be publicly named and shamed.
  10. The guy sounds like a real prize to work for. With an ego like that, he could be TWO DPs worth.
  11. VERY NICE! How does the cart go together? Is that one fairly sturdy, despite being from China Freight? I've thought about that one for a while, but didn't move because I hated the wheels. You've solved that for me. Damnit... Now I'm thinking about another cart.
  12. Chalk another in the "doesn't have a CL6" column. I can't see myself buying one either, just for the dedicated transport buttons and pretty led meters. I use low-profile XLRs on the inputs courtesy of Mr Toline, and plan to get some more for the output section. I don't really need to mess with the input side much once it is built, other than to route my headphone connector. If there was a low-profile zipper flap that could offer a cable hole for the boom cable and the headphones (I use boom on channel 6) then that would be all the left side would see from me. Something other than the giant elephant ears on the Porta-Brace MXC664/CL6 (that I have currently) for the outside edges please. You have already mentioned the other things that I would want - access to the cards, standing up, cables internally, etc. I built my 664 together (briefly) with all the receivers and the power all gaffed together into one unit outside the Porta-Brace bag, that was the only way that I could use the non-structured MXC bag. The very next day, I had a 2-track day and needed the wireless for something else. Obviously keeping it all stuck together didn't work. Having the ability to swap RX or transmitters in and out relatively easily (yet they don't slide out on their own in the fire of production) would also be great.
  13. That is exactly the kind of thing I am suggesting. Since this 'duplex gap' (here, we call it the 'guard band') is between 4 and 6 mHz wide, that leaves a fairly significant amount of open microphone channels capable of operating simultaneously. If the FCC would pull their head from ATT's ass (Ok, a big ask, I know) they might allow us to continue to scratch out a living by using that white space.
  14. Maybe Lectro can design and offer out the newest and hottest tech of all: Hybrid Digital frequency-agile VHF gear! I will say that I find it amusing that the pro-licensing crowd still is beating on that drum... When it did such an amazing amount of good before with the 700s, that the auction went right along with nary a hiccup in our direction other than "You can buy new gear or stop broadcasting, we don't care" from the FCC that supposedly gives us an ear because of the license. Pfft. Some ear. The thing I think the manufacturers and the other BIG players mentioned above should focus on instead: Get our license-holder crowd the specific authorization to REMAIN in the 600-700 space, with the proviso that we (as smarter-than-the-average-moron unlicensed) have the skills to place our low-power tech into the "guard bands" of 4-6mHz empty space between each of the wide-band cellphone uplink or downlink blocks. The scans and the band usage charts from the cellphone telcos show that there is more than enough guard band available for a group of microphones to operate in a localized area (a set) without causing intermod with the telco bands. The telco's own licensing is also not coast-to-coast with a given auctioned block, because of the exact same whitespace issues that necessitated the TV stations to also alternate frequencies. Ergo, even larger swaths of open space exists depending on your physical location. Try it for yourselves. Take out your handy little "RF Explorer" scanner, and poke around as you are out-and-about. See how much wide open vista exists, and maybe (using the charts from the FCC of who has bought what block and where) see where there is guard space (that SHOULD be contiguous coast-to-coast) or overlap whitespace. Lectro fanatics... Am I completely insane here, or is this a technical possibility? (if the FCC can see reason?)
  15. Check the center section of this: Those 2 drawers are in a single module, that stacks and locks to the toolbox top and big drawer bottom. Plastic edges, but galvanized sheet steel for the walls / structure. Very light weight. I managed to score several sets of those, they are called "Stanley Rolling Workstations" but last I heard, they are discontinued. A mixer in Florida has one, I saw it on the set of the show Pitchmen before Billy Mays died. Maybe you can find some on Ebay / Craigslist, or possibly the original manufacturer can be found? The exact same designs of the top box can be seen in tool boxes from Harbor Freight and others. Obviously, someone made this and Stanley just stuck their sticker on the front.
  16. The link didn't work for me, but people can usually find the registration through www.nabshow.com and the main site. Then just use the code provided for the free Expo entry. Thanks Ron!
  17. There have been occasions where I have referred to a theatre show plan or set design missing the giant box of clue. A tiny bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. This gentleman... Is possessing weapons-grade stupidity.
  18. It is pointless to argue with a fool Chris. He will drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience.
  19. Big Jambox is amazingly loud, self powered with a 12 hour battery, and can be fed with either Bluetooth or direct cable input. I actually used mine recently to carry the entire musical playback during the service at my sister's wedding.
  20. You'd probably be happier selling them off as-they-are and picking up kit in the blocks you are seeking. If for no other reason than people are still buying the higher blocks, and the usage of the spectrum doesn't completely prevent their functioning perfectly. There is a chart out there (at least for the USA) showing how the higher frequencies have been partitioned out for the auctions, and who has bought them and where. The 700mHz spectrum is NOT being contiguously used across the USA, there are big spaces (just like in the days of analog TV broadcasting) and also "guard bands" between the sold blocks, making for several-mHz-wide spaces that do exist everywhere. For kit that only transmits in localized areas and in the kHz spacing of bandwidth... Options still exist for the bold. I'm not saying it is smart or acceptable to the constabulary to try this, but in the increasingly congested lower bands, I don't blame anyone for using their kit in a 'wild wild west' kind of mentality. Pirate transmissions still have to be FOUND before they can be prosecuted, eh?
  21. Did you ever hear anything back? I haven't yet, although the holiday may have certainly gotten in the way.
  22. Thanks for the very detailed review. I'm starting to get depressed about Porta-Brace... I worked with them this summer on a new bag that was supposed to be released in August or September. Obviously nothing has happened with that. However - I take issue with your thought about people using (or not) the Sony batteries. I use them exclusively! I have a Hawk Woods adapter shoe that uses 2 of them to offer almost 1500 mAh of power for my bag - I can run almost a full day without changing them. If the 633 had a power tap on it to allow me to feed power OUT to my wireless, that would be about perfect. Maybe SD can do something like that in firmware, I don't know. But to each his own, right? Sadly, this review has shown exactly why I want nothing to do with this new bag from PB. Too bad.
×
×
  • Create New...