Chinhda Products Update
August 9, 2010
Chinhda is changing the way his products are marketed. Although Production Recording had been the exclusive source for Chinhda products, he now plans to make his work available from other sources and Production Recording will no longer handle these items. Click HERE for more information.
The Chinhda Cart
Version 3.0
2008
While there have been no progress reports for more than a year, Chinhda has not been idle. He took some time off from deadlines and client requests to refine the original design to make it stronger, more rigid and responsive to the challenges users faced in the field. We call this second revision to the basic design Version 3.0. We intend to lock down the design at this point to standardize the components.
Every sort of rolling platform, from tea trollies to industrial hand trucks, has been pressed into service as a sound cart. The task seems deceptively simple: a few shelves to hold the gear and some wheels to roll it around. But for the working professional, a cart defines the work environment just as the layout of an office does for others.
We spent considerable time and effort on the design to address the needs of working professionals. The design objectives were:
- A vertical layout for a small footprint
- Built-in shock absorbtion and edge protection, so equipment may remain installed on the cart without need of daily assembly
- Easy access to all components for connections operation and maintenance
- A comfortable and ergonomic working position for the mixer
- The ability to negotiate stairs and curbs and to roll over cables
- The ability to separate the upper superstructure from the lower frame, for operation and transport
- Lightweight materials and assembly, with empahsis on strength and durability
- Flexible design to accommodate different gear and users
- Finish and appearance that complements the equipment and the user
mouse over to pull out mixer tray
The upper frame supports three equipment trays:
A mixer tray
A recorder tray
A utility tray
The mixer and recorder trays slide out on aluminum drawer glides. This provides easy access to cable inputs and disc drives and also positions the mixer comfortably over one’s lap.
A small utility tray slides out under the mixer tray. This is useful for a keyboard, clipboard, pens, etc.
The height of each tray is fully adjustable. The tray pictured here is suitable for most standard mixing panels like the Cooper 106 or 208. A deeper tray can be fitted for very large mixers like the Yamaha O1V.
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Trays suspended by Lord shock mounts are integral to the Chinhda cart. The Lord Corporation makes a variety of shock mounts; these are intended for use with avionics in the cockpits of planes. As such, they are designed to provide shock and vibration isolation in any position. |
A mixer or recorder fastened to the perforated tray can be safely transported to location upright in a camera truck or lying down in your station wagon or SUV. The natural springiness of the tray material in combination with the Lord mounts and the shock absorbers provide good protection for normal hazards of production. (Of course, we assume that your transpo drivers are not competing in the Baja 1000!)
In this picture, the keyboard tray is neatly tucked under the mixer tray.
 This upside down image of the battery bin clearly shows the double thickness of the metal along the edge. |
The battery tray is made from 3/16 gauge diamond-plate aluminum with heliarc welded edges and is reinforced at stress points with additional material to yield 3/8" thickness. Chinhda understands that production demands often require a mixer to carry considerable battery power and built accordingly. The battery tray is sufficiently large and strong to accommodate two standard Pelican-case batteries. |
There are base cups for two boom poles and a diamond-plate lip that can be pushed with one's foot when tilting the cart.
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The smaller wheels are fitted with eight-inch foam-filled tires. Chinhda welded reinforcing collars to the swivel base for greater strength. The wheel is secured to the cross bar both by a pin with a securing nut and by the encircling collars. |
The cross bar has hatching to provide a good hand-grip. Lifting up stairs, the lower person would grip the cart here.
By the way, notice that the chassis design has the wheels and lift bar extended slightly from the main frame. This design acts naturally to protect gear on the trays or rack mounted in the lower frame.
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When strapped into a truck, the skate wheels align with the large wheels to permit a snug fit. The suspension continues to operate because the cart can "ride" the wall even when strapped in. The skate wheels also allow the boom poles to ride safely in their mounts on the cart, protected by the wheels and handle frame. |
Of course, one of the primary purposes of the skate wheels is to permit lying the cart down for transit in ordinary vehicles. With equipment secured to the shelves, the cart can travel this way and still offer protection for the gear. The cart can be rolled up a ramp into a station wagon or SUV and maneuvered into position on four wheels without wrenching your back. Then the disc brakes can be locked off at the handgrips.
Coming out of the vehicle, the handgrip actuated brakes help maintain control on the ramp.
In whatever manner the cart is transported, it's useful to have a dedicated tie-off point. Chinhda has fitted the frame with chrome-plated rings that are suitable strapping points - much preferable to running a ratchet strap around the whole frame. (Even the strongest frame can be warped by overenthusiastic tightening of a ratchet and these hooks concentrate the stress on a point engineered to take it.)
This is also the fastening point between the upper and lower frames. Unscrewing the tie-off hook and the knob immediately above it permits lifting the entire upper structure with mixer and recorder trays from the base frame. (Of course, if front support rods for ancillary gear are fitted, those need to be released as well.)
Each cart is fitted with two main handles. There is always a convenient hand-hold available, whether addressing the cart from level ground, from steps, or from a tailgate.
The upper handle has grips to actuate the disc brakes on the large wheels. Using the brakes it is easy to maintain control on a grade. The grips are also fitted with lock pins to keep brakes engaged.
This cart also shows a blank patch panel (not included as standard equipment). Patch panels can be easily mounted to the top shelf frame.Cables are neatly routed through the square tubes. Those tubes can also be drilled and tapped to accept additional rack gear.
There are clips for two boom poles on both the upper and lower handles. Poles snap in easily and, since they are secured at two points, ride securely.
This cart is also fitted with a rear accessory post. Additional equipment, like the folded laptop trays visible on the sides, can be mounted on this post. It also serves as the attachment point for an umbrella.
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| All carts now come with brackets to provide rear support for rack drawers and other gear mounted on the lower frame rack rails. The fore-and-aft position of the support is fully adjustable. The cross bars can be locked off at various heights to provide effective support for whatever gear is mounted. |
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A closer view of the brackets, cable tubes and other hardware on the back of the cart. (Mouse over for an alternate view) Four steel cable hooks are located at convenient points on the cart. Here the hook is attached to the handle bracket so as to be high enough to keep the cable loops free of the main wheels. Several smaller hooks for headphones are also provided. The cable routing tubes are slotted because they attach to the bracket holding the shelf and handle. The height of the shelf can be varied by loosening the clamp on the bracket and sliding up or down. The main support tubes (here anodized dark gray) can also be used to support antenna masts. Any tube smaller than one inch in diameter can simply be dropped in or Chinhda can provide a collapsible mast that clamps in place (as pictured at left). |
mouse over for an alternate view
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Chinhda built protective frames for the video monitors we all work with. These aluminum boxes are equipped with a slide fitting that attaches to most commonly used monitors. The box itself offers considerable protection and this can be enhanced by sliding a sheet of plexi in to protect the screen. Or, the attachment bracket can be used without the box. The custom rack rails visible on the right are deliberately configured so that gear is set back, behind the support rods. This set-back not only offers protection for the rack gear, it also permits positioning the monitors in front for efficient space utilization. Each monitor swings aside whenever access to the rack gear is required. The blue tube is a 12-volt fluorescent* light provided with each cart. The light may be clipped to the edge of any tray. |
A Chinhda cart is remarkably well equipped in its most basic form. Every cart includes the following gear and attributes:
Hand-made, heliarc welded aluminum frame
Heliarc welded battery bin
Suspension with fluid-filled bicycle shocks
Three equipment shelves, two with pull-out function
Lord mount suspension on two shelves
Rack rails on lower frame
Custom rack rails on upper frame, with flexible mounting
4 cable hooks
2 headset hooks + 2 small utility hooks
2 cable routing tubes
Skate wheels in handgrip
Disc brakes on main wheels activated by handgrips
2 tie-off points on lower frame
2 main handles + one handle in front
Stainless steel rods at front to support auxillary equipment
Clips for two boom poles (2 clips each + cup)
2 video monitor frames with attachment bracket
12-volt LED light
Support frame for rack mount gear
Specifications:
Frame height - 29 inches
Width at axles (widest point) - 26 inches
Frame width - 23 1/4 inches
Height to top of rear posts - 55 inches
Height - ground to mixer tray - typically 32 inches to 34 inches
(further adjustment is possible but some other elements must then move)
Depth* (skate wheels to leading edge of front frame) - 33 inches
*The depth has grown an inch with the newer mounting design for the front wheels. The new figure of 33 inches also accounts for a deep mixer tray. If the dimension is critical, let us know. The cart can be altered to yield a 32 inch depth.
Battery tray - 19 1/8" x 16 5/8" x 4" deep
Useable battery space 15 7/8" x 15 7/8"
(less the lip that accommodates boom poles and the wall thickness of the bin. Additionally one must allow about 1/2" on either side for the bolts that attach to the axles.)
Weight - 123 pounds
(That is for a fully equipped cart including two fold-down laptop trays, a rear-mounted steel post, and a mixer bracket.
Weight - cart without folding trays - 110 pounds (est.)
Rack Spaces
Lower frame - 10 rack spaces
Upper frame - 5 rack spaces
(The upper frame can also be configured for 3 or 4 rack spaces)
Tray sizes (typical, other sizes can be ordered):
Mixer - 18 inches wide x 22 1/2 inches deep
Recorder - 18 inches wide x 18 inches deep
Utility - 18 inches wide x 12 inches deep
Chinhda revises design elements each time he builds a cart and small variations occur from one to the next. If you have a particular application where the dimensions are critical (e.g. fitting into a particular vehicle), let us know.
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The Chinhda cart is available for $7500.
At that price, the cart is fully equipped with all of the features and accessories listed above.
The rear support rail that will accept a folding tray (and, eventually, support an umbrella) is an extra feature @ $350.
Fold down trays (as seen on the Accessories page) are $1250 each. With two fold down trays, Chinhda supplies a rear support rail at no extra charge.
Even with all of these features, there is still a need for some specialty brackets and accessories. While Chinhda does not intend to make dedicated tie-downs for every possible recorder, every mixing panel, and every eventuality, he has fabricated components for the most commonly used equipment.
He has also made some ingenious fold-out trays that considerably extend the work space of the cart. For information about these features as well as prices and information about our clients, access the menu on the right.