Written by Robbie Ferguson, on June 20, 2010

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I thought it'd be a cool thing to do to kind of begin documenting through my blog some of the things that viewer donations sometimes go towards.  Of course, there's always the "boring" stuff... bills... hosting expenses... etc., however sometimes there are small purchases which simply make the show better, or make it easier for us to present the show.

This past week, I purchased something to improve things around here "behind the scenes".

Of course, most of the viewers don't get the opportunity to really see how we do things around here.  The actual production work and equipment which is required to make Category5 TV work week after week.  When we have minor glitches here or there, sometimes a viewer or two wonder how we could possibly get it wrong... after all, it's really simple right?  Haha!  Nope... not really.  I mean, we take what we do pretty seriously, and we try to do it "right".  From using proper microphones (which don't always work that great when the neighbors use their portable phone, mind you) to having multiple cameras on a switcher so we can seamlessly change between shots.  It's a sophisticated network of cabling and technology to make the show work each week.

One of the things that has fallen by the wayside as a "non priority" is our audio rig.  Basically, all the audio stuff that makes the sound of the show work takes up a fair amount of desk space.  So much so in fact, that it was hanging off the edge of the desk, so we had to put a piano stool next to the desk to prevent anyone from smacking their hip off the sharp edges of the audio equipment.

The above picture depicts the "before" shot.  This is what the rig looked like a week ago.  There are a lot of wires, and you can see that I have them neatly wrapped on the desk with tie wraps and the such, but it takes up a lot of space, and is a mega dust collector.

When the opportunity arose this week to purchase a basic rack tohold all the equipment, I was more than interested.  The thought of cutting the desk space used by 2/3rds really appealed to me.

I popped in to the local music store (Music Pro) on Thursday night, and picked up the rack, along with a 10" shelf to put the mixer on.  It was quite a bit cheaper than I had expected (came to about $70), so I was also able to purchase a handful of short 6" cables to replace the long ones sitting on the desk with tie wraps, and also grabbed a windscreen for Christy's microphone to help cut down on puffs and pops when she talks about the weather.

Here's what the audio rig looks like now:

So much more organized!  Oh, and you can see a few of the extra 6" cables hanging on the end there.

Because of the reduced space needs of the audio rig, this has accomplished a few major things:

1. it obviously feels a lot more organized, and looks nicer in passing
2. I was able to move the desk closer to the curtain as we no longer need the desk space be dedicated to the mixer (and I have to be able to reach it during the show).  Because I could move the desk closer to the curtain, it will be easier for John (our video guy) to fit us in the frame without any white walls being seen.  Moving the desk back 3 feet has the same effect as adding another curtain panel (which would cost $50+).  So we get that effect as a bonus.
3. The piano stool which was formerly wasted to "protecting our hips" is freed up, which will most likely be a much more comfortable stool for John to use during the live show.  We'll give it a try and see how he likes it... but it's cushioned, so it should be nicer than the wooden stool he's using.  Again, nice little bonus "freebie" for our in-studio comfort.
4. Christy will appreciate the fact that the enhanced height of the audio rig means I can no longer hit her with a stick during the show.  We'll have to resort to name calling and off-air beatings.  ;)  haha!

I really am pleased with the purchase.  I obviously have not gone "overboard" by getting a super-dooper top of the line model or anything like that.  But this gives us an affordable upgrade which will have a very positive impact in the studio and for the show.

Thank you to all who have supported Category5 TV with a monetary donation, and thank you to all those who watch the show.

Published in : Robbie's Blog, My Blog