bigclive

Another backstage snippet.

This was a very short clip of video I filmed as I was heading down from doing some lighting position checks just before the show started.  The massed bands were starting to gather at the back of the drawbridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVECwbkUmqk

Mould rice pack.

If you've ever wondered what would happen if one of these microwave rice packs got damaged in storage, then wonder no more.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBxbACjF2xc

Camping light re-visit.

Another video recorded in the slightly boxy sounding room that I'm currently in while working on the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  There's a local Poundworld nearby and as they're going out of business I thought I'd visit them and see if there was anything interesting left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hi5vdrZ7YI

Quite a special video.

This is an invitation for questions for the entire technical crew of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

Please only leave questions in the comments section of the YouTube video linked here:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DslfiLOD-2c

Energizer compact lantern.

Another video recorded in the boxy student flat with a different camera.  The height of the shelf above the recording surface makes the lighting a bit inadequate for the zoomed image and also means the audio is "ambient".  It's all I've really got here, but I'll do some experimentation.  I'll also be recording stuff at work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNmdCV_-pKM

Another short video from behind the scenes.

The first shows have now run and I'm just taking all the spare lights out their boxes, checking they work and then putting them back in marked as being good.  That way we can do a fairly quick swap of a light before a show if it can't be fixed in situ.  (There's a limit to work we can do above the audience while they are in for safety reasons.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4-CUfnNJ5Y

This cl...

Behind the scenes snippet.

This is a very short snippet of video showing the gas guys connecting up the huge blazing burners we have in the moat and on the top of the castle.  It also shows our retracting band stage for some of the military performers.  It retracts down into the moat during the day and raises out for the show.  We have some of the castle speakers on hydraulic lifts too, so they can be hidden out of sight when the show isn't running too.

The clip also shows some of our flight cases hidden ...

240V ceramic LED COB.

Now the load in of the gig is complete and we've had our first full show, the pressure is off and I can get back to making videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_Eyy6wJSsc

This is an interesting lamp with rectifier, regulator and LEDs all on a ceramic substrate and covered with the phosphor loaded gel.

Different filming location and camera again, so things will still sound a bit odd compared to m...

HMRC (UK tax)blocking eBay purchases.

Uh-oh.  HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs)  (Which has nothing to do with the Queen) seems to be getting its greedy fingers into eBay and blocking sales if it doesn't get its wee penny.

The chilli Nutella challenge.

My weird work colleagues encouraging me to eat chillies dipped in Nutella.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClMnfA81hPI

Working long hours.

There's going to be a slight gap in video output for a day or two while we finish loading in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  Long hours and heavy-going due to the addition of quite a lot of rather interesting technical equipment.  Also hampered slightly by the inclusion of a three phase extension cable that someone had miswired with a phase and neutral swapped, so there may be a video or two looking at the equipment that died explosively when that particular rack was powered up.<...

Inside an airwick mist unit.

A look at an interesting aroma unit that uses and ultrasonic atomiser to create a fine plume of aroma on a timed basis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VljmyydJTI

It's quite a complex circuit, but I can't help feeling that the Chinese would copy it with a single generic 8 pin microcontroller.

Different camera.

Hmm, this can act as a stand-in camera until I find one that's going to do the job properly.  This one has lower light sensitivity.

The light is actually quite good.  Fairly standard unit, but a nice implementation.

Last Moto G4-plus video?

On the basis that I've done a factory reset and fitted the absolutely fastest memory card I could find (rated for 4K recording) I get the feeling that the current filming issues are related to overheating of the Moto G4 as it gets very hot quickly.  That might be down to the high ambient temperatures recently, or it might be that Lenovo have inadvertently introduced a processor intensive bug in their recent update.

2018-07-20 23:08:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Two dead night lights.

I'm travelling with work at the moment, so the next few videos will look and sound different.  I've kept some back so you guys don't go through a spell without content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k9nBCJs_0s

PIR LED panel incident.

This video might have been more exciting if I had either had the camera running when I shorted out the mains on the PCB with a carelessly placed probe tip, or if I'd not blown up the PCB and actually fixed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wrk1F3JuEc

I filmed this a day before heading over to Glasgow, so I was trying to keep the video short due to the grindingly slow upload speeds on the Isle of Man. &...

A nice rambly one for the weekend.

Here's a nice chilled out Q&A type video while making a wiring loom for props.  Grab a drink and some snacks, and kick back.

Glasgow meet-up reminder.

A reminder for those of you in Glasgow that we're having a meet-up at the Counting House bar on a corner of George Square in Glasgow city centre on:-

Sunday 15th July from 11.30am onwards

and

Monday 16th July from 5pm onwards.

Last time we met in the room diagonally across the road from Greggs the baker.

It was originally just going to be one meet later on Sunday, but the World Cup screwed things up a bit.

Toasted Aukey power bank.

Even the higher profile power banks can have their moments.  This is why I tend to recommend charging things like power banks in an uncluttered area, and better still, on a metal tray.  They do store quite a lot of power - so can get a bit fierce when things go wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieVit5x6PLA

Little RF remote modules.

These are quite neat, although not quite up to many countries standards in terms of user safety and component rating.  Notably the 125V contact rating on a 220V unit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pywKffd8qB4

Test lead versus 240V.

Rather predictably I didn't have the camera running when I did this.  It was hilarious.  I was trying to trace a problem on a mains voltage PCB and bridged live to DC with the probe while trying to get a good connection.  The PCB now has a few more problems, mainly involving missing tracks.

The exploding Kryptonite game.

OK, let's play the game.  You guys 'n' gals get to enter here and also get to enter on the video page itself for more chance of winning.  The prizes here will be better though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rneg12Pth3I

I've just blown up some Kryptonite.

Competition coming soon with separate (better) Patreon prizes.  All you'll have to do is guess which piece of Kryptonite is going to explode first.

My workshop now smells a bit odd and is covered in bits of exploded Kryptonite.

Glasgow meet 2018.

The Glasgow 2018 meet will be as detailed in the video.  As always, remember to check the description of the video before attending in case anything changes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kh68uj5Va4

Exploded remote switch autopsy.

This remote switch was sent in earlier in the year by Timothy who had been in the process of plugging it in when it went bang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVkEDduVQJA

Here's an autopsy to see what went wrong.

Just the opening of the tin...

I thought I'd put up a short clip of the tin being opened and us getting a whiff of the smell for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_JRbmgz2ks

Norway and Sweden candy test.

This was supposed to be part of the surstromming fish video, but we had to clear the area until the stench of the fish abated.  Then we had candy, helped in the testing by Kevin's son mini-Juan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j_-3JnogRw

The beard club tries surstromming.

All the way from Norway, a slightly out of date tin of fermented fish.  But what does it smell and taste like?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vjT_fFUFLs

This should be better!

I think I've hopefully resolved the camera glitching issue.  If the worst comes to the worst I can switch to using a Wiley Fox phone as a recording device with the slight downside of a less detailed image, but actually better sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoiiZLBJrIE

This video is an update on a style of lamp on eBay that has the globe filled with a string of copper wire lights.  It's a...

One last glitchy video! (I hope)

I've had slight issues with the backup camera.  It's a Moto G4 plus with a higher resolution camera, but I actually prefer the plain Moto G4.  (The one that I broke the screen on!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmHdkCW0AaM

This video gets very glitchy as it goes on.  I've since restored that phone to factory settings, loaded in only the most essential apps and changed the (suspect) SD car...