Ha...I didn't even think about CFL! Great call!
I use APC 1500VA UPSs, but they're not designed for filtering. They run off of AC until a black/brown out. They don't run off of battery and use the AC to charge.

I do have a few "power filters" such as APC and Monster brand power centers with 'filtering' built in.

What are your recommendations re: power filtering and UPSs. I NEVER mind spending a little extra money if it means that my power will be cleaner and most importantly - predictable.

Cheers-
J.

I like these. I had several of the Furman units (older model) when I was active in the Corps. None of these are on the cheap side however.

http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=01&id=IT-20_II

I've used both of these lines in various capacities before:

ONYX

http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/product-series.cfm?txtSeriesID=430

Here are a couple of articles about Marc Peckham's horse float studio in Australia.

http://www.skynoise.net/2009/07/24/solar-powered-monkeys/#comments

http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/green-musos/2007/07/05/1183351333206.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap3

liebert
http://www.liebert.com/product_pages/Product.aspx?id=53&hz=60

They have a bunch that charge a battery off the AC line and provide AC from the battery via a filtered switcher.

EDIT:
Use caution with liebert as they do not have a filtered front ends on all units. And in some it is just a MOV based protection circuit. Fast rising transients will still get through. I use littlefuse TVS's as add on DC circuits
http://www.littelfuse.com/part/1.5KE110A.html

and for ac circuits, when MOV's are not my first choice I go for something like
http://www.littelfuse.com/part/CG2300.html

And what will you do about the internal acoustic properties? Outside noise? How many 5 gal. gas cans will you also be transporting? It's going to smell really good in there. Do you smoke? Electrical sparks? Can you say explosion? Have you thought about diesel? Where's the bathroom? Never mind. I don't have one in my truck either. But I did consider putting a electric toilet in place of the passenger seat in the cab. That way, you could be taking a dump while watching folks walking by. I thought about putting it where the drivers seat is but my hemorrhoids probably wouldn't approve of that? Of course it would negate the need for any rest stops except for refueling. Yeah, that's the ticket.

You know you're alive when you wake up and smell diesel smoke.
Mx. Remy Ann David

You will need a big sofa to sleep on after your wife gets pissed that you are spending too much time with your truck!

BRH wrote: You will need a big sofa to sleep on after your wife gets pissed that you are spending too much time with your truck!

It's hilarious that you should mention that...
I have this small couch that folds out into an uncomfortable futon and I had actually planned to put it in the trailer (as a place for clients to sit while I'm working and if absolutely worse comes to worse, while on travel, I could grab a nap.

Well...without telling me, my wife donated my couch to my neighbor who's going through a tough separation. She'll now be using it as her bed until she can get her own. I can't go and take that away from her...that would be mean!

RemyRAD wrote: And what will you do about the internal acoustic properties? Outside noise? How many 5 gal. gas cans will you also be transporting? It's going to smell really good in there. Do you smoke? Electrical sparks? Can you say explosion? Have you thought about diesel? Where's the bathroom? Never mind. I don't have one in my truck either. But I did consider putting a electric toilet in place of the passenger seat in the cab. That way, you could be taking a dump while watching folks walking by. I thought about putting it where the drivers seat is but my hemorrhoids probably wouldn't approve of that? Of course it would negate the need for any rest stops except for refueling. Yeah, that's the ticket.

You know you're alive when you wake up and smell diesel smoke.
Mx. Remy Ann David

Lot's of questions - Here are some answers (in somewhat of an order):
- Internal Acoustics - OC703 panels - quite a few of them. I should be able to suspend some from the ceiling without too much of an issue too.
- Outside noise isn't too much of a concern. That's what the volume control is for. However, the trailer that I've found is very well sealed. Making it quiet inside shouldn't be too tough on this one.
- I shouldn't need too many 5 gallon buckets of gas. 1 bucket would cover both generators for just over 12 hours each. The gas can could sit on the lip of the trailer with the gennies to avoid too many fumes (though I do like that smell...)
- I don't smoke (except the occassional cigar) but the gennies that I'm looking for are US Forrestry Dept approved for no spark operation.
- I have thought about diesel - a lot. However, my truck would run on gas, it would make sense for me to use gas. Also, I can get gas gennies that are 70lbs a piece and are running at 51dB that run on gas. For that quiet of a diesel gennie, I'm looking at >200lbs or more.
- I love the idea of the bathroom. The advantage of having a tallywhacker, I can use any bush, shrub or tree as a bathroom... Should I check into catheters?

Cheers!
J

J,

What I found with my 7x14 tandem axle high roof trailer is that I was actually able to get flat response with just some Auralex broadband jobbies. (One of the few places I actually found that they worked just fine!)

The walls of the trailer are fairly thin, thus the LF tends to bleed out and not stick around for build up.

The other thing I did was get 4 of those 3 ton static jacks. When I'm on location for extended periods, or it's really critical tracking, I just unload the trailer's suspension a bit and get even flatter response from the lack of suspension vibration.

As far as a catheter... nada, bro.... Keep your McDonald's coffee cups.

Just don't spill it in your lap! Contents may be hot, and I'd hate to hear you had to sue yourself! :D

You guys can joke about catheters all you want. For people with all kinds of handicaps the external catheter is one of the best inventions ever. Basically a condom with an end that connects to a tube that runs into a bag. Gus Grissom would have been happy with one.

Believe me...as a youth I volunteered in a hospital and back in those days (late 80s), they let volunteers do and help out on a LOT more than they would ever think of today! I got to assist in MANY a catheter installation. Nobody enjoyed the process, least of all the patient. However, I can tell you that those who needed and received one were extremely grateful.

Back to the truck...
I like the jack idea, but I'm curious, how long does it take to get them placed and leveled?

One of my biggest goals (the driving factor behind this whole truck in fact) is time and ease of use. It takes me anywhere between 40 minutes to 3-4 hours to set up for a gig in most cases. I'd like to get that down to a relatively consistent 30 minutes. Having all of my gear already set up and plugged in with only the need to wheel in the mic stands, mics and cables to get the job done. (Or subtract the mic stands if I'm flying the mics.)

I'll be monitoring both through nearfields and cans and will do very little to 0 actual mixing in the truck (although, I'm hoping to trust the mix enough to run a usable 2-track rig as back-up/primary too.)

I'm really getting excited about this - things are starting to shape up. I'm leaning very heavily towards:

Mazda Tribute/Ford Escape 6 Cyl
Homesteader 6x10 Trailer
2xYamaha EF200IS generators
7000 BTU portable AC unit (don't have the unit # in front of me at the moment...)
The Auralex stuff is making a rise on the list at the moment. The way I have their foam installed in my home studio is glued to acoustic ceiling tiles - the tiles are affixed to the wall using drywall screws and for those tiles that I want separated from the wall, I have 1" and 2" strips behind them to set them off. This works GREAT!

For this setup, I'm looking at the 2 gennies on the tongue in an enclosure (vented of course).
Inside, I'm going to mount the 28" LCD monitor on the short length of the trailer closest to the rear of the truck (with my back to the ramp door).

Mounting the Adams on wall-mounts to the side of that (STURDY wall mounts!)

2 Rolling Racks on BIG casters
In the left rack, I'll have the computer, a rack mounted monitor, the RME Fireface and a simple rack drawer for small accessories.

In the right rack, I'll have a True Precision 8, a Focusrite ISA 428 an Aphex 107 and probably a Vintech 473 (or an API 3124). Also, the Dangerous D-Box would go here too.

I'll have a pelican case that holds my 500' 8channel snake as well as a few other shorter snakes. On wheels of course!

In a portable rack mount case, I'll keep a pre designed for ribbons - either a few of the AEA pres or maybe another True Systems - that way I can put that preamp in the hall and run line level back to the truck.

In all, this would give me up to 20 tracks input and 8 tracks output. I could go up to more input counts if I get another converter with ADAT or perhaps another ISA 428 with AD converter. (This really is a great preamp - it used to get so much attention, now it's fallen by the wayside...shame.)

I'd have a small desk for working with the keyboard and mouse for the computer and another small desk, likely on a side wall, for the producer and/or A2 to sit at. I'm going to have 1 nice rolling chair and 2 nice folding chairs and I will carpet (I know...gasp) the floor. This will keep us from rolling around if we're not 100% level.

Pics coming soon...

Most RV's have leveling jacks installed at all four corners. Most new rigs are electric motor hydraulic levelers but the smaller rigs and older rigs of all types have manual crank jacks.

For your purpose you aren't looking for 100% level like an RV (fridge won't work if not). You're just getting stability. I'd think it would be a pretty quick job even if the jacks were free standing and stored in the trailer when not in use. I'd do your load out prior to placing the jacks if it were me but that would be the only concession to using them.

Cucco wrote: I like the jack idea, but I'm curious, how long does it take to get them placed and leveled?

One of my biggest goals (the driving factor behind this whole truck in fact) is time and ease of use. It takes me anywhere between 40 minutes to 3-4 hours to set up for a gig in most cases. I'd like to get that down to a relatively consistent 30 minutes. Having all of my gear already set up and plugged in with only the need to wheel in the mic stands, mics and cables to get the job done. (Or subtract the mic stands if I'm flying the mics.)

Again, if it's a standard 1 day/performance tracking session, I don't bother with the jacks.

When I do use em', I normally drop them in the trailer, just inside the doors. When I finish unloading, I simply drop the tongue down low, slip the jacks under the rear frame, then crank it up until I can get the frame high enough to slip the front pair under the frame. Takes about 10 minutes.

Since I rarely do a remote on less than 24 tracks, my set up time is usually 5-7 hours from the time I arrive on site.

I usually find power first, then tie in. Next I ramp off the mic stand box and the snake trunk box. Once those are in, I run the snake and tie in the mass, if I'm using the 48x8, or I run the splits, if I'm using "big red", or run the 24x4. Then I start to set mic stands, DI's and mic's.

I can usually be ready for sound check in a little under 3 hours for a 48 track session, if I hump it out. 24 tracks is a lot quicker... prolly a consistent 2 hours. The rest of the time is sound checks and levels... So, I'd say that 30 minutes for 8 channels is prolly very doable.

[edit]
Bob, like Jeremy, I wasn't really making light of the folks who need to use a catheter or ANY medical aid of that nature.

Just anecdotal humor surrounding the concept of driving such long distances for a remote session, that one would need a toilet of some sort built into the cab or trailer.

Cucco wrote:
I can fit everything I want into this trailer with no issues and can easily stand up inside of it.

Will you be able to get the weight distributed properly? To avoid too much, or too little tongue weight, you should have 60% of your weight ahead of the axle and 40% behind the axle. If it's a tandem the center between the axles is your 60/40 line.

I'm pulling a 16ft. tandem with a Chevy Colorado mid-size pickup (5-cyl). It pulls great if you get the weight spread out reasonably well.,

I have to be sure that I don't overload the trailer. The Colorado is rated to tow 4000 lbs. and the curb weight of the trailer empty is about 2200, so I can't cram it full of gear. I could definitely use a bigger truck, but I didn't want to get 13mpg on the days I wasn't towing a trailer. The Colorado gets almost 20mpg unencumbered.

The trailer GVW is 7000#, so if push comes to shove I can have someone else tow it if I need to take a bigger system.

Yeah...that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

While some things will be "fixed" in location (the racks will be strapped to the front wall), there will be enough stuff that has the ability to be mobile. Cable cases (~100-150lbs each), mic cases (20lbs each), mobile AC unit (70lbs), mic stands (~100lbs thanks to the MASSIVE bases on those Latch Lakes).

On a few of the gigs, I hope to bring along my dog (80lbs...). I'll tell her to lay down in a certain spot to balance out the load too. When she wipes that confused look off of her face and settles in, I'm sure it will all balance out... I just hope she's gotten over her car sickness. :-O