Paul Schoen

Hi, thanks for the offer! I already got a Pro Vest and a 3A Arm. :)

Thanks :) I wired the top too and I‘ll upload some photos later. Got a 3A arm and a pro vest and there‘s a sled at hand soon, but I still think it’s a nice and easy upgrade for practice.

Hey folks, I'm looking into buying a Master Vest and something in the range of 3A/EFP Arm. If you have anything to offer (or similar) PM me. Preferably EU/UK, but not exclusively. Cheers, Paul

So I continued working on the wiring and the hardware and so far it's been really fun. I decided to skip the 12/24V switchable electronics and just go with 12V. It makes everything a lot more easier and because of the really narrow center post I was able to cramonly a quiet thin coiled cable inside and tape a thin 75 Ohm coax cable to the coiled one. (I couldn't find a coiled sdi cable that was thin enough and it worked out that way too.) Because of the small AWG, I decided to power the cameras only with their on battery on the back and use my sled power for accessories and counter weight distribution. I built a double battery hanger with voltage meters and on/off switches. I'm able to position the whole thing for/aft. Still missing the diodes to prevent backfiring, but that's a minor task. Additionally I placed a v Mount plate under the center post. It was no work at all and I had another one lying around and though I might never use it, it's nice to have. All the wiring comes together in the small silver box. There is one Aux Power directly connected to the plate under the center post and the other too work of the dual battery hanger. Also the center post cable is wired to the battery hanger inside the lower J-Box and the HD-SDI Line runs through it too. On the bottom of the J-Box you can see cable strain reliefs, so when extending the post or moving parts around the wired connections don't get stressed. I decided against a lot of connectors, because I'm gonna wire a 3x d-tap to lemo splitter and velcro it on the box if needed. I modfied the monitor mount a little and now have 15mm rod natorail clamp on it to mount my atomos shgun flame. I won't be able to switch to lowmode and turn the monitor without taking it of first, but that's a minor issue considering the costs of that mod. Concerning the lemo connectors, they are no standard lemos you'll find in most other sleds. I just made an great deal for 10 of them (male and female) used and will be building my own cables if needed. Always regarding of keeping the costs low. Things to come: The upper J-Box will be much like the lower one except with only two lemo outs, both powerd of the dual battery hanger. I'll screw a 3x d-tap to lemo splitter on the box there and use the 2nd lemo output for a small blackmagic monitor which will be under the front of the topstage for low mode. So far it didn't even cost me 100 bucks. I'm currently looking into buying a masters vest and arm (or similar), because the vest is really bad and I need a decent arm when I get the vest. I'll see how that goes and will upgrade to a better sled afterwards, but until then that's going to be my practice rig. Also attending the silver workshop in the UK in november and will test some rigs then.

Thanks for your advice Janice, I appreciate it. I'm not planning to use this rig in a commercial way (Unless I'm pretty sure that it's going to work). It is more for practice and tests and unpaid shoots with friends. The time is not an issue for me (as it's more of a passion project) and the costs will be rather low. If it's finished I'll figure out what will be possible with this rig and what will be the max. load. Regarding the wiring: I figured a crucial mistake! I'll definitely need to install Diodes to prevent the current from firing back into the battery, causing shorts and accidents. I would be really grateful for tips and feedback. =)

Hey folks, I'm new to the forum and new to Steadicam operating. Currently, I'm practicing with a cheap chinese steadicam knock-off. It's fine for what it is and I'm just getting started so it wouldn't have made sense to invest in an expensive rig from the beginning (financial situation aside). So I've been practicing and the rig is really ok and I'll be able to use it for some more time until I can afford a professional rig. Besides the ok working mechanics, the electronics are not existing or just not really useful. So I planned some diy battery and wiring upgrade. Things I want to do: - Coiled center post cable - bottom j-box - top j-box So far I think I got all the wiring plans right, but there are still a few questions I couldn't really find an answer to. Because I wan't to run an HD-SDI wire through the center post too, I've been searching for ages to find some coiled hybrid cable that's not too thick. I already wrote "Sommer cables" and asked them and they wrote back and said that it's mechanically impossible to have 1 75Ω coax and 3 conductor wires in one cable and coil them. I'm pretty sure that it's just wrong because in all the pro gear it's done like that. I thought further and I came to the idea that maybe I could run a coiled 3-pin condunctor cable down the post and tape (or whatever) a RG179 HD-SDI wire through the middle so that it's kind of coiled too. Not the best option, but if I won't get a hybrid cable (for not too much money) than maybe that's the way to go? Second, because I want to be able to distribute 12V or/and 24V I'm still not sure of the AWG. Thought about wiring something like 0,75mm² (18,5 AWG) or 1mm² (17) through the post. The centre post is not as wide as the professional ones so it won't be possible to use 14AWG. I found some topics about this here in the forum but they all compared 22/20 AWG to 14AWG. Of course 22 is not enough (if you want to be prepared), but let's say the biggest camera I'll be flying is something around an Alexa Mini. With a max 90Wh power draw I should be fine with even 0,75mm². I'll still be able to power a few accessories of the top j-box. I plan to wire everything in the lower j-box with 1,5mm² (15,5 AWG) so there won't be a problem there with additional accessories. Next question is about the connectors. In the first place I thought about going with the LEMOs and I will do for some 12/24V outputs (FGG.0B.303), but they are way too expensive for the whole upgrade (we're still not talking about a pro steadicam here). Then I asked myself: Why not use standard 3-pin XLRs? They are cheap, have a sturdy and safe connection and are able to stand up to 15Amps. I'll be using them for the centre post connectors and the main cable from the batteryplate to the bottom j-box. Last one (I think): I'll be wiring some fuses into the bottom j-box too. Thought about 5A for two 12V D-Tap connectors and maybe soemthing around 7A for the 12/24V Lemos (AUX) and the centre post connection. I attached a wire diragram (sorry for the test license). Upper left is the batteryplate, upper right is the bottom j-box. (Underneath is a quick diagram for an additional 3rd plate, not sure if I'll build this or not) So, a lot of questions and I hope that some of you guys that are more experienced can comment on anything. Thanks and cheers, Paul