[SML] list policy question (and now, the meat)

*Hobbit* hobbit at avian.org
Fri May 10 03:43:16 UTC 2019


Well, okay, here goes...

I'm toying with the idea of selling off my wiggle lights, and would
entertain suggestions on sensible avenues to do so [and perhaps
offers?].  I hope this isn't too "commercial" for the list; it's
strictly a one-off idea.  Street prices on gear of this sort and
vintage seem all over the place, and I don't do ebay.

The Martin Roboscan 918 was top of the line back in its day, when
mirror-output scanning type moving lights were king of the clubs
and speedy flashiness was what wowed the audience.  I've owned four
of them since the early oughties, and believe I've gotten very good
bang for the buck from them in general.  But these days the events
and gigs I do that they were most suited for have changed or ceased,
so I'm considering finding a new home for these big ol' bad boys.

That's not an understatement, of course.  They weigh 80 pounds apiece,
with a monster linear ballast on the back.  I never really minded that,
but modern gear has gotten featherweight by comparison.  But they are
full-featured and wicked fast when you want bright beams and gobo-shots
slashing around your dance floor like nobody's business.  They're 575W
discharge lamps, so a bit farther up the energy-efficiency curve [and
the color temp curve, camera folks take note] than halogen.  At some
point I measured their open-white output around 9000 lumens.  Their
sliding mounting yokes/brackets allow for quite a bit of positioning
versatility; they are happiest hanging mirror-end-downward, and are
long enough in that orientation for their output to easily throw under
normally hung conventional units.

They were bought used from ALPS [now 4wall] back then, which would
seem to make trying to pass them back to usedlighting.com or the like
almost seem silly.  Each one has an individual roadcase that's been
modified to hold its unit a little better and allow storage/transport
in non-wheels-down orientations without damage.  I would probably rather
see some semi-local venue that's looking to get into a few movers on
the cheap be their next home, but I don't think I'd be too fussy about
it if there's interest somewhere.  Commercial shipping much beyond the
general Boston area [~ 100 miles?] would probably not be cheap, though
[maybe y'all know someone with a van/truck?]

A couple of other caveats.  One unit came with quite a few more usage
hours on it than the rest, but all are in good functional condition
and have been well cared for.  The microstepping that the motor drivers
do to hold position and fine-adjust does make an audible whine, which
in the case of a scanner with some of its highest-current motors running
out in the open under the mirror is hard to avoid.  Not for studios,
most likely!  As I received them they ran the "flipped" Martin-style
DMX polarity, but are now rejumpered to be the correct way [and I've
got a webpage showing that process].  They were relamped relatively
recently and I don't know the hours on those offhand, but sufficient
interest from somewhere in the community could make me go look into
that.  Oh, and most non-Martin desk fixture libraries have something
slightly wrong with the built-in personality/profile for these things.

They're currently in the storage facility of a Boston-local convention,
but I was intending to fetch them out soon.  Perhaps instead of to my
basement, delivery to a new owner who would enjoy more frequent use of
them would be an appropriate next phase of their life; they are anything
but ready for the scrapyard yet.

_H*




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