Another opening - almost
- Thread starterBillConnerFASTC
- Start date
So does the GC have to take it in the shorts for the "upgrade" to the original seating spec? If so, I would put 24 hour guard eyes on the remaining work as I see a few short cuts on the horizon to lessen the financial blow to the GC.
@tjrobb The venue was 14 stories, three below grade plus 11 above. There was one general contractor but two electrical, two mechanical, two fitters and two of several other trades. Trade-wise, one set of contractors was contracted first to build the three levels below grade plus four levels above. My boss won the AV subcontract for the entire project which wasn't awarded until all of the basements were poured and they were prepping to pour the fourth or fifth story above grade. The first day on the site I discovered all of the line level conduits had been omitted. Per our contract we were ONLY permitted to speak with the General Contractor and expressly forbidden from discussing or questioning the architects, consulting PEngs and / or contractors. I eventually learned one of the Electrical PEng's was certain he'd caught a needless duplication when he noticed all of the microphone level lines AND all of the line level lines were to be pulled with Belden 8451 or equivalent. As there were connector bulkheads all over the entire building with most bulkheads having both microphone and line level connectors, the PEng was certain there was appreciable money to be saved by eliminating all of the line level conduits. Fortunately we were able to speak with the GC in time to have the line level conduits included in the slabs which had yet to be poured but the nine 44RU racks forming the central patching and amplifier room were in the second basement level thus we were in a real bind for getting all of the line-level lines down to the basement. Fortunately all of the conduits for fibre were included and in many cases we were able to add our line-level lines within the fibre conduits by using good wire lube and crowding the conduits a little. It was quite the task to get the GC to believe us since they had at least four architects, two sets of big-time contractors and two sets of PEng's on the job who'd been on site for about a year then we showed up, the unknown newb's on their site, and we're trying to tell them we've caught a major oversight on our first day on their project.
Yeah, the electrical contractor's foreman for the orchestra level slab seriously told me there were no conduits required for the floor boxes as the symbol shown on his drawings clearly spelled them out as boxes for wireless devices. And here I was, the new'b on the site for my first day and thinking I'd caught an error. I called my boss, explained the situation, and left it in his capable hands, he's much better at dealing with such bureaucracy than I am.
@tjrobb Let me tell you one more tale from this same project as I'm sure you'll understand.
Back stage at deck level there were four identical 40RU racks DSL and four more DSR. Three racks on each side were being supplied, and installed by one of the electrical contractors while the fourth rack on each side was being provided, installed and wired by our company and a separate IBEW crew on our payroll. The electrical PEng specified all of his racks were to be bonded to the substation grounding bus with something like bare 2/0 copper. The electro-acoustic PEng wanted his rack, the fourth identical rack on each side, mechanically bolted hard up against the other three racks to guarantee its exterior frame would be at the same ground potential. Our Electro-acoustic PEng knew he was having us install insulated copper bus bars on isolated stand-offs within our two racks with yellow and green jacketed 2/0 copper housed in its own dedicated conduit directly down to the sub-station's ground buss at the same point as all of our A/V iso-grounds were being grounded.
All of our systems were being powered via three 600 volt Delta > 120/208 Y transformers powering six 41 breaker Lyntec panels at three different elevations throughout the venue, two in the second basement central rack room, two in the enclosed booth at the rear of the orchestra level and two more five stories above the stage powering all of the Meyer powered cabinets covering the four balcony seating levels.
The rub was the electrical PEng was sure he knew better and was SURE the electro-acoustic PEng had erred thus the Electrical PEng INSISTED we had to provide a minimum 1/4" insulating barrier the full height and depth between our racks and his racks AND bolt the third and fourth racks on each side of the stage together with 5/16"-18 nylon hardware. No matter how we tried, we could NOT get the two PEng's to speak with one another and so it came to be; my boss had to foot the bill to have two insulating spacers fabricated in a CNC shop so they could be slid between two racks then bolted together with nylon hardware THEN, once the electrical PEng had his electrical contractor meter the two racks in his presence and prove they were electrically isolated, we installed our iso-ground and shook our heads. Some days are like that. To my knowledge, the racks are still in place in the heart of downtown Toronto. @FMEng You may appreciate the humor. Our Electro-acousti PEng's logic is / was if he tried to maintain his rack as an iso-grounded rack at stage level immediately adjacent to the normally grounded racks someone would eventually lean something electrically conductive across the racks and potentially all manner of hums and noises would ensue. All of the items mounted on the front rails of our two A/V racks were capable of being bolted to the normally grounded racks with their internal circuitry capable of being grounded via an insulated terminal on their rear bonded with a yellow and green insulated 10 gauge copper conductor to our full height isolated copper ground bars.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
I think they cover the additional cost and get out of liquidated damages for the delay. My guess is the replacement contractor and manufacturer they went to gave a little for future considerations on other work, and nothing wrong there. The CM has been very open in finding a replacement and included the owner, architect, and myself in the decision. Is it my first choice? No. But its a mainstream generally well regarded manufacturer and the seating contractor seems to be a thoughtful and conscientious family business.
Jay Ashworth
Well-Known Member
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
On feeding booms, I try to find a gallery or catwalk or some simple means of feeding from overhead. A drop box or soca pex drop was never light or easy from 50-80', but in an LED world its one 20 amp circuit and perhaps a dmx line, so pretty easy. I'd sure look hard at wireless dmx for booms - depending on the mission critical nature of the venue.
I just detest floor irregularities like plug boxes. And have opened too many to see then full of dirt (glitter and confetti as well) or some filled with water. And many are not working or have been abandoned in place - so why pay to have them installed?
If you do a lot of dance, or regularly, I might try to make it work - but still prefer drops.
I just detest floor irregularities like plug boxes. And have opened too many to see then full of dirt (glitter and confetti as well) or some filled with water. And many are not working or have been abandoned in place - so why pay to have them installed?
If you do a lot of dance, or regularly, I might try to make it work - but still prefer drops.
cfreeman91
Member
@Jay Ashworth Would detaching the covers and reversing the boxes and / or their receptacle mounting plates be an insurmountable task???
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
I had had courses in it - I think the only ones at that time - at Yale - taught by george Izenour. I graduated and was teaching at Bates College and Bill Warfel called and asked if I wanted to come to work for his consulting business. I said sure and started June 1, 1982. I would say at that time there were 50-75 theatre consultants in the US. Today, I think 200 or so.
I think a lot of folks fell into the business. It's really just like doing shows - only takes longer and "the set" is a lot more permanent, or expected to be.
Go to https://theatreconsultants.org/, go to member roster, and contact some about openings. Passion for the theatre, good grasp of entertainment technology, good writing skills, CAD (I think mosty AutoCAD but l I bet Revit proficiency would get you a lot of offers), good people skills, and willingness to travel.
Jay Ashworth
Well-Known Member
Probably not, but nothing's caught fire yet, so...
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
Update after final site visit. A couple of general photos:
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
One of two disappointements - the plates and stretchers on these chairs in wheelchair spaces not being painted a color that works better with chair and flooring. The entire first row is removable and its on concrete painted black - so look worse than these on carpet.
The other disappointment was I had all the lighting panels - relays and circuit breaker panels and such on the stage right mezzanine - nice and out of the way. The electrical engineer missed it and they all ended upon the stage right wall at stage level. No fixing that.
The other disappointment was I had all the lighting panels - relays and circuit breaker panels and such on the stage right mezzanine - nice and out of the way. The electrical engineer missed it and they all ended upon the stage right wall at stage level. No fixing that.
Jay Ashworth
Well-Known Member
Nice space like that and it's deadhung?
Are those yellow side valances architectural or color-change?
Are those yellow side valances architectural or color-change?
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
Jay Ashworth
Well-Known Member
[ looks at early pix on other page ]
Ah, right. Got it.
Ah, right. Got it.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
All good ideas - at least mine - seem to be a result of accidents. I was working on a new - already built - stage that was way too narrow - and it seemed taking tracks to walls to store curtains made sense. And I swagged it - the nylon webbing, snap hook, and eye-anchor in photos - to wall. Seeing them trussed up just cried for bags. I called for these but the final design credit goes to Beck Scenic Studios - great folks. These work better than the ones I did last time. I'm always relieved and happy when they are low bidder on my projects.