The big question here is what kind of work are you doing and how much does it pay right now? This will let you determine what you should buy and what you should rent.

As Scott mentioned, spend some time in rec.arts.movies.production-sound to get up to speed.




Neil Rutman wrote:

1. Portable DAT w/ timecode. Any good value options here?

I certainly wouldn't buy a DAT unless I had paying clients lined up to cover its cost in ~six months.

Unfortunately, the next step up right now is the Sound Devices 744T at around $4000. Fostex is promising timecode for the FR-2 but I don't think it's shipped yet.




2. Couple of telescoping booms. Where do I get these?

Location Sound Corporation, Coffey Sound (both are close to you, go spend some time with them)




3. Small Mackie Mixer

Maybe. Do you really need that many channels?




4. A sturdy cart with wheels

Maybe. What kind of work?



5. Several lavalier mics with transmitters and reciever(s). This is where
I'm really in the dark. What system can support several wireless mics
without frequency overlap and won't cost me an arm and a leg?

Sennheiser G2, at about $450 per channel plus a few outboard bits. But don't expect to get any work on 'real' shows with them.





6. I have a pretty extensive mic collection to go on the booms. What works
best for a boom application?

Schoeps MK41 or similar hypercardioid.



Is my DAT w/ time code recorder
gonna be in sync with the video during recording?

Maybe. There are a lot of variables involved.