Re: Behringer LC2412 Lighting Desk - any new comments?


charles wrote:
> In article <H9WdnZ2f4-xRacneRVnysQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> David Lee <davidlee_malvern@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Gentlemen.

This is a reply to both of your posts.

Firstly Stage Electrics is about the most expensive place you could
possibly choose to hire your kit from.

There are plenty of other smaller hire companies around the country who
will do you much better prices and my comments were relating to that.

Secondly, OK, you buy a load of very cheap lighting kit and it may seem
a good buy compared to your hire costs.

But you won't still be telling me that in two or three years time when
all that cheap kit is broken and you either can't get spares or they
are costing you a fortune. Then you've got the lamp cost on top of that
and three quidish or so an item to have the stuff pat tested every
year.

I did say somewhere in this thread (I think) that buying old 123's and
refurbing them yourselves (if you have the skills and the time) is a
possible way to go. However if you haven't the skills and/or the time
(and many Am Drams won't) then it's not a viable option.

To buy kit that's going to last? - well you are looking at around the
£100 mark, possibly a bit more to buy a good quality new 500/650W
Fresnel. Then you've got (depending on which make you buy) the Hook
Clamp, Plugtop, safety bond and lamp.

So maybe £150 ish to have it up and going. More if you want barndoors.

Now I would hire you a similar lantern for £4.50 per week plus the
VAT. It would take you something around 28 weeks for it to be cheaper
to buy that unit - two weeks use a year for a small Am Dram means that
you have to keep that lantern going for 14 years to see your money
back. More if you count the cost of several new lamps for it and PAT
testing. Even if you do three weeks a year it's still 9 and a bit
years.

Then I'm ignoring the fact you've got to store it somewhere safe and
all the rest.

Seem Cheaper now?

Even your £40 cheapbie is probably going to have to last you longer
than it's likely life to pay for itself. Even more so a cheapbie
switchboard and dimmer racks.

Then there's the fact that technology will probably render it all
obsolete before you get enough use out of it anyway. The electricity
supply people will ban thyristor based dimming at some point in the
future in favour of sine wave, computer based anything only has a very
short shelf life and LED and other technologies are marching forward
very fast (and the price dropping) so it's dubious as to how many more
years what we now know as conventional lanterns will be about.

Agreed this will not happen in a year or so, but in ten or 14?

OK, disagree with me if you like. But keep a record of what you spend
'cause I'll put a fiver on me being right if we are all still here in
ten years time - hiring from a reasoanbly priced hire outlet will be
cheaper over a long perios and for low levels of use.

Andy

.

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