Peter Mega Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 HI, Does anyone know the fragility rating of UCR411 receivers and also UMCWB rack mount RF/power unit. I'm trying to find a suitable road case and Pelican Hardigg and Blackbox cases are fragility rated. Anyone used the said Pelican cases? Or any experience with SKB Roto Shock rack cases? How do they hold up with lots of flights and baggage handlers? Thanks Peter Mega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Pelican cases are excellent. Don't know about "fragility ratings" but i do know that if the kit is packed into the pelican case with the interior foam that comes with the case you can't go wrong. Have yet to see a pelican case trashed by baggage handlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mega Posted May 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Thankyou David. I should also mention what I'm trying to figure out exactly is whether I should bother with the shock mount cases at all. The Pelican are very expensive, like $1000 for a 4 unit Blackbox but are awesome since they are shock mounted rack inside. The SKB looks okay but I'd bet the Pelican is better. All my gear is always packed into Pelican cases for travel but having 16 x 411a in 4 x UMCWB might need shock mount cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Andrews Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 One of the local hire companies I use has a pinboard of past customer letters. On this pinboard there is a particularly intriguing letter that goes into detail about a mixer and recorder that was hired out from this company, and taken to be used for a job on a farm. During the course of shooting, a heard of cattle went stampeding at the crew. The crew escaped unharmed, but the cattle trampled on all the equipment. Most of the equipment was still boxed up, yet took a big beating. Very little of the camera kit was functional, the main sound kit however was in a Pelican (sorry can't remember the exact model off the top of my head), and although the case was damaged significantly, the gear itself was nearly in pristine condition. The letter goes on to thank the company for using such great cases, and ask for an invoice to replace the damaged Peli. So if you ever need to really test the fragility rating of a Peli, get a load of cows! (although elephants may be a viable alternative if cows are unavailable). ~Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSound Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Hi Peter, I own the exact setup you are trying to protect and I have to say the thing feels really solid. I have it in a small 2ru non-shock absorbant Gator case ($100) and it has been fine. The one thing to consider is that I have always been the one to transport it (so it hasn't been dropped or anything) and it has yet to go through an airport. -Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 411s are pretty durable. Can't imagine them malfunctioning after poor baggage handling. I've seen my transmitters dragged behind actors many times over the years, as they somehow get dislodged. They manage to keep working year after year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Faison Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 So if you ever need to really test the fragility rating of a Peli, get a load of cows! (although elephants may be a viable alternative if cows are unavailable). If you find yourself with more elephants than cows for testing purposes, chances are you needed a Pelican a couple days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Steigerwald Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I'm fairly confident you could bludgeon someone to death with a 411 and then use it immediately after for the interview with the coroner. Lectro is one company that really knows how to build solid gear. Not that I'd recommend this test, of course... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 The power switch seems fail regularly, that's the only complaint I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundwil Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 "I'm fairly confident you could bludgeon someone to death with a 411 and then use it immediately after for the interview with the coroner." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Yeremian Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 you can wire an sm58 to a lectro transmitter and use it as nun-chuk's if you ever need to defend yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomboom Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 In fact, Lectrosonics is probably the only brand that's got a " solidity rating" since they don't have a freakin' idea about what is "fragility"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Lewis Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 just don't drop a um400a perfectly flat on a marble counter top. Cracked the circuit board. Lectro is pretty damn tough, you should be fine with pelicans and pick n pluck foam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 If Chuck Norris and Lectrosonics got into a fistfight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mega Posted May 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 Thanks for the replies. Seems like this thread like many many others has gone off the rails. I never thought cows, elephants, murder and nun-chucks would enter the question. Just goes to show how crazy we all are!! I certainly know how tough Lectro and Pelican gear is, I've been using it for many many years. What I was trying to assertain is, if for example the 411a mounted in UMCWB has a rating of say 100G, then I could not bother with very expensive shock mounted rack cases like the Pelican Blackbox rated for equipment at 40 - 80G fragility rating. The Pelican Prorack is a non shock mount rack case and is alot lighter and cheaper than the Pelican Blackbox. Weight is an issue for me because I'm doing alot of flying with it (and all my other regular Pelican cases). The Blackbox is alot heavier and rated for equipment 40 - 80G fragility. The Prorack is rated for equipment with 80 - 120G fragility rating. I want the 411a/UMCWB's to be mounted in this type of case so I can arrive at location, pull off the end lids, plug audio multicore cable in, plug antenna coax in, and away you go, rather than having it all in regular Pelican's. Anyway, looks like anything other than Pelican Blackbox is a special order from the USA from Pelican Australia (yes I called the manufacturer and found this out) so I'll probably end up getting the Blackbox. AlanSound, how are you finding your 411a/UMCWB set up? What antenna (splitters etc) set up are you using. How many 411a are you running? Cheers Mega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted May 6, 2012 Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 Sorry for getting OT In a perfect world, I would bring 3 Lectro Venues instead. That would save you a ton of weight (well, maybe not a 'ton') and then you could just pack them in regular cases and not have to worry about patching a ton ( yes,an actual ton) of BNC patch. Is using a shipping company an option? I feel that they would be more suited to handling a rack full of electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mega Posted May 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2012 Sorry for getting OT In a perfect world, I would bring 3 Lectro Venues instead. That would save you a ton of weight (well, maybe not a 'ton') and then you could just pack them in regular cases and not have to worry about patching a ton ( yes,an actual ton) of BNC patch. Is using a shipping company an option? I feel that they would be more suited to handling a rack full of electronics. No worries Jason, I'm using UCR411a/UMCWB because in the second phase of the show, the UCR411a will come out of the racks and get used in bags for crazy challenges. There wont be any patching of coax apart from the 5 metre antenna cables into ZFSC41 splitters. The short patch cables from ZFSC41 to UMCWB will be permanently mounted in the rack case along with the actual ZFSC41. The UCR411a will live in the UMCWB for the first phase of the show. No time for shipping companies to handle the freight, very short turn around in each place. Thanks for the ideas, Jason Cheers Mega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jabour Posted May 7, 2012 Report Share Posted May 7, 2012 The other thing you could try is giving a call into Calzone or OSP cases. You could get a short two up made with foam as a short mount. I've worked at places that have the gator or SKB shock mounts and they are huge space killers. If you want a shock mount I would look at the two companies I mentioned above, or Pelican, we use Pelican a lot here and love their cases. Though have not used their rack mount ones yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSound Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 AlanSound, how are you finding your 411a/UMCWB set up? What antenna (splitters etc) set up are you using. How many 411a are you running? Cheers Mega The 411a/UMCWB is a constant work in progress for me. I'm only running four 411's off two shark fins but I am considering expanding soon. A possible route may be to add a Lectro SR (for a total of 6 channels) and then just run up 2 dipoles. The other option is for a second UMCWB and then I would go the route of a splitter. The main consideration for me though is that I want to be able to quickly move the 411's go back and forth between the UMCWB and a bag. I've sorta accomplished this by removing the cable cover from the UMCWB and only using the metal bar to hold the 411's in place. I also replaced the tiny screws with wing nuts to that I can remove the 411's without tools. So far it's been working. Has anyone else made modifications to make the 411's easily removable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mega Posted May 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 The other thing you could try is giving a call into Calzone or OSP cases. You could get a short two up made with foam as a short mount. I've worked at places that have the gator or SKB shock mounts and they are huge space killers. If you want a shock mount I would look at the two companies I mentioned above, or Pelican, we use Pelican a lot here and love their cases. Though have not used their rack mount ones yet. Thanks Nick, I'll take a look at those cases too. The 411a/UMCWB is a constant work in progress for me. I'm only running four 411's off two shark fins but I am considering expanding soon. A possible route may be to add a Lectro SR (for a total of 6 channels) and then just run up 2 dipoles. The other option is for a second UMCWB and then I would go the route of a splitter. The main consideration for me though is that I want to be able to quickly move the 411's go back and forth between the UMCWB and a bag. I've sorta accomplished this by removing the cable cover from the UMCWB and only using the metal bar to hold the 411's in place. I also replaced the tiny screws with wing nuts to that I can remove the 411's without tools. So far it's been working. Has anyone else made modifications to make the 411's easily removable? Thanks AlanSound, I might steal your wing nut idea since I may need to remove the 411a in a hurry sometimes too. Generally speaking, how's your range with the set up? (I know its depends blah) Does anyone else use this set up? I'd particularly like to hear from users that are using more than 1 x UMCWB with antenna splitters etc etc. Thanks Mega PS. I wanted to add "411a/UMCWB" to the topic title since the thread has gone that way but I cant seem to change it, anyone know how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Mega Posted October 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 HI Update on how all this went with my 411's in UMCWB. I ended up using a shock mount Gator road case which was my 3rd choice after Pelican and SKB. The 4RU Pelican BlackBoxx is only made in one depth which is so deep (you could fit a child in it) that it was totally impractical for flying around the country for 2 months on countless flights. The SKB wasn't much better. The Gator stood up to the task very well. No problems at all. I was sceptical at first sight of the Gator because its build quality is nothing like the Pelican but after all the flights, I'm very pleased with it. Its 4RU but not too deep which was much more manageable going through so many airports, trolleys, vans, locations. The 411a in UMCWB worked beautifully. Mostly used 2 x SNA600 to 2 x ZFSC41 then split to all four UMCWB. I had excellent range with strong signal strengh. The ALP620 only came out a couple of times. We're now into the second phase of the show and the 411's have been going in and out of the UMCWB regularly. I've become quite quick at installing them now!! Pics for anyone who is curious. TX 1 and 2 were switched off in this pic. Signal strengh is strong as you can see The pic from the back looks messy but its actually quite neat once the IEC240 power cables are pulled out and ofcourse the multicore too. Cheers Peter Mega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Flaitz Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 Awesome rig Peter, thanks for the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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