I'm with you 100% about not depending on tape for mounting your Telrad or other positioning device. It will fail. Magnets will also eventually let you down because the device will get bumped and the magnets will allow movement. Ratchet straps can be quite useful, but ultimately it's nicest to install something permanant. At the opera house where I used to work, we installed aluminum wings atop the booth Super Troopers (if you pull off the chrome trim rail on top it leaves holes that you can bolt through without having to drill anything) and on the Robert Juliat spots in the ceiling cove we installed angle iron rails with some trick little custom aluminum plates that clamp onto the angle iron and give you a solidly bolted, yet completely adjustable, Telrad mount. Because the angle iron runs the length of the spotlight, you can also position your Telrad anywhere along it, and it also gave us a convenient place to clamp weights near the front that, because of the steepness of our downshot, adjusted the balance point correctly. Fixed weights work a lot better than swinging weights from a steadiness perspective. In many opera and ballets we ran the follow spots at relatively low intensity levels, and also with frost, which made it nearly impossible to see your beam. I found that the Telrads middle circle was exactly the right size to frame my human target in a full body shot, and by keeping them inside that circle, I was assured that my light always had them covered. Pete...are you still with Robert Juliat? I've retired from SF Opera and Ballet since you and I worked together.
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