# Just call me Z



## zwolf59661 (Jan 27, 2008)

I started my freshman year in high school doing spotlight for the drama club, and now I'm a junior and one of only two people in the school who know how to operate the stage lights. And the lights in my school are so old they don't work the way they're supposed to. We figure the easiest way to get them fixed is to wait until the become a fire hazard. The current system is a Lee Colortran SceneMaster something, and it desperately needs to be upgraded.

Anyway, I also work at a local performing arts center as an "audio/lighting technician." I'm not sure what systems are in use there.


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## soundlight (Jan 27, 2008)

Welcome aboard! The standard notes on the booth: ask and answer away, use the search tool before asking a new question, don't necropost unless you have a specific question about the old post or have something different to add and make sure that the old post isn't about a problem that was resolved 3 years ago. Also, watch out for the one they call Gafftaper, he likes to eat small Australian animals that have been cooked over an open fire.

Sounds like most high schools - lousy lights, old board, waiting for the fire hazard to get bad enough that it necessitates replacement. I'm always suprised by how many high schools' lighting systems are out of code. The patch panel in my old high school went out of code a few years after it was installed in the early 70s, and it's still in use today.


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## gafftaper (Jan 27, 2008)

Welcome to the Booth Z. It sounds like you'll fit right in with a lot of the other high school techs around here. I suggest you start your mission here by giving us some more details about your gear and how you typically use it. It may be that there are ways you can improve your system by just learning to use the equipment better. Don't know exactly what your gear is? No problem, take a picture of it and we'll tell you. There are lots of experts around here who know all the old gear. So post some more about the theater, the equipment, and any questions you may have about how to use it best. 

I don't LIKE to eat slow roasted cute fuzzy things... I PREFER to eat slow roasted cute fuzzy things. There is a difference.


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## derekleffew (Jan 27, 2008)

Welcome, zwolf59661. Let us know specific problems with your lights and we'll help you solve them. Better than waiting for them to be replaced, which you won't see until after graduation. The Scenemaster 60 is not a bad board, it's just a little quirky. Do you have Dimension192 or ENR dimmers?


soundlight said:


> ...The patch panel in my old high school went out of code a few years after it was installed in the early 70s, and it's still in use today.


How does a patch panel go "out of code"? Yes, the code can change, but existing systems are normally grandfathered in, until a renovation. Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!


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## Chris15 (Jan 27, 2008)

Welcome to the Chaos...


derekleffew said:


> Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!



Sounds like a wee bit of an oopsies on someone's behalf... Has any electrical code EVER permitted Male Line connectors?

And I suppose now you'll expect that this name of Z be pronounced zee won't you? The right way is zed...


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## derekleffew (Jan 27, 2008)

Chris15 said:


> ...Has any electrical code EVER permitted Male Line connectors?...


No! Unless you count reverse Ground and Neutral E1016 Camloks, and even that's a stretch.


Chris15 said:


> ...And I suppose now you'll expect that this name of Z be pronounced zee won't you? The right way is zed...


The first R-rated movie I remember seeing was _X, Y, and Zee_, starring Elizabeth Taylor! Even at 11, I knew it was bad.


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## Chris15 (Jan 27, 2008)

derekleffew said:


> No! Unless you count reverse Ground and Neutral E1016 Camloks, and even that's a stretch.
> 
> The first R-rated movie I remember seeing was _X, Y, and Zee_, starring Elizabeth Taylor! Even at 11, I knew it was bad.



Well my gut reaction is still that even neutral and Earth should be female, but since they SHOULD not be at anything other than zero volts, I guess it won't be the end of the world.

Geez, did we have to take an express trip to the gutter. Not all of us are from Vegas


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## Logos (Jan 27, 2008)

derekleffew said:


> The first R-rated movie I remember seeing was _X, Y, and Zee_, starring Elizabeth Taylor! Even at 11, I knew it was bad.




"Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a s**t." (Michael Caine)

It wasn't porn Chris. In those days you only really had to swear to get an R rating.


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## Chris15 (Jan 27, 2008)

Actually bothering to have a look at the details, in 1972, The themes of bisexuality and lesbianism were probably all it needed to be classified R. But remember also that them yanks have different classification to us, but I'm presuming an R classification is similar.

Now that movie came out in 1972. So presuming Derek saw it when it first came out, that would make for an age of either 46 or 47... well lookee here, that matches with his profile so I guess my maths still works and Derek's memory does too!


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## soundlight (Jan 27, 2008)

derekleffew said:


> How does a patch panel go "out of code"? Yes, the code can change, but existing systems are normally grandfathered in, until a renovation. Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!



I don't want to hijack Z's thread, but quick reply: it _was_ renovated. The company that renovated it didn't realize it was out of code so they decided to keep it, and put rackmount dimmers in the old Century dimmer enclosure!

(Watch out, Z, we're pretty crazy with hijacks around here)


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## gafftaper (Jan 28, 2008)

derekleffew said:


> Few things could be worse than my high school, where you could have an ungrounded, live, MALE pin connector!



My college theater had a slider style patch panel. The power came into it via a set of MALE legs which could be easily unplugged... I don't think they even had a twist lock on them. FURTHERMORE. The patch panel was located just behind the proscenium on the stage right wall. There was literally less than 3 feet between the legs and the wall. If you exited stage right fast you ran into a brick wall... exit to fast you got electrocuted by the patch panel. The T.D. always posted an ASM there to guard the panel. He did his best to e-tape and gafftape the legs to the panel but there was little that could be done. 

I believe it's still there.


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## Van (Jan 28, 2008)

Welcome Aboard Zee < I refuse to use Zed, unless of couse you'd rather be called Zed, in which case I will, but wont like it.> 
We're really not a bad group of folks, we're just drawn that way. Ask want you want, answer what you can.


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## Hughesie (Jan 28, 2008)

Ok here i go, maybe the worst alphabet joke around

From an A to a Z i would just like to welcome you to controlbooth like the others said "ask and learn, and then educate others"

oh and along the way hijack a couple of posts for good measure


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## dvlasak (Jan 28, 2008)

Welcome to Control Booth. Really, make sure to ask and answer questions. There are lots of high schoolers and professionals here - even professionals who work with high schoolers!

Dennis


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## Hughesie (Jan 28, 2008)

even pro's that act like high schoolers


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## avkid (Jan 29, 2008)

Hughesie89 said:


> even pro's that act like high schoolers


You started it!!!


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## Logos (Jan 29, 2008)

avkid said:


> You started it!!!



He is a highschooler, how else is he going to act.


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## TechiesDoItInTheDark (Jan 29, 2008)

i'm glad to see that you're here and happy to be here. the more the merrier!


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## zwolf59661 (Feb 3, 2008)

The board's a Lee Colortran SceneMaster 60 (I'm pretty sure), but we only use about 30 out of 60 channels, and they're scattered across the first 40 channels.

Mainly, we use its full capabilities for the drama club, when we need different scenes to change lights. Other than that, it's used to turn the stage lights on and off for band/chorus concerts, various dance studios that use our audtiorium for recitals, and community concerts in our auditorium. Most recently, I used it for a Battle of the Bands concert. It was going pretty good, until I blew a fuse and everything stopped working. I'm not sure if it was fixed yet.


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