Pulley system for microphones

I work in a space that has all kinds of events and we are trying to create a pulley system for overhead microphones that can be easily raised up into the teasers when we show a movie or lowered into the space for performances. I put it all up and it worked for one weekend of performances- although I had to tie some fishing line weights to the mics to keep them lowered into place because the cable line was so heavy it kept pulling up. The next weekend we had a movie so I pulled them up and... of course now they won't come down again. I could really use some suggestions for getting this to work! Thanks for any advice!
 
Isn't much strategy or trick beside the mic end has to weigh more than the cable.

If you don't want it to look weighted you can leave a loop at the end of a mic and hook it down each time.
 
Isn't much strategy or trick beside the mic end has to weigh more than the cable.

If you don't want it to look weighted you can leave a loop at the end of a mic and hook it down each time.
Of course your added weight can be anywhere on the mic's side of the pulley, it doesn't have to be close to the mic.
Using a very supple cable, something that resists acquiring a set from spending time bent around a pulley, can help as well as adding additional rollers to support the cables on horizontal runs. Gotham Audio manufactures some especially supple cables but their pricing can make Belden look like a bargain brand. I own 500' of one of Gotham's supple cables. 500' was the minimum put-up they would sell me at the time but this was back in 1977 or 8.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
 
Not sure about the caliber of system you're going for but Servoreeler makes a great series of products for this if you need something hands-off and motorized that doesn't require a hand-line down to user level. They work very well but of course come at a price.
 
Their products are unique, but Servoreeler must be a genius of a company. Their website is "under construction." Is it 1995 again?
 
Their products are unique, but Servoreeler must be a genius of a company. Their website is "under construction." Is it 1995 again?

Nah, you'd need this guy for it to be 95- 687474703a2f2f7374617469632e646967672e636f6d2f7374617469632f696d616765732f6469676765722e676966.gif That's some futura-kinda font on a solid background, minimalist web 3.0 stuff.

I normally have some condensers permanently mounted on one of our light bridges for backstage audio feeds and the odd recording, but we just lower our mic cables from one of the bridges. A piece of tie line from the other bridge allows us to change the angle/height of the mics and then gives us the ability to pull it out of line of sight from our projector. I'm having trouble visualizing your setup though, our mic cables are a relatively straight drop so they hang on their own weight.
 
Their products are unique, but Servoreeler must be a genius of a company. Their website is "under construction." Is it 1995 again?

I gave them some grief about this on the show floor at InfoComm last week. They told me they've moved up from the 90's in to the 2000's and have a new site up.
 

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