Eric

I'm not sure they made them anymore, my PSC elite (medium) boom pole is brilliant for travel. Fits inside a pellican case (im2950) or even a large suitcase at 2'2" collapsed. 8'3" extended. Suits all the national/international travelling. The PSC elite large can even fit crossways in a pellican (im2950). Both internally cabled. Not sure they make them anymore, so this may be moot.

I use the Ambient lock-it slate and Ambient ACL-204 sync boxes for some shoots. I can easily jam one of these devices from my recorder and then send a wireless jam (once) to the rest of the units via the ACN network. You can also send a continuous jam every <not sure every how many seconds>. I go the jam one unit and send the wireless sync (once) route. Resync at lunch and send a wireless sync (once) to the other units. It'll even tell you how many of them took the TC jam. Similar to @Derek H suggestion where it is a hard jam at one point. Just sent wirelessly from one unit to the others instead of having to jam all boxes & slate physically with a cable. Both ways work. The old ACL-204 have genlock as well out the sync BNC, I believe. I don't know if it jams the genlock via ACN as I have have never used the genlock (sync) feature. The older ones have genlock too, just no display or ACN wirelss sync ability. I have used those too.

I had a similar issue with pot 1 of my 633. On the CH1 PFL screen the fader value number would dance up and down which also affected the volume to the mix. I contacted SD. It's amazing what contacting the manufacturer will do. New pot in order. The bench rate and shipping to the US wold have been pretty cost prohibitive. I have a trusted shop here in Toronto (Audio Services). They bought the parts and replaced the knobs. I did all three big ones at the same time. Once you've got it opened the cost is in the labour. For the cost of 2 extra pots (approx $20/ea.?) it was a no brainer. As B_Van_Deusen says, the pots are tighter/have more physical resistance. Since all three pots are done, no one (me) is the wiser. Problem solved.

I have seen a mixer use unexpanded 2L pop bottles with foam at the bottom/top. https://imgur.com/this-is-2-liter-bottle-before-its-expanded-x87DQye Apparently they ship them like this as it takes up less space. They're blown up and filled with pop at a filling plant. They come with a cap. There may not be the flexibility of sizes here. It held a Schoeps CMC6. I can't remember if it fit the capsule in there too. This site has some dimensions. https://www.homesciencetools.com/product/giant-test-tubes-6-pack/ She got them from Silent Sound in Toronto.

I did a "nat sound" commercial once. No boom op, only me. I brought everything, but left pretty much left it all in the car. I shouldered my 663 (or 664 - can't remember) and a boom mic. Small-ish rig. No one wanted to listen to what I was recording, so no comteks at all. Mix pre or 633 (because I'm more familiar with SD recorders) and boom could work well. Just be prepared if someone wants to add a line or something else at the last minute.

I got one of the Sennheiser battery eliminators for free. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to use it as it would require making a hole in the door or getting the kit (with replacement door)nto which Michael posted a link. Seemed like a good idea. I'll test out this whine before I use it. Thanks.

The people who I have worked with have always used Countryman B3 for water. Water sports, etc. It has always been fresh water though as we don't live by an ocean.

I have been using Lectro block 20 & 21 with a Sennheiser G3 band A for a camera hop. I believe some of the G3 band A is within the Lectro blk 21freq range. It's been fine. Used to use the Lectro D4 as a camera hop. That worked well. It also became easier to have the hop and IEMs (director/producer monitor) coming from one TX out of the bag. No separate comtek and a different TX for a camera hop. Freq finder is helpful to sort out compatible freqs in conjunction with a site scan.

https://www.100sideprojects.com/ Kris does great work in Toronto. However, you're in the US. Up to you.

This may sound crazy, but is the rotary input pot clean? Have you tried turning it back and forth a number of times to "clear" it? A scratchy pot perhaps? Antenna screwed in all the way?

Did you plug in the d-tap the wrong way? When looking at the connector one side is flat and the other side has rounded edges. It is possible to jam the d-tap connector into a battery the wrong way. This could have started your issue. Is the power cable from BDS to the 411 good? Have you tried another cable? And yes, as Osa mentioned, when the power cable is plugged into the 411 it takes precedence over battery power.

I can't imagine not having the option of recording discrete iso tracks today. A 552 can record two (L&R). I did own a 552 and sold it for a 664. I have never been asked or had use for a stereo microphone in all my years of doc/reality. No time to do ambience recording. It's all been run and gun, interviews, and verite.

Friends have had decent results with Walker tape as well. Similar to Topstick. Perhaps a little more sticky? https://walkertapeco.com/product/ultra-hold-tape-straight-strips/ Some are contoured to attach toupees to a head. May look more like a boomerang. Perhaps go with straight strips.

It does look 3D printed. https://www.instagram.com/100sideprojects/?hl=en Kris does excellent work here in Toronto. He can likely fashion you something similar. Perhaps there are others that do similar work in your neck of the woods.

The Panamic quick release. An oldie/classic, but goodie. Just check the screw is tight every so often. Easy to remove one handed. I've fallen for them.

A (quick) production meeting beforehand usually clears up all expectations and deliverables (including sound report) and file naming. I simply use the Sound Devices created sound report on my 664 or 633. I usually set up (or the machine does it for me) a daily folder. I usually fill in job, client name, director, etc. the day before when I get the call sheet. I do add notes when I can. If it's a VO or wild line, ambience, room tone, etc. I have some common phrases saved in the recorder for quick access. Or just label the file name VO, room tone, etc. The machine (664/633) saves the sound report with the audio tracks in the daily folder. If anyone asks for it, I direct them to that daily audio folder, or I will e-mail the sound report file from my backup drive or the SD/CF card. I find this pretty easy. I suppose the key is to have a chat with prod co., post, etc. as to what they are looking for (aside from great sound). Sometimes I wonder if anyone even looks at my sound report.

I used Ken's suggestion (WD40) since I had it around the house. Cables seem to be fine. It may make them slippery for a bit, but so far so good.

Little accessory box from Wish. It's bigger than the ones that I've seen people keep individual their mics and their accessories in. This is for little mini accessories only (mounts, windscreens, clips, etc.). It does not come with lures, etc. Shipping can take a while. I use a countryman hard case for my lavs. https://www.wish.com/product/5aed4a21beb8ef716bcc5b43?from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=CA&_force_currency_code=CAD&pid=googleadwords_int&c=6493229759&ad_cid=5aed4a21beb8ef716bcc5b43&ad_cc=CA&ad_lang=EN&ad_curr=CAD&ad_price=3.00&campaign_id=6493229759&exclude_install=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2eebw7W68gIVKz2tBh0eyQbXEAQYASABEgLdZvD_BwE&hide_login_modal=true&share=web

Sennheiser HD 280Pro or Sennheiser HD25ii.

I've gone with the beyer dynamic DT250 headphone pads. I have even put them in the (front load) washing machine in a delicates bag. This can also be done by hand. They don't last forever, but I believe it's from trying to get them on and off the headphones for washing rather than the washing itself.

Wow, I just came across this with two lavs I haven't used in a while. All sticky and shiny sitting in a drawer over covid. Weird. I see I'm not the only one. Wasn't used in any crazy type of situations. Hadn't been used at all for 6 months. Thanks for the suggestions.

You can always start with a Zoom H4N or similar, but it sounds like you want more than that. I have heard some half decent recordings out of that online. For stereo ambience it seems like 2 x cardiods are the way to go. You can check these sites for general info (I just did a google search and these came up): https://www.wildmountainechoes.com/equipment/microphones-nature-recording-ii-different-microphones-different-situations/ https://www.wildmountainechoes.com/equipment/choosing-microphones-2/ https://acousticnature.com/journal/lowest-self-noise-microphones-field-recording-comparative-list I also checked this place when doing a bit of research: https://www.creativefieldrecording.com/2020/03/25/field-recording-gear-and-travel-daan-hendriks/ As Rick mentioned, this is primarily a dialogue recording forum. There are a lot of resources online from people who record ambience and record SFX libraries. Search those out. I'll also second his wind protection idea. No sense in recording amazing ambience just to have it ruined by wind. I was able to borrow a Rode NT4 from a friend and used it along with a SD633. I found the NT4 a little noisy for quiet ambience. Maybe I cranked the preamps up a little too much. I was experimenting with ambience recording. I felt the setup worked well for city ambience.

This "feature" is helpful when you are shooting a reality show with 15-20+ mics and have to tune a transmitter backstage. Having the ability to change the freq on a tx without stomping on a frequency being used is a good idea. It's sort of like the UM400a days where you could tune the tx with a tweaker before turning it on. This is sort of the same, but different, as you have to turn these packs on to change freqs. Having the ability to turn this off...never thought about that.

Yes, and this version too: https://www.hawkwoods.co.uk/Sound/P/AD-NP1 Oh sorry, that's the short version. I have friend who gutted a full size NP1 and did it himself. He felt the older ones were "better" to take apart and glue back together vs. a L-ion blue IDX type. His opinion.

I have a FilmTech LSP4 that has been sitting unused since integrated mixer/recorders came into being. If that spikes your interest DM me. It is large-ish and doesn't have a recorder. It's a 4 channel mixer with phantom (even T-power!). Quiet preamps x 4. XLR inputs with phantom power. Low risk of sudden death (e.g. from ancient electronics) -- it's not that ancient -- depends on your age I suppose. Great portability. Line-level out. Shipping costs to Paris alone might kill this "just a preamp" idea if not some of your other criteria.