How do we turn off the speakers?

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chombee
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How do we turn off the speakers?

Post by chombee » Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:40 am

How do we turn off the big speakers on the stage? They are not needed and are making a buzzing noise. They must have been on all night. I estimate they're using 1000 GigaWatts. It's driving me CRAZY.
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chris
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Post by chris » Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:29 pm

we dont switch them off. for complex reasons.
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ravanwin
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Post by ravanwin » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:39 am

there must be a way to stop the buzzing

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chris
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Post by chris » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:11 pm

the buzzing is only noticeable when everything is off, and even then it is comparable to the various buzzings from the kitchen.

they have been buzzing like this just the same for the last year...nothing has changed on this front.

the reason they are left on is because otherwise people would switch them on and off all the time in the wrong way. leading to possible damage of the speakers and the v. loud bass thud that comes with this.., and people could get at the volume and turn things way too loud etc.

however, i'll have a little look at it, maybe there is something that can be done...
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chris
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Post by chris » Thu Dec 14, 2006 8:16 pm

had a little look, the buzzing seems to be very, very quite to me.. my guess is that someone left the faders up on the sound desk?
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robin
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Post by robin » Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:19 pm

if i can make a suggestion, the buzzing isn´t coming out of the desk but out of the amps next to the stage. (in the rolling cabinet). a simple thing to do is to either switch those off or simply turn them down (four volume knobs for the four speakers). there is a danger of course that the next person doing an event will think the pa is blown or something stupid. a small sign on white paper should do the trick?

r

chombee
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Post by chombee » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:46 am

that's right the buzzing was coming from the big speakers, amps, whatever on the stage. I just figured leaving those big things on must be using a lot of energy.
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thehemulen
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Post by thehemulen » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:47 am

listen to the hiss.

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chris
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Post by chris » Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:00 pm

the energy consumption will actually be pretty low, it will only be high when it is driving the speakers loudly.

i can probably prove this in some semi-elaborate way...
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Shannon
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Post by Shannon » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:12 pm

I would like it to be fully elaborate, please.

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chris
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Post by chris » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:37 pm

ok, so i looked at the energy consumption of the speakers, it is very low, on my ammeter the dial didnt move, so it is less than a quarter of an amp.


EDIT: I now think this is untrue...
'good news though, i switched it on and off and there was no problem with big pops or anything (this turns out to be a problem if the desk, compressor or equaliser are switched off), so if people really want to turn them off they can - however i think it will lead to confusion, damage and problems.. so i would really prefer it if people didnt..we'll talk about it i guess....'

typical costs of electricty:

speakers <60watts (on but not used), so costs less than £0.005 an hour.
kettle 1800 watts, one boil costs about £0.015
microwave costs £0.10 per hour
the grill probably costs £0.20 an hour.

at night with most things off the kitchen is still drawing quite a lot of power, i forget how much, but the main sources of this would be the immersion heater, the tea hot water heater, the fridges, the soup urns (i presume these arent left on) and the coffee machine (now swithced off?).

we should definetly switch off all these things off at night, apart from the fridges.

most important is that the immersion heater and tea water heater should be switched off every night (timers could be easily installed for these things), this is likely to save in the region of £500.

electricity costs about £0.10 per kwh (ie. 1000 watts being used for one hour costs £0.10)
Last edited by chris on Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Shannon
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Post by Shannon » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:39 am

Nice.

In theory, the tea-boiler-thing is turned off every night. I don't know what an immersion heater is? The soup urns are also turned off. A big one that people forget (all the time!!!) is the stereo - the IMac almost never gets turned off, nor does the volume/tuner/thingies.

How much do you reckon those new lights you bought cost to run? (Not the stage lights, but the ones that we're using in the day now.)

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chris
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Post by chris » Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:35 am

yo, i was wrong about turning off the speakers, it does make a 'pop' - so scratch that..

the immersion heater is a switch behind the left hand microwave.

the jukebox cupboard is about 2/3 Amp, so it probably costs about 1.5p an hour, switching off every night may save about £50 a year.
Maybe it could work? But it will be a kaleidoscopic blend of mysterious shadows and rainbow hued-dreams seen through compassionate tears.

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