Wondering if I should stay out of this post or not.
FAA with lights in general. You know I also own this 3,000w
incandescent Kliegl Dynabeam Follow Spot that I when I was TD of some small store front theater, I was just dying to install it on the roof. We checked into doing this and you needed a special permit for doing such because it than became classified as a search light in disrupting the air space - especially if near an airport.
FCC with moving lights - plus the above with the FAA. Moving lights introduce some
phase harmonics problems that will at times disrupt a TV or radio signal on a
system that's one neighbor to another off the same
transformer. Your neighbors might complain at the
point they can't watch Queer Eye for the Straight guy, because your moving light is cycling
thru gobos. This would include a
stage grade
dimmer in doing so.
Had some idiots from the shop
throw a party. We get to occasionally take home our equipment. They placed them on an apartment balcony. Later they got a visit by the police not because other neighbors had a problem but because the FAA reported a wee
bit of a strobing action or something on the
ground in their route.
The lights I have in my apartment are
stage lights in addition to the various
track lights and other fixtures. For the next few months before I buy my first
house, I have free standing
boom and drape surrounding my living room walls. Hung from it are some Lekos on side arms so as to project a folliage
pattern to the ceiling in addition to red rope light as a opposing color that lights the rear of the pole and drape in creating an artistic
cove effect at the edges of the ceiling.
These fixtures - in this case
Altman 3.5Q5 fixtures are lamped with HX-401 or in other words, 400w lamps that are pre-set at about 30% on the
dimmer. You really can put your hands on the
lamp cap, much less the duvytine
drapes are flame treated as of only a few years ago that they are nearest. Such lights hang about three or four feet from the ceiling in projecting up at it.
The 8-channel
dimmer pack itself that I'm using will disrupt the
phase harmonics of the building some however. It's yet given the loading of a few fixtures of various type to have an
effect sufficient to notice. I did study and place it's circuiting well for where to
power it up from.
Such a
system is approved by the building management given it's controlled and very much self contained - I asked before doing so. The fixtures yes, they are not listed for insurance reasons due to the heat and other factors above. Thing is that I own and as some form of expert have the liability for what I have installed.
Going back to an earlier post, I in the bedroom also have those 75w black light blue lamps in some
Altman 10" scoops. As said, they don't do much. The
effect desired was to
pick up some of the 19 layers of paint and
glaze on the bedroom furnature
in showing it for a different color as opposed to the colors that pop in the morning verses those at night.
This beyond the two 4x12 soft flats with a cloud like
pattern to them hung from the ceiling. Below the clouds is navy blue
scrim draped down from it, and Christmas net lights above it and on a household
dimmer so at night I get a starry sky from the lights shining
thru effect as opposed to the cloudy sky
image from the ceiling. Such net lamps are at about 20% in just bairly showing
thru the rear of the fabric. I have been raised on similar effects and in my home, this is the design I wanted.
For my kitchen area, I have a
Unistrut grid hung 6" below the ceiling and also self suppored by the free standing
book shelves. The
grid helps to support the shelves. On it are some 3" Fresnels and various
track light fixtures in having been converted to hang from the strut and transformered and dimmed elsewhere. Looks kind of strange but lights the specific working areas wall and is a statement of me having too much free time and too many lights for my own good.
Finally the pinspots. They are on the living room pole and drape and hung above the front door on a 3'
C-Clamp mounted
Unistrut track that has electrical boxes attached to it also. They focus on an owl mask that covers the eyelet centered on the door. Makes the mask by way of lighting at about 10% have a sort of low glow to it. This in balancing the opposing side of the room with the TV, much less it's center with a Shakespeare lithograph that's also lit by way of in this case MR-16 and
Fresnel with barn doors.
Important intent thus is this is designed for
effect not just having them as there are many more fixtures in a basement storage closet. Second they are certified by me as a ME for a major lighting production company to be safe to install here given supervison - imagine who that is. Third is I am sufficiently trained that in knowing the liability of using such things. Such fixtures installed are within the spirit of the code and normal way they would be installed in a studio theater - even if not listed for the location I'm using them for.
In other words, it's not hey cool, I have this stuff, I'm going to use it. It's not also some intent to be cool, it's just what I decided in making my own little world livable that I designed and certified was the best for this space. When I move in a few months, I have no idea of what design I will place on the new space. I miss the 12x12 painted
drop that I had hung in my last apartment and will have to do another one. Given a large living room and bedroom where I currently live, that's just what I designed for here given I could not paint it much or perminantly install much. Much less I hate crap furnature but can't really afford good antiques thus short of a scene shop any longer, I can't yet make much of my own. In the bedroom for furnature I have a
catwalk/shelving/storage/work table
system running around half the room in a serious way meaning little ramps and platforms at ceiling
level wide enough for a cat to have an adventure land. All also free standing so as not to piss off the owners of the building. Plus there is steam heat
base board heaters all over the apartment so wall space short of legged units is at a premium.
Tours of my apartment? I don't even let most people from work see it much less anyone else. This is my private space, beyond any associations on
line that are to be left on
line in not being very interested in making them in person. Spoke at some
point to Inkie, Dave and Mayhem on the phone now at some
point. In just talking to people with far different accents to my own it was strange enough. No, only place to meet people is at a bar.