For those dj's who are working with pc's/laptops, do you use a UPS?
I did a marquee in a back-garden last saturday. My power supply was fed from the garage. Everytime someone went into the garage and turned the light on, my power was lost , problem was this happened about 4 times before we realised what was causing it.
I had a surge protector but not a UPS.
I know sod-all about them, so can anyone advise?

UPS - Don't they deliver on time ? - LOL

There was another thread on this Eskie with prices etc. if you look around you will find it failing that i'm sure chris knows what it was under.

Hi Spin, I tried a search, but any keyword search must have a minimum of 4 characters!
Chris, can you remember the thread this was on?

What would you do without me! - You lot are really going to miss me when I go on Holiday!

Try THIS THREAD

If you are quick..here is an unbeatable rack mount UPS bargain for the Mobile D.J. 1500VA UPS

Ive got an APC one that I 'aquired' from my last place of work not used it for DJing though, and its damn heavy.

Thanks for the link Chris..

I was highest bidder till some bugger outbidded me....

Will have to check back in a min to see if I won!

Knowing how these work...even if you go upto £150 Tonsk you will be getting a bargain . Yes it's 2nd hand, but they go for upto £500 new (non rack mount), and a Rack mount unit is a rare find at this price.

There is little inside them to go wrong, and if you ever need to repalace them, then I can point you in the direction of a very cheap battery supplier (Hark back to my days as a buyer )

Keep Bidding!....for the fact that it's a rackmount UPS alone is worth £150 to the D.J since you can flightcase it along with your gear and even pre-wire it all!.

.....and NO, before you ask i'm not the SELLER ...i'd have asked £200

QUOTE (Tonsk @ Jun 28 2003, 11:24 AM)

Thanks for the link Chris.. I was highest bidder till some bugger outbidded me.... Will have to check back in a min to see if I won!

Yeh Tonsk i see you won the item at a bargain price !!! well done

LOL I read about your bids this morning when I was online, I was sorely tempted to wack in a bid of £150 for myself, but I could'nt do it to a 'fellow forum member' how bads that????

QUOTE

I was sorely tempted to wack in a bid of £150 for myself, but I could'nt do it to a 'fellow forum member' how bads that????

Spin, that brings a tear to my eye... Honour amoung Thie, errr DJs.. Thats the right word!!

Yeah - all I can say is - SCORE.. £102 (plus £25 shipping!) just call me bargan man.. Well, dont - coz thats a bit of a sad name but you get my drift!!!

Will let you know when I get it and if it is working!

QUOTE

Will let you know when I get it and if it is working!

Did it arrive yet? any good?
I'm definitely gonna buy a UPS this week, after having problems with power supply again last night at a gig.
Just looking through a few sites trying to decide which would be the best one to get

Dum De Dum.........

*Cough* RACK MOUNT UPS LINK *cough*

Damn Damn and Drat! Like I'm gonna pick up from Cheshire!

Oh well back to the drawing board.

You could always ask somebody in Cheshire to pick it up for you and use his carrier to send it down to you.....Expenses covered of course

Know any good guys like that Chris ?

I'm sure i know somebody like that, but in the same week as Mrs Spins birthday? (She's a very expensive lady to keep)

Spin, you mean you haven't done a deal with the local hotel, supply of disco cheap for a free meal ?
Did it for my wife's 40th, did the disco a couple of years beforehand and kept on the deal on the backburner (v.posh restuarant, staff party on a Sunday night in January !)
Only trouble was she found out and it's not been forgotten since

I used to do that every year with each of my venues depending on which night of the week it was, trouble is I was too honest at the outset and told her, so her response is "thats more money to spend on a pressie"

Ah well !

Sorry about this boys, but I'm gonna be out of order an' actually get back on topic

There's a website called Scan which apparently is very competitive on pricing for PC products and they also supply info on products.
If you go to the 'Products' link, and then click the 'UPS' link, they have quite a few different types of UPS, some of which seem remarkeably cheap.

Chris, one that caught my eye is the "LN3476 700Va - Liebert - Powersure Personal XT UPS " which is priced at £86.36! I don't know enough about these products to know if there is a catch there somewhere or if it isn't really suited for my needs. I only wanna run my pc from it at gigs, and possibly the powered speakers, but I won't run the lighting from it, so won't need huge power.
What's your feeling on this?
I've also got my eye on a couple going on ebay at the moment, but I have my concerns about ebay similar to what you stated on another thread today.

Okay - basically "VA" and "W" are often regarded as being the same. However, when it comes down to the practical side you'll find thats its like the old "MAX" and "RMS" ratings on Amps and Speakers and that there is a difference.

When looking at loads you should always err on the side of caution and Watts is a far more accurate day to day figure than "VA", so always go for the "W" rating on any appliance, generator or calculating a load value.

My own calculations worked out that 700VA was actually around 530 Watts, however I noticed that on the spec they actually tell you the maximum load of this UPS is 430 Watts - far less than the (boastful) 700 VA rating.

Whilst okay for the average pentium computer, it isn't really that flexible for P.A Equipment. You could possibly just about run a 300W Amp and Mixer from it....at a push.

When working out your loads, assume that your 500W amplifier will not be drawing 500W of mains power, because it won't!. Amplifiers are not 100% efficient there are great losses in heat, circuitry etc which means that the average 500W Audio Amplifier will be drawing around 650W + from the Mains!.

I wouldn't recommend buying a UPS rated below 1000VA for any Audio Rig, and ideally 1200 - 1500VA should be considered as a minimum!.

I chose a rack mount UPS as a suggestion because UPS' are heavy, and mounted inside a flight case makes it easier for 2 people to carry. If mounted alongside your Amp etc, also makes it easy to leave permanently wired up, so you automatically know that the proper equipment is covered by the UPS, and not your fog machine or twister!.

I am assuming that you are running a full size PC & Monitor, I'll assume this and add it into my calculations:-

Pentium 4 PC running an average HD, Drives and PCI Cards - 200W

15" Monitor - 70W

200W Powered Loudspeaker - 325W (x2 = 650W)

Mixer - 23W

So already you have a requirement for 943W - which puts the 1500VA UPS a little closer to what is required.

well I've got one! I won a bid on ebay, it's not rackmounted, but it seems to be a good deal. You can view at POWERWARE UPS 1500VA +1500VA CAB=3000VA NEW
It will be more than enough for all my gear. Final price was £150.
Cheers for the help & advice Chris

LOL all you need now is a tow truck to carry the darn thing!