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Thread: Get together in January for Florida laser hobbyists.?.

  1. #21
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    Hi Paul;

    Now that sounds exactly like what we're looking for. Doesn't need to be fancy, just needs to be a good sized place that has enough power, and will allow us to run fog machines.

    If it seats 100 people, that should be *plenty* large enough. And since you are a representative of the people that own (or at least lease) the building, we shouldn't have any problems with laser-phobia-induced liability bullshit. (For the attendees, this also means that if anyone is stupid enough to look down the barrel of a laser, they have to live with the blind spot... Attend at your own risk, as it were.)

    As far as power requirements, I think nearly all of us are planning to bring 110V projectors. I'll probably bring several 110v lasers, but they can all run off a singe circuit. (Even my air-cooled argons only draw 10-14 amps when wide open, and the rest of the lasers in my collection draw less than an amp.) I won't need 220v power at all, since my HGM 5 argon has a bad tube. (No sense in bringing that monster if it won't work!)

    How many 110v circuits are in the room? Would it be worthwhile to bring the parts needed to use the 50 amp stove outlet as a source of 110? (You can run four 20 amp 110v circuits off of a single stove outlet and still have 10 amps per leg in reserve...) Don't forget that we'll probably need at least one 20 amp circuit dedicated to run a couple fog machines. If we have at least 4 circuits, we should be OK. 6 would be better though, and I think 8 would be ideal. (Remember, we need one for the sound system too...)

    What is the room like? Is there enough open space? (Or can we move stuff around to create an open space?) How about tables to set the computers/lasers/projectors on? Should we plan on bringing our own tables/stands for our equipment or just use what is in the room?

    The 20th or the 27th of January would work for me. I know that Fred won't be able to tell when he's available 'till early next week (after new years), but he was favoring the latter part of January as well. Does anyone else have conflicts with those days? (I'm guessing that we should be able to nail down a date by the end of the first week in January...)

    Adam

  2. #22
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    Adam,
    lets see, we own the building, as i am the rep, i dont see a problem using it. we have had others use it for small weddings etc. There is no problem with the laser police. In fact, although i am cdrh varienced, you do not need to report an event like this because it is private, and the general public will not be there. Things only change when you introduce a laser into the
    public venue and there is some sort of commerce going on. the government doesn't care if you kill yourself in your own basement. they are only interested in what is public, and what goes into their airspace.
    there should be plenty of 110 power options besides splitting the stove feed. bring whatever you would like though.
    the service to the building is acutally three phase 240 delta. I would bring bigger lasers but it is a old federal pacific panel and i dont have any spare breakers for it.
    The room for the most part is wide open, we have lots of folding chairs and tables. i would say the room is about 35x40
    the only real item would be that there is a 2.5 foot by 2.5 foot pillar slightly off center in the room, but i think depending how we orient the setup we can get around it. if people are planning to do graphics i can bring a 8x8 or 10x10 screen. i put the ceiling height at around 12.5 feet. since we are using low power equipment i believe we can indulge in any form of scanning safely. we wont have to have this equipment jacked up to the ceiling.

  3. #23
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    Hmmmm, location seems taken care of so far... You say college park area, closer to UCF or Rollins? Or am I way off? Just curious for lodging purposes.

    Date - 01/20 or 01/27
    Location - check
    Lodging - ?
    Entertainment - check, duh! Well, lasers. Who's got what for sound?
    Food - ? :idea: We could bar-b-que. I have an addiction to ribs... ops:
    Misc. Equipment - ? :idea: I have a few computers I can bring if everyone wants to focus on their projectors. At least 3 at the moment.

    We missing anything :?:

  4. #24
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    Hmmm, neither, ucf and rollins are on the east side of town. this is basically central orlando. do a goole map for edgewater drive and smith street. downtown is your best bet for hotels or possible kirkman rd international drive area which is where I live. It is about a 15 minute drive to the site from there. if you plan to book tell me where, there are some hotels in the central park of town you do not want to be at. BTW orlando just checked in at number 25 in the nation for murder and crime and number one for the most angry city in the country. go figure LOL

  5. #25
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    Default sound,

    there is a lame old school 6 channel band pa at the site. i would rather not use it. I can can bring power amps, speakers, and a dj mixer if needed. I think my 40 channel console would be a bit much. LOL

  6. #26
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    Heh, I used to contract for Bellsouth in 98. The office was right across OBT from where your located. :lol: I work about 10 miles or so due north. What college is near there? OR am I dumb for thinking there should be a college in college park? :?

    O, for anyone searching for a hotel, that Parliment House is NOT where you want to stay. :lol: :roll:

  7. #27
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    Hell Yeah!

    This is coming together nicely.

    Paul, the room sounds great! That central pillar shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure we can set up on either side such that it won't even be an issue.

    Re: Power. It sounds like the place has more than enough power! I don't think we'll need to pull the stove out after all. I'll bring some extension cords and some power strips... (Actually, we all should plan on bringing stuff like that...)

    I agree re: CDRH: no commerce = no jurisdiction. So no worries there. I was actually thinking about your union organization taking issue with the event, but if you can speak for them in this matter we're all set! 8)

    I *really* like the idea of the 10x10 screen. I know several folks will want to do gfx shows. (Though we could always hang sheets on the walls too...) If it's not too much trouble, would you mind bringing both screens? I'm willing to get there early and help you with setup if needed.

    Lots of folding tables and chairs - GREAT! That makes it a lot easier for us then. And a 12.5 ft ceiling is just about ideal for a gathering like this I think. (Don't need a whole damn concert hall for just a dozen folks or less, right?)

    Food and drink: I'll bring some homebrew beer, and probably some hard apple cider (also homebrew) as well. I'm sure others will bring their beverage(s) of choice... So long as it doesn't get out of hand, I think it will work out. (Gotta keep the food and beverages away from the lasers/projectors/computers though!)

    Do we want to try cooking food there at the place, or just bring food in from outside and heat it up? Allthatwhichis mentioned ribs, but wouldn't that require a BBQ grill? That would *need* to be outside... Is that an option? If not, I could bring some home-made lasagna, or some BBQ pork... (My wife is an awesome cook!)

    Lodging shouldn't be too hard to find, being as the venue is in Orlando. I'll bet there are plenty of places nearby. (Got any specific recommendations Paul?)

    I'm planning on bringing at least one - and possibly 2 - computers, and I'll also bring an 8-port ethernet switch and some cables so we can hook up a lan if we want.

    Might be nice to have some video of the event... I've got a cheesy High-8 camera and a tripod that I'll bring, but the focus get's flakey when the light is low. Anyone got a decent video camera that works well in low light?

    As far as a sound system goes - I think Dzurcher said he had a fairly good sized home system that he could bring. Should be more than enough I think. (I'll bring some long patch cables so we can hook up different computers to the sound system when someone wants to run a specific show...) Whatcha say, Dave?

    EDIT: Just noticed Paul's post where he said that he also has audio equipment available. How about the two of you get together and decide what we'll need.?.

    Oh yeah... Anyone got a hazer? I've got two fog machines that I'll be bringing. I think Fred has a pretty good sized fogger that might be big enough to do the whole room - need to check on that. But a hazer would be nice to have...

    Love the way this is all coming together!

    Adam

  8. #28
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    I got a tiny walmart fogger on loan from a friend, should still have it by then.

  9. #29
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    Yeah, my two foggers are both similar to the Walmart units. One of them makes a thick, rather opaque fog, while the other (a Chauvet) makes a nice thin fog that works really well with lasers. But they both only have 700 watt heaters in them, so they're limited as to how much fog they can make. I think even with all three of our foggers we'd be hard pressed to fill a room as big as the place Paul is talking about. But if Fred can bring his machine as well, then we should be OK.

    Adam

    PS: Just thought of something else: Is anyone a smoker? Reason I mention it is that meeting rooms like this are usually non-smoking venues... If so, that's always a good thing to talk about in advance.

  10. #30
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    let me digest a few of the issues such as grilling. the building allows smoking for private functions, although we may
    just end up smoking out the back door depending on what people want. as far as the room size- picture two groups of 50
    folding chairs side by side with a 4 foot isle betwwen. 100 total.- with a small stage up front and a seperate kitchen.. that is about the size of the room. I think that those small foggers would be fine, unless they have a short duty cycle on them and need to reheat often.. BTW there are no windows, only two commercial type glass entrance doors. but they have curtains
    on them. it should be dark enough. i like the video idea, i'll post some of that on my website when i update it next year.

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