"Chris Holmes" wrote
| I have purchased a "Kojak light" (orange unfortunately) from CPC ...
| Now for the question, this thing contains a low wattage motor and a
| 21W inditator bulb, so I presume it's drawing about 2A at 12V. It
| could do with being controlled from the opposite end of the church (by
| the guy who is also doing the sound effects).
| If I made up a suitable cable to feed the 12V down one or the other of
| these;
| a. Would it work?
| b. Would the cable go bang?
| c. Would it b*gger up the sound system?

a. There would be a lot of voltage drop in the cable, so it might not work.
b. Probably not
c. Could well cause clicks when you switch on and off

You could either:

1. Use a relay with 2A contacts near the power supply and Kojak light,
reducing volts drop, and have a low-current feed through the sound multicore
to work the relay coil off a battery.

2. Plug the mains PSU into a remote control switch and use a radio keyfob to
work that, twenty quid from Maplin, switch 10A mains so would do a lot of
lighting/sound/smoke effects.

If you wanted a blue light you can get them from Gadget Shop or Maplin, but
they use a mains pygmy bulb so don't reflect as much.

Owain

PS are you sure it's 21W bulb, my Kojak light is a 55W

Owain

Dave Plowman wrote in message ...
Assuming the XLR circuit is just a 'tie line', ie not permantly connected
to anything, that will do just fine.

It's got a black box with a 12 mic lines going "one way" and 4 returns
going t'other. I doubt if any of the mics or returns would be in use
on the day.

You recon the volts should get there ok Dave? (we're talking approx
40 feet in old money)

"Chris Holmes" wrote in message
om...
Well actually, my Father in Law is building the Tardis, i'm just
responsible for the electrics......

The story so far.......

My Mother in Law is in charge of organising a holiday club (based
around the "Going Bananas" material from Scripture Union for those who
are interested) and one of the requirements is for a Banana Planters
Hut/Tardis.

I have purchased a "Kojak light" (orange unfortunately) from CPC which
after complete resoldering of all the internal connections and removal
of a superfluous wire which was just waiting to short out the whole
shebang out now works off my battery charger.

Now for the question, this thing contains a low wattage motor and a
21W inditator bulb, so I presume it's drawing about 2A at 12V. It
could do with being controlled from the opposite end of the church (by
the guy who is also doing the sound effects).

We have a microphone (XLR) multicore running to the front of the
church, and also a coax line (future proofing for use with video?).

If I made up a suitable cable to feed the 12V down one or the other of
these;
--------------
Assuming the coax is currently unused, then I would use that.


a. Would it work?
------
Yes

b. Would the cable go bang?
------
No

c. Would it b*gger up the sound system?
----------
No. Because the coax has nothing to do with the sound system.

If the XLR is used then I would leave well alone. If it's unused then you could
use half the cores for pos and the other half for neg.

Coax is pretty beefy so your voltage loss will be tolerable. And as you are
powering it from a battery charger you are probably launching at nearer 14v than
12v. So your end voltage should be about right.

The idea is to shove the current through as much copper as possible to reduce
the resistance. If both coax and XLR are unused you could fashion something even
better by using them both.

"BillP" wrote in message
...

"Simon" wrote in message
...


Not to mention that a Time flux capacitor would require a little more than
a
12V supply ;-)



Be very careful here I think were in danger of hybridising a Tardis with a
Delorian.
The energy input to the flux capacitor will need to be 1.21 gigawatts
-----------
Easily achievable with the ASDA own-brand portable cold-fusion device. Screwfix
have something similar.

"Chris Holmes" wrote in message
om...
Dave Plowman wrote in message
...
Assuming the XLR circuit is just a 'tie line', ie not permantly
connected
to anything, that will do just fine.

It's got a black box with a 12 mic lines going "one way" and 4 returns
going t'other. I doubt if any of the mics or returns would be in use
on the day.

You recon the volts should get there ok Dave? (we're talking approx
40 feet in old money)

You'll be lucky to be hitting 2V by the time you get there and lucky if it
gives off a faint buzz

"Chris Holmes" wrote in message
om...
Well actually, my Father in Law is building the Tardis, i'm just
responsible for the electrics......
....
I have purchased a "Kojak light" (orange unfortunately) from CPC which
after complete resoldering of all the internal connections and removal
of a superfluous wire which was just waiting to short out the whole
shebang out now works off my battery charger.

Now for the question, this thing contains a low wattage motor and a
21W inditator bulb, so I presume it's drawing about 2A at 12V.

Memory suggests that the original just went on and off, fairly slowly -
probably a props man working a sliding rheostat up and down, in time to the
music.

Colin Bignell

In article ,
Chris Holmes wrote:
Assuming the XLR circuit is just a 'tie line', ie not permantly
connected to anything, that will do just fine.

It's got a black box with a 12 mic lines going "one way" and 4 returns
going t'other. I doubt if any of the mics or returns would be in use on
the day.

So in other works unless you plug into them, they are simply lengths of
wire? Just checking they're not plugged to an amp with two or more mic
sockets in parallel to allow different mic positions.

You recon the volts should get there ok Dave? (we're talking approx 40
feet in old money)

It's likely they're wired in ordinary mic cable which is usually at least
0.5mm. And this is ok for a couple of amps. If by any chance they were
wired in telephone gauge wiring you might be in problems, but this is most
unlikely.

--
*Half the people in the world are below average.

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

"gandalf" wrote in message
...

"BillP" wrote in message
...

"Simon" wrote in message
...


Not to mention that a Time flux capacitor would require a little more
than
a
12V supply ;-)



Be very careful here I think were in danger of hybridising a Tardis with
a
Delorian.
The energy input to the flux capacitor will need to be 1.21 gigawatts
-----------
Easily achievable with the ASDA own-brand portable cold-fusion device.
Screwfix
have something similar.

I ordered one from Screwfix last Thursday. It arrived in March.

On 3 Jul 2003 01:24:09 -0700, (Chris Holmes) wrote:

Well actually, my Father in Law is building the Tardis, i'm just
responsible for the electrics......

If you get that thing running right, can we go out for a spin in it?
(just to test it like) I'd just like to briefly revisit a certain
boomakers shop. G

Take Care,
Gnube

In article ,
nightjar wrote:
I've only just about heard of Playschool. When I were a lad, TV came on
for a few hours of an evening, when you could watch fuzzy pictures in
black and white.

Playschool was the first programme actually seen on BBC 2 (the next day)
due to the power cut on the official opening night.

I presume you are referring to a demarcation dispute, so substitute
whatever is the correct trade.

Sparks, strangely enough.

--
*A nest isn't empty until all their stuff is out of the attic

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

nightjar wrote in message ...

I've only just about heard of Playschool. When I were a lad, TV came on for
a few hours of an evening, when you could watch fuzzy pictures in black and
white. I presume you are referring to a demarcation dispute, so substitute
whatever is the correct trade.

No, tell us the story Dave!

In article ,
Chris Holmes wrote:
I've only just about heard of Playschool. When I were a lad, TV came
on for a few hours of an evening, when you could watch fuzzy pictures
in black and white. I presume you are referring to a demarcation
dispute, so substitute whatever is the correct trade.

No, tell us the story Dave!

The full details may be slightly wrong, as it's a long time ;-) ago.

The playschool clock wasn't a working clock, but had a turntable
underneath it which started to revolve on 'cue'. 'What's underneath the
clock today, Flowella?'
It was switched on via a switch on a trailing socket. Props said it was
their job since it was a prop - sparks said it was electric so theirs.
IIRC, the dispute arose because sparks often weren't there to switch it on
- off having a fag, as there was sometimes little for them to do during a
recording.
Props, on the other hand, have often much to do during the show, so are
always on hand. So production wanted props to operate it.

Everbody out.;-)

Doesn't happen today, though. No matter what the papers would have you
believe.

--
*No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver,purple

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 13:47:22 +0100, Dave Plowman
wrote:

In article ,
Chris Holmes wrote:
I've only just about heard of Playschool. When I were a lad, TV came
on for a few hours of an evening, when you could watch fuzzy pictures
in black and white. I presume you are referring to a demarcation
dispute, so substitute whatever is the correct trade.

No, tell us the story Dave!

The full details may be slightly wrong, as it's a long time ;-) ago.

The playschool clock wasn't a working clock, but had a turntable
underneath it which started to revolve on 'cue'. 'What's underneath the
clock today, Flowella?'
It was switched on via a switch on a trailing socket. Props said it was
their job since it was a prop - sparks said it was electric so theirs.
IIRC, the dispute arose because sparks often weren't there to switch it on
- off having a fag, as there was sometimes little for them to do during a
recording.
Props, on the other hand, have often much to do during the show, so are
always on hand. So production wanted props to operate it.

Everbody out.;-)

Complete with whistle?


Doesn't happen today, though. No matter what the papers would have you
believe.

When did it change? I thought that film and TV were still fairly
compartmented.....?




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Doesn't happen today, though. No matter what the papers would have you
believe.

When did it change? I thought that film and TV were still fairly
compartmented.....?

On 'The Bill' when you have one of those chasing down the street shots,
everyone who hasn't a job to do during the actual 'take' will help out
with cabling, although it's officially the rigger's job. But you'd need
several, and there's only one. Same with many things - people just help
out, if they can. I sometimes need a second boom - it's rarely something
that can be predicted so I could book a second operator, and again one of
the others can always be made to volunteer.;-)

On my last shoot, the gaffer, or chargehand sparks, helped out with grip
work and a second boom on many occasions. So much so I almost bought him a
drink.

The most common question is 'why are all these people standing around?'
The answer is their job happens before and after a 'take' but not during
it.

--
*No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver,purple

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Playschool was the first programme actually seen on BBC 2 (the next day)
due to the power cut on the official opening night.


Ruggish - I was there, we ran the network from Alexandra Palace, can't
remember prezactly what went out, news, come dancing; at times it came to
pulling out bits of macaroni and seeing what picture went off the telly.

But it *did* start on the night, it's just that the stalinist BBC
airbrushed it out of history.

Mike R

Dave Plowman wrote in
:


The most common question is 'why are all these people standing
around?' The answer is their job happens before and after a 'take' but
not during it.

A bit reminiscent of an interview I did (well, pointed the camera) with Sir
Peter Parker, then chairman of british rail, who looked around and said
"...and I suppose you want to ask _me_ about overmanning"

Mike R

Gnube wrote:

On 3 Jul 2003 01:24:09 -0700, (Chris Holmes) wrote:

Well actually, my Father in Law is building the Tardis, i'm just
responsible for the electrics......

If you get that thing running right, can we go out for a spin in it?
(just to test it like) I'd just like to briefly revisit a certain
boomakers shop. G

Take Care,
Gnube

Err!

Please advise an ignorant North American; what in the blazes is
a TARDIS?

Or to use a childhood expression from my Liverpool origins; "You
wot. Never eard of it!".

Regards. Terry.

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 21:23:27 -0230, Terry
wrote:

Gnube wrote:

On 3 Jul 2003 01:24:09 -0700, (Chris Holmes) wrote:

Well actually, my Father in Law is building the Tardis, i'm just
responsible for the electrics......

If you get that thing running right, can we go out for a spin in it?
(just to test it like) I'd just like to briefly revisit a certain
boomakers shop. G

Take Care,
Gnube

Err!

Please advise an ignorant North American; what in the blazes is
a TARDIS?

Or to use a childhood expression from my Liverpool origins; "You
wot. Never eard of it!".

Regards. Terry.

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space".

You mean you didn't know that?

It comes from a 60's (and later) children's (of all ages) TV series
called Dr Who and is his transport - being able to travel in both time
and space.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/...am/intro.shtml

The original Tardis was, on the outside a Metropolitan Police
telephone box - angular and blue. Inside it was very much larger
with the appearance of the inside of a space ship. Theoretically
Tardises were meant to be able to blend with their surroundings from
the exterior point of view - changing according to where the TARDIS
arrived.

The "problem" was that the so-called "chameleon" mechanism broke on
arrival in London in 1963 and was never fixed. The navigation was
distinctly dodgy as well, so it was never possible to accurately
predict where the erratic machine would go next.

Of course, these two failures fitted a low budget series of the time
very well.

One of the major features of the TARDIS was the control column. This
was hexagonal and had a transparent plastic column in the centre with
flashing lights. Whenever the TARDIS departed, the column would go
up and down, accompanied by a sound effect rather like an electronic
grinding noise.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/.../virtual.shtml

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 08:02:10 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

Of course, these two failures fitted a low budget series of the time
very well.

And a rather successful low budget series as well! There were 4 or 5
different Dr Who's (the Timelord) running over several years.

The series was well in line with the other galactic adventure series,
Blakes 7. Though the latter did not have such a long run.

Both used props and situations which didn't cost very much. And
there's still something rather sinister about the cybermen even to
this day

Andrew

Do you need a handyman service? Check out our
web site at http://www.handymac.co.uk

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
Whenever the TARDIS departed, the column would go
up and down, accompanied by a sound effect rather like an electronic
grinding noise.

If you look carefully at these scenes, you'll notice that this never
happened over dialogue. The column was actually operated by compressed
air, and very noisy.

--
*Great groups from little icons grow *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

In article ,
Terry wrote:

Please advise an ignorant North American; what in the blazes is
a TARDIS?

I'm amazed. The one person in the world who's not seen Dr Who.

--
*Aim Low, Reach Your Goals, Avoid Disappointment *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 08:58:52 +0100, Dave Plowman
wrote:

In article ,
Terry wrote:

Please advise an ignorant North American; what in the blazes is
a TARDIS?

I'm amazed. The one person in the world who's not seen Dr Who.

Of course, you realise this was foretold in books long since lost to
time itself, this is the one person who can truly rid the dementia of
time and space from the curse of the daleks forever. We must get a
message to the doctor with all haste!

It is vital we adjourn to Gallifrey and find him, I wonder, would the
local minicab firm agree to transport us there? I'll use the digital
audio transcription, data relocation, and remote reconstruction device
to contact them and find out. Now where did I leave that Yellow Pages?
;O)

Take Care,
Gnube

"Huge" wrote in message
...
Related.

relative

Tony

Dave Plowman wrote:

I'm amazed. The one person in the world who's not seen Dr Who.

Right on Dave!
I hadn't a clue! Dr. Who! Who?
Was that anything to do with Rex Harrison (who oddly left the
school I attended in Liverpool about the same time I was born)
and 'Talking to the animals'? No?
I now realize I should have asked one of my 3 (North American
born) children, now aged 41 to 24!
Now what was that again? "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space
....."?
Oh. .......... You mean an outdoor loo?
Speaking personally I just pop behind a convenient tree and
fertilize something!
Back to my painting ...........
Thanks anyway. Terry.

In article ,
Terry wrote:
I'm amazed. The one person in the world who's not seen Dr Who.

Right on Dave!
I hadn't a clue! Dr. Who! Who?

Others have explained, but it's been shown on TV in pretty well all
countries. It has a cult following in the US where they've held
conventions.

--
*There's no place like www.home.com *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Chris Holmes wrote:
snip
We have a microphone (XLR) multicore running to the front of the
church, and also a coax line (future proofing for use with video?).

If I made up a suitable cable to feed the 12V down one or the other of
these;

a. Would it work?

b. Would the cable go bang?

c. Would it b*gger up the sound system?

Ignoring all the OT posts about Dr. Who....

Given that a multi-core system will deliver 48v "Phantom Power" to
microphones that need such a thing (e.g. powered dynamic condenser mcis),
then passing 12v though ought to be fine... The only thing I am not sure
about is the ampage, and whether this would be a problem.

I would suggest researching a bit on the phantom power bit - which of the 3
wires in the XLR takes the feed, and what the usual ampage is.

after some very quick research..
phantom power is usually pretty low - up to 60mA. 2A sounds rather high
Take a look at http://www.shure.com/support/technot...-phantom1.html or
http://www.sounddevices.com/phantom.htm

The idea on using the multi-core to flick a relay is a good one. Maybe the
coax one is OK too, but you'll need to check what the cable can handle.

HTH,
AlexL