When they give you a room and say "make it go", you could have your hands full. One booth I did in 1984 (maybe 1985) was like that.

The only thing that was on the wall was individual projection station power panels. I had to take it from there, which included mounting of the raceways, dimmers, sound equipment racks, etc. I had to build up all the sound racks, and all the projection and film transport equipment, and do all the wiring to interface all that crap.

Once I got that done with that, I had to hang surround speakers, and wire the masking motors, strap and shelve the stage speakers, and anything else that needed to be done in order to make it go. Then, naturally, I had to equalize the auditoriums.

It took about 16 hours per station to mount all the crap and wire it in. That did not include the auditorium work I had to do.

I might add that it all passed electrical inspection.

Then, in July, I helped one of my friends build a carbon-arc manually operated booth. This took a while, as the weather in that area he lives was just too hot for me, and I had a very difficult time adapting to it. That weather slowed me down to a snail's pace. But it finally came together.

Building a booth can be lots of fun, but is also being capable of just the opposite.

When you do it, you might as well plan for lots of working. It is easier now, as most states require a electrical contractor to do all the work for you. In 1984-1985 when I put that booth together, all that was required of me was that I was an employee of that company, I knew what I was doing, and make sure it meets code.

Times have changed in the last 17 years. Now I can finally sit on my butt and "Dictate".

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