I was invited to speak recently to a meeting of SBE Chapter 49 in Central Illinois, where the subject of Harbor Freight came up. If you don’t have a store in your community, hop online and visit www.harborfreight.com to see a variety of items useful to a broadcast engineer.
One is a small dish that has a magnet affixed to the back, shown in the first photo. Brent Clingingsmith, chief technology director at WGEM(FM/TV) in Quincy, Ill., and his team found this useful during their buildout of a technical operations center for television. As they installed new racks and the associated equipment, they affixed this dish to the front of the rack to hold an assortment of rack screws.
Because the dish is magnetic, it can be moved easily to another spot or another rack. One pole of the magnet holds the dish to the steel rack frame, the other keeps the screws from falling out of the dish even when it is placed vertically. Screws are always at your fingertips.
The dish costs about four bucks at Harbor Freight; search the site for Pittsburgh Automotive 6-inch magnetic parts holder.
Brent’s staff installed another magnetic product from Harbor Freight: an 18-inch tool holder made by U.S. General that costs under $5. Talk about a neat way to organize tools! The second photo shows two of these holders doing their job. How nice to see all your hand tools hanging, rather than you digging through a drawer to find one.
For a few more dollars, U.S. General manufactures a sturdy steel magnetic power tool holder. The three-hole design permits three pistol-grip-style drills or screwdrivers to rest above the workbench yet easily accessible.
Boom! Problem solved
If you’ve built studios, you know it’s not always obvious where you should drill out the countertop to install mic arms.
WGEM has a rich history of providing news and sports. The sports studio can host multiple guests; but as their number changes, mic placement can be a problem, depending on how many people are in the studio.
Brent showed me a solution for use with Yellowtec m!ka mic arms. A metal channel, called a rail, runs along the countertop; the base of a m!ka boom fits into this channel. The boom can then be tightened down or unscrewed and moved to another part of the rail as guest seating dictates. No more mic arms in the wrong place.
Forecast Consoles sells this channel, which can also be used to hold TV monitors. For information, email info@forecast-consoles.com.
Before we leave WGEM, there’s one other photo I want to share.
Robotic cameras are used in the newly refurbished television studio. These cameras and their associated monitors are mounted on floor pedestals. Note the bright yellow pedestal supports in the accompanying photo. Visible against a black floor, these protect your staff and guests from tripping over the supports.
A unique internet controller
Dan Slentz has been scouring the internet again, and he discovered a neat little box that broadcast engineers should find useful.
The uSwitch controls any device, anywhere, using the Web or a network. In addition to turning devices on or off, uSwitch can be used to reboot network devices. You simply log into uSwitch from any web-enabled device such as an iPhone, Android, PC or Mac.
uSwitch comes with two sets of SPDT (single-pole-double-throw) relay contacts, which are rated to 5 Amperes at 110/220V. The package is compact, about the size of a pack of cigarettes. No programming is required, and the device is password-protected. At $160, the cost is reasonable.
The company’s website is https://uhavecontrol.com. Search uSwitch for more information or to order. If you purchase a uSwitch, let me know how you are using it. Send me a description to johnpbisset@gmail.com, and remember your tips qualify for SBE recertification credit.
Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com.
