ETC Express Console Cover

[Foxinabox10]

Has anyone heard of and ETC Express 24/48 dust cover? If so, where?

 

[moojoe]

why not just get a piece of fabric? works just as well, and doesnt cost any money.

 

[Foxinabox10]

I really need something fitted to the board so that I can make sure it always goes on when people are done. Plus, the booth is open for everyone to see, so I want it to look good.

 

[moojoe]

then talk to the costumes department about getting something made, that would be a great thing for people to make when theyre learning how to sew.
many people buy things when you can just make them. theatre equipment is expensive, i wouldnt be suprised if a dust cover costs $40. you could make the same thing for less then $5. theatres are essentialy small cities in what they can do. if you have a good shop, if you have a good costumes department, you can make just about everything. talk to your costumes people first, save some money for your theatre, all theatres need as much money as they can get.

 

[Foxinabox10]

I'm putting together a full list of things that the theater needs to give to the new principal to see what he will do. We also don't really have a costumes department.

 

[avkid]

Find someone who can sew (ex. a home economics teacher) take detailed measurements, make scaled specific drawings and pick the fabric(something durable)

 

[Foxinabox10]

What fabric would you suggest? Nylon?

 

[avkid]

Yes, a fairly thick piece of black(of course) nylon

 

[cutlunch]

Yes, a fairly thick piece of black(of course) nylon

I am sorry to disagree with you avkid but I would stay away from nylon completley.

The reason for this is that static electricity is easily built up on nylon. Static electricity is the enemy of electronics. Just pulling the cloth off the board could build up a charge. It might be fine but it is not something I would like to risk.

A natural fabric like cotton would be better in my opinon.

 

[Foxinabox10]

Cotton isn't rigid enough though. And, cotten absorbs liquid much more readily than nylon does and that could spell disaster for the board. If the cover has flaps on the sides and front, it would force you to lift the cover off and the static electricity issue would not be a problem.

 

[chslighttech]

Don't they make a antistatic spray for clothes. Like Staticguard or something like that. But I think a spray would wear off after awhile. Its worth a try

 

[soundman1024]

Our church has a cover for their Express 24/48 and it fits very tight. I like it that way. It has cotton on the bottom with black, probably immitation, leather on the top. Good cover though. I can't tell you where to buy it.

 

[cutlunch]

You can get thicker natural cloths but good point about liquids. Although you can easily scotchguard a cloth.

 

[Peter]

Our ETC Express 48/96 came with a cover that is a pletherish material on the outside and a cottonish material on the inside. I would go as far as saying that it is semi-repelent although it wouldnt protect from more then a few drops. It works well and is custom fitted to secure well. (the edges are all bent down to securely wrap the board, except the top middle (where the board gets taller for the plugs on back and the floppy drive) where it just runs along infront of that edge.

 

[Josh]

If you were to buy an ETC Express console new it would ship with a dust cover. As said in the previous post, it's a pleatherish material with an itchy thin "cotton-like" layer on the inside. I'm sure that you can buy one aftermarket through an ETC dealer. If you're interested in more details, PM me and I'll see if I can dig up the part number for you. It's probably pretty cheap.

Josh

 

[Foxinabox10]

We haven't bought the board yet, so if it's included, that's even better. Thanks Josh.

 

[Josh]

I actually went to Upper Dublin high school not all too long ago - back then Methacton was in the same sports league as us. (not sure if they still are)

Not that you need to hear it from me, but the Express console is absolutely wonderful and there should be no worries about purchasing it.

Make sure you get some littlites for the console though. I tend to get the 18 inch high intensity ones, so I can spin one of them off to the side to get some light on my notes or script. There is a dimmer on the back of the console for the littlites, and littlite even sells red and blue filter sets - you can always dim the high-intensity lights, but you can't get more light out of the standard models

Are you purchasing new or used?

Josh

 

[Foxinabox10]

Right now I'm working on a list to revamp the technology in the auditorium, as it has been neglected over the past 5 - 10 years. We just got a new principal and so I'm going to present the list to him. I've been working on the list for a couple months now, so I've included all the little things easily forgotten like the LittLites. We would be buying it new and the total cost of everything, new sound board, new light board, 28 wireless mics, more lights, a new booth, and more is $35k. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[cutlunch]

Right now I'm working on a list to revamp the technology in the auditorium, as it has been neglected over the past 5 - 10 years. We just got a new principal and so I'm going to present the list to him. I've been working on the list for a couple months now, so I've included all the little things easily forgotten like the LittLites. We would be buying it new and the total cost of everything, new sound board, new light board, 28 wireless mics, more lights, a new booth, and more is $35k. We'll see how it turns out.

Hi
Just a thought. Do you use 28 wireless mikes a lot through the year or is it for one show only? I mention this because the upkeep on wireless mikes is probably more costly then any other PA gear you will have. I am thinking particulary of how easy the mike capsules and leads can be damaged. I agree have a base set of Radio Mikes but I would probably look at hiring in extras as needed unless all 28 will be used at least once a month or you can hire them out.

You could still put them in your budget to the principal but this is an area where, when they say it is to much to spend, that you can say ok I'll cut back on radio mikes if you remember to allow for hire in the show budgets.

For the price of every radio mike it would equate to about two new lights.

I would be interested in finding out from other members what is the most number of radio mikes their schools own. Also what is the maximun number of radio mikes ever used in one show?

Foxinabox I am not saying your idea is not a good one, it is great you put so much thought into improving the systems at school. I am just playing devils advocate as I am sure when the principal sees 28 Radio mikes they will make you justify that many.

I hope you are successful and get all the gear you need.

 

[Josh]

Very good. If you have older dimmers or older power distribution, then I would suggest that you purchase an inline isolator for your DMX line (such as Doug Fleenor's model: DMXOPTO). If you have really old dimmers and are buying a protocol convertor, than it should have an isolator built in.

I say this because I recently installed an Express console in an auditourium with dimmers that were about 20 years old and power distribution that was 40 years old. (School - no money - same old story). Well, a pigtail had dry rot, the conductors crossed and tripped the dimmer. A young techie, at the request of the LD, flipped the dimmer back on which proceeded to buzz and spark... then somehow sent 120V down the ground of the data cable!! It completely fried the Fleenor protcol convertor AND the brand-new express console.

Fleenor was absolutely amazing. We overnighted them the convertor, they got it the next day, fixed it immediately, and shipped it right back overnight. Amazing and very knowledgable guys and girls.

Josh