Comms Blazer

Eboy87

Well-Known Member
I'm looking for one of these, anyone know where to find one that doesn't cost an arm, a leg, and a first born child? DIY is perfectly acceptable too. System is Clear-Com, people are getting pissed that I'm not on comms while mixing, and can't see the call light.

Yahoo just gave me a whole bunch of Chevy and telecom hits.
 
I'll assume $150 is an arm and a leg (but not the kid) and post anyways:

Production Intercom Blaon/4 is the cheapest one that I've found. All of the pro audio companies that I have actually done shows with use the Blazon/4 units (with gaff tape around half of it so that only the engineer can see the flash) and handsets.
 
Check out the Com-Bit. It's an LED call light built into a right-angle XLR connector. Easy to mount wherever you need it, I tape it to my meter bridge. $25, and Paul offers, school and union discounts. Tell him I sent ya!
Here's mine on my last steady mixing gig, you can just barely make it out (since it's not lit) above the rings in the script binder on my script tray:

http://ducksecho.com/misc/celia_combit.jpg

--A
 
Thanks for that link Andy, I may have to pick one up. Looks like it gets its own XLR com run, not a pass-through, correct? Either way it's perfect since I mainly need it for theatrical work.
 
With our beltpacks? Yes, since we have a loop through.
 
There neat, but not $90 neat. I'm sure there's info on the pinout of the cable in the intercom system. I bet a little research, a spare connector, a $.05 resistor, a $5 LED, and a few solders would go a long way.

Indeed. Call signal is just 30V DC superimposed on the audio line (pin 3), so I'll save you that part of the research :)

(This is why a pin 2-3 short causes intermittent phantom call signals, since it's shorting the 24-30 VDC supply from pin 2 onto the audio line, which looks just like a call signal to the stations on the line.)

But if you are going to go prebuilt, I still like the Com-bit better, I think the right-angle connector's a bit easier to mount, and at less than 1/3 the price, well, the math is pretty easy.

--Andy
 
Indeed. Call signal is just 30V DC superimposed on the audio line (pin 3), so I'll save you that part of the research :)
(This is why a pin 2-3 short causes intermittent phantom call signals, since it's shorting the 24-30 VDC supply from pin 2 onto the audio line, which looks just like a call signal to the stations on the line.)
But if you are going to go prebuilt, I still like the Com-bit better, I think the right-angle connector's a bit easier to mount, and at less than 1/3 the price, well, the math is pretty easy.
--Andy

So basicly go from pin three through an appropriate resistor (found easily at http://www.ledcalc.com to an LED of your choosing. Then to tie it all together, I assume pin 1 for a ground???? If so the most expensive part is the XLR connector (or maybe the LED if you want a really big one) and like 30 minutes of time. Easy enough project
 

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