There’s a ton of different types of cable connectors in use, and it’s important to choose the right one for your application. Both feeder and motor (fly) cables are required for our jobs, and our electric shop often encounter the same type of connectors used throughout entertainment production specialists.
This visual guide below gives a quick reference to what these common cable connectors look like, and what they’re used for. Take a look!
Your performers won’t be too happy without a reliable, experienced front of house crew. The front of house structure is critical to an event’s success, and Mountain Productions provides three styles of mix position structures for FOH operators. This week’s Staging Spotlight dives into our Rolling Roof retractable mix position.
Using our versatile scaffold system as its base, the Rolling Roof front of house utilizes a combination of extrusion, weather protection vinyl panels, and roller beams to create a 360° covered mix position.
Here’s another printable chart to pin up in the production shop. This chart helps you easily identify the amperage requirement for your hoists for when you need to order cable or control systems.
With the vast amount of CM Lodestar models and the variable voltage, phase, and hertz settings, this chart provides a quick reference for chain hoist models A through RRS.
Check it out and feel free to share with your colleagues!
The SL-250 mobile stage is a perfect combination of strength, size, and efficiency. Our SL-250 stages have traveled all over the country, and have been used for both entertainment events and university commencements alike. The SL-250 has a 32’ x 24’ performance area, supports 12,000 lbs from its roof, and has a 1,000 lb rigging capacity on each of its sound wing extensions. Like all mobile stages, setup of the SL-250 is efficient and requires little labor (two hands and a supervisor can build the SL-250 in under two hours). The SL-250 can be clad with custom printed softgoods, and has the option of hanging the header banner directly from the roof or above on banner bars.
Fall protection is a must, but don’t neglect stocking up on drop prevention items as well. Python Safety’s drop prevention products include tethers, holsters and wristbands that keep your tools and loose items safe from accidental drops at height. Our Drop Prevention Package includes the Hammer Holster (includes Hook2Quick Ring Coil Tether), Adjustable Radio Holster, and Slim Pullaway Wristband (available in SM, MED, and LG). Be a safety role model on site with these 3 reliable products that keep you, and those below you, safe.
Hundreds of eager festival-goers grabbed their hammocks and tents and headed to Rothbury, Michigan, for the 2016 Electric Forest festival this past weekend. By the time attendees flocked to the forest, Mountain Productions was ready to show them, and the performers, a good time on a good stage.
This year, Mountain Productions was responsible for the Sherwood Court Stage, the Observatory stage, the Forest stage and Hanger Stage, along with camping pods, risers, barricades, front of house positions, and additional auxiliary structures put in place to ensure everyone enjoyed the immersive experience.
Photo Courtesy of Tim McGuire © Tim McG Photo
Mountain Productions proudly manufactures feeder and fly cables in-house using only the highest quality components. We’ve been assembling cables domestically for years in our electric and cable shop, and are fully capable of custom orders beyond the standard inventory of connectors we carry.
These cables supply power from your power source to your hoist control units, and we can cut any length of cable you may need to power up your system. Our standard lengths are 10’, 25’, 50’, 75’, 100’, 150’ and 200’ and we provide the options for a bare tail or CAM connection.
While older spaces may add a sense of character and class to an event, there are several limitations to operating in a dated environment, all of which can lead to narrow booking opportunities and higher labor costs compared with the competition. By transforming an older building into a modern venue, you’re able to maintain the comfortable, charming atmosphere with an enhanced experience for you and your audiences.
Because many older venues are reconfigured spaces originally meant to be ice rinks and armories, they aren’t designed with rigging in mind. This creates a difficult chain of events for a production crew who must now pre-rig their events ahead of time.
When performing maintenance on your CM Lodestar chain hoists, it’s important to know the style and model of hoist you’re working with, as each Lodestar model requires different components. One electric chain hoist part that has a variety of part numbers per hoist model is the contactor. In CM’s Entertainment Product Maintenance Manual ©2010, they outline the different contactors that have been used over the years, which part numbers refer to which hoist, and if they are still currently in use. We’ve put this helpful information in a chart below that’s a great resource to have available next time you’re reordering parts. Enjoy!
Although it’s not made of steel and doesn’t stand 60+ feet in the air, Terratrak Plus groundcover flooring is this week’s Staging Spotlight. But what’s so special about a 48” x 48” piece of plastic? In short, Terratrak Plus is one of the strongest and most reliable groundcover products, protecting the turf below while withstanding the enormous weights of site vehicles including forklifts, cranes, and more. Here’s a closer look at what makes Terratrak Plus a necessity at any outdoor event.
Terratrak Plus is a flooring product from Terraplas, the “World’s No. 1 Turf Protection Company.” Terraplas’s original flooring product was designed for turf protection at Wembley Stadium in London, but now their variety of flooring products are used all over the world.