Nathan Seidle, the CEO of SparkFun Electronics visits Google in Mountain View. SparkFun Electronics was founded in 2003 by Nathan Seidle. Its first products were Olimex printed circuit boards. The name 'SparkFun' came about because one of the founders of SparkFun was testing a development board, and sparks flew out; Fun was chosen because the company's self-stated aim is to educate people about electronics. On Jan 7, 2010 SparkFun gave away 0000 worth of merchandise during "SparkFun Free Day", where each customer had a chance to get 0 worth of free items. This popular event lasted 1 hour 44 minutes and 47 seconds.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist
Good lighting is a main ingredient of a successful trade-show booth. Just the right lighting system can help an artist create the atmosphere of a fine-craft gallery. This will lure gallery owners off the isles and into your booth – the first step toward making a sale.
Lighting is a relatively expensive investment. So how does the budget-conscious artist find the right solution?
When it comes to choosing a lighting system, artists new to the trade show circuit often become overwhelmed. Prices vary wildly, and each convention center may have its own lighting rules. Lighting technology is changing rapidly, making the choices harder still.
This article details what I learned while tackling the challenge of lighting my 10’X10’ booth at the American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE), a large wholesale show for American and Canadian craft artists. As I am new to trade shows, this information is meant only as a pointer for artists in the process of choosing lighting, and perhaps also for more seasoned artists looking to update their systems.
In examining many different lighting options, my objective was to illuminate my glass jewelry beautifully but inexpensively. I wanted the lights to be lightweight and modular, to fit in boxes for shipping to the show. I was looking for contemporary styling, in silver or black. And I wanted to have at least one special lighting effect – not too flashy – to give my booth a unique element.
In his CD on booth design, art business consultant Bruce Baker suggests 1,000 watts will light up a 10’X10’ booth very effectively. I decided to stay at or under 500 watts, however, because the ACRE show includes 500 watts with the booth price, and the halogen lighting I ultimately decided upon illuminates my displays very well. Since I bought the lights at a “big-box” store with sites in virtually every city in the U.S., I can add more lights once I’m at the trade show if necessary.
The Battle of the Bulb
Contractors Choice Lighting (www.ccl-light.com) says a light fixture is simply a “bulb holder.” The bulb, therefore, should drive one’s choice of a fixture. This is somewhat true for trade-show lighting, although the fixtures may dictate the types of bulbs, depending on the choices available at the store where one shops for the lights. The CCL website offers a “Bulb Photometrics” page ([http://ccl-light.com/photometrics.html]), whose graphical representation is a refreshing departure from the complex descriptions of lighting options that have proliferated on the web.
Halogen is the bulb of choice for many trade show exhibitors. It offers a crisp, white light. Although people commonly refer to halogen as non-incandescent, it is in fact a kind of incandescent lamp. It generates light by using a thin filament wire made of tungsten, heated to white by passing an electric current through it. According to General Electric, the first halogen lamp was developed in 1959 – not too long ago for many of us!
Halogen bulbs differ significantly from the traditional type of incandescents we grew up with. The halogen bulb’s filament is surrounded by halogen gases (iodine or bromine, specifically). These gases let the filaments operate at higher temperatures. The end result is a higher light output per watt.
The gases also do something rather miraculous: Tungsten tends to evaporate off the filament over time, and the gases actually help re-deposit the tungsten onto the filament. This extends the bulb’s life way beyond that of the traditional incandescent bulb, whose evaporated tungsten clings to the walls of the bulb like a smoky apparition and eventually the uncoated filament snaps. Who hasn’t rattled a burnt-out light bulb and enjoyed the jazzy cymbal sound of the broken filament inside?
In addition to giving off more light than traditional incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs emit a whiter light that provides better color rendition. “For highlighting and bringing out true colors, use halogen lamps,” suggests USA Light and Electric’s website (www.usalight.com). “Nothing looks better than the drama brought in with halogen lamps.”
Baker also suggests halogen lights – floodlights in particular – for a contemporary look, especially for jewelry and glass. It’s important to consider that other fine craft materials such as ceramics and wood might be better enhanced with halogen spotlights, or even with some of the more traditional incandescent lights that emit a warmer color.
Having decided upon halogen lighting, my next task would be to choose bulbs. The ACRE show takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has instituted a strict halogen lighting policy. Each light cannot exceed 75 watts, and all halogen bulbs must be factory sealed in glass (not in a removable lens or linear shape).
Thankfully, there is plenty of factory-sealed halogen lighting, in the form of PAR halogen bulbs. PAR is an acronym for “parabolic aluminized reflector.” PAR bulbs have a built-in reflecting surface made of pressed glass. The glass provides both an internal reflector and prisms in the lens for control of the light beam.
PAR bulbs are numbered, as in PAR 16, PAR 20, PAR 56. The PAR number refers to the bulb shape. Bulbs.com has a halogen section of the site where you can quickly compare the various PAR bulbs visually. Within a given category of PAR bulbs there are various wattages, wide and narrow spotlights and floodlights, different base sizes, and even different colors.
Fortunately I was able to skip the process of deciding on a PAR bulb by deciding first where to shop for my lights (more on that below).
Power Issues
When you go to shop for track lights, you’ll notice there’s a choice between 12-volt and 120-volt fixtures. 120 is the standard voltage that comes directly into most homes and offices – and convention centers.
For a lamp using 120 volts, no additional parts are necessary beyond a regular socket. 120-volt fixtures generally are lighter than 12-volt fixtures because they don’t need a transformer. They also cost less and can use halogen or regular incandescent bulbs.
I stopped short of investigating 12-volt fixtures, except to find out that they step down the amount of energy being used to a lower voltage, and thus are more energy efficient. They require a transformer to convert the 120-volt household current to 12 volts, and they may require hardwiring (although one artist I know found a 12-volt fixture with a built-in transformer which she was able to plug into a 120-volt outlet. A 12-volt fixture accommodates very efficient bulbs that offer a variety of wattages and beam spreads, including the 50-watt MR-16, which is popular in galleries.
I decided on 120-volt lighting for the trade show, because I wouldn’t have to worry about transformers and could just plug it in.
Choosing a Store and Track Lighting
I read the ACRE online forum for clues about where to buy lighting. What one artist said struck me as eminently sensible: He buys all his lighting at Home Depot, because if anything goes wrong at the show, he can find a store nearby for replacement parts.
This was something to consider: Tempting as the gorgeous designs might be, special-order lighting of any kind introduces the risk of having a malfunctioning light for the duration of a show.
Another artist on the ACRE online forum said he buys his lights from Lowes. It probably doesn’t matter which big-box store one chooses, as long as there’s one in every city.
Since I was new to trade shows and this was to be my first lighting kit, I resisted choosing from the many good suppliers on the web. I settled on the limited but attractive selection at Lowes. A side benefit of this was that my choices were comfortably narrowed.
Within the category of halogen lighting, you can get either track lights or stem-mounted lights (with arms extending outward). I went with track lights. This was partly because the stem lights I found on the web were relatively expensive and Lowe's didn’t offer them, and partly because with track lights I could have one cord instead of several hanging down.
The Lowes lighting salesperson was helpful in putting together a full package from the track lighting on display and in stock. I decided on four, two-foot tracks to keep the size of my shipping boxes down. Here’s a rundown of what I bought:
· 4 two-foot track sections, Portfolio brand, black finish, Item #225678. Each section holds 2 lights, for a total of 8. Total: .12
· 8 Flared Gimbal Track Lights, Portfolio brand, Item #120673, with a satin chrome finish for a contemporary look. They are easy to attach to the track by following the directions. Total: .76
· 8 halogen bulbs, Par 20, 50-watt, for bright, crisp light. I bought several floodlights and a couple of spotlights. The bulbs are very packable, at a little over 3” long and 2.5” in diameter. Total: .00
· 2 Miniature Straight Connectors by Portfolio, Item #120716, for joining two of the track sections end to end. The idea is to have only one cord to plug in from a row of four lights. Total: .92.
· 2 Cord and Plug Sets, Portfolio brand, Item #120827, to power track from a standard AC wall outlet. I connected these to the end of the two of the track sections by unscrewing the covering on one side of the track. Total: .06
· Various Multi-Purpose Ties (cable ties), by Catamount, for attaching tracks to booth pipes. Total: .00
· 2 heavy-duty extension cord/power strips – 14-gauge, 15-feet, with three outlets each, Woods brand, from Lowe’s, Item #170224, model 82965. Total: .00
Grand total: 3.86
The Gimbal lights I chose only accept a 50-watt, PAR 20 bulb, which made it easy to pick out the bulbs. So in this case, the fixture drove the choice of bulb, not the other way around.
According to the Bulb Photometrics page at Contractors Choice Lighting, a PAR 20, 50-watt halogen flood bulb will emit a beam of light with a 5’4” diameter when it reaches 10 feet away. It offers about 12 foot-candles worth of light at 10 feet away from the bulb (a foot-candle is the level of illumination on a surface one foot away from a standard candle.)
For the sake of comparison, a PAR 30 beam offers a diameter of more than 8’ at 10 feet away, and you still get about 14 foot-candles at that distance. What happens if you notch it up to a 75-watt bulb? You get a lot more foot-candles (38) at 10 feet away. This suggests that larger trade-show booths might want to take advantage of higher PAR and higher watt bulbs.
All together, the track lighting system I chose uses 400 watts of electricity. This left me another 100 watts to add specialty or accent lighting to my booth, while still remaining at the 500-watt limit.
Cords, Plugs and Hanging Lights
The Las Vegas Convention Center has very strict rules for cords, plugs, and hanging lights.
The two-pronged, 18-gauge cords that the manufacturer has attached to your lights are acceptable (leave the UL tags and labels intact). These lighting cords cannot be plugged into the convention center outlet, however. Instead, you must plug them into a three-pronged, heavy duty, 14-gauge extension cord – or a breaker strip with a 14-gauge cord. You can then plug that 14-gauge extension cord into the convention center outlet.
A 14-gauge extension cord is capable of handling 1,825 watts. It’s helpful to read the brief extension-cord sizing and safety information on the web pages of the Underwriters Laboratories (www.ul.com/consumers/cords.html) and the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service ([http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY800]) before purchasing a cord.
Bruce Baker suggests the cord be 20 feet with six outlets, and that it include a cord reel. I couldn’t find this type of cord at Lowe’s, so I decided on two 15-foot, heavy-duty, 14-gauge extension cord/power strips, each offering three outlets. If you have a larger booth, you can find a 25-foot cord with three outlets at Lowe’s.
There are so many different approaches to hanging lights, and so many variables to consider, that it could be a topic for another article. In general, you can hang or clip lights onto a cross bar or onto the “hard walls” of your display if you have them. Depending on the rules of a particular trade show and the size your lighting system, you may be permitted to attach the lights to the booth’s existing pipe and drape.
Since my booth design does not include my own walls, my lights will attach either to the existing pipe or to a cross bar. Cable ties (commonly called “zip ties”) appear to be tool of choice for attaching tracks to the pipes or bars, and even for attaching additional cross bars to existing pipe and drape. One artist I know uses Velcro strips, followed by cable ties to secure the attachments. There are a few entire websites for cable ties. One of them is http://www.cabletiesplus.com .
I purchased Multi-Purpose Ties from Home Depot. They can bundle 4 inches in diameter, withstand temperatures up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, and hold up to 50 lbs.
Accent Lighting: LEDs
There are many ideas for accent lighting – although a fair treatment of the topic is beyond the scope of this article. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is one technology that is experiencing breakthroughs and growing fast. It takes many LEDs to equal the light output of a 50-watt bulb, and LEDs are fairly expensive, so LEDs aren’t ready for prime time when it comes to lighting a whole booth.
There are several close-up applications for LEDs, however, that are worth looking into now. An example is the in-counter light bar sold by MK Digital Direct at http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com (at a whopping 5 per foot). The more affordable MK Sparkle Light Pocket () is a portable device that has extra long-life of over 100,000 continuous hours and promises to give jewelry “maximum sparkle and scintillation.”
The Nexus mini LED light system (www.ccl-light.com), meanwhile, offers a lot of illumination for its size – a puck shape not much bigger than a quarter. The company says it is for direct display lighting of crystal and glass, and it can even be submerged in water. The light is attached to a 12’ cable that ends in a plug, and has “mode switch” with seven different color choices. Unfortunately, white is not one of the color choices, and at it’s a bit expensive. Still, a few of these lights combined with room lighting could draw viewers into your booth and toward your most dramatic displays.
LEDS also include tube lights, flexible lights, linear lights, and bulbs. Superbright LEDs (www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html ) has a collection of 120-volt screw-in LED bulbs for accent and other low-lighting applications, as well as a host of other fascinating products such as “plant up-light fixtures.”
At this writing, the search was still on for accent lighting to give my booth an extra special glow. Stay tuned for a future article on the results.
Online Resources
The following list is not an endorsement, but rather a starting point for research on lighting systems, cable ties, and accent lighting.
http://www.ccl-light.com - inexpensive and many choices, has “Bulb Photometrics” page to help determine how much light and what kind you want from a bulb
http://www.direct-lighting.com - stem-mounted and track lights
http://www.usalight.com - large selection of lighting and bulbs
http://www.bulbs.com - quick visual comparison of PAR bulbs (in halogen section)
http://www.cabletiesplus.com - Cable (zip) ties for securing track lights to pipe
http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com - LED lights for jewelry cases
http://www.american-image.com/products/lights/lights.html - a nice selection and visual layout of stem-mounted and other lighting (but not cheap)
http://www.brightmandesign.com/products/wash-super.html - good technical information and images of lights set-ups for trade shows; several stem-mounted clip-on designs
http://www.superbrightleds.com - LED accent lighting, including screw-in bulbs and light bars
Friday, December 9, 2011
ET2 Lighting E57922AL ET-LED-LP Sereis Energy Smart 1 Light Kitchen Cabinet Light in Aluminum
!±8± ET2 Lighting E57922AL ET-LED-LP Sereis Energy Smart 1 Light Kitchen Cabinet Light in Aluminum
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Kitchen Cabinet Light in Aluminum from the ET-LED-LP Sereis Collection by ET2 Lighting. Dimensions: 0.50 H 3.35 W 7.00 L
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Understanding the Light Bulb Choices
When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, chances are he never dreamed that his "simple" invention would be developed into the myriad of styles and sizes used today. However, like many other great inventions of years gone by, time and advancing knowledge has brought about an abundance of changes to make a once basic product into an entire industry. Today, store shelves are lined with a variety of light bulbs that range in size from minuscule LEDs to large bulbs used to spotlight signs and buildings.
Consequently, buying light bulbs is a bit more involved than merely picking up a package of light bulbs at your local home improvement center or superstore. Today' consumers need to be able to recognize what the many types of lighting offer. To help out, here are some basic descriptions and uses of the various choices in lighting.
Incandescent lights are perhaps the most common type of light bulb; they produce steady light, can be used with a dimmer switch and can last anywhere from 700 to 1,000 hours. These bulbs are also called the Edison Bulb as they have been in use for over 150 years. General Service Bulbs (A and PS) lights are also grouped with incandescent bulbs, are fairly common and are used for traditional home lighting, ceiling fans, and appliances. They range from 200 to 1500 watts. Fluorescent bulbs work on the premise of a current passing through a tube filled with argon gas and mercury. They will typically last anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 hours. Fluorescent lighting is best used for large areas where little detail work will be done. However, many new lighting styles are being made today, that are designed for the florescent bulbs making them ideal for use all throughout the home. Some of the choices include under the counter florescent lighting or specialized lighting for artwork. However, most florescent lighting cannot be used with dimmers. LED lights (light emitting diodes) are one of the new kids on the block. They are known for their exceptionally long lifespan and low use of power. They are gaining in popularity and many believe it will not be long before the LEDs replace standard bulbs in home and the work place. In fact, they are already being used in a variety of decorative lighting designs, as well as for Christmas tree lights and decorations. Halogen lighting is a variation of incandescent light but uses a chemical reaction to produce light. This reaction makes the lights brighter than the standard incandescent as well as more efficient and a longer lifespan. However, one should note that the glass part of the halogen bulb should not be touched with one's hand as this weakens the bulb and can cause it to burst. Other disadvantages of the halogen bulbs are that they are more expensive and produce more heat when lighting up a room, which in some cases can result in fire.
Little Folks Simmons Crib Review Old Gringo Razz Boots Ideas
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
10-75 Emergency Lighting West Amwell Fire Company 2008 Chevy Tahoe
West Amwell Fire Company 2008 Chevy Tahoe Sound-Off Pinnacle Exterior lightbar w/ TD's and alley lights Sound-Off Pinnacle Interior lightbar w/ TD's Sound-Off Ultralite 8 in grille Sound-Off LED Inserts DRL's and foglights Sound-Off Predator 2's surface mount on front bumper Sound-Off Ghost surface mount on mirror Sound-Off Ghost surface mount on running boards Sound-Off XP63's in rear side windows Sound-Off Ultralite 12 in rear window Sound-Off LED Inserts in taillights Sound-Off Raptors on hatch (4) Sound-Off Ghost's mounted under brake light Whelen "OS" series custom installed on hatch edge Back-up lights Train Horns Custom front console 10-75 Multi-plex Electrical System 10-75 Voltage Management System Install of 2 customer supplied radios Re-lettering of vehicle to Dept. specs Whelen 295SLSA1 siren (2) Whelen 100 watt siren speakers Uniden Bearcat scanner 10-75 Custom Command Box featuring: 10-75BACKdraft backlit command board 10-75 Command System TOUGHcoat finish
Friday, November 25, 2011
Review of the Denon DN-D4500 Professional Dual Cd Player
Denon DN-D4500 dual rack mount CD-deck
Several years ago Denon released the DN-4000, the predecessor to the new DN-D4500. The 4000's 2 rack units + 2 rack units "fit anywhere" design, together with its reputation of a simple to use, easy to rely on, audio workhorse meant that it got, and gets used and abused in thousands of venues worldwide.
The new DN-D4500 has built upon the popularity of its predecessor and added extra features to it, for little or no difference to the retail price. MP3 users especially will enjoy being able to do almost anything with an MP3 disc that they can do with shop bought audio CD's - and more besides.
DJ's everywhere will be pleased to find out that user choice and preference plays a trump card in this and other Denon CD-decks.
Drawer closer...and closer.
It's a bit of a tease, but lets start with the DN-D4500 drawer unit. A standard 19inch rack mount unit, measuring only 2 rack units high, with two proper opening/closing drawers. The power button is recessed into the front panel of the unit, and is protected by an effective hood, which prevents you off'ing the power accidently while leaning forward over your gear to talk to that Tracy who keeps asking for R'n'B all night, but can't name any R'n'B artist or track.
Whilst talking of drawers however, isn't it fun when you accidentally eject a disc whilst its playing. No, it isn't really, is it. The DN-D4500 not only has the semi-common safety feature to ignore the drawers open/close buttons whilst the CD in that drawer is currently playing, but can also be set to ignore the Track Select control during disc play too, saving you from the embarrassment of silence followed by the even more embarrassing sound of jeering, which will be engraved into your brain if you've ever accidentally changed tracks mid-play.
Another, albeit less embarrassing event is getting a CD, your fingers, your headphone cable, roadie etc trapped in a closing CD drawer, or worse still walking into a CD drawer that's been left open. To counter these potential nasties, the DN-D4500 drawers close automatically after so many seconds; how many seconds...aha...you choose! How? Well, remember above that I mentioned choice? You can choose an Auto-close time on the CD-drawers, so if you've been rammed into a tiny corner between the 12 piece band and the fruit machine, and space is tight, you can set the auto-close time to 10 seconds, so its open for less time. Elsewhere, where space isn't so tight but, quick disc changes are required at short notice like when the Bride insists on "Girls just wanna have fun...NEXT !!!, you might prefer the drawers stay open for 30, 60 seconds or just never close on their own - eagerly waiting to gobble your disc. Like all Denon Presets - your settings are remembered from gig to gig - even after the units unplugged from the power - more on Presets later.
The drawers have a slightly recessed dish in the middle of the drawer, probably your CD-rom drive drawer has one too - go on, have a look.... did it? Oh ok, good. This allows the unit to play the promotional/cutesy 8cm discs without some risky flimsy plastic adaptor, as well as the industry standard 12cm discs.
Waiter?! The menus please.
Just like on the drawer Auto-closing times mentioned previously - Overall there are over a dozen features in the DN-D4500's Presets, which with other CD-decks, you're just stuck with the factory-fitted settings each and every time you switch on. Would you rather your DN-D4500 show you the Remaining time left on a playing track, rather than Elapsed time (I know I would...I know whether I've got enough time to dash to the loo and back before the track ends)?, and you'd rather the CD paused automatically when it reaches the end of each track, rather than playing the beginning of the next track through the fader that you accidently haven't faded out yet? You'd like your Denon display to flash a warning when theres only XX seconds of track left to play, and you'd like your DN-D4500 to remember all these settings gig after gig, without you re-adjusting them every time...you can!... That's the beauty of Denons Preset Menus.
"C'mon, C.mon...oh yeah, quicker, quicker, c'mon...LOAD!"
Also good for quick changes, is the ability which the DN-D4500 shares with most of the current Denon CD-decks, of allowing you to select the track number AS you're putting the disc in the player, not just after the disc has entered the CD-deck, loaded the CD's track info and spun-up etc. True, whilst leaving your hands free'd up instantly to move over to your mic and/or mixer, this feature may only save you 5~10 seconds during a last minute change of mind (or change of disc), but then what does 5 seconds of silence sound like - as far as your audience is concerned?
Each of the two drawers has an open/close button and a super bright LED mounted above each drawer to illuminate the loading area. However...Not even these hyper bright blue LED's are going to help when you're trying to read your self-adhesive CD-label with 250 MP3 track listings printed on it in font size 2.5 ... Lets talk MP3's
MPfree and easy
Whilst some other manufacturers have turned their backs on the format for as long as they could, there's no doubt that Denon have embraced MP3 as a valid and workable DJ medium. The DN-D4500 incorporates the same MP3 library feature that Denons other, top-end CD-decks boast giving you the ability to search all the MP3 tracks on a CD in Alphabetical order, by either Artist Name, or Song Title. Simply press the (now standard) Parameters Knob on the Denon for two seconds to enter the Search mode, and choose whether you'd like to search the CD by Artist Name or Song Title.
With an MP3 disc loaded, featuring a load of disco favourites, Lets say we choose Artist name. On screen is Abba - Dancing Queen. Turning the parameters knob gives me "Abba - Fernando", "Abba - Waterloo", "Amy Grant-Baby Baby", "Anastasia - Left Outside Alone", and back round to Dancing Queen. Now, If I turn the parameter knob whilst pushing it in, I get the B's, the C's, the D's etc... If I take it up to "T" for example, let go the display shows "Tiffany - I think we're alone now", "Tight Fit-The lion sleeps tonight", "Tight Fit-Back to the sixties", "T Rex - I love to boogie" etc... Easy. When the track that I want to play, is on the display, I simply press the large illuminated "CUE" button, the display says "Searching" for a few seconds - then the Cue button lights up steady, and the track is cued at the beginning, or can be cued manually to any point.
How do they do that? (I'm sorry, I hyphen a clue!)
Does this stunning MP3 search feature require any pre-planning, or some clever Database to be stored on the disc - well, nope - not really. All you need to do is make sure that the filenames of the tracks which you're burning to CDR are in the format of artist name then song title, separated by a hyphen - that's a minus sign to you roadies out there! Eg: "James Blunt-You're beautiful.mp3". That's nice and easy and the only problem that I've found with this is if you have artist names with hyphens in them. So, if you had "Murder on the dancefloor" stored in the format of Artist name-song title, you'd end up with an artist called "Sophie Ellis", and a track called "Bexter-Murder on the dance floor", not too much of a problem as you'd be able to find it under the "S" artist names, and I'm sure that Sophie wouldn't mind you missing the minus out of her name.
Obviously, tracks can also be selected on ordinary audio CD's by number eg: "Track 12" or "Track 16" etc... but, the Denon makes accessing these tracks easier too. Turning the Track select knob (with a soft click every few degrees) steps you forward, or backward through the track numbers 1 track per click at a time, however, pushing the Track select knob down while turning it, steps you through 10 tracks per click. Audio CD's with CD-text on them, will have their Album and Track text scrolled across the main display.
Constantly Variable, or variably constant?
If I were to ask you how many building blocks would be need to be placed end-to-end to reach from one end of a room to the other, you'd ask what size the blocks are. If I said "variable" you'd only be able to make a rough, approximate guess as to the answer - the same goes for Variable Bit Rate Recording - a problematic format, with only an 11% to 25% average space saving on a CDR costing 4 pence a piece.
So, when copying your entire vinyl, cassette tape, and CD singles collection onto recordable CDRs or CDRW's (The DN-D4500 is equally happy with Recordable and Re-writables disc), do yourself plenty of favours for now and the future, by only choosing Constant Bit Rate encoding (CBR), rather than Variable Bit Rate (VBR) Recording, on your CD-recording software. Features relating to precision timing such as Manual (frame by frame) searching within a track, accurately editable Seamless Loops, accurate remaining track/disc time etc all need Constant Bit Rate formats. So, stay constant on your encoding now, and you wont regret it later, with either this, or other models. Using VBR can save you between 11~25% capacity (depending on the tracks musical content), but CDR's are so cost effective now, that burning 100 discs instead of 75 will cost you only a £2.50 more in blank CDR costs.
Delivery Bay - yep, 'round the back.
On the rear of the 2 rack unit high (88mm without its rubber feet) drawer unit, are a captive (can't fall out) power lead, a multi-pin socket for the connection to the Main control unit, a red and a white phono/RCA socket for the left deck, a red and a white phono/RCA socket for the right deck. Each deck also has an orange digital out socket running at -6db of normal output, for distortion-free connection to the ever increasing number of mixers with digital inputs.
"Don't get me started!...oh go on then"
The DN-D4500 is also blessed with a standard 3.5mm stereo jack fader start socket for each deck, meaning that you can have your chosen track start up instantly, the moment that you move the crossfader or channel fader on mixers equipped with the fader start function - a handy feature for when you're already juggling a microphone, a request slip, and a mixer fader.
Back to the Front:
Ok, enough teasing. We're onto the main front panel. At only 62mm deep (+ 18mm if you keep the rubber feet on), and only 2 rack units (88 mm) high the control panel should fit effortlessly into the top slanted section of any DJ console or flight case - or of course above or below a 19inch wide DJ mixer.
As with all current Denon dual CD Players, the controls for the left deck are identically laid out when compared to the controls for the right hand deck - not mirror imaged as I've seen on some units - that was a little too confusing, even for me. (Ooohh? Who said "Especially for you?" cheeky!).
Dots and Dashes.
To enable a minimum number of buttons to operate and adjust the plethora of features offered by the unit, four of the buttons have two functions on them. A brief press of the button gets you the feature labelled with a dot in front, a 2 second press gets you the feature labelled with a dash. Thankfully, Denon have thought carefully about which functions need a full 2 seconds to access them, and which actions you need to be able to perform instantly. For example, a low priority function, like seeing how many Hours, Minutes, and Seconds you've got left to play on the CD, or adjusting your favourite presets, is a 2 second press. Important buttons, which need rapid/instant control, such as ermmm PLAY!!! Is instant (and internally illuminated, handy as we work in the near-dark). The Cue button is also illuminated. Both buttons are large, rubbery, have a good tactile feel and a reassuringly deep travel - rather than the flush metal "Lift call" type buttons found on some other units.
The largest control on the panel is the Search wheel, which allows you to move back and forth through the frames of a track to accurately find your perfect cue point, just like a mini vinyl record. This same control also acts as a pitch bend when the track is playing, enabling you to nudge the track a little faster, or dab down the track a little slower to match beats with another track when beat mixing. For those DJ's who prefer to do their Pitch bending with buttons, two tactile Pitch Bend buttons (+ and -) are featured on the panel also.
Around the outside of the Search Wheel is the Scan Collar. Which, when you're cueing up a track, allows you to jump quickly forwards or backwards by a so many seconds. How many seconds? What works best for you? 1 minute jumps, 10 seconds jumps...sorry, I'm teasing again... the DN-D4500 Preset menu, mentioned earlier, allows you to preset how big you want the jumps to be, 10seconds? 20? 30? 1minute? You choose - and it remembers your choice, gig after gig after gig - until you want to change that setting, which takes seconds.
Operating the scan collar is a little like holding the lid of a jam jar, a nudge a few degrees clockwise jumps you forward, a nudge a few degree anti-clockwise jumps you backwards. Get roughly where you want to get to using the scan collar with your own personal preset jump times, then home in to the exact frame that you need, using the inner search wheel. Thanks to the user-adjustable jump steps, fast accurate cueing doesn't get much quicker than this.
Sales Pitch
The DN-D4500 two pitch sliders (one for each deck) are pretty much the full height of the 2U high control panel, and confirm to the usual layout of Zero in the middle, slide down for faster, slide up for slower. How fast and how slow? Again this is adjustable to the DJ's preference and musical needs, using a 2 second press of the button marked "Key Adjust/Pitch Range". The pitch range is selectable between +/-4% for easy precision where the tracks you're mixing are close in BPM terms, 10% (a happy medium), 16% (for those tracks where their BPMs differ a lot, also 24%, and even 50% and 100% (The only way to play the Birdie Song, or Opps upside your head).
For the beatmixers among you, who like to keep long running mixes held in sync for ages, you'll be interested in knowing that the pitch increments are 0.1% at pitch ranges up to +/-16%, and 1% increments at the higher pitch ranges.
Chipmunking vocals at high pitches and Darth Vader vocals at slow speeds is avoided by a very smooth "Key Adjust" system (which some my know as "Master Tempo". This feature is simply switched on, or off from a brief press of the Pitch Range button and can even be set in the units Presets, to come on as default everytime you power up, which saves any nasty surprises on your first mix of the night.
For momentary increases/decreases in the speed of the track that's playing, eg: when getting two beatmatched songs into sync with each other, there are Pitch + and - buttons provided, which are progressive, eg: The longer you keep your finger on them, the more effect they have on the playing speed. When you're using a pitch range between 4% and 24%, the pitch bend buttons offer +/- 32% bend, at higher pitch ranges you get +/-99% which can lead to some very interesting effects.
Here we go loopy-loop...
The DN-D4500 boasts two seamless loops - that's more than most CD-decks, not quite as many as its bigger brothers, and definitely the right amount for convenience and remix-ability for most mobile situations. Unlike a mere sampler, the seamless loops can be of any length - not just so many seconds.
For the uninitiated a seamless loop is simply a feature where you can set a beginning point and an end point in a track, which will then play over and over again, without a gap, or break in the music. This practice has got a number of big benefits to mobile DJ's and Remix DJ's alike. With Seamless loops you could loop the short instrumental intro of a song, giving yourself as much "talk-time" as you need to announce the guest of honour, the current bar promotion that the landlord wants you to plug, the reminder to the guests about signing the bride and grooms guestbook, make fun of that blokes day-glo tie etc,etc.
You could also use the 2nd seamless loop to make the middle couple of minutes of a popular audience favourite last even longer - just think, 6 minutes of Amarillo?, 8 minutes of Dancing Queen?...It's like being able to change any of your "radio edits" into 12inch extended mixes - without all that wishy washy instrumental breakdown three-quarters of the way through. Just be sure to call an ambulance first if you're going to try 12 minutes of "Lets Twist Again" at the local Old Peoples Home Xmas Dinner Dance...
When you (or your audience) are ready to exit the loop, press Loop Exit (at any time, it doenst have to be "on-the-beat") and the remainder of the track will carry on, seamlessly (of course), as if you'd never looped any of the track at all.
Off to a Hot Start.
The A1 and A2 buttons which you use to set the beginning of each loop, can also be used without looping - simply to let you set a point where you want to be able to jump forward (or back) to, instantly and seamlessly. For example, you might want to play a very recognisable beginning of a popular track and then when the first chorus comes up, instantly jump to the last chorus - thereby allowing you to effectively shorten a song, enabling you to finish bang on-time, much to the delight of that creepy hall caretaker who hovering by the main hall light switches waiting for 11:59:59...
Miss Jones? Take A memo.
Now, once you've got your cue point (avoiding that boring bit at the beginning of the song), your one or two seamless loops, or maybe a couple of Hot Starts, wouldn't it be a shame for all your meticulous settings for that track to be lost...well? yes it would really. So...Thankfully the DN-D4500 has 1000 memo points which will store all this information for you. The next time you insert a CD (in either drive) which you saved memo points for, the DN-D4500 will ask you "Memo Call?". If you press "yes" then the unit will set up the cue points, seamless loops, and hot starts for you, just the way you left them.
Memo points can also be deleted manually if required - for example, if a client lends you their shop bought original CD of their favourite artist and you've wanted to set specific cue points up for some of the tracks, you can delete the memo points for those tracks once you've finished playing those tracks. You can also delete blocks of 200 memos at a go too if required.
Conclusions:
Overall, the Denon DN-D4500 promises to be every bit the rugged workhorse that its much respected predecessor, the DN-D4000 has proven to be. Taking up a space of just 4 rack units, and weighing in at 13lbs 7oz (6.2kg) for the drawer unit, and 4lbs 2oz (1.9kg) for the control unit, any club or mobile disco should be able to fit this easy-to-use machine in almost anywhere.
This is very much the type of machine that anyone could walk up to and start playing music from. The 4500's adoption of Denons user-definable presets, give you a great sense of this being your cd-player, and make using the unit both convenient and more natural - avoiding that feeling you get when you just "know" that someone else has adjusted your car seat and mirrors, and you then have to spend vital time re-adjusting things from the factory "norm".
For DJ's looking at saving transportation and venue space, (and their spines), this really is the entry level for superb MP3 track handling, especially the MP3 Artist/title search system - a feature previously unheard of on any dual deck.
The 1000 memo points too mean that whilst you've still got full artistic control over cue points, hot starts and seamless loops, you can save your efforts and save yourself time setting up tracks that your audiences enjoy, without risking the sporadic results of BPM driven "auto/emergency loops" chanced by some players
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
Kitchen Cabinet Remodeling: DIY Under Cabinet Lighting
Under cabinet kitchen lighting can be done a number of different ways by yourself ranging from the very simple to the more traditional. Illuminate your kitchen counter tops withadvice from a professional carpenter in this free video on kitchen remodeling. Expert: Stephen G. Anthony Contact: www.AdviceFromAHandyman.Blogspot.com Bio: Stephen G. Anthony is a professional carpenter, woodworker and handyman based in New York City and south Florida. Filmmaker: Paul Muller
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
LED Under Cabinet Lights - Contractor Kit
!±8± LED Under Cabinet Lights - Contractor Kit
Brand : Connexx | Rate : | Price : $185.99
Post Date : Nov 08, 2011 21:15:09 | Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| Price : $185.99Post Date : Nov 08, 2011 21:15:09 | Usually ships in 1-2 business days
- No tools required for installation.
- Pays for itself in less than 1 year.
- Lasts up to 25 times longer than conventional lighting
- Ultra low power consumption. Utilizing less than half of a watt per Connexx light strip.
- Connect up to 24 light strips using only 1 transformer.
More Specification..!!
LED Under Cabinet Lights - Contractor Kit
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