[Don Pearce]

On Sun, 27 May 2007 00:31:46 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Don Pearce wrote:
What you do with mic cable is buy a reel and put a connector on each
end. When you just want a small amount, you don't unwind it. When you
want a lot, you unwind it. Easy.

You've not been involved much with mic cables, have you? ;-)

More than I care to say. Actually I would modify what I wrote. I
divide the reel into two, and make a stereo pair wound on the reel. I
unwind that as needed. I leave a few feet hanging out of the middle so
I can plug into the mixer easily.

Cable reels are a PITA - they take up far too much room - and long cables
are rarely needed anyway in my sort of job. If you had a long run you'd
use a snake since you'll likely need more than one circuit, even on a
basic single camera drama shoot.

The only drum I use regularly is for a stereo FX mic which gets run out
some way off. I use a single stereo cable on that - and tails to go
from a 5 pin XLR on the drum to the mixer. The reason for the drum is
simple - the cable gets filthy. ;-)

Your circumstances are different to mine. In a studio you can
generally just grab a cable of the right length for the job off the
rack and run it out. I don't have that kind of storage room, so all my
cables are as long as I think I will ever need them (although I did
have to join three end to end once). I don't want to store them in a
loose loop either - that takes too much space as well. So they live on
reels in a cupboard. Sure I could run them right off the reels when I
deploy them, but because they are long they would then be snaking all
over the floor.

So there is method in my madness - where needs must, you find the best
way.

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com