(Part 3) Top products from r/VIDEOENGINEERING

Weller WESD51 has been my go-to soldering station, but if you have money, Hakko is awesome. I also like the Weller heat gun, it comes with a curved deflector for heat shrink. The TS-100 pocket soldering iron is awesome for a tool bag. (Someone also hacked the firmware so you can play Tetris on the 96x16 OLED.)

Paladin (now Greenlee) crimpers are great. I have the 8000 series crimper with the 2699 "HDTV" die. It has sizes for most of the BNC connectors I need to crimp. Also get a quality coax stripper, I have a CST Pro, but I actually prefer the LC CST. Normal wire strippers and a curved wire cutter (like this) are must-haves, too.

Small diagonal cutters are great to have, I have the Xcelite 1178M, but the Hakko CHP-170 are cheaper and just as good.

If you have any fiber, get some IBC cleaners. They have different tips for various ferrule sizes. I usually end up carrying one for LC and one for SMPTE. A fiber scope is nice, but a bit overkill if you ask me. A laser is good enough for most of what I do.

A drill with a long phillips bit is essential for racking equipment, as is some sort of flashlight. I like this one because it has a magnet on it, which is perfect for sticking to rack rails.

Speaking of screwdrivers, a set of precision screwdrivers is handy. A friend of mine has this very expensive set. I have this one from Wiha and it's really good. Plus you get free needle nose pliers.

I've never had a problem with the EZ RJ45 crimpers, at least when using EZ RJ45 plugs.

A guy in our office has spent probably 6 months digitizing some old super 8 tapes on his camcorder using this:

Elgato Video Capture, Capture analog video for your Mac or PC, iPad and iPhone, white https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029U2YSA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hy7QAbC7PZKNW

Cheaper ones exist but he seems to like this one, it’s reliable and he likes the software it uses for capturing as well.

You would probably need to get a BNC to RCA adapter for the video.

Screwdrivers: pick up some Klein stuff. #1 and #2 Phillips, plus a few standard flat blades. Get 1 stubby #2 Philips and 1 stubby medium sized standard flat screwdriver. This would be a great set and it's basically what I have.

A couple adjustable wrenches of different sizes.

Some Channellock or Knippex pliers (a few different styles. At least 1 should be needlenose and at least one should be a larger pipe-wrench type.)

A couple Greenies.

Some Xcelite diagonal cutters in a couple different sizes. I also like this particular Irwin set of diagonal cutters. Great for zip ties and cutting cable. I throw one of those Irwin ones in some of my kits too (like my BNC kit has a set of strippers and crimpers plus one of those for cutting the cable and cutting back the braided shield.) It's the perfect multi-purposed size and it takes a lot of abuse. I get smaller Xcelite stuff for fine work on the bench.

A good pair of wire strippers that can do smaller gauge stuff (20-30 gauge stranded.) Get 2 or 3.

A decent utility knife. I just bought a new one, a Stanley 10-788, to replace one that broke. Don't buy one of those it's a piece of shit. Have to use my swiss army knife to depress the lever enough to get into the blade storage. Garbage. I'll be buying another one soon.

For soldering, word is Weller's quality has gone downhill. I don't know. Mine is about 10 years old and has been completely rock solid. Might want to do some research.

Some wire brushes (use 'em all the time on exploded batteries in remotes, sadly.)

One of those BNC removing tools if you don't have one.

Decent hammer and rubber mallet.

A basic level.

Fluke multimeter (toward the lower end of their range is all you need. Don't need precision, just need continuity and basic voltage check for checking power supply rails etc.)

Decent 30' measuring tape.

Decent set of Hex keys.

Socket set. Any Joe Blow set from Home Depot will do.

Cordless drill (I like the M18 hammer drill from Milwaukee if you can just have one, it's a bit on the big side but can handle everything from attaching TV mounts into brick to removing screws from equipment cases.)

Dremel (comes in handy in many last resort "oh shit moments.") Get some extra metal cutting wheels you'll use those a lot.

Wiha set of micro screw drivers for repair. They sell like 8 and 10 piece sets that handle most of your needs. Go Wiha or Klein or something for your screwdrivers (hear Wera is good too.) Don't cheap out you will use the hell out of them.

I have one of these literally just lives on my bench and I like it a lot, along with a decent #2 Philips I have there, it handles 90% of my screwdriver needs without me needing to go to the tool box.

Don't forget yourself get a GOOD set of hearing and eye protection!

Also buy a cheap dollar screwdriver or 2 in the common sizes and let people borrow (and lose) those, keep the good stuff to yourself. (And a cheap tape measure. Those 2 things get borrowed from me the most.

Edit: added more.

Use SDI over RG6 quad shield.
Monoprice has some excellent SDI splitters etc to go to and from HDMI and daisy chain.

http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/catalog/productsearch/?keyword=Sdi&searchtype=global

Here's some coax


http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/product/details/7483?maincategoryid=102&categoryid=10216&subcategoryid=1021603&cpncd=


Here's some BNC connectors

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001TJ8WFG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468628423&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=bnc+rg6&dpPl=1&dpID=513fQRWN7lL&ref=plSrch


Here's some tools


http://m.homedepot.com/p/Eclipse-Tools-CATV-Compression-Tool-Bundle-902-340/206303566?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CTHD%7CG%7C0%7CG-BASE-PLA-AllProducts%7C&gclid=COD-wt7c9s0CFVFcfgodTzAJGg&gclsrc=aw.ds


There are also other brands.

Regardless, SDI is the most professional way of doing this.

Does that work? BNC->RCA? Like https://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-BNC-Male-Female-Adapter/dp/B000V1R97U

So the signal is the same as for normal RCA?

Assuming you’re working with low resolution video, you should take advantage of the coax connections. Burn your video to a DVD, connect the DVD player to one of these and use coax splitters to feed to TVs. Depending on cost and availability you may want to make your own cables - one of crimped kits would be useful. You can get bulk coax cable from Home Depot it wherever.

Also check thrift stores and ask nerdy 60-year olds. My dad never throws stuff out and has a box of old stuff like this. This is very old tech and You may be able to find it for cheap.

Something like this then maybe? https://www.amazon.com/Greenlee-Communications-2033-Non-Insulated-Terminals/dp/B000JJJ6B6

I second the Setwear combo pouch. It has my flashlight, sharpies, leatherman and tweeker in it. All my other larger tools I carry in a 1510. I also like the setwear gloves and tools handz black stallion gloves. https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-STALLION-Reinforced-Snug-Fitting-Gloves/dp/B003JHN4KY

We have a few of these Tripp Lite strips (https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Outlet-Office-UL800CB-15/dp/B000FBRQZG)

15ft cord 10 outlets 15amp with a switch cover

Couldn't recommend them more. They also come with removable ears if you want to mount them on something like a cart or table.

Fairly sure it's the same one Sony's been using forever.

RM-EV100

https://www.amazon.com/RM-EV100-InfraRed-EVI-D100-D70-D30-BRC-H300-EVI-HD1-HD7/dp/B003XGYLIA

I've been using C&E adapters from Amazon for years without issue:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OC6LWM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A compression/crimping tool should do the trick. You may also want a cable stripper. https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-VDV211-048-Compression-Crimper/dp/B003CCRZWO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1LU9PQRTJHEIM&keywords=klein+tools+vdv211-048&qid=1573506574&sprefix=Klein+VDV211-048+%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-1

I still have some small sony DVD recorders that I use. They are harder to find but I run footage into them and they spit out a DVD in short order.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-DVDirect-DVD-Recorder-VRDMC5/dp/B000SML2BQ

Sorry, it's basically these

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Pro-PCT40-Audio-Cable-Tester/dp/B002PAW5GA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493665339&sr=8-1&keywords=XLR+cable+tester

You can use BNC to RCA adapters to do coax testing. This is only a continuity tester. I've got a few, I don't love them but they're cheap and they do what they say on the tin. If you're looking for a tester that does actual signal or quality testing, that's a different matter entirely.

I did find this: https://www.amazon.com/Sans-Digital-Rackmount-Enclosure-ER104UT/dp/B0046A8FIE

I would just get an external raid like the Pegasus. Unless the mount is shock absorbent, or you’re running SSDs, you’re better off having those drives out of the rack and in a Pelican that can ride near you, especially with critical data. Plus a Raid 5 allows for one drive to fail and keeps going.

Edit, got it, you need 4 separate drives.

When shopping for one make sure the pedal actuates the proper electrical contact function you need. For all intents and purposes a pedal is a on/ and off switch. Some pedals are always "on", (Electronically Closed) and when you push them they turn off (opening the connection). Some are the opposite.

My first go around I had some trouble when I purchased a Yamaha FC5 Sustain Pedal, its normally on. I was trying to use it with a simple RTS 301 Belt pack but it was doing the opposite of what I needed, Opens the mic when I plug it in, then kills it when I press and hold, Not all that desirable.

I did some more shopping and for a Hosa Dual- Channel foot switch It features 2 latching contacts that you could use between A and B channel Comm systems. The switches were "normally open" and when you press and latch it closes the connection and turns on the mic.

Sorry for the long post explaining Normally Open , Normally Closed foot pedals.