History – 47 Years of Jands Lighting Control 1971-2018

HISTORY 47 Years of Jands Lighting Control – A history of products from 1971 until 2018 by Julius Grafton. Since 1971, there’s been non-stop research and development of new lighting consoles by JANDS in Sydney.   “In the early seventies, most concerts were in the daytime”, says JANDS director David Mulholland. “We were doing sound, but…

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PL+S 2019: The ‘Vintage Concert Audio Show’

Retro-sound and analogue warmth: at the coming Prolight + Sound and Musikmesse (Frankfurt from 2 to 5 April 2019), visitors will have the opportunity to see and hear milestones of four decades of concert PA systems at the first ever ‘Vintage Concert Audio Show’. Over 200 exhibits on a special-show area in Forum.0 will present…

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History: Talkback Systems Compared (1999)

HISTORY: 20+ YEARS AGO In July 1999 Andy Ciddor conducted a comparison of available talkback systems as part of his regular lighting column in Connections Magazine (CX’s predecessor). BTW, this edition also incorporated the first edition of PresenTech dedicated solely to the AV industry… Reading note: the resuscitated article includes a few endnotes and possible text conversion snaffoos   Talkback…

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History: Communications – A “How To” (2009)

HISTORY: 10+ YEARS AGO In June 2009 we ran a “How To” on communication systems that discussed basic principles and some advanced broadcast applications, including technology current in the market at the time.   Communications – A “How To” by Jimmy Den Ouden. We all know a functional comms system is one of the most…

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Bruce Jackson – Blazed Trails with Elvis

FEATURE Bruce Jackson Amazing Australian blazed trails with Elvis by Julius Grafton. Australian sound and electronics engineer Bruce Jackson was born at the right time to emerge as a leader in lighting and audio electronics during the late 1960s. He was the ‘J’ in Jands, which became the leading entertainment technology manufacturer and distributor in…

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Video Projection History – The Talaria

PROJECTION Video Projection History – The Talaria by Simon Byrne. 30 years ago, the brightest video projector available for hire in Australia was the General Electric Talaria. In the late 1980s they cost about $180,000 and produced a massive 1,500 lumens! Yes, a $180,000, 75 kilogram machine produced less light output than your cheapest office…

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InfoComm 1998

From the Archive InfoComm 1998 CX Media has covered many InfoComm trade-shows. Here’s our coverage from Connections Magazine in July 1998, if you are curious about what AV/integration looked like 20 years ago… By Editor Julius Grafton: “DATELINE INFOCOMM DALLAS, AS THE ‘NEW’ AV INDUSTRY PUTS ON 20% GROWTH InfoComm 1998 shone like a beacon in Dallas last month, as…

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Honey I Shrunk It- I really Did

REGULARS Honey I Shrunk It – I really Did We reprise a piece from CX Magazine, February 2013 where Duncan Fry ponders a smaller PA system… Since it’s the start of a new year, I’ve made a new year’s resolution to shrink the size of my current system to still keep the same output level…

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Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Junkyard Dogs

WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Junkyard Dogs By Duncan Fry. According to Jim Croce, Bad Bad Leroy Brown was meaner than a Junkyard dog. That’s a bit harsh on junkyard dogs – we had one next door to us at ARX for quite a few years, so draw close youngsters,…

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Moving Light Service

History – An article from Connections Magazine, March 2003 about Moving Light Service What’s involved? John Grimshaw visits a very large facility to see first-hand the efforts that go in to protecting a multi-million dollar inventory. It has long been known that ownership of any moving light equipment means a proactive service program must be…

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PA System Preflight Checklist

History PA System Preflight Checklist In 1993 Juliusmedia ran Certificate III courses in Sound and Lighting. The following article appeared in the first edition of CX Magazine in March that year. Pilots use checklists all the time – and live audio has some similarities to flying! This checklist is what our students use to get a system ready for…

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Duncan Fry – Don’t Diddle With Bo

Duncan Fry – Don’t Diddle With Bo I was working quite regularly with a band – let’s call them the Defects. One Friday their gig was cancelled about half an hour before I was due to get in the truck and head off to the load in. While I sat there wondering whether I would…

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