PMC

I still use my petrol harness for my petrol football bag. I like it. The Versa-Flex guys were jealous of it when I picked it up in, maybe, 2006. I use it weekly and it is still in great shape. My bag weights about 12 pounds and I can wear it for 4hrs without a break on reality shows. I have seen the Orca harness on sets where I am shooting. It looks nice and looks like it offers lower back support. If I ever decided to change harnesses I thought I would go for the orca. Let us know what you think if you get to try one. Ha, 160 lbs. I haven't weighed that since I was in high school back in... never you mind how long ago that was.

I can't say enough good things about TXAdvance. I have been using it for 2 years. It is instrumental in scanning and finding clear frequencies, coordinating my 8 wireless transmitters and troubleshooting RF hits in LIVE active mode when some new RF source walks onto set. I have used several RF apps before using this one. For a location sound mixer there is simply no better product. I know several Apple device users who have purchased Android tablets just to use TXAdvance. Plus Grégoire is very responsive to feature suggestions. I highly recommend his app. In its current version it is very mature and feature packed.

Does your boom pole have an internal cable? Simply bypass the boom cable with a temp 12ft cable wrapped around the exterior of the pole and see if the problem goes away. I have to resolder the wee wires at the base connector of my K-tek pole occasionally for this very reason.

The gaffer used a couple of these, https://zendure.com/products/superbase-pro-2000 on set last week to power large Aputure lights during a day of bus driving interior scenes. I don't know if they put out sinewave or squarewave but it didn't bother my wireless mics.

I am old enough to remember when the industry used Carbon Tet (carbon tetrachloride) to clean and degrease cables, read/write heads, circuit boards, even work surfaces, etc. Then there was the Władziu Valentino Liberace poisoning incident where use of Carbon Tet in his hotel room sent him to the hospital and he lobbied for its banning. Then the engineers I worked with started using liquid freon as a solvent for wiping down heads, lol.

Yikes. That sounds like a drastic and potentially dangerous method, if it really is white gas.

Absolutly, read the contracts. To get around THEIR ridiculous contract language, several times, i have downloaded their PDF deal memo, brought it into Acrobat, chosen Export Copy, brought it back into Acrobat (it is now an editable file), chosen, Edit, make my changes, affix my png signature, save it and send it back. The three or four times I have done this I have never been called on it. Apperently, they don't read it or the producer doesn't care. When companies have asked me to indemnify them from loss and harm or carry additional liability insurance on THEIR project I tell them THEY are the employer. THEY need to offer ME an inland marine policy for my gear and be liable for on-set accidents. I have the liability insurance I have because my wife and I produce soup to nuts projects of our own while hiring freelancers to fill rolls. I have turned down plenty of jobs from national producers who require me to sign waivers of their liability. Yes, sand pounding is in order for these people.

When companies have asked me to indemnify them from loss and harm or carry additional liability insurance on THEIR project I tell them THEY are the employer. THEY need to offer ME an inland marine policy for my gear and be liable for on-set accidents. I have the liability insurance I have because my wife and I produce soup to nuts projects of our own while hiring freelancers to fill rolls. I have turned down plenty of jobs from national producers who require me to sign waivers of their liability. Yes, sand pounding is in order for these people.

I agree with Codyman. I have been told by my accountant that some income gets taxed twice under an S Corp as it makes it's way to my pocket. With an LLC, I dont think this is the case. In Iowa you can be an LLC and still be a sole proprietor within that structure. The reason for doing this is isolating company liability from personal liability. You use an EIN for your business instead of a SS number. Since 1998 I have been a sole proprietor. And yes, I have gobbs of insurance; company vehicle 1 million liability, company 1 million liability with a 1 million umbrella and at one time, for a particular client, completion insurance. Which was stupid expensive but I amortized that expense on HIS incoices.

Philip, Sorry to hear about your problem. I have been using my 664 since 2012 with various card manufacturers for well over 6000 hours of record time. The only problem I have ever had with a recording was with a SanDisk Extreme Plus 32GB card several years ago. In my case, one day, it decided it couldn't keep up with the data rate and gave me errors but worked fine in my Zoom 4Hn. The CF cards have always been solid. I have never experienced what you are experiencing. I would erase the errant card, get ride of the Mac garbage, and test extensively. I don't think you can perform a low level format on SD cards. If you do it erases the array or partition data. I'm a PC guy but I know that Apple used to place SPOTLITE indexing (or whatever) files in EVERY sodding folder on media. I didn't realize they were still doing it. It is annoying but hasn't corrupted any of my data in the past.

Scan courtesy of Jasound.

D Clay Audio, I don't know if this helps at all, I couldn't find a TXAdvance scan in Nashville, but here is the closest. Chattanooga.

There is the simple fact that getting the passive antennas, Betso, shark fins, etc. up and away from your mixer bag offers a bit clearer reception. It isn't demonstrable but it is a bit better.

Does this mean Nikon will port over the wee fiddly cable Jack's to their cine cameras now? Maybe the next RED imager will be code named Nikromancer.

Wrap the area with fake fur. The softest polyester fur with half inch to one inch Plush fibers you can find at a fabric store. Use double stick tape, maybe, and create a dead air space between the mic housing and polyester base fabric. Make sure the base fabric is a little pourious. You are relying on the fur to slow down the velocity of the wind not the base fabric. You want the base to be sonically transparent.

Are you thinking of a web based device control app over wifi like Ambient did for the 6-series? I might be interested in that because Wingman and my 664 do not play nice.

Still a confusing description on the noted website.

I am all for more manufacturers competing for my dollar. This company from India seems to have some nice offerings. Currently, they only offer mixer bags large enough for 3 or 4 pot front facing machines (633, 888) not a Scorpio or 664 and only two slots. Competitive price though. They were responsive to my questions.

Thanks for the info DSG.

I have a couple older COS-11d mics that need cleaning. Upon putting a magnifier on the grill I can see their appears to be nasty build up of years of tape goo, dust and perhaps wardrobe fibers. Before I go stabby with a pin in an attempt to clean up the grill pores, does anyone know; 1) Does grill comes off? 2) is there a cloth/fiber barrier below the grill and that is what I am seeing? Thanks

"The sound quality is amazing"... "compatible with all of the Comtek transmitters." How will it sound amazing when receiving a signal from my Comtek TX? Comtek TX and RX are not known for their fidelity. And I assume it will come with Zaxcom pricing level.

1998 Denecke ts-3 Slate for me along with a couple ts-2 boxes and a couple Tentacles for the kiddos with dslr cams. My Denecke gear has probably been dropped a couple hundred times by crew. They take a linking and keep on ticking.

I feel your pain, 480sound. Since October of 2023 I am owed over $4,000 from Abbson of 1325 Avenue of the America's, Floor 27 New York, NY. I have a deal memo for net 30 days. I have call sheets. I have phone numbers and e-mails. The producer I worked with said he was let go shortly after our October gig. He says most everyone else at the company has been let go too and they have outstanding production debt of many thousands of dollars. I sent them a certified "demand letter." No response. My next move is sue. Unfortunately, this was a non-union job so I am on my own.

My experience is that with my Comtek M216 attached to the outside of my mixer bag with just the supplied rubber ducky antenna and with the reciever in direct line of sight at hip level, the range, standing on a sidewalk, is one city block rendering a clean signal. Lots of real world factors can come into play to attenuate that range. (humans are just big bags of water attenuating my RF transmissions) Last month I worked on a commercial in an airport hanger. My Comteks were completely unreliable only 15 ft. away. Lots of garbage RF in the 216Mz range.

Michael Render, Glad to hear you aren't getting the whine. The reason IS because you are using a balanced audio line, from what Sound Devices told me years ago. Eric, Making the notch and whole is very easy. When I purchased my first Senny battery eliminator if came with a new door with the notch. The next three, I notched myself. Use a small rat-tail file.