Rachel Cameron

It's like hanging out on location with Ironfilm. Thanks David. 

In one of the venues I used to work, to quiet an insistent and nosey producer, they always had to wire mics/stands to a horn section that needed no sound reinforcement whatsoever. The six XLR's just ran under the bleachers to nowhere, and the guy was happy for many seasons.

I was upset to find that a number of the elastic bands on my Sennheiser MZS-40 shock mount were cracked, after one of them broke. I feared a frustrating search at the Home Depot, or worse, sending Eric around the Cape of Good Hope to locate some for me. But I scaled the search back a bit, and found the most wonderful answer. Look no further than your junk XLR bin. That's right. The little gasket on a Neutrik is the perfect size to solve this issue. Not being round, they slip in the mounting groove a little better (if you orient them correctly). And they even seem to be a bit burlier. Can't wait to hear how they (don't) sound.

It's the little things. Thanks Jan!

Not that silly, just brilliantly creative. Had to post.

A live sound mixer friend of mine said they were well known in France (?), with the busking crowd over there. Said he loved his MaxiMouse, and saw quite a few others in Paris when he was living there.

How far and wide were they shipped?

And megathanks to Wes and Larry, for the continuing gems on design decisions you guys made. It's likely the only place this information exists. Much respect.

19 minutes ago, Philip Perkins said:

My MMouse ran fine with no batteries installed and the CH40 didn't get any warmer than usual.   But it's way worth buying $30 worth of batteries for.  It was my fave "always in the truck just in case" speaker for decades.

Perhaps the heat was from just normal operation, then. It was just an assumption I made. Either way, I just ordered another CH-40 wall wart for it, as a back up. Thanks WesH. And yes, the Power Sonic batteries were absolutely worth it.

These are going to be great. Thanks Dave. What a great first installment. Keep this up.

8 hours ago, LarryF said:

Definitely use lead acids only. 4.5 Ah is close enough....

Best, Larry F 

That's a lot of great information! Many thanks. It's a pretty special amp. I noticed the 2 ohm speaker and thought that was unusual. I felt the wall wart getting warmer than I thought it should be, and making a little hum. It explains why the amp sounded a little rough after a while. Good thing it still works. It charged the new cells out just fine, so I got lucky.

6 hours ago, WesH said:

On a whim, I looked up our 'last purchase' info for repair batteries (it was a LONG time ago).  The battery we purchased for these units is a Power-Sonic sealed 6V 4.6Ah 230mA lead-acid battery.  Mouser's part number is 547-PS-640, at $13.45 each; YMMV (your moolah may vary).  They are available as of 29 June 2017.

Thanks Wes, that's the battery that arrived, give or take .1Ah. I love this little amp. I've been testing it around the house with my iPhone driving it, and also with my Nebulophone as an unbalanced line instrument.

And I'll likely search for a new wall wart, for a back up DC power supply. Is there a wall wart replacement you would suggest? I'm worried about getting/matching the proper 2.X mm DC connector, and the proper milliamperage.

+1, and I was pleased to find it worked on the wall wart, even when the cells wouldn't hold a charge. Of course mine (two Werker 5Ah) were dead, but a quick look, and the Werker batteries were only $10 bucks each, so I bought two batteries. The problem is...they arrived as 4.5Ah, not 5Ah, which was annoying, and made me want to return them. Maybe this doesn't even matter? Or perhaps..I can put a battery in that performs even better than the original 5Ah Werkers? I'd love some ideas on a good updated cell... 

And that's a great idea with the baby receiver plate/playback mod.

Dredging up an old post I know, but since this item isn't referenced much elsewhere, I thought I would post a few pics of one here. And Phil is right. It gets loud.  

13 hours ago, JBond said:

Ahh, bags just hide the beauty.

So true. But I actually hope to use it from time to time. I want to protect it in the van and the field. Incidentally, I was just putting it away, but was stopped by a girlfriend of mine, who noted that beauty, and wanted to know all about it. Though I was pleasantly surprised, I wondered where to start. 

8 hours ago, The Immoral Mr Teas said:

What are the dimensions of the IS? I wouldn't be surprised if bags by Portabrace or my KT Systems ones were a snug fit ... about the same size as a PD6 or a PDR2000

It's 8.5 x 11 x 3.5 inches. Strangely, it's roughly the size of a sheet of printer paper. Maybe not so strange if you think about it. But this is not counting the ears, which take up another 1.5 x 2 x 2 inches, and pass through a partition on the classic leather case, where I'd input the XLR's - and the output cable on the other side. 

I'm sure there's a bag out there which would work for it. If not, I'm perfectly happy to have these zippers repaired on the cowhide bag, and maybe have them update it with some internal padding, as well. The slight bit that it had, has turned to powder long ago, but fortunately, the recorder wasn't kept in it. 

On 6/16/2017 at 5:05 AM, dela said:

Rachel: Congratulations with the IS; it is a really nice little recorder. Small, but in every aspect still a Nagra. In Denmark (where I live) it was almost exclusively used for radio, so it is rarely seen in the pilot version here. For film work the 5" reel limitation was a problem, but many a Radio Denmark journalist loved not having to carry a IV/4.2 around. I can also imagine a journalist would hate having to transcribe an interview with the rudimentary tape winding system on the IV/4.2; here the IS motor controlled transport really shows its strength.

I have been looking in my manual archive, and I have found an IS user manual, unfortunately only in german. I have an english paper version, that I can scan at work this weekend, if your german isn´t up to scratch. I also have a service manual, and that is in english. If you send me an email address, I will send them to you. They are quite informative, as you would expect from a swiss company..

Thanks dela, for the helpful information on the IS. I didn't know it came in a non-pilot version. Interesting, and I can see how it would have been a fav of the radio crowd. I wonder if that was the case here in the states?..I mean, radio stations using these? The 4.2's are heavy by comparison. And yes, thanks so much! I would love to get a copy of the IS manual. I'll send an email address by PM here at JWS.

I'm also looking for a bag for it, as the cowhide one is coming apart at the zipper seams. I might just take it to the local luggage repair, as this classic leather carry bag is in fine shape for repair. But it seems to lack padding. Perhaps a used (discontinued) Porta-brace bag for it to live in? That is, if I can find what model number they used for the IS, since it's a bit of a lower profile recorder... 

My new (to me) IS. Thanks bilagaana. I'm flattered and thrilled to have this recorder. It will be well cared for in its new home. I'm on the hunt for a manual now. 

On 5/28/2017 at 11:45 AM, Michael Stahr said:

Light touch - absolutely.  It can be fun to 'show off' the Cedar capability - but I try to be careful not to remove a person from their environment.  As for Routing:  Flexibility is key.  Since I don’t use the Cedar for the whole mix, I get to choose which source will be sent to each of the Cedar’s two channels.  I use the very flexible routing of the Sound Devices 688.  Most of the time two mics are to feed to the Cedar.  The SD688 Aux Channels 3 & 4 are cabled to the Cedar.   The output of the Cedar is cabled back to mixer inputs 11 & 12.  To choose what is being fed TO the Cedar,  open Aux Output 3 and choose which channel to route.  Often I send the Boom (my channel 1).  It is always sent Pre Fader.  This means the Mixer Ch 1 trim pot is the adjustable input of the boom to Cedar.  Mixer channel 1 is ISO’d, unprocessed and could (but doesn’t have to be) added to the Mix.  Channel 11 (also ISO’d) is what I call "QT-Boom".  When only a single boom is being recorded, it is sent to BOTH Cedar channels.  You now have 3 boom tracks:  Clean, QT-light & QT-heavy.  Ok, ok this is giving post too many choices but remember Flexibility... 

If a Mix is required either ch 1 or ch 11 (never both) can be used to build the mix.  With single person interviews, split tracks of Ch 11 (QT-Boom) and Ch 12 (QT-Lav) are sent to camera.  "Quite Tracks" are always sent to Comtek and to Transcription. 

All this routing is done without moving a single cable.                             M*

Thanks for the tips on creative routing. +1.

Wow..a whiskey thread? Okay: Palm Ridge Reserve. I have a bottle of it (gift from a job) I sip on infrequently (and alternatively gift my neighbor for riding mower repairs, as he won't take money). It's distinctive, regional (non-blended), and very smooth. The 'regional' part of it is: the casks are alternating staves of oak and citrus. The citrus is evident in the flavor, but not overwhelmingly. I never understood sipping whiskeys before this job. I learned that day.

A couple in Tavares, Florida made the micro-batch distillery from a horse stable. Each berth has a different part of the process. It was a bit lyrical, and like hanging out with Jack Daniels for a day. We sampled and sipped. Never a more mellow job. (pics borrowed from Southern Distilling News).

Interested in having my 415T done. 

This looked like fun. I hope this happens again soon. 

Edit: this is a hilarious thread.

That explains a lot. Very reasonable that it would be oxidation. In the thread here, I began wondering about the manufacturing process, and if the pins go through the annealing (thanks for the term) process before they get a thin coat of silver (?) and pushed into the nylon insert. I'll try some Deoxit or the CRC QD Electric Contact Cleaner. Thanks so much, Auxbusreturn.

This is very clever. I like the 'cable reel' design with the pin in the center of the cap. Seems the cable rotates about the central pin enough to do most jobs.

Yep. It was just a test ~ trying to discolor the pins. It's not my usual mode of soldering.

+1 on the Pelicans. Same here..and nice work on the shelving system in the Astro, btw.

13 hours ago, RPSharman said:

A powered dehumidifier is great if you are plugged in. Way more effective than mine if you have a van full of wet carpets or something. It is quite important in colder and damper climates to control the moisture in an enclosed vehicle. Never had to worry about it in my trailer in LA. In the UK it's a battle. I have partially insulated the van as well.

We've some pretty humid days here, but not quite like you guys in the UK. Lately we've been in a drought, with weeks of pretty much 0% chance of rain, though. But I normally keep a 110v dehumidifier around my gear when in storage. There are times when I've put it in the van with a cord, overnight. +1 on the desiccant idea. Those look reusable too.

On 5/6/2017 at 10:18 AM, Wandering Ear said:

I built shelves in my Astro van and love it.

Hey Kelsey, are they secure when driving? E.G: how do you keep the plastic crates from sliding out on a left turn? Are the shelves angled at all? Do you bungee them in? I'm still using my Safari (Astro), and I just love it...cannot leave it.

My father had a Dodge Tradesman loaded to the gills with toolboxes. He simply angled the shelves a few degrees and it really took a lot to spill them. 

30 minutes ago, old school said:

If nothing else, these post show the limitations in this form of communication... Or my skills as a writer and reader. 

I'd say your skills at reading and writing are solid, Crew. But yes, where is that thread? We should have one. I could write a thesis on inference, implication, miscommunication, misread sarcasm and facetiousness, the subtleties and grey lines between proper constructive criticism, insults, their given responses, posturing this way and that, a host of other literary idiosyncrasies associated with written communication and the net. Not to mention: misunderstandings between different cultures' idioms and trendy talk. Oh..spelling, punctuation and grammar. 

And back to the subject: on my last job, being audio, I had a later call time. I thought it meant I'd have a 10 hour day..but not so. The day for me, was still 12 hours. So that means the others had something like a 14 hour day. Is this simply because gear and locations are being squeezed for every minute they can get, since gear/locations are rented/hired by the day? Why is this?