A Theatrical Challenge - slightly O/T

"Chas Gill" wrote in message
...
In this case I intend to use two TVs, their AV inputs driven by 2 separate
BNC cables of 50m from a cheapo (1 in 3 out) composite VDA (from CPC),
itself driven by the camcorder. Won't know until I get all the bits and
have a chance to lash it all together whether or not it will work - hence
my original question, which was to avoid as many banana skins as possible.
We shall see.......or not, as the case may be.

I recently used some of these very amps. The problem I had was they did not
present a 75ohm load to the signal source. This only mattered in the case of
two DTT receivers (old ones) which threw a wobbly and produced distorted
video. All other sources were unbothered.Two possible cures: connect scart2
of the DTT boxes to a load of some sort (b) put 150-ish ohm res across the
amp input. So if it seems to you that the amp don't work that might be why.

Bill

"Alan Pemberton" wrote in message
ve.co.uk.invalid...
Bill Wright wrote:

I recently used some of these very amps. The problem I had was they did
not
present a 75ohm load to the signal source. This only mattered in the case
of
two DTT receivers (old ones) which threw a wobbly and produced distorted
video.

I had that when I tried to plug a Pace ONdodgibox into an old Fergie
portable (CVBS), but I had no idea what was happening until I looked on
a 'scope. The Fergie had some very clever electronics that detected sync
pules on its [non-scart] video input and switched over from off-air
automagically. But it didn't terminate the video input properly... so
the Pace put out distorted sync pulses... so the Fergie didn't switch
over to AV...

I've also had a problem with a two-way scart DA I bought from CPC. With
one particular combination of boxes the RGB was distorted and pink. And
on another occasion when I tried feeding RGB through nmy Sky box, that
had a cyan cast.

You can't just plug consumer stuff together and expect it to work...

--
Alan Pemberton
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
To e-mail me directly, please visit
http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/index.html#Mail-me

Why not? (serious question!) Are there really no interface standards that
apply to consumer stuff?

"Chas Gill" wrote in message
...
Why not? (serious question!) Are there really no interface standards
that apply to consumer stuff?
Because the manufacturers don't give a ****.

Bill

Alan wrote:
In message , Bill Wright
wrote

"Chas Gill" wrote in message
...
I've been asked to help out our local theatre group, who want to be able
to see their musical director (who will be behind them on stage) waving
his stick, on a couple of flat screen monitors rigged in the audience
area. The monitors can't be more than 22 inch.

The source signal will be from a camcorder - which I guess will have
only
composite out to TV.

The theatre people tell me that we will need to cable the monitors
via BNC
cable (2 x 50m runs) and we will also need some sort of distribution amp
to take the camcorder output and split it, then drive it down the 50m
runs. Would anyone care to comment on this? Is it the right/cheapest
way
to go?

Also, we don't have the monitors, so we will have to buy or rent. As
renting appears to be very expensive we thought we might buy and then
sell
on after the show - so something with a decent re-sale value would be
nice. It occurred to me that a TV/PC monitor (if such a thing exists)
would be a better reseller, as it can be used for either purpose, as
long
as it has a composite in (or something else that we could drive from the
camcorder output). Is there such a thing and if so would anyone care to
recommend? Budget is restricted (amateur group) to around 175 GBPounds
tops.

What's wrong with a couple of mirrors at the edge of the stage or
getting the musical director to stand in front of the cast?

Surely the audience doesn't want the musical director blocking their
view. Also the mirror doesn't seem a good idea because the actors would
want to face the audience, the mirrors would get blocked when other
actors move in the way and you'd only see the musical director from
certain angles.

"Darren Wilkinson" [email protected] wrote in message
et...
Alan wrote:
In message , Bill Wright
wrote

"Chas Gill" wrote in message
...
I've been asked to help out our local theatre group, who want to be
able
to see their musical director (who will be behind them on stage) waving
his stick, on a couple of flat screen monitors rigged in the audience
area. The monitors can't be more than 22 inch.

The source signal will be from a camcorder - which I guess will have
only
composite out to TV.

The theatre people tell me that we will need to cable the monitors via
BNC
cable (2 x 50m runs) and we will also need some sort of distribution
amp
to take the camcorder output and split it, then drive it down the 50m
runs. Would anyone care to comment on this? Is it the right/cheapest
way
to go?

Also, we don't have the monitors, so we will have to buy or rent. As
renting appears to be very expensive we thought we might buy and then
sell
on after the show - so something with a decent re-sale value would be
nice. It occurred to me that a TV/PC monitor (if such a thing exists)
would be a better reseller, as it can be used for either purpose, as
long
as it has a composite in (or something else that we could drive from
the
camcorder output). Is there such a thing and if so would anyone care
to
recommend? Budget is restricted (amateur group) to around 175 GBPounds
tops.

What's wrong with a couple of mirrors at the edge of the stage or getting
the musical director to stand in front of the cast?

Surely the audience doesn't want the musical director blocking their view.
Also the mirror doesn't seem a good idea because the actors would want to
face the audience, the mirrors would get blocked when other actors move in
the way and you'd only see the musical director from certain angles.

Just by way of an update - I borrowed a couple of 21 inch CRT TVs from a
local repair shop - in exchange for some advertising and a couple of
complimentary tickets, installed them on shelves in the auditorium, ran 50m
of made up BNC cable between a 1-in 7-out composite video buffer (from CPC),
using BNC-Phono adaptors at each end and connected an old Sanyo Video 8
camcorder to the input, itself bolted to the set where it couldn't be see
(too easily) by the audience. Did the dress rehearsal last night and it all
worked well enough (although if you were picky you might object to the
grainy picture at normal viewing distances!). Total cost (excluding the
complimentary tickets) about 75 quid.

Thanks everyone for your input - it all helped.

Regards

Chas