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Need to Rent: Wireless HD kit in Texas


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Hey guys,

 

First of all, happy Father's Day to all you Steadi-dads like me out there. If you're taking the time off from your family to read this, shame on you...but also thank you!

 

I need a last minute favor from the community. I need to rent somebody's Wireless HD kit for a 1day gig in Beaumont, TX this Thursday 6/20/13. It doesn't matter what unit (CamWave, Paralinx, Teradek, Switronix, HP Video, Ikan). Lower delay is ideal, something like the Teradek Cube even with its larger delay (and iPad capabilities) is acceptable. Zero delay or broadcast quality is not necessary. I need it for monitoring in a concert venue, so a kit with a portable handheld monitor would be perfect. If not, that's not a deal breaker. My PRO/XCS rig and all my accessories are geared to AB mount, with P-Tap, XLR, and PRO style power options available. The camera is the Canon C300, which has HD-SDI and HDMI outputs.

 

I would need the gear for the Thursday shoot, but I'm traveling Wednesday and Friday. As it pertains to pickup, I'm flying out of Orlando on 6/19/13 with a 2hr layover in Huston (IAH) both ways. I've already tried all the local ops in Central Florida to no avail. Since I doubt that I could take delivery by my flight time, I'm hoping to find a local rental in Beaumont or a generous colleague that could meet me at curbside at IAH during my layover, perhaps for a beer or 2 outside the checkpoint (that exchange has the makings of a good story later). Worst case scenario, I could probably take delivery at my hotel in Beaumont on Wednesday.

 

Please email or message me your offers or post tips and recommendations that you may know of. I really appreciate the help.

 

Mike

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I loved it. No problems the first time around. I bought it from a Chicago DP/Steadicam op that I coincidentally found on eBay, and my understanding (through him) is that the Paralinx isn't subject to the interference that has made me hate the Camwave so much because its not in that crowded 2.4gHz range. We also ran a Bolt simultaneously so the Director and my AC could have separate handheld monitors. There was no interference for either of them, and both maintained picture throughout the whole show (Tim McGraw concert music video). The only thing I wish I could have gotten was the Arrow+ so I could add receivers to my kit later.

 

I rented the Marshall 6.5" pictured below, but I think I want to buy the V-LCD70MD for its ability to cross convert HDMI to SDI internally. That's one less converter to buy, and then the monitor can stay with Video Village if I need to connect a bigger SDI monitor. If anyone has opinions on this monitor, I'd be curious to hear feedback:

http://www.marshallmonitors.com/products/monitors/V-LCD70MD/index.html

 

post-6306-13721009877279_thumb.jpg

 

post-6306-13721010317203_thumb.jpg

Edited by Mike Germond
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That Marshall is the same one I'm looking at for my Director's monitor setup. It seems like the perfect mixture of size, brightness, inclusion of a headphone jack, and price for what we use it for. I believe that Osvaldo Silvera has that monitor, and he likes it.

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You can still upgrade to the Arrow Plus later, I believe for the purchase price difference, or not much more.
Good news, thanks. I thought I had heard that.

 

That Marshall is the same one I'm looking at for my Director's monitor setup. It seems like the perfect mixture of size, brightness, inclusion of a headphone jack, and price for what we use it for. I believe that Osvaldo Silvera has that monitor, and he likes it.
Ozzie, were you able to get an AB battery plate on it? They don't list it as an accessory for the 7" model.
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Hi Mike,

I love this monitor. I got the good folks at Band Pro to get it for me and ship everything Overnight when I was going to Italy in February, along with the Ikan 7" Monitor hand grip set up.

Took everything to an ACE hardware and got a 1/4"-20 stainless bolt and a small nylon spacer to fill the gap on top and secure the monitor from the bottom 1/4-20 screw and the top one.

 

As for the AB plate. They ist it only for the 9" and larger models, but it DOES fit the 7" model.....with one precaution. If you install the AB plate on the back of the unit, you will NOT be able to fit a BNC into the hd/sdi "IN" spot, there simply will not be enough room, if you have an Anton Bauer HC attached, maybe a Dionic 90, but not an HC......

So...off to the Machinist I went with a piece of Aluminum. I installed a plate, where it lifted the AB plate away and to the right, just slightly, like 3/8" thick, and moved the plate to the right like 5/8", this gave me all the clearance needed, and doesn't interfere with anything. Here are some pics...

 

here it is before...

post-389-0-83542400-1372118585_thumb.jpg

 

and here it is After my intermediate plate.

 

post-389-0-41018400-1372118634_thumb.jpg

 

 

side views of the plate installed.

post-389-0-34469800-1372118701_thumb.jpg

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post-389-0-56198300-1372118742_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

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Looks great. I may be hitting you up for some battery plate relocation schematics if I go that route. I'm thinking about the 9" monitor too.

 

Can you confirm whether that's an HDMI mini or standard on the monitor? I see conflicting information on various sites.

 

Thanks,

Mike

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Good to know about the connectors. In the pictures, it looks like you have the SDI loop through module (p/n MD-3GE) right? The only module that cross-converts appears to be the MDO-3G and it has 2 SDI outputs instead of an in/out.

 

post-6306-13725276551558_thumb.jpg

 

Or have you purchased both modules?

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I just got the module with the in and out this way I can use the current paralinx arrow receiver or the teradek bolt.

Being that teradek seens to be getting betterwith its voltage range and customer service. I may just give the Bolt another try.

Your idea of the 9"monitor is a good one. Make sure it's the high resolution one with high brightness. No issues with the anton battery plate there.

I'm actually thinking of using a cinetronic 1 for a director monitor

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That'll be a nice heavy director's monitor. I can hear it now, "Moving On!" after 2 takes instead of 10, just so the director can put the damn thing down!

 

I'm looking at HD handheld director's monitors too (hey, I'm just jumping in to an already hijacked thread), and this Marshall certainly looks like a good choice. I was also looking at the Small HD AC7. It's a little lighter which will be good for the Dir/DP, and for use on my Flyer (I don't use it much but it goes out on rental occasionally), has slightly higher resolution (but I don't think I care), but the main thing is that it's only 400 nits. The Marshall is 800. For $100 and a few ounces in savings I'm not sure it's worth it. However, I imagine they're both going to require a hoodman outside and wash out in direct sunlight, so I'm not sure the nits is that big of a deal. I've successfully used my Flyer monitor outside, and a really old SD handheld TV as a dir monitor outside and those are both under 500 nits.

 

Ozzie, and everyone else here, what do you think? Ozzie, you're thinking of using a Cinetronic 1 so I guess you are finding that daybright is important for a director's monitor? Again, in which case I'm not sure if the jump from 400 to 800 will be worth it anyway.

 

Brian "anything to save a buck" Freesh

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My thoughts on this monitor is that it's cheaper than the AC-7 when you take into account that it can be upgraded to HD-SDI fairly cheaply, and it comes with a headphone jack. In most instances, the headphone jack may not matter, but if you want to be on the mixer's good side, you can hand him a receiver to see the frame, and tell him that he doesn't need to baby-sit another Comtek.

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