Just call me Z

[zwolf59661]

I started my freshman year in high school doing spotlight for the drama club, and now I'm a junior and one of only two people in the school who know how to operate the stage lights. And the lights in my school are so old they don't work the way they're supposed to. We figure the easiest way to get them fixed is to wait until the become a fire hazard. The current system is a Lee Colortran SceneMaster something, and it desperately needs to be upgraded.

Anyway, I also work at a local performing arts center as an "audio/lighting technician." I'm not sure what systems are in use there.

[soundlight]

Welcome aboard! The standard notes on the booth: ask and answer away, use the search tool before asking a new question, don't necropost unless you have a specific question about the old post or have something different to add and make sure that the old post isn't about a problem that was resolved 3 years ago. Also, watch out for the one they call Gafftaper, he likes to eat small Australian animals that have been cooked over an open fire.

Sounds like most high schools - lousy lights, old board, waiting for the fire hazard to get bad enough that it necessitates replacement. I'm always suprised by how many high schools' lighting systems are out of code. The patch panel in my old high school went out of code a few years after it was installed in the early 70s, and it's still in use today.

[gafftaper]

Welcome to the Booth Z. It sounds like you'll fit right in with a lot of the other high school techs around here. I suggest you start your mission here by giving us some more details about your gear and how you typically use it. It may be that there are ways you can improve your system by just learning to use the equipment better. Don't know exactly what your gear is? No problem, take a picture of it and we'll tell you. There are lots of experts around here who know all the old gear. So post some more about the theater, the equipment, and any questions you may have about how to use it best.

I don't LIKE to eat slow roasted cute fuzzy things... I PREFER to eat slow roasted cute fuzzy things. There is a difference.

[derekleffew]

Welcome, zwolf59661. Let us know specific problems with your lights and we'll help you solve them. Better than waiting for them to be replaced, which you won't see until after graduation. The Scenemaster 60 is not a bad board, it's just a little quirky. Do you have Dimension192 or ENR dimmers?

Originally Posted by soundlight

...The patch panel in my old high school went out of code a few years after it was installed in the early 70s, and it's still in use today.

How does a patch panel go "out of code"? Yes, the code can change, but existing systems are normally grandfathered in, until a renovation. Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!

[Chris15]

Welcome to the Chaos...

Originally Posted by derekleffew

Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!

Sounds like a wee bit of an oopsies on someone's behalf... Has any electrical code EVER permitted Male Line connectors?

And I suppose now you'll expect that this name of Z be pronounced zee won't you? The right way is zed...

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by Chris15

...Has any electrical code EVER permitted Male Line connectors?...

No! Unless you count reverse Ground and Neutral E1016 Camloks, and even that's a stretch.

Originally Posted by Chris15

...And I suppose now you'll expect that this name of Z be pronounced zee won't you? The right way is zed...

The first R-rated movie I remember seeing was X, Y, and Zee, starring Elizabeth Taylor! Even at 11, I knew it was bad.

[Chris15]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

No! Unless you count reverse Ground and Neutral E1016 Camloks, and even that's a stretch.

The first R-rated movie I remember seeing was X, Y, and Zee, starring Elizabeth Taylor! Even at 11, I knew it was bad.

Well my gut reaction is still that even neutral and Earth should be female, but since they SHOULD not be at anything other than zero volts, I guess it won't be the end of the world.

Geez, did we have to take an express trip to the gutter. Not all of us are from Vegas

[Logos]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

The first R-rated movie I remember seeing was X, Y, and Zee, starring Elizabeth Taylor! Even at 11, I knew it was bad.

"Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a s**t." (Michael Caine)

It wasn't porn Chris. In those days you only really had to swear to get an R rating.

[Chris15]

Actually bothering to have a look at the details, in 1972, The themes of bisexuality and lesbianism were probably all it needed to be classified R. But remember also that them yanks have different classification to us, but I'm presuming an R classification is similar.

Now that movie came out in 1972. So presuming Derek saw it when it first came out, that would make for an age of either 46 or 47... well lookee here, that matches with his profile so I guess my maths still works and Derek's memory does too!

[soundlight]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

How does a patch panel go "out of code"? Yes, the code can change, but existing systems are normally grandfathered in, until a renovation. Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!

I don't want to hijack Z's thread, but quick reply: it was renovated. The company that renovated it didn't realize it was out of code so they decided to keep it, and put rackmount dimmers in the old Century dimmer enclosure!

(Watch out, Z, we're pretty crazy with hijacks around here)