Equipment to consider purchasing for demonstrations at shows - agenda item

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cskipper

Moderator
Cathy
We discussed buying equipment for enabling better viewing of demo's at our last meeting. Perhaps we should buy a small lathe and scroll saw too. These are the most used equipment. Maybe they could be housed with the event planner. Just an idea.
 

CaptnA

Andy
Corporate Member
Unless I am mistaken which I may well be, Rob used his other clubs projector stuff at Hickory.
I don't know the cost of such but thought that was very nice and used well there. I don't think it
would have worked so well at the Charlotte show. At Hickory I took my mini-lathe and that seemed to go well, but at Charlotte I don't think it would have fit the space.
These are the only two such venues I've been to so I don't know. I'd be more inclined for us to
look into a video projector system than actual tools. If someone has the time,equipment, and the know how to use it, we can work with them to get it there. We could project work in progress or at least play a video of the skills at places where actual work isn't very feasible with the style set up mentioned. (jmtcw)
 
M

McRabbet

At the last Board meeting, I recommended that we purchase both a small video camera like this Sony HandyCam (same model I bought for the Western NC Woodworkers Association and took to Hickory last fall) plus an XGA video projector (we bought this Epson model) and a screen (we bought our Epson at OfficeMax and the screen was part of a bundle package with it). We also bought a few extension cables to allow us to move the camera away from the connection to the projector on the tripod. The camer with the added memory card will take 6+ hours of video. The projector alos has multiple inputs including PC/XGA and USB (it take a USB memory stick with photos and they can be run as individual pics or in a slide show without a PC connected. Highly recommended.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
If I can get a consensus from the BOD to make the purchase I will go by Best Buy before the WWing Show & see what I can do. Since this is going to be an intermittent use item, I would recommend an extended warranty.
 
M

McRabbet

Ix-Nay on the extended warranty -- they are rarely worth the money and our experience with these two items has been excellent, even with once monthly use.
 

CaptnA

Andy
Corporate Member
I will support the purchase as my experiences in seeing one in use were good. I hate depending on the kindness of others for something that has such broad potential.
Might be worth making a list of things we have found useful at our public venues and what we have available as reference. Ie, the banner, this if/when it comes about, and generic things such as broom, dust pan, extension cord etc. Rob, Tracy, and others have much more experience at these than I. Anyone care to type a list up to share?
We probably ought to have an inventory of assets anyhow. If we do, I'm not aware of it.
 

cskipper

Moderator
Cathy
I support the camera and equipment discussed at the last BOD meeting. The other was just a suggestion.
 
M

McRabbet

Guys and Gals -- I am in Apex still caring for my daughter and grandson (she did have thyroid cancer and major back issues folowing her 6-hour surgery to remove the entire thyroid and is still having daily PT and will have Radioactive Iodine treatments in a few weeks) and I cannot get to Charlotte. Someone else needs to purchase this stuff! I am in the midst of soliciting prizes for the raffle, so I'm not here doing nothing.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
I bought the projector that you suggested tonight @ Best Buy. $499 + tax. Didn't have the camera you suggested as described, so we'll use my old mini VHS for tomorrow. The one they had didn't have the geocache feature.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Thanks. I hope to get a case that it will all fit into for shipping. I believe we can make this available to anyone doing workshops for members provided it is returned in a reasonable time. The camera did not have an SD card, but I can pick one up. I believe it has several hours of internal video memory capacity in HD mode, but it would be much better to use a card for downloading. The camera will run form the AC charger/adapter quite well, but we should also have an extra battery too. Tripods and screens are something else to discuss later.
 
M

McRabbet

Good points, Dennis -- we bought a 16GB card for the WNCWA camera (we used Buy.com) and also an extra battery (Walmart). A tripod is essential and so is a screen. We also bought a 25' composite audio/video cable and a 25' SVGA cable (from Directron use links), and a female-to-female composite audio/video coupler (from Radio Shck). These allow the camera to be moved away from the projector and the projector to connect to a laptop that has a video output port. If the laptop has HDMI, then I'd suggest also getting a 25' HFMI cable from Directron. I have bught all of these rom these sources and they are very good quality at a competitive price.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
As it stands we have a camera and a 25' HDMI cable with a mini HDMI adapter to fit the camera. The sales people said the projector would not be able to run live video from the camera on a USB cable. The camera accepts Mini USB as well as RCA jacks. Not sure about SVGA output. The projector also has a host of input ports including video out for computers. I will look into a tripod, as we would need one a little more substantial than the average still camera tripod IMO. As for the screen, we used a piece of prefinished tempered Masonite attached to the booth curtain. It was big enough, but if we could have had the projector farther away, it would not have been. We were getting about a 2:1 aspect for width to distance from the projector.
 
M

McRabbet

The HDMI cable I suggested is for PC with one to the projector; most laptops have a 15-pin VGA/SVGA port and the 25' VGA works well for that connection (needed if we plan to show www.ncwoodworker.net live at a show from a PC). Camera to projector link is best with the RCA audio/video cable provided with it and the 25' extension cables and coupler I recommended. USB camera port is used to download video to a PC using the SONY software.
 
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