Chris McKissick

Ok I figured it out.. I had the FF running off the 4 pin Lemo vid/12v port and it seems like it automatically sends the video signal out that port and not down to the monitor when it's plugged in. I swapped the 4pin lemo cable for a ptap power cable for running the FF and that solved the problem. Signal went from the AJA box to the monitor with no problem. I'm a bit confused though.. what do I use the 4pin lemo for then? I'm always going to need a video signal going into the video bnc connector on the stage.. but if using the lemo means losing the video to the monitor then whats the point? Thanks! Chris

Hey there, I just set dropped by a set after wrap that I'm going to be working on tomorrow and set up my Archer 1 with the Alexa at hand. My first time with it. Everything balanced out nicely and I hooked up the AJA Box with a bnc from the monitor out of the Alexa to the HD SDI In port of the AJA box. Then from Composite out to the video in on the stage. I got no signal. I was a bit weirded out and fiddled around with it for a while, swapping out the bncs.. trying different ports even though they didn't make any sense but still no signal. I then went directly from the AJA Box Composite out into the Video In on my monitor and voila - I got a signal. This is really odd since I have a DVCPro which sends the signal through the rig the way it's supposed to. I thought, OK.. so theres a bad contact somewhere. Crap. I just got back home and plugged in the DVCPro and everything was back to normal. Signal goes through the Post down to the monitor - not a problem. What's going on? I'm confused... Thanks a bunch for any hints! Cheers, Chris

Hey there, First of all, get some weight up there! The 7d alone is really light as you've probably noticed. The pilot performs best at it's weight capacity or slightly under so try and get it there. Then make sure the battery is at the very far end of the lower spar and so is the monitor on the opposite side. I like to put as many of the small silver weights on the bottom of the rig as possible to maximize the inertia and "bigger rig feel". Next, get it statically balanced. But you already got that far.. :) Then, the easiest way to get perfect dynamic balance is to give it a spin. It will most likely wobble around. Open the middle scew on the lower spar and move the whole thing a bit in one direction. Tighten the screw, statically balance the rig again, give it another spin and see if it got better or worse. If you're on the right track, i.e. if you get less wobble when spinning keep going in that direction with the spar. That way you have the greatest possible inertia you can achieve and you get dynamically balanced in no time. Hope that made sense. Good luck! Cheers, Chris

Hey there, I'm on the lookout for a used Archer or Archer SE with G50 arm and vest. Drop me a line if you're interested in selling! chris.mckissick@gmx.de All the best, Chris

Hey, in addition, I'd also recommend the EFP Training DVD... Lots of great footage! cheers, Chris

I second the silicon oil... Worked like a charm...

I third that... oh and lots and lots of practice helps :o)

And don't forget to post back and share the solution with us! Thanks a bunch! Chris

The arm stays where you put it as long as you keep your arm hand at that positon. It takes practically no force to keep it there.. Not like other non-iso-elastic arms do. Non iso-elastic arms have a strong tendancy to want to move back to the center, which means you have to really pull or push hard, to boom up or down and keep it there... If you get your hands on a g50 or g70 arm, you can check out the feeling by removing the iso-elasticity with the ride knob. But i'm just basically repeating what the other guys already told you :o) Relax, you got a great rig! Cheers, Chris

Hey Olly, I've used the ex1 with my Pilot many times and trust me when I say that this is the way to go. Using a mattebox was important to me and also being able to use the extra merlin weights on the bottom of the Pilot sled to boost inertia is extremly valuable. It's still a compact rig - very inert and nicely flyable. The best setup I've worked with. (the xlh1 on the pilot is pretty solid as well...) You're not going to be able to carry the merlin with ex1 for extended periods of time anyway... so before you go for a merlin with arm and vest set up, go for the pilot. The ex1 is a great camera - having a fully mechanical lens is invaluable for focusing and handling fullHD but you can look for reviews on google and slashcam on the camera. The only negative thing I can say about the camera is the fact, that it has no "professional" video jack. There is sadly only a bnc sdi output and a consumer jack for the a/v cable that is in the package. Having it on the pilot means having to use the a/v cable. It's not a big problem or anything, but it would have been nicer to have a solid bnc or cinch out. Hope that helped a little... Chris

Hi, I'm flying a XlH1 on my Pilot with the battery on camera, all the additional small weights screwed on the bottom of the sled and a TA-100 quick release plate. The arm is almoast maxed out but the rig feels very inert and works great. If you're not planning on going alot heavier or adding a 35mil adapter and follow focus ect... the pilot will do fine... if you want the extra wiggle room... you might want to go to the next step and go for the flyer. Both the Pilot and the Flyer come with a monitor which you'll need because the H1 doesn't have a display you can use. Getting a 4000 into dynamic balance also seems to be quite difficult but I have no personal experience, only heard that. Another major advantage to the smooth shooter systems is the adjustable socket block... fore and aft... side to side... which I wouldn't want to miss. The "downside" of the Pilot is the fact that you'll either be changing lots of AA batteries (don't pin me down on that one please) or investing in some v-mount or AB batteries and charger. But once you do that, you'll have a rig that, with enough practice, will get you awesome shots. My 2 cents... cheers!

Hey there.. Just got home from San Francisco Intl (I live in Munich). I had packed my 4 bp-gl65's li-ions in a plastic bag in my carry on luggage since that was what I thought would be ok. Doesn't it say so on the link? Should I have read more thoroughly? Anyway... so the TSA guy took them out of course and went to ask his supervisor which in return told me that no more than one battery on the device it poweres and one spare are allowed on the plane as of 01.01.08. I was escorted out of the security check area back to the checkin hall. Rather panicked, I ran back to the counter, had my carry on bag checked but took one of the 4 batteries out and with me on bord. That was OK weird enough. I'm confused... The TSA supervisor said he didn't really understand why the rule came up all of a sudden and that if I wanted to, I could write TSA a mail and complain... with enough people complaining, he said, it might change something. Well.. that's my battery story. My advice is to just put them in your checked luggage but who knows... The next TSA supervisor might have a different opinion on how the rule is to be interpreted. <_< happy air travel :)

Thanks a lot for the quick reply... I'll be on my way to the airport in an hour... I'll post on how everything went... I'll be ready to improvise... Have a good one! Chris

Hi there, new to the world of steadi... I'm infected :) I found a thread a while back on new Airline regulations concerning li-ion batteries. As of Jan 1. 2008 ... well.... what exactly has changed? I read something about the maximum amount of "battery mass" being up to 5 kg, which would mean a lot of batteries. (idx) Is that correct? I'm flying to the US tomorrow and I own 4 bp-gl65 batteries, I would like to take with me. Is there going to be a problem with security? They weigh 2.2 kgs total which would be within the limit right? Picking up my pilot there... Oh dear god I can't wait :D Would anybody know the exact rules as of 1.1.08 ??? Thanks a lot for your (quick) replies and sorry if this question has come up before... I really did use the holy search function :) merry x-mas! Chris