[AG-TECH] [SUMMARY] High End Portable Access Grid System

[Jason Bell]

G'day all

Firstly I would like to thank all of those who have made comments, these
include: Hans Schaefer, Bob Riddle, Jeffrey Miller, Dean W. Nobles,
Darren Spidell, Jim Miller, Fred Dech and Douglas Kosovic.

Some of the comments made were as follows:

*	"Portable" is a loose term, in which some systems are movable
from one room to another, but not building to building.  This can be
attributed to the design, weight of system and type of wheels used;

*	Preference for display would be to use LCD, rather than plasma
(due to possible burn in issues).  Another thing to consider when
building the system is the weight on display screens...  IE, a 65 inch
display can weight around 90 kg's;

*	Some have suggested the use of portable projectors, which is a
good idea, but not applicable for this setup;

*	Suggested audio devices to use are:
	- 	Clearone Accumic II
	-	Clearone RAV 900
	I am currently investigating the Clearone RAV 900 system
further, as it supposedly comes with microphones and speakers. See
http://www.clearone.com/products/product.php?cat=2&prod=89 for more
info;

*	Jim Miller (Insors) provided me with a link to their turnkey
solutions, see http://www.insors.com/solutions/ for more info;

*	A suggestion was made to potentially use a firewire hub, which
would allow the connection of multiple cameras;

*	Most people who have replied used a single machine for their
portable system (Mostly a Windows based system (Dell) or a MAC (Though
there are some issues with using a Mac)).  Personally, I would like to
try using two machines, Display/Audio and a capture machine;

*	Suggested Cameras were:
	-	Sony EVI series cameras;
	-	Sony PTZ cameras;
	-	Various Firewire cameras;

Thanks everyone for your comments and photo's, it has provided me with a
lot of food for thought.

Cheers,
Jason.
	

-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Bell 
Sent: Tuesday, 17 April 2007 1:56 PM
To: 'ag-tech'; 'accessgrid-l at lists.grangenet.net'
Subject: High End Portable Access Grid System

Dear colleagues

I have been asked to investigate the building of a high end portable
Access Grid system.  The purpose of this email is to find out if anyone
has built such a system and to "hopefully" obtain information on such a
system.

Currently I am looking at a setup with the following spec's:

*	System must be portable, ie, on a trolley or table with wheels;

*	2 large plasma or LCD screens;

*	Multiple cameras;

*	Single or multiple computers;

*	Good audio setup, whether the use of a Clearone XAP400, or some
other lower Audio echo canceller (I personally would like something
better that an Acumic II);

Therefore, if you have built such a system, I would like to hear how it
performs, the hardware used and any pictures or diagrams would also be
excellent.

Thanks for your time,
Jason.


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Jason Bell, B.I.T.
B. Info. Tech. (Honours) Student

Network Engineer
Information Technology Division
Central Queensland University

High Performance Computing Support Officer
Central Queensland University

E-mail : j.bell at cqu.edu.au
Phone : 07 4930 9229

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Patience is a virtue.

But if I wanted Patience,
I would have become a Doctor.

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