Caribb-LEM Mark II: March 7th-17th 2015 - details here!

[buffo]

I kinda figured that was the only source of power on the beach that we used. How many total amps were available? It's hard to believe that the entire show, lights, lasers, all the band equipment, amps, and all the other equipment was powered by just that one box.

If I remember correctly the line was on a 30 amp 220 V breaker. (Which is technically illegal since the outlets were probably only rated for 15 amps each, but I guess on Utila they figure that means 15 amps per socket and not for the pair! Island electricians and all that...) So in theory we could have pulled 30 amps from each side of the box, for a total of 60 amps.

We probably didn't come close to that though. The entire sound system and the lights for the food area were powered off the left two outlets, and we had the right two for our stuff. I'm sure we were well under 30 amps, and the PA system and amps for the band shouldn't have pulled too much... The tiny Christmas tree light strings don't draw much at all, and they only had one or two CFL bulbs lighting up the cash register area. (We wanted it dark anyway so the lasers would look better.)

You wouldn't believe it, but I actually had a chance to test my sound system recently for current draw, and the numbers were crazy low! We were setting up for a gig and power was a huge concern, because in addition to running 11 projectors, we also had to run my three large amplifiers, a pair of powered Mackie cabinets (15" woofer + horn), 4 DMX lights, 3 control computers (one with two monitors), 5 fog machines, 2 hazers, and still have power left over for a bunch of heating pads needed to keep the DPSS lasers warm enough to run.

Initially we were only going to have the same 60 amps to work with as the example above, but after some arm-twisting we were able to get a total of 100 amps of 110. (Single run of 220, #8 wire, fused at 50 amps per leg, and split out into 4 gang-boxes for 110. Not up to code, strictly speaking, but they did the work - not us - so we went with it.) Still, we were worried that the heating pads might blow the power budget, so I broke out the amp-clamp and started checking things.

That's when I found out that my entire sound system idles at around 4.5 amps. That's three large amplifiers + the mixer! And when you turn it up, you can get to reasonable volume levels while still staying under 10 amps total. Unbelievable!

If you max it out, then yeah, you get up around 17 amps, but at that point your ears are bleeding and the speakers are distorting. During the show we were probably at around 7 amps, and it was plenty loud. Even after we added the powered Mackie tops we were still well under our power budget. We actually ran all the lasers and the sound off the same circuit, and we were under 20 amps total. So in the end we were able to do the show without any power issues. But for a while we were really sweating things!

Adam

[Bradfo69]

I would kind of like to think that if we did it again, some strings (err.. wires) would be able to be pulled. That was a substantially big event for the island I think. The indoor show not so much and maybe because it was off the beaten path but, the beach show was a pretty big deal.

edit.... AND.... we should be heading there in about 6 weeks damnit! Somebody knock Astley up against the head and lets get a move on!

[HankLloydRight]

And I'm thinking of going on a vacation in March with my g/f to Cozumel and doing a few diving trips while she gets much needed beach/down time.

The problem is, I've forgotten most of what we learned. We only had two real dives in Utila.. not enough to "solidify" everything we learned.

I wonder if the dive boats give quick refresher courses for noobs.

[neutrino]

Time to start thinking about Caribb-LEM MKIII

Here is a video of Utila to wet your appetite.

https://vimeo.com/153798327

[xtaega]

Time to start thinking about Caribb-LEM MKIII

Here is a video of Utila to wet your appetite.

https://vimeo.com/153798327

Game on! Disappointed I missed the last one because I found out too late....

There more notice I have, the better.

[platinum]

Time to start thinking about Caribb-LEM MKIII

Here is a video of Utila to wet your appetite.

https://vimeo.com/153798327

Well, I'm in.

Lot's of good memories from last time and I'm definitely getting an itch to get back underwater!

- Jonathan

[Bradfo69]

I know Buffo has proposed some dates to Rich. I think we're going to be buying some plane tickets rather soon!

[HankLloydRight]

Any clue on dates so I can start looking for cheap flights with miles? Just to get an idea what to expect.

Last time I got a direct flight from NYC -> SAP, but it looks like they're no longer available.

Jonathan -- another pub crawl perhaps? I just can't do a dive the next morning, again.

[platinum]

. . .Jonathan -- another pub crawl perhaps? I just can't do a dive the next morning, again.

Definitely!

[buffo]

Rich and i have been working on this behind the scenes. We were initially looking at March 4th through the 11th, 2017, but those dates are not final yet. We want to pick dates that will not conflict with school schedules, but no one seems to know when spring break will be next year. I've got a few messages pending from people who were looking into this...

One way or another though, we will probably set the date in stone in the next couple weeks. We are also looking into a different flight arrangement where everyone meets at one airport (maybe Houston, maybe Atlanta, maybe Miami), and then we all board the same plane to ROATAN (not San Pedro Sula). The idea being that it's easier to get a chartered flight from Roatan to Utila, and it's far less complicated than the San Pedro-to-La Ceiba-to-Utila route. But again, we are still looking into all that.

Adam