Mobile Questions & Answers

[mwagener]

Since in a mobile truck everything is on wheels, so to speak, how do you store things for transport? does everything have it's own compartment to live in during drives or is everything pretty much installed in it's place?

What are the needs to interface with different venues, is there a standard, so you can just plug into existing patchbays or do you bring all your own stuff?

[Remoteness]

Certain things are in belly bins underneath the truck body. Bins 1 thru 3 are mounted on the passenger's side of the mobile unit. Bins 4 thru 6 are on the driver's side.

Bin one has various chemicals, cleaners, degreasers, plus crew supplies like, work gloves, rope, towels, sandbags, etc., plus 4" plastic bag roll which is used to cover up connections that live outside during gigs with damp conditions.

Bin two has all the feeder cable, that is, all the AC power cable with Camlok connectors. We carry over 400' plus of feeder on board.

Bin three is where we place all our Camlok tie in's, extra Edison cable, extra single channel video cable and all sorts of AC fuses, circuit breakers, wire bugs for nearly all types of situations.

On the other side in Bin four is all the truck supplies like oil, antifreeze, plus extras like headlights, wiper blades, fan and engine belts and emergency stuff like flares, reflective triangle, etc.

Bin five stores all our stands.

Bin six has extra subsnakes, XLR fan outs, Snake interface cables, various audio/video snakes and more sandbags. Oh, plus a bag of spring clamps that we use to hang sound blankets and stuff.

We store our audio/video adapters and extras in our double sized crew cab. When the cab is not used as a crash pad or office with computer and all the extras, it has been used as an voice over room or extra mix position or even an additional machine room. There are tie lines between the cab and control cabin.

Inside the Teak control cabin, the standard gear (that comes with the truck) is mounted in two front and back overhead racks. The patch bay and interface panels are also mounted in their own racks. Various outboard gear can come and go as per the client or engineer's request. The gear that is not mounted in racks are tied down via ratchet buckle straps off of the surrounding walls. The truck body rides on an air ride suspension, so the ride is very smooth.

There is a (kind of) standard when it comes to AC power. Most venues and/or sound companies use Camlok connectors to interface to power. If Camloks are not available we have Camlok to bare end and/or Camlok to Trico clamps adapters that attach directly to the lugs of a main power panel or cutoff switch.

Audio is another story.... We usually supply the splitter and XLR fan outs that connect to the sound company's stagebox. Sometimes the sound companies supply the splitter system. In those cases, we just get their XLR fan out tails and patch directly to our stagebox. We like to address these issues during the preproduction survey via the phone and/or walk through.

If we're on a teleproduction, we also need to interconnect to the TV truck or TV studio via BNC connectors for video and XLR's for all the audio send/return feeds. SMPTE timecode and video sync also show up on XLR and BNC connectors. If applicable, we sometimes ask for a video router head, so we can independently switch and view the multiple cameras that maybe are online.

Depending on how elaborate the communication system is, COMM interfacing can be as simple as an XLR cable or as awesome as a McCaurdy (sp?) or RTS ADAM multichannel system.

When there's no video or film production present, we almost always set up our own remote pan/tilt/zoom camera for closed circuit viewing. Nowadays, I like to record our PTZ camera (or video feed) to our new Sony DSR1500 DVCAM recorder, locked to the multitrack. During the mix, I can see what's happening on stage as if I'm mixing FOH. You just look up and the band's right in front of you on screen.

Some new facilities have existing audio, video and comm patch bays that make it a lot easier when interfacing, but we still bring all our own stuff just in case...

[mwagener]

Wow, interfacing with others adds a whole new twist to the setup. Do you run into hum and ground loops if you connect to other trucks or how is that prevented?

BTW folks, Steve takes FORWARD PLANNING to another level! His brain is racing like a military strategist!

[Remoteness]

When we show up to the gig, we already know our system is rock solid within itself, but nothing is perfect... Anything can go wrong!

With the proper isolation of power, audio and video, along with a solid grounding system, we have a better shot at a clean recording. We try to focus more on the interface then on our stuff, unless it's on us.... ouch!

I tend to look at it from their perspective, back to us. The minute we hear a buzz and/or ground hum, we do a test disconnect of the snake system, and other interconnections, etc. If the hum or buzz goes away, we know it's on us. If the noise is still there, we know it's on them. One by one, step by step, you try to figure it out.

I must say, it can get very interesting on huge shows where there may be multiple video trucks, a satellite truck or two, ISDN or radio feeds, TV audio and music mix audio set-ups plus the band monitor rig, openning act's mix rigs, house sound system provided by the venue, et cetera, etc. and they all have to talk to each another with the last minute ENG camera crew that shows up five minutes before the performance and wants a mono mic level feed of the show...

Oh, I forgot about the "friendly" light department, that love to drop long huge feeder cable for the dimmers, right next to your low level mic snake runs. Remember what they say in TVLand...
"Hold for lighting." -- "Wait for Audio."

[Steve Smith]

Originally posted by Jules
BTW folks, Steve takes FORWARD PLANNING to another level! His brain is racing like a military strategist!

Maybe if we are nice we could see one if Steve's advance sheets... he knew more about me than i did by showday..

[Remoteness]

Originally posted by Steve Smith


Maybe if we are nice we could see one if Steve's advance sheets... he knew more about me than i did by showday..

My adavance sheet, which we call, a "Location File" is based on five components. Here's a link to "The five components to a successful location recording... Check it out.

Steve,

Email me if you want a blank copy of the Location File document.

[cajonezzz]

So much great info in this thread Steve! You have no idea what a great resource this forum (and Gearslutz in general) has become to us. thanks for the time!

Question: On any given gig, is there a tech guy that is responsible for field repair/trouble shooting and to what degree is he capaple of repair? Will a faulty piece of gear be swapped out, replaced, or repaired in the field ( or wait till it's back in the shop?)
How many ,and what kind of duplicates will you take to a gig?

could you run down what you carry for mobile repair/tools etc.?

Thanks again!

Could I get a copy of your Location File document? yuktyy

[cajonezzz]

bump

[Remoteness]

Hey Craig,

This forum is a place where pro's can exchange ideas and listen what people are saying. Questions from the newbies and associates out there are always welcomed.

I'm happy you found that thread interesting. Thanks for helping make this new forum a great resource to many. We ask questions and tell our stories to grow and expand our minds. As more remote recording and broadcast people come on board, we will have a larger consortium of efforts. The remote side of the audio industry will in turn become a better community for all interested players, associates and friends.

Answer to your Question:
Many remote operations have the capacity to field repair and/or trouble shooting on location. Depending on the type of gig or equipment repair, a maintenance tech is a key member of the crew. Faulty equipment can be easily replaced or repaired in the field, but it really depends on the piece of gear and the time you have to repair it. Back ups are a key part of a remote operation. A quick swap out usually is the first solution. While it's swapped and there's enough time, repairing the bad unit is always a very good idea, especially if you don't have a second back up device.

We carry many extra parts, all types of tools, et cetera, etc. Extra mics, cables, modules, you name it, is the way to go when there's no room for screw ups. Believe, you / me, having back ups and a back up for the back ups, always keeps my confidence high.