The Sound Cart Project
We are working to build a sound cart from the ground up, using all the knowledge we've gained from the carts Chinhda has built in the past and from the extensive modifications to my own cart. This is a more ambitious project than a one-off "perfect cart." We are building several at a time and will be offering them for sale.
Several web pages are devoted to the development of the cart and the progress of construction. We introduced Version 3 in late winter 2008 and expect to lock down and standardize the major design components. Please use the "Jump" menu to visit the articles.
Chinhda Cart V3 is an overview of the cart.
Chinhda Cart Accessories displays special devices available as extras
Building a Chindha Cart details the process of construction
Chinhda Clients introduces some of the mixers using Chinhda's products.
Accessories A la Carte shows the accessories available for use with other carts.
This is a first trial Guide Sheet for operating the Cantar. It is intended to fit in the space behind the meters and in the space immediately above the optical drive. The idea is to have a handy, but unobtrusive reverence for various operations a recordist needs to perform with the Cantar.
Impressions of the new 24 bit / 96 kHz mixing board from Yamaha.
This mixing panel, still a bargain, addresses some of the limitations of its predecessor.
With production growing more complex even mixing panels with six or eight inputs are often inadequate. We look at the Yamaha 01V as an alternative to the specially built field console and find an inexpensive, rugged, flexible digital console. Click on the picture for detailed impressions. Updated with field experience 9/5/99
This is an account of efforts to revise sound cart design to provide greater ease of use, additional protection of the equipment, enhanced mobility and the ability to be safely transported with equipment mounted. The cart design is extensively modified to permit the equipment to "live" on the cart, avoiding the necessity of building everything each workday.
At this point, this is an archival entry. It describes the process of extensively modifing a PSC cart to enhance its utility. This experience was useful in the development of the Chinhda cart. As a "ground up" project, the Chinhda cart is significantly more thorough approach.
As DAT and other new technologies have replaced the Nagra as the standard location recorder, the use of dual recorders has become commonplace. This cart revision expands the shock-mounted recorder platform to accommodate a second recorder and adds some other refinements like folding handles to better negotiate stairs.
Like the first perfect soundcart article, this is now an archival page. Please look at th articles on the Chinhda Cart, V3 for up to date cart information.
We're often asked how to implement all the features of our sound cart. Of course, we prefer to build one for you but, if you want to go it alone, this article explains where to find the shock mounts, how the equipment brackets are configured, and other construction information.
Like the first perfect soundcart article, this is now an archival page. Please look at th articles on the Chinhda Cart, V3 for up to date cart information.
An ongoing project, we will be reporting on our tests and experiences with the most commonly used professional wireless equipment. We'll cover VHF and UHF systems from Lectrosonics, Audio Ltd. and others. We'll evaluate absolute performance and also report on value for the money. We'll also pay particular attention to the frequency agile systems as HDTV encroaches more on available frequencies in the UHF band. Check out our recently updated results including frequency response tests of the Sonotrim mike hard-wired and passing through the various radio systems. We recently ran a series of tests on range of the different systems.
We've been experimenting with using the Russian Oktava microphone in hazardous situations, particularly when recording dialog in the midst of gunfire. Click on the picture to learn our experiences with this versatile microphone.
We ran some tests to check how much run time we might expect from a Power Station battery when away from AC power.
We've also incorporated a modification that Ron Meyer is now offering for this versatile unit. Click on the picture to see our results.
We built a quick release adapter that permits using the PSC Quick Release system without cutting or modifying you pole in any way. Click on the picture for more information.