Richard James Lewis

Not to adjust rod end bearings it doesn't... Try backing one off and see if it frees the one that is stuck...

Other fond favorites.... You must have a really bad back / watch that, it'll do your back in... (yeah thank's) Why is that green? (Not so prominent anymore) You must have really strong arms, lifting that all day... That looks heavy, ohh actually no; I see the arm is taking all the weight... What?s the longest time you can wear that for? Don't forget the multitude of humoring smiles you must put on every time someone tells you that you look like a robot etc... Also the way you have to listen to people tell you when they last saw a Steadicam, and what it was doing... If I really care, and It's a heavy enough camera package, I?ll let them try and pick it up when it's docked, and then you get to see the two stages of lifting technique people use, as they realize the weight. I'm becoming a grumpy bastard.... Rick.

Agreed Alec, but if you are considering buying an Archer in the first place, then that would not really be the type of work you would be catering for...

Before I changed to my new rig, I used to have an Archer (which incidentally I used with my Klassen harness) I was always using the system to its limits, and although you *can* overload the gimbal, performance will suffer, and you won?t be working at your best. I noticed a phenomenal change, and my operating improved when I switched to using the V2 Gimbal, but you would expect that and to compare the two isn't fair. I had a really nice battery plate machined to go on the rods at the bottom, without which, I?d be challenged balancing most setups I encountered; even a Digi would have the post at full extension. But that's also down to battery choice. If you were to put a brick at the back then that would help, but you would be a bit restricted with DB as the monitor is so light. I also switched the gimbal grip and upgraded it to the mk-v toolsfree design, which made a big difference and I?m glad I did it. Slippy fingers and having to use an Allen key every time got frustrating. I also had issues with the folding section. I could never get it tight enough to stop it twisting where it was keyed into the base. The whole folding idea always puzzled me, considering a Clipper or an Ultra fit into the same size flight case as the Archer... I'm not sure if the Archer design is long for this world, I'd imagine that it will be being changed in the not too distant future. It's a bit of cobble together from the Provid era. Overall the Archer is a good rig depending on your market. I personally found I quickly outgrew it. If you are thinking of buying bits, then I would definitely say go for the G-50 it's a really amazing arm. The Clipper 324 looks sweet and is a much better design approach on behalf of Tiffen. Best, Rick.

Seriously at that point why the hell even bother with the MK-V sled? There are Sleds out there that already have it done correctly (XCS, Tiffen U2) and do it better than a bodged up MK-V sled... Well when you buy a system of such expense, you expect it to work properly. Not knowing about all these issues at the time of purchase didn't help. You would presume that someone else has already done all the hard thinking and worked out any problems before taking it to market. In principle I love my setup. The 2" 2 stage post is nice, the gimbal is great, the topstage it Betz. The V2 monitor arm is sturdier than the V1. It's nice and light. It's just the original electronics that let it down, with my electronic engineers’ changes, it’s very capable. Although granted not as sound as the Ultimate. I upgraded my old system bit by bit. It allowed me to build the system up over the course of a year as funds allowed. I changed out the base, the post, the gimbal, the topstage etc... Not as easily done with the other systems. If I was given a lump sum to invest in a new sled, then I would probably go with XCS, but it's just the way that this has worked out for me to this point in my career. Who knows that the future holds, but my rig is working great for me at the moment. Best, Rick.

Thanks for the reply. I think your response had been by far the most helpful. I have it set to feel fairly ISO. I have found tho, if you fly something very light (not usually the case) with all the ISO all in, then it affects the performance of the arm, so best to back it off a bit. Normally for the majority of my work, I leave it alone. Make sure that when adjusting lift, the arm sections pass each other when the two sections are horizontal, and not at an angle...if that makes sense. Once they do, add a turn more of lift so they both sit just above the horizon. Rick.

Problem is, that y cable is plugging into the single 22ga wire running up the post. There is no Aux power in a MK-V wired rig. You could probably have it corrected and re installed back in at the base if you know an engineer, or perhaps MK-V would do it for you, but I guess that would involve making the AR connectors on the V2 box redundant. I personally had my own post cable made with 14AWG speaker cable, my J-Box rewired with thicker cable, and in the D-Box I had the tracks on the circuit board beefed up. Plus I sacrificed having Dual battery plates, and run 2 separate single plated batteries into the D-Box on I think 18AWG (biggest you can fit in the 4 way Lemo 1B's, an improvement over the 24 or 23AWG Van Damme microphone Quadflex cable used with dual plates. These could be solutions for the issues you are having. Every little helps. Everything is cumulative with these things? Best, Rick.

I thought that second 12v line had gone from the MK-V D-Box, to make way for AR data? I was also under the impression that the d-box was fused at 7amp, mine has a poly switch inside rated at that. Rick.

It shouldn't go anywhere as long as you are physically screwing the plate into the bottom of the camera, not just tightening the pull down screw towards the back of the plate. I know a few people who have come unstuck not knowing how to use this plate properly. You need a 3/8" screw and it will go up into a threaded hole in the body of the camera. Hope this helps. Rick.

FGG.0B.303.CLAD52Z is the plug. Not sure about the pin out tho... Don't think the one in your link was totally correct. It's the right plug, but issues with the collet, or lack of. Rick.

The Archer and Clipper dovetail plates are the same size. Rick.

Not a direct answer to your question, but those cables look unnecessarily thick. Why don't you make up a set of super lightweight thin cables? A few years back, I made a little adaptor box for audio tails, big heavy thick cables in one end, then left channel, right channel and return all going to the camera on tiny thin headphone size cable. It all worked great when I had to use it. Makes everything much easier to work with, and you won't get the twisting action of the larger cables, so you won't have to route them as strategically as you do with bigger ones. Rick.

I quite like that little monitor; I was leading our actress up a very narrow, steep flight of stairs the other week. To keep her eye line, I was in low mode and don juan. I had that little monitor mounted looking up at me from the back of the camera. Fantastic, worked a treat! Random, but it thought it was worth a mention if anyone finds themselves in the same situation? Rick.

I?d have thought you would be pretty bang on around that area... That monitor weighs very little. Inadvertent dynamic balance high five! Rick.

My own electronics engineer has sorted this problem now... After finally working out how to get the casing apart we found that, as Jim suggested, the potentiometer gear had come loose from the drive gear. Strange design in there, but at least I know what to do again if anything goes wrong. If anyone else ever has trouble with an MK-V FMG-6 that is out of warranty, feel free to get in touch with me, and I will see if I can point you in the right direction. Best, Rick. All potentiometers will eventually fail, but it is hard to say in this case if it will fail soon or much later. I suspect the pot will be "sticky" and need replacement immediately, but that is just a guess. Jim "Pot aficionado" Bartell

Does anyone know how to take apart an FMG 6 motor? Jim, thanks again for the insight. Why do you think that if the gear is tightened properly, the potentiometer would eventually fail? Best, Rick.

Thanks for the information Jim, as much as I didn't want to hear that it was going to be such a big issue. Let's hope MK-V can help me sort this out quickly. I shall let you know how I get on. Many thanks, Rick.

Hey guys, cheers for the advice. Same thing happened again today. The thing is, it works with the super speeds! So it must be getting enough power, and the cable must be fine... This is why I'm so stumped. Its just the Master Primes that are causing an issue. Rick.

Hey guys n gals. So I'm on a job at the moment using a set of Master Primes on the RED. I have an MK-V FMG 6 and a BFD. Our widest Master prime is an 18mm, and we have Super Speeds which are wider. Today we had the 18mm on the camera; I was calibrating the BFD on the lens. I started to roll out the wheel, and the motor and the lens started to violently twitch. I initially thought it wasn't getting enough power, but all I had to do to stop it twitching was apply a bit of pressure to the focus ring. Once that was done, the twitching stopped temporarily, that is until you made any move on the lens again, where it would commence rapidly twitching. We took the motor off the mount on the bars, held it against the lens, and tried to calibrate again, no issues at all. It was just when back on the bars that it started twitching again. We tried mounting the motor at various different angles and the same would happen. We also tried to vary the amount of contact pressure against the lens with the motor. Eventually after a bit of swearing and some head scratching, we swapped the 18mm for the 12mm Super speed, and everything worked perfectly. There was a bit more resistance from the Super Speed, a tad stiffer. The Master Primes are silky smooth and very easy to turn. As I say, the only way I could stop it from twitching was to apply some pressure to the focus ring as the motor was engaged and doing its thing. It couldn’t have been a signal interference issue as it worked fine with the Super Speed, also when in calibration mode and with the transmitter off, it would be irrelevant. I checked that everything was tight on the bars, no movement there at all. With the motor off the lens rolling out the wheels, the motor was fine, nice and smooth. I’m stumped on this one, and any insight would be appreciated, especially as I’m back on it in a few hours. Kind regards. Rick Lewis.

Mike You remove the handles of the cameras and screw these brackets direct to the body. The little Red plate is like a blanking cap to cover over wires, (probably tally) going into the handle. I've seen them about, but in not too sure about specifics. I think one is for Digibeta, and the other for the older style Betacam. I think they were from Optex originally. Probably explains it since you bought a U1, and not many people have responded to this. Could try giving Robin a call if you get a chance, he would probably know. Laterz Rick.

As you are in the UK, call Tiffen Europe. It's on DVD now. This has been mentioned on the forum before. If you want more information, do a search. Best, Rick.

Looking for a 2" post, MK-V two stage would be great. Gimbal MK-V V2, or XCS with 2" grip. Let me know if you have anything. rick(at)steadicam-operator(dot)co(dot)uk Cheers, Rick.

Try local camera shops. neck strap This one is really nice, comfortable, and has some spring in it. I'm sure you can find something similar. Good luck!

If it's a post cable issue, then this topic may be worth a read... http://www.steadicamforum.com/forums/index...?showtopic=6986 Best, Rick.

Flown it loads, nothing tricky about it. Make sure to flick the switch under the side panel to VBS so you can get composite video out the back of the camera. Mounts like any other ?video camera? Sony style V Lock. Have fun... r