Just thinking of the best way to transport a bunch of XLRs when we're out on location jobs. Thought some of you bright sparks will have some handy tips!

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http://www.loverslanestudios.co.uk

Garden hose reel http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7203659/c_1/1|category_ro ot|Garden+and+DIY|14418702/c_2/2|14418702|Garden+tools+and+accessories|14418733/c_3/3|cat_ 14418733|Garden+watering+and+hoses|14418742.htm sure you can find them cheaper without the hose. link the cables together and bobs yer uncle.

Quote lotek:

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Garden hose reel http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7203659/c_1/1|category_ro ot|Garden+and+DIY|14418702/c_2/2|14418702|Garden+tools+and+accessories|14418733/c_3/3|cat_ 14418733|Garden+watering+and+hoses|14418742.htm sure you can find them cheaper without the hose. link the cables together and bobs yer uncle.

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Not bad!

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http://www.loverslanestudios.co.uk

I have several of THESE

I just keep cables of the same length joined together on the same drum. Just peel them off as needed.

A plus point is that after a gig it's very easy for any 'willing volunteers' to wind them back onto the drum.

(From what I've seen this is the standard method of storage with BBC Local Radio engineers on Outside Broadcasts.)

HTH. Mike

There are two schools of thought.

One is to coil the cables individually in the approved over-under manner, plugging the XLRs together and tieing the coils with an old bootlace, velcro, (residue-free) tape or whatever, and then storing in a large box.

The other is to store them on a cable drum, connected end-to-end to form one long cable.

I much prefer the second option, and use three separate cable drums containing 5m, 10m and 20m cables respectively. I fitted a chassis male XLR to the side plate and wired that to a short tail with a female cable socket exiting from the centre core of the reel. This acts as the initial mating connection. With all the cables joined and wound on to the drum it then becomes possible to check the entire lot with a cable tester in one go to confirm everything is good to go. I wind the cables with the female end out so that the drum can be placed near the stage box and the cables pulled out across the stage to where they are needed.

A garden hose reel is a cheaper alternative, of course, but not quite as practical in some cases.

Hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Poyfect!

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http://www.loverslanestudios.co.uk

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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There are two schools of thought.

One is to coil the cables individually in the approved over-under manner, plugging the XLRs together and tieing the coils with an old bootlace, velcro, (residue-free) tape or whatever, and then storing in a large box.

The other is to store them on a cable drum, connected end-to-end to form one long cable.

I much prefer the second option, and use three separate cable drums containing 5m, 10m and 20m cables respectively. I fitted a chassis male XLR to the side plate and wired that to a short tail with a female cable socket exiting from the centre core of the reel. This acts as the initial mating connection. With all the cables joined and wound on to the drum it then becomes possible to check the entire lot with a cable tester in one go to confirm everything is good to go. I winde the cables with the female end out so that the drum is placed by the stage box and the cables pulled out across the stage to where they are needed.

A garden hose reel is a cheaper alternative, of course, but not quite as practical in some cases.

Hugh

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Interesting, I do not have to regularly transport cables anymore, but when I used to (and do) I coil them up individually and put them into large ziplock baggies and write the length of the cable on the baggie with permanent marker. In that way, if a cable starts to unravel for any reason, it has nowhere to go.

Reg

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Google less; read more!

I'm sure that approach works, but it must be more time-consuming and fiddly both to rig and de-rig.

Using colour-coded tapes or ties to secure the cable coils is just as effective a way of identifying cable lengths, or coloured cable glands on the XLR cables.

I actually use coloured glands on the shorter cables, and a different cable type on the longer ones, so it is easy for 'helpers' to recognise which cables belong on which reels in my rigs and derigs!

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

I find the separate ziplock bag per cable approach works rather well! I use clear bags, and no labels — I can tell by looking at it if it's one of my long or short cables (they're mostly one of two sizes anyway). Takes very little time to coil them up, once you're used to getting the coils the right size to fill the bag, and unpacking them when you're rigging is a doddle too.

The cables-on-a-drum idea is good for testing loads of cables at once though...

... You put in cables instead of groceries.

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PA stuff on FB

Heh I had to laugh at that, Guy! I wrap the in twist-free coils , fasten them with a chunk of LX (insulation) tape and bung them in a tray not unlike that suggesed or a Eurobox.

I'm using XLR leads for live performance events mostly, and I find the stage abuse, the beer and the "crew help" bad wrapping, to be by far the most significant factors in degrading cable integrity. Hugh's reels are a very good idea, but would take me forever to wrap, would give me limited flexibility over how many of each size I take, would take up too much weight and space in the van...

From a working XLR user -LX tape and a box are good enough, small velcro ties if you hate tape and don't do enough real work to notice the tape gunk over all the beer (I do actually wash my XLRs every month or so, dispicable little musos)

Buy a few Euroboxes and they'll last you years.

http://www.storage-solutions.co.uk/shop/BigImage.aspx?gw=3&m=352&i =12273&yy=Litre%20Plastic%20scissor%20security%20container


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planet nine
lincoln, uk.

Edited by Nathan (25/05/12 01:11 PM)