...it Makes Everyone a PRO.

Today's gear - hardware and software - makes everyone a pro, right? At least that's what the marketing for manufacturers of most cameras, workflow systems, storage systems and editing software will tell you. My take is a little different: Today's gear makes everyone an amateur. Yeah, a pretty broad brush, but look around. Watch a network or cable channel - see if they can go a half hour with an on-air refocus, accidental zoom, jump cut, closed mic...good luck. I know, I know: look at what's going on on the screen. So much that it's impossible for a production team to manage it all. Well, nobody cares about that part. They care about the content. That's another interesting point: if it is about the content, the way it's presented, production warts and all, shouldn't matter. Maybe so, but does that mean we should all sink to the amateur level just because that clip fed via satellite phone has such poor resolution? Or should we be trying a little harder to up the quality of production. An industry friend called awhile back and asked me for a definition. "What does 'broadcast quality' mean?" I don't have an answer anymore. It is about the content and if that means a YouTube clip makes it to air, fine. But if that clip is surrounded by sloppiness, well, that's not quite so good. But how to define broadcast quality? It's impossible. What to do? How about paying a little more attention to quality. Many techs I know will bust their hump to wring an additional 2 kilohertz of audio response out of a device - if you let them. Most editors will gladly work through a jump cut if they can. They have the pride. It'd be great if that ethic were more pervasive. Then it might be true - the amateurs may really try to emulate the quality that pros put out. Hey! It could happen.

You Think that 7805 Will Heal Itself?

They Never Heal! I seldom beg…but I have to this time. Anyone who’s doing field service…please...when you pull a bad component, throw it out – or at least find a bucket and clearly label it, “Bad Parts I’m Hoping Will Heal.” How many times have you entered a site for the first time to find drawers full of components with solder on them (as if they’ve been removed from a circuit) or labeled, “removed” or “E-B short” or just “bad”. Here’s what I’ve found. No bad part has ever healed. Fuses stay blown. Transistors stay shorted and open diodes are open forever. So get rid of them. And the ones that can be fixed…send the choke off and have it rewound or get rid of it. What a time waster to have to re-declare a MOSFET DOA so that you don’t install it and find that the same symptom prevails, or worse, new ones pop up. It’s a simple request. Throw them out. If you really want to keep them, put them in that bucket or nail them to a piece of wood or curl their leads to make cute little bugs. It’ll save the owner countless billed hours and you lots of headaches. One important note: If there’s a possibility of an insurance claim, document every part failure and replacement and hang on to all of the parts until the claim is settled. If you want to take things one step further, do a real inventory. Right. Count ‘em all. First, you’ll be surprised what you have for emergencies and second, it makes emergency repairs a lot easier and faster. Of course, it helps to sort and store everything so it can be found, otherwise, it’s all for nothing. Now, the problem with all of this is that there’s never enough time – and ask the average owner if he/she’ll approve overtime so that you can take inventory and catalog, and the answer probably will be no. Maybe you can play back the part above about saving money on future repairs. That might get you an OK. Then again, maybe not.