Cancer Research UK - Recent events break records

It’s been a full on very busy couple of months for Showcomms, Drive Productions and their client Cancer Research UK. Showcomms provided wired and wireless comms for their 3 events at Battersea Park. Rachel King and Jim Hudson, Producers at Drive Productions contacted us early in the year to see if we could provide a wired and wireless solution.
Showcomms provided a standalone comms system comprising of an Altair Wireless Intercom System with 4 wireless belt packs. The Altair base also directly provided power to 10 wired Tecpro BP111 and BP511 belt packs
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Rachel wrote to us following the final event:

"Having you on board has really helped us deliver the events successfully and as a result we have happy CRUK clients who have broken previous fundraising levels at each of their events".

Trying to keep business going

Yesterday we got 3 days post to the sorting office when Bruce was given a lift in the nieghbours Range Rover, though we are not sure it went any further!
Today, Darren our trusty Interlink collection driver came early and cleared the backlog.
We fight on! Here is a picture out of our gate today.

Phones lines restored - now the snow!

Phonelines in our area have been restored by BT, well done and thank you to the BT engineers who worked in sub zero temperatures at night and today in the snow. Thank you from Showcomms.
Showcomms are now snowed in and orders may be delayed slightly as couriers and Royal Mail can't get to us.

Contact information

Due to the theft of the main telephone cable in Chelsfield Village on Saturday there is no phone service. We do have internet access using our contingent 3G mobile connection and internet sales are being processed normally.The best method of contacting us presently is by email to bruce@showcomms.co.uk

Strictly Showcomms

The millions glued to Strictly Come Dancing may have noticed the great shots from camera crane operator Kevin French.
BBC Studios are hiring one of our hire Jelibox crane intercom talkback and tally systems so that Kevin can communicate with his grips and the gallery.
So next time you see a high sweeping shot as Ann Widdecombe descends to the ground, think of Kevin.

Busy in the Park

This time last year we said:

Showcomms are providing backstage show and lighting communications equipment and crew to SIS LIVE for this weekend's Proms in the Park... This is the 5th year running that Showcomms have provided backstage comms for Proms in the Park (previously to BBC OBs before they were bought by SIS). As they say, happy customers come back!

Well, this year, we returned to Hyde Park for the 6th year of Proms in the Park, plus Elvis Forever and this weekend's Papal Vigil.

As before, we supplied the backstage and lighting comms. Bruce took this picture of the heart of the comms system.

Tattoo again

Viewers now on BBC1 watching the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo are again enjoying it after we have again supplied Otto ear defender headsets for the BBC coverage.

GP300s for Kent Wildlife Trust

Showcomms staff are quite big on our green credentials and Bruce has over the years been active with Kent Wildlife Trust, though a busy office means he can't do as much as he used to.
This year, as in previous years, we have provided the Trust with Walkie Talkie Radios for their Festival of Wildlife in Sevenoaks.
We are in the proccess updating our hire stock from GP300s to newer CP040 radios and this year after the the event Bruce presented Amanda Hamley, the Trust's Community Fundraising & Events Manager with 4 GP300 radios, spare batteries and a charger for them to use at future Trust events.
Amanda wrote

"Thank you once again for the donation of the 4 radio’s.  It will enable us to have far better communication on many of our events".

Chelsfield Team Three Peaks Challenge radios for Help for Heroes

We are pleased to say that the Chelsfield Team successfully completed the Three Peaks Challenge.
The Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks, respectively, in England, Wales and Scotland, within 24 hours.
Showcomms  loaned the Chelsfied Village team some of our hire Motorola Walkie Talkies and a mobile Alan Transceiver for the crew transport and support vehicle.  The team told us that they managed to hold a conversation between the support car in the car park at the bottom of Ben Nevis, and the peak of the mountain!

Demonstration STP8000 heavy duty throat mic with massive PTT!

Occasionally our factory supply us with demonstration items to try out on customers.
Recently we have taken delivery of two throat mic kits for the Sepura STP8000.

They consist of a "Whisper-ER" throat mic with curly tube earpiece which plugs using a Nexus style plug into a massive 2.5" (63.5 mm) rubberised orange PTT suitable for use in demanding environments.
As these are specially made demonstration models we can say how much production models would cost (they are likely to be custom made to order). But if you are a serious user of STP8000 radios in demanding situations and wish to arrange a loan, drop Bruce an email SP3 Whisper HM

Jon Gwillym of Peter Jones demonstrates how Klickfast works

Jon will be starring in the next 007 movie (or so he tells us)

We sell a wide range of genuine Peter Jones Klickfast products for Tetra radios, PMR and PBR radios, and Blackberry and Iphone cases. If we don't list what you want, ask us!

Marco Soares, a marshall at this weekend's IRC Azores Rally gives the "thumbs up".
Marco recently purchased a new Peltor mic element from the Peltor Racing and Rally spares section on our website.
Thanks to Marco for the pictures below.

On Site give new Peltors a Try

Somewhere at the top of this 60 metre crane lurks some brave camera operator covering the Springboks v All Blacks Test match last weekend for OnSite Broadcasting OBs New Zealand at Eden Park Stadium, Auckland.
You can't see it at this distance but they are wearing one of two pairs of Peltor MT7 low profile earshell camera headsets from Showcomms provided last week.

On Site will be providing coverage of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand next year, and are using the headsets in the Tri Nations in their build up for their RWC 2011 coverage. Duncan at Showcomms is a big Rugby Union fan and watched the match while eating his breakfast, and was very impressed by the quality coverage.

As well as selling these Peltors we recently hired comms to Omni OBs (NEP Cymru) for the England Rugby Tour of Australia and New Zealand.

More pictures below of the Eden Park match courtesy of Nick at On Site, thanks Nick.

Well done Hannah!

All of us at Showcomms would like to wish Hannah Chambers, our former student engineer, congratulations on getting a First Class Honours in Broadcast Technology from Ravensbourne College, and we all wish her every success in her new job at QVC as a Broadcast Engineer.

Dartford Community Safety Team choose Showcomms

Last week we supplied a range of accessories for Dartford Borough Council Community Safety Team's Motorola DP3600 and DP3400 Trbo radios, consisting of Messenger G earpieces, Peter Jones Klickfast cases and Peter Jones Klickfast beltloops.
Colin Newmarch from Dartford's Community Safety Unit says:

"Dartford Borough Council's Community Safety Unit  has invested heavily in a new digital radio system for its staff, but what it lacked was quality accessories like, headsets and pouches, which were supplied very quickly by Bruce and his team, who managed to source exactly what we wanted in no time at all, thanks Bruce"

And thank you Colin for picking Showcomms!

Centurion SP3 for STP8000

We promise this is the last "new product" plug for a while. Back to where in the world our Broadcast and Events kit is shortly...

The rugged new Sepura STP8000 Tetra radio is proving popular with Police, Fire, Ambulance and Emergency services. The Centurion headset is an ideal combination with the radio, due to the Kevlar cable, large PTT designed for high noise environments and  strong strain relief. So we have recently launched the Centurion SP3 for the Sepura  STP8000 series.



Our Centurion 2 wire covert headset is made with Kevlar reinforced cable and will withstand a breaking force of up to 20kg at the connector strain relief.

LARGE FRONT FACING PTT
The shape of the PTT has been developed in response to the request for a larger, front facing PTT.   This gives it 2 distinct advantages

1. It is easier to locate with gloves on
2. It can't  be accidently operated by body armour or kit knocking against it. 

The switch is tested to 2 million presses.

HIGH NOISE MICROPHONE
The Microphone is suitable for High noise environments and is worn a hand's distance from the mouth on the chest. The cable is made with Kevlar reinforcement.
Fitted with secured plug for the side connector on the Sepura STP8000 and STP8100 radiosThe Centurion headset was previously only available in the USA for the law enforcement.
A coiled section of cable just after the radio connector acts as a damper should your radio fall or be accidentally dropped and allows unbroken radio contact in the rest room without the need to remove tucked and loomed cabes or the radio!

FEATURES:

• Flat larger front facing PTT with built in microphone.
• Postive feel PTT when pressed
• High noise microphone.
• Sprung Microphone clip for lapel or covert, inside a shirt / jacket sleeve
• Acoustic tube curly earpiece with clip.
• The earpiece attaches to a collar and is worn in the ear in the same way by TV presenters and Security services operatives.
  
  1 year NO QUIBBLE  warranty
  If your Centurion headset should get broken and you return it to us within 1 year of purchase we will replace it with a new headset.
  

NEW Sentinel headset for Kenwood multipin radios

We have recently introduced our Sentinel-K2 earpiece headset for Kenwood Multipin radios.
It has a large PTT with microphone for high noise environments, the same as on our Centurion 2 wire models. But in other aspects is the same as our BG range, which have sold over 3000 models to British and European Police forces, fire services, ambulance services, councils and security personnel.
It has Kevlar cables, and has a one year no quibble warranty. Here is the full specification:


Fits all Kenwood multipin radios (see list below). As used by prison service, doormen etc
Kevlar Cable
Bigger front facing PTT microphone
Reduced cabling
Acoustic tube earpiece
 1 YEAR no quibble warranty.
A coiled wire leaves the radio and goes to a large, water-resistant, push to talk and microphone which is designed to perform well in the loudest atmospheres. The second wire goes from the mic/PTT unit to a discreet clear coiled tube earpiece. With this earpiece you can talk into your radio at a conversational tone and have crystal clear communication even if you can't hear yourself talk!

This unit uses Kevlar reinforced wiring and top quality strain reliefs which withstand a breaking force of up to 20kg, so it will survive in even the roughest work environment.

WARRANTY
If you break this headset, including damage caused during work, within 1 year and return to to us we will replace it.


Kenwood multipin plug: TK190, TK2140, TK280, TK290, TK3140, TK3160, TK3170, TK3180, TK380, TK390, TK480, TK481, NX200, NX300, TK2180

Please call us on +44 (0) 1689 876620 or email bruce@showcomms.co.uk for more details

Reverb 2010

Every year Stratford upon Avon College HND Media students put on a massive one hour music show. Being held at Stratford Civic Hall, this year promises to be bigger and better than ever before.
Showcomms have donated radio comms with Otto eardefenders for Reverb 2010, which takes place next Wednesday, 26 May.
This year brings a whole new edge to the show as for the first time it'll be streamed LIVE, including here on the Showcomms blog.

Theatre comms starter system: Under £1000 including VAT!

Get in fast before the VAT increase.
We are listing a 4 way Theatre system with Tecpro power supply, Altair beltpacks and ASL headsets for under £1000 including VAT! Take a look here http://snipurl.com/theatrecomms


It is still a valid offer we have manged to keep th e price to below  £1000 dated 5th December 2012

BBC Election coverage communicates with Showcomms

The excitement of the election coverage on the BBC over the past few weeks has seen Showcomms supply Prolink Outside Broadcasts with walkie talkies and base stations for coverage at College Green, Westminster (some great pictures here), and at the London Eye. This included arranging licensing with JFMG (not an easy job with all the radio activity in the area), and arranging an extension for College Green for the period while coalition negotiations took place.
In addition BBC Northern Ireland hired two 4 way Altair wireless systems off us for their Election

More spare parts - this time from Telex

We are pleased to announce that we are now official dealers for Telex spare parts, including RTS parts.

We try to keep a reasonable number of items in stock, but give time can get just about any parts.

Guns and Tackle Trophy

We have donated a pair of custom camouflage sided Peltor Sportac Ear Defenders for the Guns and Tackle Trophy - English Sporting Championships at Southdown Sporting Gun Club tomorrow.
More information on the website of the Greater London branch of the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association.

UPDATE: The winner of the Sporttacs was veterans winner Allan Flight. Allan is pictured holding his new pair of ear defenders.

HP450s for St James Facilities/Jarrolds

Some time back we supplied some Alan HP450 radios to St James Facilities/Jarrolds in Norwich.
These were originally supplied in PMR446 mode, but to get higher power and thus greater coverage across Norwich, St James obtained a licence and we were able to reprogramme the radios onto licensed frequencies.
The Alan HP450 is unique in our experience in being so adaptable at such a low price.

WE CAN ONLY PROGRAMME LICENSED IN FREQUENCIES ON SEEING THE APPLICANTS LICENCE!

Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain Conference

Bruce and Duncan made the short trip to the Miller Centre Theatre in Caterham today to attend the Little Theatre Guild of Britain Conference today, exhibiting Tecpo wired intercom, Altair Wireless intercom, Alan HP450 radios and our Motorola radio hire kit.
We are pleased to be exhibiting at events such ast the Little Theatre Guild (LTG) conference and the Schools Theatre Support Group (STSG) Conference - giving a support to the smaller theatres on a tighter budget.

HOSDB

Bruce has been at the Home Office Scientific Branch Exhibition (HOSDB) for the past few days. He was joined by the owner of our US headset manufacturer for our BG, Centurion, MSG and Tetra ranges for police, security and other emergency services.
In adition to headsets Bruce was exhibiting the FriskerPro hand or wrist worn metal detector and a range of other items including Tecpro and Peltor items.

Put the wood in the hole Bruce!

In the second stage of the slow taking over the empire by Showcomms, well our small office expansion, Bruce leant a hand to the positioning of a huge heavy oak door frame yesterday.

The nieghbouring room used to be our store/workshop. This has moved one unit down, and the original store/workshop is becoming a demonstration, meetin and training area.

At the moment it is causing a bit of disruption to the office (and a fair bit of cold air!).
The picture is taken from the office into where the new room is being fitted, Bruce (left) is helping to lift the door frame into hole that has magically appeared!

Astrid user days

Bruce will be exhibiting our Tetra headsets and accessories at the Astrid User Days in Brussels on 20 & 21 May.

Visit ASTRID User Days 2010, the two-day conference where you can learn about the very latest ASTRID network and TETRA developments.

Kom naar de Astrid User Days, het tweedaags congres waar u kennis maakt met de recente evolutie van het ASTRID-netwerk.

Bienvenue aux ASTRID User Days, un congrès de deux jours au cours duquel vous découvrirez les dernières évolutions du réseau ASTRID.

Showcomms gives you wings

It isn't usual to blog about hiring somebody just three headsets, but this one is just a little different and shows how we will go that extra mile to get a client out of trouble.
Last week we sent three DT108 headsets for use at the Red Bull Music Academy by Pulse Films.
Unfortunately, when they arrived they discovered a small error meant they had asked for male instead of female plugs, any easy mistake.
Bruce was going to be in the London Bridge area today, so decided to drop off some replacements himself this morning.
However we normally supply ASL headsets with female plugs, and Pulse wanted the extra noise exclusion of the DT108s. Our DT108s are fitted with male plugs for cameras and RTS, not female plugs.
Never mind, on Saturday Bruce got three bare ended DT108 cables out of our sales stock and fitted the right plugs to take up this morning and swap the cables.
This also means we can supply a few of our DT108s in future to use on ASL/Tecpro/Altair/Clearcom/Stonewood systems which require 4 pin female XLRs on the headsets.

Bristol Fairwear Fashion Show

Sounds Commercial have been using a couple of our Duplex wireless kits at the Bristol Fairwear Fashion Show

at Bristol Cathedral. They used our Telex BTR24 Standalone Duplex beltpack system, and one of our Altair wireless 4 way Duplex kits.
The really clever bit is they were coupled together with a single XLR cable to make a seem less 6 way system!

Sounds Commercial have had a busy week with us this week, our other Altair system is also with them working at another event in West London.

New Dual Channel Duplex Wireless Theatre System for Baylis Court School

We have just supplied the latest Altair dual channel duplex wireless theatre system to Baylis Court School, Slough.

The new Altair WBS-202 wireless base station doubles the capacity of the single channel WBS-200 maintaining full compatibility.

The unit features a complete double channel radio link with a capacity of up to 4 wireless beltpacks per channel, or 8 on a single channel.

Directly compatible with Tecpro, Altair, ASL, Clearcom, Stonewood loop systems.
This really is the unit that many theatres have been looking for to add to their wired intercom.
Bruce and Duncan were demonstrating this unit, alongside Tecpro wired intercom and Motorola CP040 radios at the Schools Theatre Support Group Conference in Rugby at the weekend.

32 pairs of eardefenders to CTV for BAFTAs

Our supplies of camera eardefenders have run out, on top of some other big hires, we have no less than 32 pairs of eardefenders at the BAFTAs for CTV OBs, a mix of double sided Peltors, Double sided Telex PH10s and 1.5 sided Peltors for hand held cameras!

Tour Guide hire price reduction

 We now offer our wireless tour guide system to hire for 4 days at just £6 per channel for up to 60 channels.

All our hire kit is hired out in 4 day blocks. Shipping days are not counted in the hire period!

We also sell Tour Guide systems

Schools Theatre Support Group Conference

Showcomms are joint sponsors of the Schools Theatre Support Group Conference at Rugny School on Saturday 20th February at Rugby School.
We will be holding a workshop, particularly focusing on wireless theatre communications, interfacing with wired systems and other aspects of radio and wireless communications.

Low price on top of the range covert earpiece for Motorola MTH800 MTH650 CEP400 and MTP850 Tetra airwaves radios

For a limited period we have top of the range Centurion headset / earpiece for Motorola Tetra radios at the much reduced price of £23 + VAT and delivery.
This headset features a secured plug with long kevlar lead for either sleeve or lapel worn microphone.. Includes a clear acoustic tube earpiece. The microphone in this headset is a close working mic for use in high noise environments. It is a 2 wire system, this means the cabling splits into 2 at a joiner block with one lead going to the transducer/curly tube to go in your ear and a second cable going to the microphone and Push to Talk switch. This means your radio can be worn under your clothes at waist level, with one cable feeding up to the clear plastic ear tube and the other going down your sleeve to the press to talk button for covert use.
This headset comes with a one year no quibble warranty, including free return postage within the UK
Similar earpieces sell for over £60.