Finding Needed Cable Lengths

[Hunter.tech]

I'm working on a show for a school and the school has little to no cable stock. I'm renting a lot of lights for the show so I'll need to also rent the cable to go along with it. I was wondering if anybody had any tips or tricks as to figuring out how much cable I need other than literally taking a tape measure to where I want to hang the lights.

 

[soundman]

Are you renting dimmers as well? Jumping circuits between positions? Pulling floor pocket circuits to FOH that needs a round about path?

If you are working from an accurate drawing that includes a circuit map it should be pretty easy to figure out in CAD. It might be helpful to use a user field in the symbol to denote what length cable that light gets, then you can tally those counts up, pad them a little and then turn that into your shop order.

Also with in reason the cable should be included in the fixture rental. If the shop is changing the price on you between 10 @ 25' and 15 @ 25' it might be time to look for a new shop. It will always be cheaper to pad your counts then get the shop to delivery you more cable on a Saturday because a few lights had to move.

 

[icewolf08]

I'm working on a show for a school and the school has little to no cable stock. I'm renting a lot of lights for the show so I'll need to also rent the cable to go along with it. I was wondering if anybody had any tips or tricks as to figuring out how much cable I need other than literally taking a tape measure to where I want to hang the lights.

Unless you happen to know the distance from each fixture to the circuit you want to connect it to in your head, you will either have to break out the tape measure in the space or the scale rule and your plot.

 

[Hunter.tech]

Are you renting dimmers as well? Jumping circuits between positions? Pulling floor pocket circuits to FOH that needs a round about path?

If you are working from an accurate drawing that includes a circuit map it should be pretty easy to figure out in CAD. It might be helpful to use a user field in the symbol to denote what length cable that light gets, then you can tally those counts up, pad them a little and then turn that into your shop order.

Also with in reason the cable should be included in the fixture rental. If the shop is changing the price on you between 10 @ 25' and 15 @ 25' it might be time to look for a new shop. It will always be cheaper to pad your counts then get the shop to delivery you more cable on a Saturday because a few lights had to move.

Thank you for your response. The issue is that there is no circuit map for the space (or any drawing for that matter) and I do not have the time nor the knowledge to create one myself. The cable is indeed included in the rental (within reason) I just need to know how much (and of what cable) to put in my order. I guess this means I'll be out there with my tape measure! Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[RonHebbard]

I'm working on a show for a school and the school has little to no cable stock. I'm renting a lot of lights for the show so I'll need to also rent the cable to go along with it. I was wondering if anybody had any tips or tricks as to figuring out how much cable I need other than literally taking a tape measure to where I want to hang the lights.

@Hunter.tech A point and shoot laser distance measurer can be your friend. My boss purchased Hilti's first model, I bought their second model and NEVER regretted it. When they first hit the market they were quite expensive. Black & Decker began mass producing them and purchase prices plummeted. It's one of those 'buy once / cry once' items.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[JD]

You also need to figure out which lights are clustered. Any cluster of 6 circuits is better dealt with via a Soca run where as one's and two's end up with conventional 12/3