Hunting for hen's teeth?

Printable View

15-01-2019, 11:35 PM
Imagine

Hunting for hen's teeth?

Evenin' all.

I'm on a mission (as always).

My Retro Roadshow is picking up one heck of a lot of momentum at the moment (weddings included - and I had to have a venue stylist explain the reasons for THAT one to me! Apparently it's because it's "different" from the usual star cloth/white/generic/clone setups).

This makes me a very happy DJ indeed :). I'm different and have found a niche :)

Of the 20 confirmed bookings for 2019 so far, a whopping ELEVEN of them are for the Retro Roadshow (it's going to be a fun year and my back is going to remind me of that :( )

So - I'm hunting for retro kit yet again to add to my already impressive 16 feet of light-screens.

This week alone I've managed to secure TWO very illusive Pulsar Zero 4000 chasers (you wait a couple of years for a bus to come along.....), and a pair of fuzz lights :). Original rope lighting is a lot harder to find but I'll get there...that one's not important at the moment.

I'm on the hunt for PAR cans of a very specific type (preferably original but modern will do).

Let me explain.....

Firstly - most of the PAR64s I've found tonight run at between 300 and 500 watts per fixture. That's not going to work in most of the venues I work in where the PARS are going to be rammed up against the ceiling....especially marquees! I don't tend to carry a fire extinguisher with me!

Those that know my Retro show will know that I've fitted LED globes to the light screens. With LED, there has to be something else draining the residual current otherwise they don't fully turn off when they're supposed to. I've always in the past done this by retaining incandescent lamps in the two outer screens. This becomes a problem though when space is limited - yes.....I've had them behind the other screens in the past facing me!

I don't really want to play with electronic wizardry circuits such as resistors, or to build a bulb board just to drain the current. The Retro show by today's standards is a quick and dirty setup with a 20 minute build time once in the venue....and I don't want to make that longer!

I'm thinking (and have sort of tested this with a set of Maplin Reflector lamp PARS....don't even ask!), that an overhead full of PARS will do exactly what I want it to do...plus it'll look pretty :). In fact forget the thinking.....it DOES do exactly what I want it to do. Plus....I don't currently have any authentic overhead kit on the Retro show (I've always used LED PARS and they're not the same....I now want everything controlled by the Bulgin chasers to make it more realistic and those chasers won't control modern LED fixtures).

Am I making sense?

Now I could stick with the Chinese/Maplin PARS....they do the job with 60w E27 Reflector Spots in them.....but the casing is ABS and gets hot....yes - you can see my concern there! I've not tested them with the lamps on for any period of time (might do that tomorrow), but suspect that it's not going to be pretty with all lamps on for more than a couple of minutes.

Lots of hunting on various auction sites has turned up a complete blank (at the moment...I'm still looking though). Most of the modern kit seems to use GUI lamps (not a fan). I'd rather use the reflector spot lamps I have (and I have LOTS of them in various colours without the need for gels in front of them).

So my question.....does anyone know of somewhere that's selling or can get hold of PAR can cases with an E27 fitting which is short nosed to allow the lamps to do their job? The only ones I've found so far tonight at long-nosed so restrict the beam.

Peter....what's in the back of your shed? ;)

And just to make this post worthwhile.......

A very modern phenomenon is punters trying to lean/rest on the light screens (yes...I've had several fall THROUGH them in the past after a couple of small sherries!). Any ideas for making them lean proof more than welcome. The three central screens obviously have my table/booth/mixer behind them so are fairly bombproof....the ones outside of that though (at least another two each side) are fair game for those who can't stand up without assistance and it's becoming a pain the the bottom!
16-01-2019, 12:12 PM
DJWilson

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imagine

And just to make this post worthwhile.......

A very modern phenomenon is punters trying to lean/rest on the light screens (yes...I've had several fall THROUGH them in the past after a couple of small sherries!). Any ideas for making them lean proof more than welcome. The three central screens obviously have my table/booth/mixer behind them so are fairly bombproof....the ones outside of that though (at least another two each side) are fair game for those who can't stand up without assistance and it's becoming a pain the the bottom!

Could you not screw a plate in the top two corners with an arm/leg attached that swings out and acts as a stand?

Or even a couple of hooks along the back top of all the screens and have a couple of bars across them, acting as a link/connector so you've got some chance of stopping a fall without being in arms reach?
16-01-2019, 03:11 PM
Excalibur

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imagine

Peter....what's in the back of your shed? ;)

Firewood logs, loads of them. I'm prepared for a cold winter. Biggest killer of Old People, I'm taking no chances. ;)

Oh, sorry, I see what you're getting at. :daft:I never possessed any of the items which you refer to. I always built them into spot boxes. And why were you looking for Zero 4000s when I offered you Ryger controllers, at a very reasonable price?
16-01-2019, 03:31 PM
Pe7e

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imagine

A very modern phenomenon is punters trying to lean/rest on the light screens (yes...I've had several fall THROUGH them in the past after a couple of small sherries!). Any ideas for making them lean proof more than welcome.

You could make two right angled triangular frames out of wood (2" x 1" or similar) and attach them with hinges to the back of your light boxes, when folded out, they should prevent them from being knocked over. If you have 2 boxes or more, you could also attach a sliding bolt, like you would fit to a garden gate, with the clasp on one box, and the bolt on the other to add even more stability when linked together.
16-01-2019, 03:40 PM
Imagine

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excalibur

Firewood logs, loads of them. I'm prepared for a cold winter. Biggest killer of Old People, I'm taking no chances. ;)

Oh, sorry, I see what you're getting at. :daft:I never possessed any of the items which you refer to. I always built them into spot boxes. And why were you looking for Zero 4000s when I offered you Ryger controllers, at a very reasonable price?

Call me old fashioned - I always used the 4000's back in the day and it's one of those itches I needed to scratch ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJWilson

Could you not screw a plate in the top two corners with an arm/leg attached that swings out and acts as a stand?

Or even a couple of hooks along the back top of all the screens and have a couple of bars across them, acting as a link/connector so you've got some chance of stopping a fall without being in arms reach?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pe7e

You could make two right angled triangular frames out of wood (2" x 1" or similar) and attach them with hinges to the back of your light boxes, when folded out, they should prevent them from being knocked over. If you have 2 boxes or more, you could also attach a sliding bolt, like you would fit to a garden gate, with the clasp on one box, and the bolt on the other to add even more stability when linked together.

Two very similar suggestions along the lines I was already thinking after a little pondering over my morning cuppa. Bit reluctant to bolt them all together - I have visions of the entire show topping if someone's leaning into one of the boxes enough. I'll investigate the triangular fold out bits a bit further though because that's very little effort on the night.

Cheers all :)
22-01-2019, 01:32 PM
stormproductions

Are your reflector lamps 80mm wide? (And roughly 100mm long?).

Presumably you're wanting the lamps to be contained within a PAR so they don't get broken, rather than having them sticking out the front from some sort of E27 fitting? (I have a recollection that somewhen around 1990 we built a pair or T bars with 8 (I think) reflector lamps on each of the top and bottom, with the lamps exposed and we just had to be careful about moving them around. We'd knocked up a big wooden crate that held them both. Think they were using some form of plastic swivel fitting, such as often found in that era for retail lighting.)

Although you can get PAR30s with E27 fittings, you're going to struggle getting the lamps in and out as you're only going to have around 7mm gap around the edge of the lamp, so you'll probably be better off with PAR38s, such as the ones Thomann sell with an E27 fitting. Sorry I don't think I can currently link to them as the mouse buttons on my laptop have packed up so I can't right click but just google for thomann eurolite par38 and it's likely to be the first result. Available in black or silver. Presumably they'll also be available from other suppliers, although it's a relatively unusual size.