Hmm, the mention of Star Cloth on one of yesterdays posts has got me thinking about it, and I could probably do with some.
Anyone know where to get good deals on it, assuming that Chris doesn't do it?

QUOTE (Eskie @ May 2 2003, 01:19 AM)

Hmm, the mention of Star Cloth on one of yesterdays posts has got me thinking about it, and I could probably do with some. Anyone know where to get good deals on it, assuming that Chris doesn't do it?

Sounds like Dejavu

Eh
I guess you're saying that this conversation has happened elsewhere? what thread was that?

QUOTE (Eskie @ May 2 2003, 01:44 AM)

I guess you're saying that this conversation has happened elsewhere? what thread was that?

Yep some of us were trying to track down a supplier at a reasonable cost for small sizes , but no luck to date

Hi Guys
I would be interested in that as well

Okay, I've been making some enquiries about these star cloths. The main problem is that most products are very large, and suitable for covering walls etc and obviously too large for the Mobile.

But I may have found a solution. I have been talking with a company who can supply smaller star cloths. Available in 2 sizes:- 1.5m x 1.5m and 2m x 2m - one of these may be suitable for the front of your show and forget all those bulky old fashioned lightboxes.

These Star Cloths are fibre optic and the lightsource uses a low cost, long life 50W lamp. There are two versions of light source available. One has a colour changing wheel which constantly changes the colour of the optic fibres, and the other is plain white, but with a "twinkling effect".

I'm negotiating price deals with them at the moment to see what I can do with regard to cost.

Obviously its a Bank Holiday Weekend so it'll be Tuesday before I hear back from them, but watch this space!

I appreciate that the specifications might be out of your hands Chris, but isn't a "Square" shape/size unrealistic for most mobiles, which tend to be wider, than high (excluding tripods/Tri-lite rigs).

Most mobiles front show is either 3ft or 4ft high...if I went for the 2m x 2m star cloth...(6ft high) the audience wouldnt be able to see me...unless I waved over the top (hey! I might get more bookings that way )

I'd love a star cloth, but I'd be looking at 3m wide x 1.5m high(in fact 4ft high exactly). I don't fancy the price tag of 2 x light sources on a pair of 1.5m x 1.5m cloths, when 1 light source, with simply a wider cloth would surfice.

Sorry again, I realise that you're not actually making these, you're simply sourcing them for us, but as you've found a company that realises that there IS a market for smaller cloths, that isn't The London Palladium, then perhaps you could nudge their market research in the right direction too.

Yes, sizing is difficult if you don't want to spend a small fortune. it's a lot cheaper to " buy off the shelf" in mass produced sizes. Certainly one French company has quoted me a price which would allow me to offer them for around £110 in a 1.5m x 1.5m format. You couldn't even buy the light source for that price here in the U.K!.

I'll continue negotiation with the UK based company and see what comes back on Tuesday. Certainly expect to pay extra if you do need a custom size. I am anticipating a selling price of around £200, but this is only an educated guess based on what their rep told me on Friday.

Star Cloth, well I made my own from black felt for the front. 1st layer make loads of holes in it ( I did 200) and put light blue LED's in it from *EDITED BY ADMIN* try to copy from a star book so it look's like the nights sky start with the North star in the middle of the cloth. Then glue gun the led's in place leaveing the wire legs to be soldered, solder in groups of 3 (Get the + and - the right way round) so you balance the power out. Tidy the wire up with glue gun or black tape, then add the silky backing Seal the edges with velcro in case you need to fix anything later, connect a 12v 1.5 amp dimmer pack, turn on and tadar! One Star cloth 8m x 3m to hang behind you or where ever from some A frame on your show, looks ace. This took me 2 weeks to finish lots of solder, wire and patience and cost £240, when I got a quote they wanted £1200 + Vat, My star cloth looks great no different and cus it LEDs the light should last for years!



Have fun

READ THE RULES ABOUT LINKING TO COMPETITORS!!!!!!!! - ADMIN

A Link to wireing LED'S

LED's

is it really so difficult as the page suggests ??


No Disco equipment in the link

Wire the LED's in series for 12v or 24v operation and then you can forget the resistor

I've got a nice cheap source of Ultra Blue / Green / Yellow / Red / White Leds if anybody wants a go at a bit of D.I.Y

Yes Chris I'm interested in the LED's.
Two of our light effect transit boxes double up at the venue to put the bass bins on. A few LED stars on one side of these will add a nice effect and not intrude on the space inside. I'm also thinking of adding a flashing LED into each set.
How many LEDs can you put in series B4 it starts to have an effect on the output?
Paul S

Hi,

There are 2 ways of doing this, firstly if the quantities of LEDS are fairly small and standard brightness is required then you can use 12v leds connected directly to a 12v supply. However the cost of a high brigtness Led is actually almost as much as an ultrabright Blue!.

If you require the use of High Intensity Leds, then I would recommend connecting them in pairs (Series) with each pair fed from a 12v dc supply via a 220 ohm 0.25w dropper resistor.

Flashing Leds are available "off the Shelf" in 12v versions.

Here is a typical diagram for wiring Leds in series. From a 12v supply the resistor would be 220 ohms 0.25w



On a new LED the cathode (Negative) lead is the shorter of the two.

I can quote you the all of the bits if you let me have more details such as quantities. colours etc.

O.K on the star cloth issue some news. I've had a meeting with Soundlab today who are very interested in offering a version of this item to the mobile market, in fact one of the directors was very receptive to the idea, and work will get underway with them tomorrow to put the idea into production.

Obviously prices will depend on the size, but the main advantage will be that it will be available in a variety of sizes as well as off the shelf ones and will cost significantly less than £250 for a standard size starcloth.

If you are interested in buying one, then I would suggest that you hold on for a few weeks to see what develops, in common with most of our prices - it will be worth the wait

Woo Hoo way to go Chris! Even I might be persuaded to carry a starcloth instead of a couple of lightboxes!!

(But then knowing me I would still carry the boxes and hang the starcloth from the trussing above me as extra) !!! Oh well!

Hey Chris
Gary has a valid point
1.5 mtr x 2m to hang off a table top would suit me me me
otherwise it would need to hang behind the set up.
peteee

If this idea comes off, and i've worked with Soundlab on a lot of ideas and Suggestions so I'm more than certain it will. Then the Starcloth will be made in a variety of sizes or dare I say it, even custom sizes.

I'm not going to give too much away, but needless to say the lighting unit will be manufactured by NJD, who of course, are now owned by Soundlab. They are already set up for this type of work, The delivery time of "x" weeks is just to allow for the design work and manufacturing. Hopefully I should be able to give an idea of pricing shortly.

It will also favour quite nicely price wise - when compared with £250 - £500 from a U.K supplier.

QUOTE (Chris_Pointon @ May 6 2003, 07:52 PM)

manufactured by NJD, who of course, are now owned by Soundlab.

I thought NJD and SOundlab were owned by electorvion sound and light or am I just being plain stupid.

Electrovision bought Soundlab in around 1999, they are now known purely as Soundlab. In 2001, Soundlab also bought the majority shares in NJD, they now own NJD entirely. The Original NJD M.D and Founder, Kevin Hopcroft is still doing well and running another Company, and I still deal with him.

star cloth with fibre optics is great by the way, but the thing is to use it BEHIND you !! ie, get a couple of stands with a long bar and attach the star cloth to it, looks good and covers up that nasty looking wall behind you ~ then you can definately get rid of the screens !!!!! i know of a source for fibre optic cables and light sources and the prices are reasonable so i wouldnt bother messing about with leds, not sure if this will get past the moderator but the company is called ***** based in ****, another place by the way where you can buy complete star cloths is ********* in ******* ( my place of birth as it happens ).

NO IT WON'T - BLATANT AD'S LIKE THIS ARE NOT CLEVER, THEY ALSO GET YOU BANNED

QUOTE

star cloth with fibre optics is great by the way, but the thing is to use it BEHIND you

Sounds like a waste using it behind you , who is ever going to see it once your main lighting rig powered up , I would use on the front of the stand , to hide the wires , and less screens to carry upstairs

Have just finised making a star cloth for the front of the show. It's 2mx1.5m the material was brought from a local supplier of sound/lighting and theatrical eqpt. (No chris not the one linked on my site....) it was £6.00+Vat p/m. The lamps where a set of LED christmas lights that i brought from B&Q last xmas for £9.99.

After reading this thread i thought i better get on and make it. I will use it for the 1st time tomorrow (Sat) and take some pics to upload somewhere.

Have a good weekend all

Rich
Top Trax Mobile Disco.

If anyone needed convincing that either screens or a star cloth, or at least SOMETHING, in front of the show was important...here is a picture I have which I've called "Wires" ...here's how not to do it.




The picture shows a mobile rig, with the usual assortment of mixers, CD decks etc...on a 4ft table, amps etc underneath...and wires, cables and leads...EVERYWHERE....

I went to a wedding (as a guest for a nice change) last year...nice swanky 4 star hotel...and then this turned up...(reserved apologies if the show in the picture is yours.... )

Lets face it...a £5 tablecloth off of the local market would have covered a multitude of sins. (maybe he should have bought it, intead of that "buy me a Guiness" T-shirt...?(probably a pub promotion..)

There were several toddlers at the gig (which you'd be forgiven for thinking was a meeting of the local Hands in pockets society ) and as you can see from the photo, the guests foot is almost on a lead already...

One spilt drink down the back of those floor amps could've been interesting.

Above all else...(although Safety is always paramount)...it looks a complete mess.

So...Phone Chris up with your credit/debit card now for screens, star cloths, ultimax stands etc right now... (maybe with the commission, he'll send me one of those tri-colour message boards.... ) (...or maybe not... )

QUOTE (Gary @ May 14 2003, 12:45 PM)

Lets face it...a £5 tablecloth off of the local market would have covered a multitude of sins.

even ask the function manager for a cloth, they are alweays keen to help, they would rather lend you a cloth the let the disco look like this

BTW:- I can do some very good deals on Tripod Style Goalposts, similar to the one in the Picture!!!.

What weight loading Chris and how much, I managed to bend one of them !!!!! (too much gear on it)

Max Safe loading is 50kg. Max Height 2.8M, Span:- 3M

Price £68.00 + Delivery

QUOTE

Max Safe loading is 50kg. Max Height 2.8M, Span:- 3M

Hiya Chris,
I don't s'pose it'd have any kind of mechanism to increase the height of the bar. once all the lighting's on? or do you have to set it to the required height and then attach the lighting?
Sorry if I already asked that when we were chatting a few days ago; I was doing a few other things at the same time as talking to you, and so some of our conversation is now a little sketchy
PS. I didn't get to see the star cloth frame today, that I was telling you about. However I'll probably see it 1 day next week. I'll let you know what it's like.

why all this talk of star cloths
having been djing for over 27yrs i have seen most things with regrds to lighting effects
i also remember a party a few years back where the bride n groom rented a star cloth from a hire outfit only to find when the said firm put it up it was knackered a broken lead in the cloth was responsible, remember most star cloth like effects are meant to be a permanent fixture
not to be folded or rolled up
you know the score gang your knackered you want to get home
you rush to pack away thats how star cloths get damaged

why not try what i use a 6ft x3ft banner made of the pvc stuff they use on wagons available in all colours lashed to the light stands giving the disco name ,phone no etc it covers right across the amp,cd rig etc no ugly cables on show any good sign maker will make you one make sure he puts rope eyelets in for the rope this is much more durable than a star cloth

regards

Yep - have seen a few mobiles with this PVC banner effect.

Depending on the text or logo, etc, it can be quite 'smart' to the eye.

Have you seen the UV effect ones? Brilliant with the UV cannon!

Good deals on UV canons shortly. (When I go back to "work")

400 Watt UV's inc Lamp for £95.00

LOL, Sorry I couldn'r resist sneaking that one in. Back to resting........

Well I eventually got hold of a star cloth, which I used last night for the first time, and it certainly made a difference.
I received a few comments along the lines of how professional & organised my show looked, from both some punters and also from the banqueting manager.
The one I got has a 6ft wide, 4ft high frame and the starcloth is velcroed on to it. It wasn't cheap, but seeing as that a few of the more prestigious venues in London are now demanding this, then it was necessary, but to be fair it does look extrememly smart, and gives a whole new touch to my show.
It only takes around 5 minutes to properly fold it away and pack the starcloth safely. The frame is all one unit; 2 side sections which ensure it stands up, and the top 8" section is at an incline, so no drinks can be placed on top of it, and also making it more difficult for people to lean on it. It takes less than a minute to fold the frame away.
I was at the Moor Park Golf Club in Rickmansworth. Those of you who have done the venue will know it's extrememly smart, and you're surrounded by 30ft high oil paintings; not the place to turn up with a Dave's doubledecks rig

That picture is truly appauling - even ripping the bedsheet of his bed and covering the table with it would have been better. However - just happened to notice those tables he is using - i use those sometimes and thyre fantastic - only cost £15 from a diy store. i was looking into those ultimax stands etc and wasnt prepared to spend all that money on something that wasnt what i wanted so i went for some of these tables - covered with a white / black tablecloth (depending on clour scheme / wedding or funeral etc lol) does the job fine..

What do u guys all use as a table / stand?

QUOTE

i use those sometimes and thyre fantastic - only cost £15 from a diy store. i was looking into those ultimax stands

I have that exact same table as well, bought from the local DIY

But its only used for Karaoke nights (sometimes)

I use the Ultimax stand for the Disco setups , with screens in front to hide wires etc,

just waiting to see what Chris comes back with on Starcloth prices to maybe replace the screens